Social Learning Through Evaluation: A Case Study of Overcoming Constraints for Management of Dryland Salinity

Conventional approaches to evaluation of environmental programs have tended to limit themselves to restricted measures of program effectiveness. This paper shows how a social learning approach can be incorporated into evaluating public environmental programs. A social learning approach is particularly suited to complex environmental challenges which are inherently difficult to understand, predict, and manage, thus complicating the evaluation process. The paper presents an Australian case study of dryland salinity management where there are major knowledge barriers impeding conventional management techniques. The research presented in this paper focused on evaluating a public demonstration program to track its impact through its design, implementation, and monitoring phases. The paper shows that, by incorporating social learning principles and practices, program evaluation can promote collective action, critical reflection, and increased knowledge to underpin improved environmental management.     

Ecological plasticity of nest-building behavior of the redwing (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Turdus iliacus</Emphasis> L.) in Karelia according to individual marking data

The placement of 1918 redwing nests has been analyzed, including 214 nests of 90 marked females (2–8 known nests per female). A high level of intraspecific and individual variation in utilization of different types of nest supports is described. It is shown that redwings choose nest sites without regard to previous experience (either positive or negative) or to the placement of their parent nest. Under conditions of the northern taiga, such behavior provides for significant reduction of chick mortality by the end of the season. This is con- firmed by comparison with the song thrush (T. philomelos), which nests mainly on spruce trees.     

Think global,act local: The effect of goal and mindset specificity on willingness to donate to an environmental organization

This paper investigated the effect of goal and mindset specificity on goal-related behavior in the environmental domain. Two studies demonstrated that goal-related behavior was maximized when participants focused on an abstract goal in combination with a specific mindset, or when they focused on a specific goal in combination with an abstract mindset. When goals and mindsets instead matched in terms of abstractness, goal-related behavior was reduced. Study 2 demonstrated that the effect of goal specificity on behavior was mediated by different processes in each of the mindset conditions. When mindsets were abstract, self-efficacy mediated the positive effect of specific goals on behavior; when mindsets were specific, the value of collective environmental action mediated the positive effect of abstract goals on behavior. The results are discussed in the framework of a complementarity approach. It is argued that complementarity of levels of specificity of goals and mindsets may affect behavior particularly strongly in domains where the discrepancy between the abstract and the specific is large (e.g. the environmental domain).     

基于模糊神经网络的机动车驾驶教练员职业适宜性研究

提出应用模糊神经网络系统,建构教练员职业适宜性的3个要素(即心理素质、驾驶技能和知识的表达阐述能力)的学习样本,分析"三要素"的8项特征参数指标——场依存性、速度估计能力、交通安全意识、简单反应、选择反应、跟踪能力、行车注意力、表达阐述能力等,使用K-均值法对实验样本进行初始分类,形成标准学习样本,使用该样本对所构建系统进行训练和调试。利用经调试训练后的系统,依据所测教练员的心理、心理参数对其职业适宜性进行评价。试验表明:建立的教练员职业适宜性仿真模型能取得很好的评价效果。     

行为安全管理理论在我国的实践困境及其解决途径

行为安全管理理论在我国被广泛宣传与应用,但在概念理解、定量判断及影响因素的分析等方面存在着认识误区,要改变行为安全管理理论在实践中的困境,发挥其应有作用,笔者认为:应首先对理论研究中的相关概念进行规范,加强对我国生产安全事故与行为安全之间的定量关系研究;并将工程技术措施和组织管理措施作为事故风险的控制重点;探索符合我国职工特点的安全教育培训方式,增强企业的安全生产主体责任意识,提高安全投入的有效性,将安全融入到经济与社会发展过程中。只有为行为安全管理理论的实践和应用提供良好的环境和保障,才能进一步提升我国企业的生产安全事故风险控制水平。     

家具企业安全管理调查研究——运用行为抽样法调查分析不安全行为

为降低家具企业事故的发生概率,通过对家具企业机加工车间工人的不安全行为的观察,依据其主要表现,将工人的不安全行为分为静态和动态两类;运用行为抽样法对生产现场工人的不安全行为情况进行的抽查,并对其不安全行为进行现状评价;通过分析不安全行为发生的原因,提出相应的改进措施。     

人群疏散行为仿真技术研究

提出并建立了一种人群疏散仿真模型。针对疏散空间中障碍物的动态布局,采用网格法获得各障碍物包围盒坐标,依据最短路径原则采用几何法确定每个个体起始疏散路径,解决了人群疏散的空间连续性问题。针对人群疏散时个体之间的差异性,依据个体与个体之间的作用力、摩擦力动态改变个体的行进方向,以及依据人群密度采用人群疏散速度模型实时确定每个个体的运动速度,解决了个体之间的动态避碰、绕行和超越等问题。针对人群疏散时多个出口的选择问题,提出了把出口拥挤状态与个体心理慌乱状态相结合的出口选择方法。最后采用粒子系统实现了上述人群疏散行为的二维仿真并取得了较好的效果。     

煤矿安全生产中人的行为影响因子系统动力学(SD)仿真分析

在构建影响人的安全行为因素因果关系的基础上,运用系统动力学(SD)理论和方法,对影响人的安全行为关键因素进行动态预测,并通过仿真计算、对比分析安全投入增加对系统安全水平的影响。应用该方法建立的煤矿生产中人的安全行为指标水平模型,以求证安全投入与人的安全行为水平的相关性,为煤矿安全管理决策提供一种新的思路,亦有助于政府和煤矿企业科学地明确安全投入方向,降低人因事故率,提高煤矿生产的安全水平。     

Passenger distractions among adolescent drivers

PROBLEM: Adolescents who drive with peers are known to have a higher risk of crashes. While passengers may distract drivers, little is known about the circumstances of these distractions among teen drivers. METHOD: This study used survey data on driving among 2,144 California high school seniors to examine distractions caused by passengers. RESULTS: Overall, 38.4% of youths who drove reported having been distracted by a passenger. Distractions were more commonly reported among girls and students attending moderate- to high-income schools. Talking or yelling was the most commonly reported type of distraction. About 7.5% of distractions reported were deliberate, such as hitting or tickling the driver or attempting to use the vehicle's controls. Driving after alcohol use and having had a crash as a driver were both significant predictors of reporting passenger-related distraction. CONCLUSION: Adolescents often experience distractions related to passengers, and in some cases these distractions are intentional. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: These results provide information about teenage drivers who are distracted by passenger behaviors. In some cases, passengers attempted to use vehicle controls; however, it seems unlikely that this behavior is common enough to warrant redesign of controls to make them less accessible to passengers.     

Reflections on the use of Bayesian belief networks for adaptive management

A broad range of tools are available for integrated water resource management (IWRM). In the EU research project NeWater, a hypothesis exists that IWRM cannot be realised unless current management regimes undergo a transition toward adaptive management (AM). This includes a structured process of learning, dealing with complexity, uncertainty etc. We assume that it is no longer enough for managers and tool researchers to understand the complexity and uncertainty of the outer natural system-the environment. It is just as important, to understand what goes on in the complex and uncertain participatory processes between the water managers, different stakeholders, authorities and researchers when a specific tool and process is used for environmental management. The paper revisits a case study carried out 2001-2004 where the tool Bayesian networks (BNs) was tested for groundwater management with full stakeholder involvement. With the participation of two researchers (the authors) and two water managers previously involved in the case study, a qualitative interview was prepared and carried out in June 2006. The aim of this ex-post evaluation was to capture and explore the water managers' experience with Bayesian belief networks when used for integrated and adaptive water management and provide a narrative approach for tool enhancement.