关于日本《环境教育等促进法》修改的研究

日本于2012年10月1日正式颁布了《环境教育等促进法》,此法由2003年颁布的《有关增进环保意愿以及推进环保教育的法律》修改而来,是一部充分调动各个社会主体协同合作,用环境教育开展环境保护工作的法律。通过分析该法多角度分层次的教育措施及特点,借鉴日本多年来环境教育推广经验,对我国加快环境教育立法进程,实现全民环境教育,增强全民节约意识、生态意识、环保意识,全力建设美丽中国有着重大意义。     

Both evaluation of resource quality and speed of recruited leaf-cutting ants (Acromyrmex lundi) depend on their motivational state

Summary During recruitment, running velocity of both outbound and laden workers of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex lundi depended on the information about resource quality they received from the first successful recruiter. In independent assays, single scout ants were allowed to collect sugar solutions of different concentrations and to recruit nestmates. Recruited workers were presented with standardized paper discs rather than the sugar solution given to the original recruiting ant. Outbound recruited workers were observed to run faster the more concentrated the solution found by the recruiter. Speed of disc-laden workers also depended on the concentration of the solution found by the recruiter, i.e. on the information about food quality they received, since they had no actual contact with the sugar solution. Disc-laden workers ran, as intuitively expected, slower than outbound workers. The reduction in speed, however, could not be attributed to the effects of the load itself, because workers collecting discs of the same weight, but with added sugar, ran as rapidly as outbound, unladen workers. Workers collecting standardized sugared discs reinforced the chemical trail on their way to the nest. The percentage of trail-layers was higher when workers were recruited to 10% than to 1% sugar solution, even though they collected the same kind of discs at the source. Their evaluation of resource quality, therefore, depended on their motivational state, which was modulated by the information they received during recruitment. Using previously published data on energetics of locomotion in leaf-cutting ants, travel costs of A. lundi workers recruited to sugar solutions of different concentration could be estimated. For workers recruited to the more concentrated solution, both speed and oxygen consumption rate increased by a roughly similar factor. Therefore, although workers ran faster to the high-quality resource, their actual energy investment per trip remained similar to that made by workers recruited to the low-quality resource. It is suggested that the more motivated workers reduced travel time without increasing energy costs during the trip. The adaptive value of these responses seems to be related to a rapid transmission of information about a newly discovered food source.     

Signal use by collared lizards, Crotaphytus collaris: the effects of familiarity and threat

Many lizard species use lateral compressions of the body during agonistic encounters. I investigated the signal value of the frequency at which these displays are presented and how that rate is affected by familiarity and threat. The response of resident collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris) to tethered strangers, neighbors on the correct boundary, and neighbors displaced to the opposite boundary, was recorded by counting the number of lateral displays directed at the intruder and the number of subsequent acts of escalated aggression. There was no relationship between size asymmetry of the opponent and the rate of lateral display or aggression, nor was there a relationship between body size and the rate of lateral display or aggression. However, there was a high positive correlation between lateral display rate and aggression, suggesting that the rate of lateral displays is a conventional signal of motivation to attack. The highest rates of display and aggression were directed toward displaced neighbors, somewhat less toward strangers, and the least toward neighbors at the correct boundary. The ratio of aggressive acts to lateral displays followed the same pattern, presumably because the perceived threat to the resident decreases in the same order. Taken together these data suggest that collared lizards are able to assess the threat of an opponent and signal motivation to respond aggressively towards that opponent.Communicated by S. Downes     

Motivational factors underlying the intention to drink and drive in young male drivers

Problem: Anyone drinking and driving has a high risk of being involved in an accident. Young male drivers, however, run the highest risk at the same levels of blood alcohol as other candidates, as they have more accidents than any other group. A better understanding of their motivations toward drinking and driving is needed to help create effective prevention. Method: In the present study, 115 male drivers aged 18–24 completed a questionnaire—based on Ajzen's theory of planned behavior—designed to study the motivational factors leading to drinking and driving. Results: Young males' intention to drink and drive is predicted by their attitudes, their perceived behavioral control (PBC), and, to a lesser degree, subjective norms. Impact on Industry: The results showing slightly positive PBC over driving after drinking suggest that work aimed at reducing this perception to a more realistic level is a potential prevention avenue.     

Assessing motivation for work environment improvements: Internal consistency, reliability and factorial structure

Problem

Workers' motivation to actively take part in improvements to the work environment is assumed to be important for the efficiency of investments for that purpose. That gives rise to the need for a tool to measure this motivation.

Method

A questionnaire to measure motivation for improvements to the work environment has been designed. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the domains of the questionnaire have been measured, and the factorial structure has been explored, from the answers of 113 employees.

Results

The internal consistency is high (0.94), as well as the correlation for the total score (0.84). Three factors are identified accounting for 61.6% of the total variance.

Discussion

The questionnaire can be a useful tool in improving intervention methods.

Impact on Industry

The expectation is that the tool can be useful, particularly with the aim of improving efficiency of companies' investments for work environment improvements.     

Temporal trends in opportunistic citizen science reports across multiple taxa

Opportunistic reporting of species observations to online platforms provide one of the most extensive sources of information about the distribution and status of organisms in the wild. The lack of a clear sampling design, and changes in reporting over time, leads to challenges when analysing these data for temporal change in organisms. To better understand temporal changes in reporting, we use records submitted to an online platform in Sweden (Artportalen), currently containing 80 million records. Focussing on five taxonomic groups, fungi, plants, beetles, butterflies and birds, we decompose change in reporting into long-term and seasonal trends, and effects of weekdays, holidays and weather variables. The large surge in number of records since the launch of the, initially taxa-specific, portals is accompanied by non-trivial long-term and seasonal changes that differ between the taxonomic groups and are likely due to changes in, and differences between, the user communities and observer behaviour. Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01550-w.     

The role of perceived government style in the facilitation of self-determined and non self-determined motivation for pro-environmental behavior

Most North Americans are concerned about the environment and feel that responsibility for its protection lies primarily with government; however, no research to date has examined the influence of the government's approach toward environmental regulation on the motivation of individual citizens. According to self-determination theory, social contexts that support one's autonomy should facilitate self-determined motivation and social contexts that thwart autonomy should lead to non self-determined motivation and a sense of apathy or amotivation. In this study (n = 283), we examined the influence of perceptions of the government's approach toward environmental regulation on motivation toward the environment and frequency of self-reported pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Using structural equation modeling, we tested the hypothesis that frequency of PEB is predicted by motivation toward the environment and that motivation is predicted by the extent to which individuals perceive the government to be autonomy-supportive versus controlling in the implementation of environmental policies. The analysis revealed that perception of government autonomy-support contributed positively to autonomous motivation and negatively to amotivation, while perception of government control was positively related to both controlled motivation and amotivation. As predicted, autonomous motivation was positively, and amotivation was negatively, associated with frequency of PEB.     

Psychosocial drivers of land management behaviour: How threats,norms, and context influence deforestation intentions

Understanding how private landholders make deforestation decisions is of paramount importance for conservation. Behavioural frameworks from the social sciences have a lot to offer researchers and practitioners, yet these insights remain underutilised in describing what drives landholders’ deforestation intentions under important political, social, and management contexts. Using survey data of private landholders in Queensland, Australia, we compare the ability of two popular behavioural models to predict future deforestation intentions, and propose a more integrated behavioural model of deforestation intentions. We found that the integrated model outperformed other models, revealing the importance of threat perceptions, attitudes, and social norms for predicting landholders’ deforestation intentions. Social capital, policy uncertainty, and years of experience are important contextual moderators of these psychological factors. We conclude with recommendations for promoting behaviour change in this deforestation hotspot and highlight how others can adopt similar approaches to illuminate more proximate drivers of environmental behaviours in other contexts.Supplementary informationThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01491-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Variation in homeward orientation performance in the sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa): effects of sex and reproductive period

Sleepy lizards are monogamous skinks which show high pair fidelity. This study reveals inter- and intrasexual differences in homeward orientation performance in this lizard. Male and female lizards were displaced during three phases of the spring activity period, the pre-pairing, pairing/mating, and post-pairing periods. All groups (with the exception of post-pairing males) were significantly oriented homewards, but males were significantly better oriented towards home than females during the pairing period. Furthermore, males were significantly better homeward oriented during the pre-pairing and pairing periods than in the post-pairing period. Similar results were observed for rate of movement away from the release site. In sleepy lizards, sex-based differences in homing behaviour are unlikely to be attributable to differences in the area of familiarity, or availability of orientation mechanisms. However differences in homing motivation may explain these differences. Males may miss mating if absent from the home range during the pre-pairing and pairing periods, while females may still be able to obtain a mating even when absent. Females however may be more motivated than males to return to the familiar home range during the post-pairing period to ensure efficient feeding during internal embryo development. Received: 16 February 1998 / Accepted after revision: 28 March 1998     

The effect of first aid training on Australian construction workers' occupational health and safety motivation and risk control behavior

METHOD: A 24-week experiment was conducted to assess how first aid training affects the motivation of small business construction industry employees in avoiding occupational injuries and illnesses and its effect on their occupational health and safety behavior. A simplified multiple baseline design across workplace settings was used to evaluate the effects of first aid training. Participants' motivation to control occupational safety and health risks was explored during in-depth interviews before and after receipt of first aid training. Objective measurement of occupational safety and health behavior was conducted by a researcher directly observing the workplace before and after participants received first aid training. RESULTS: The observations at participants' worksites suggested that, for the most part, the first aid training had a positive effect on the occupational safety and health behavior of participants. First aid training appeared to reduce participants' "self--other" bias, making them more aware that their own experience of occupational safety and health risks is not beyond their control but that their own behavior is an important factor in the avoidance of occupational injury and illness. First aid training also appeared to reduce participants' willingness to accept prevailing levels of occupational safety and health risk and increase the perceived probability that they would suffer a work-related injury or illness. Participants expressed greater concern about taking risks at work after receiving first aid training. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: It appears that first aid training enhances participants' motivation to avoid occupational injuries and illnesses and improves their risk control behavior. The implications of this are that first aid training can have a positive preventive effect and could complement traditional occupational health and safety training programs. As such, there may be benefit in providing first aid training to all employees rather than limiting this training to a small number of designated "first aiders."