WorldWideScience

Sample records for radiogrammetry normative reference

  1. A new implementation of digital X-ray radiogrammetry and reference curves of four indices of cortical bone for healthy European adults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thodberg, Hans Henrik; Böttcher, Joachim; Lomholt, Jens

    2016-01-01

    UNLABELLED: Digital X-ray radiogrammetry performs measurements on a hand radiograph in digital form. We present an improved implementation of the method and provide reference curves for four indices for the amount of bone. We collected 1662 hand radiographs of healthy subjects of age 9-100 years....... PURPOSE: The digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) method has been shown to be efficient for diagnosis of osteoporosis and for assessment of progression of rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of this work is to present a new DXR implementation and reference curves of four indices of cortical bone and to compare...... their relative SDs in healthy subjects at fixed age and gender. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1662 hand radiographs of healthy subjects of age 9-100 years were collected in Jena in 2001-2005. We also used a longitudinal study of 116 Danish children born in 1952 with on average 11 images taken over the age...

  2. Metacarpal index by digital X-ray radiogrammetry: normative reference values and comparison with dual X-ray absorptiometry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hyldstrup, Lars; Nielsen, S P

    2001-01-01

    for precise and accurate measurements of MCI (DXR-MCI). We hypothesized that DXR-MCI in contrast to projected areal bone mineral density (BMD) (DXA-BMD) is independent of bone size and studied 384 normal women by measuring DXR-MCI and DXA-BMD of the lumbar spine, hip, and distal radius. A normative MCI...

  3. Automated radiogrammetry is a feasible method for measuring bone quality and bone maturation in severely disabled children

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mergler, Sandra; Man, Stella A. de; Boot, Annemieke M.; Heus, Karen G.C.B.B.; Huijbers, Wim A.R.; Rijn, Rick R. van; Penning, Corine; Evenhuis, Heleen M.

    2016-01-01

    Children with severe neurological impairment and intellectual disability are prone to low bone quality and fractures. We studied the feasibility of automated radiogrammetry in assessing bone quality in this specific group of children. We measured outcome of bone quality and, because these children tend to have altered skeletal maturation, we also studied bone age. We used hand radiographs obtained in 95 children (mean age 11.4 years) presenting at outpatient paediatric clinics. We used BoneXpert software to determine bone quality, expressed as paediatric bone index and bone age. Regarding feasibility, we successfully obtained a paediatric bone index in 60 children (63.2%). The results on bone quality showed a mean paediatric bone index standard deviation score of -1.85, significantly lower than that of healthy peers (P < 0.0001). Almost 50% of the children had severely diminished bone quality. In 64% of the children bone age diverged more than 1 year from chronological age. This mostly concerned delayed bone maturation. Automated radiogrammetry is feasible for evaluating bone quality in children who have disabilities but not severe contractures. Bone quality in these children is severely diminished. Because bone maturation frequently deviated from chronological age, we recommend comparison to bone-age-related reference values. (orig.)

  4. Automated radiogrammetry is a feasible method for measuring bone quality and bone maturation in severely disabled children

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mergler, Sandra [Erasmus MC, Department of General Practice and Intellectual Disability Medicine, University Medical Centre, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Care and Service Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Medical Department ASVZ, Sliedrecht (Netherlands); Man, Stella A. de [Amphia Hospital, Department of Paediatrics, Breda (Netherlands); Boot, Annemieke M. [University of Groningen, Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Heus, Karen G.C.B.B. [Erasmus MC, Department of General Paediatrics, Sophia Children' s Hospital, University Medical Centre, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Huijbers, Wim A.R. [Beatrix Hospital, Department of Paediatrics, Gorinchem (Netherlands); Rijn, Rick R. van [Emma Children' s Hospital/Academic Medical Centre, Department of Radiology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Penning, Corine; Evenhuis, Heleen M. [Erasmus MC, Department of General Practice and Intellectual Disability Medicine, University Medical Centre, Rotterdam (Netherlands)

    2016-06-15

    Children with severe neurological impairment and intellectual disability are prone to low bone quality and fractures. We studied the feasibility of automated radiogrammetry in assessing bone quality in this specific group of children. We measured outcome of bone quality and, because these children tend to have altered skeletal maturation, we also studied bone age. We used hand radiographs obtained in 95 children (mean age 11.4 years) presenting at outpatient paediatric clinics. We used BoneXpert software to determine bone quality, expressed as paediatric bone index and bone age. Regarding feasibility, we successfully obtained a paediatric bone index in 60 children (63.2%). The results on bone quality showed a mean paediatric bone index standard deviation score of -1.85, significantly lower than that of healthy peers (P < 0.0001). Almost 50% of the children had severely diminished bone quality. In 64% of the children bone age diverged more than 1 year from chronological age. This mostly concerned delayed bone maturation. Automated radiogrammetry is feasible for evaluating bone quality in children who have disabilities but not severe contractures. Bone quality in these children is severely diminished. Because bone maturation frequently deviated from chronological age, we recommend comparison to bone-age-related reference values. (orig.)

  5. Optimizing personalized normative feedback: the use of gender-specific referents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Melissa A; Neighbors, Clayton

    2007-03-01

    Many brief interventions include personalized normative feedback (PNF) using gender-specific or gender-neutral referents. Several theories suggest that information pertaining to more socially proximal referents should have greater influence on one's behavior compared with more socially distal referents. The current research evaluated whether gender specificity of the normative referent employed in PNF related to intervention efficacy. Following baseline assessment, 185 college students (45.2% women) were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: gender-specific feedback, gender-neutral feedback, or assessment-only control. Immediately after completing measures of perceived norms, alcohol consumption, and gender identity, participants in the gender-neutral and gender-specific intervention conditions were provided with computerized information detailing their own drinking behavior, their perceptions of student drinking, and actual student drinking. After a 1-month follow-up, the results indicated that normative feedback was effective in changing perceived norms and reducing alcohol consumption for both intervention groups for women and men. The results provide support, however, for changes in perceived gender-specific norms as a mediator of the effects of normative feedback on reduced drinking behavior for women only. Additionally, gender-specific feedback was found to be more effective for women higher in gender identity, relative to the gender-neutral feedback. A post-assessment follow-up telephone survey administered to assess potential demand characteristics corroborated the intervention effects. Results extend previous research documenting efficacy of computer delivered PNF. Gender specificity and gender identity appear to be important elements to consider for PNF intervention efficacy for women.

  6. Automated radiogrammetry is a feasible method for measuring bone quality and bone maturation in severely disabled children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mergler, Sandra; de Man, Stella A.; Boot, Annemieke M; Bindels-de Heus, Karen G. C. B.; Huijbers, Wim A. R.; van Rijn, Rick R.; Penning, Corine; Evenhuis, Heleen M.

    Children with severe neurological impairment and intellectual disability are prone to low bone quality and fractures. We studied the feasibility of automated radiogrammetry in assessing bone quality in this specific group of children. We measured outcome of bone quality and, because these children

  7. Direct X-ray radiogrammetry versus dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: assessment of bone density in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and growth hormone deficiency

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Rijn, Rick R.; Boot, Annemieke; Wittenberg, Rianne; van der Sluis, Inge M.; van den Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M.; Lequin, Maarten H.; de MuinckKeizer-Schrama, Sabine M. P. F.; van Kuijk, Cornelis

    2006-01-01

    BACKGROUND: In recent years interest in bone densitometry in children has increased. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical application of digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) and compare the results with those of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 41 children with

  8. Development of a simple driving simulator and determination of the reference range of normative performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Noriaki; Saeki, Satoru; Okazaki, Tetsuya; Matsunaga, Katsuya; Hachisuka, Kenji

    2018-01-01

    To establish the reference range for assessment items of the 'Simple Driving Simulator' (SiDS) in a normative population and to compare performance of age-matched young adults with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to this reference data. Normative ranges were calculated from the data of 445 participants in the control group. Three performance ranges were established: 'normal', 'borderline' and 'impaired' defined using standard deviation cutoff values in the control group. The performance of 28 patients with a TBI, aged 18-35 years, was evaluated. The performance score for the TBI group in the 'impaired range' was calculated for each test item and used to make a synthetic judgment regarding the clinical value of the SiDS. In the control group, only 0.6% of the participants exhibited a performance in the impaired range on >2 items, compared to 33.2% for the TBI group. We provide evidence that impaired performance on ≤2 items of the SiDS provides a sensitive criterion of 'driving fitness' in young adults after a TBI.

  9. Normative Reference Values for Handgrip Strength in Colombian Schoolchildren: The FUPRECOL Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramírez-Vélez, Robinson; Morales, Olimpo; Peña-Ibagon, Jhonatan C; Palacios-López, Adalberto; Prieto-Benavides, Daniel H; Vivas, Andrés; Correa-Bautista, Jorge E; Lobelo, Felipe; Alonso-Martínez, Alicia M; Izquierdo, Mikel

    2017-01-01

    Ramírez-Vélez, R, Morales, O, Peña-Ibagon, JC, Palacios-López, A, Prieto-Benavides, DH, Vivas, A, Correa-Bautista, JE, Lobelo, F, Alonso-Martínez, AM, and Izquierdo, M. Normative reference values for handgrip strength in Colombian schoolchildren: the FUPRECOL study. J Strength Cond Res 31(1): 217-226, 2017-The primary aim of this study was to generate normative handgrip (HG) strength data for 10 to 17.9 year olds. The secondary aim was to determine the relative proportion of Colombian children and adolescents that fall into established Health Benefit Zones (HBZ). This cross-sectional study enrolled 7,268 schoolchildren (boys n = 3,129 and girls n = 4,139, age 12.7 [2.4] years). Handgrip was measured using a hand dynamometer with an adjustable grip. Five HBZs (Needs Improvement, Fair, Good, Very Good, and Excellent) have been established that correspond to combined HG. Centile smoothed curves, percentile, and tables for the third, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 97th percentile were calculated using Cole's LMS method. Handgrip peaked in the sample at 22.2 (8.9) kg in boys and 18.5 (5.5) kg in girls. The increase in HG was greater for boys than for girls, but the peak HG was lower in girls than in boys. The HBZ data indicated that a higher overall percentage of boys than girls at each age group fell into the "Needs Improvement" zone, with differences particularly pronounced during adolescence. Our results provide, for the first time, sex- and age-specific HG reference standards for Colombian schoolchildren aged 9-17.9 years.

  10. Digital X-ray radiogrammetry better identifies osteoarthritis patients with a low bone mineral density than quantitative ultrasound

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goerres, Gerhard W. [University Hospital Zurich, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, Department of Medical Radiology, Zurich (Switzerland); University Hospital Zurich, Osteoporosis Center, Zurich (Switzerland); Frey, Diana; Studer, Annina; Hauser, Dagmar; Zilic, Nathalie [University Hospital Zurich, Osteoporosis Center, Zurich (Switzerland); Hany, Thomas F. [University Hospital Zurich, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Medical Radiology, Zurich (Switzerland); Seifert, Burkhardt [University of Zurich, Department of Biostatistics, Zurich (Switzerland); Haeuselmann, Hans J. [Center for Rheumatology and Bone Disease, Klinik im Park, Zurich (Switzerland); Michel, Beat A.; Uebelhart, Daniel [University Hospital Zurich, Osteoporosis Center, Zurich (Switzerland); University Hospital Zurich, Department of Rheumatology and Institute of Physical Medicine, Zurich (Switzerland); Hans, Didier [University Hospital Geneva, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Geneva (Switzerland)

    2007-04-15

    This study assessed the ability of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) to identify osteopenia and osteoporosis in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). One hundred and sixty-one patients with painful knee OA (81 men, 80 women; age 62.6{+-}9.2 years, range 40-82 years) were included in this cross-sectional study and underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of both hips and the lumbar spine, QUS of the phalanges and calcanei of both hands and heels, and DXR using radiographs of both hands. Unpaired t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, ROC analysis and Spearman's rank correlation were used for comparisons and correlation of methods. Using DXA as the reference standard, we defined a low bone mineral density (BMD) as a T-score {<=}-1.0 at the lumbar spine or proximal femur. In contrast to phalangeal or calcaneal QUS, DXR was able to discriminate patients with a low BMD at the lumbar spine (p<0.0001) or hips (p<0.0001). ROC analysis showed that DXR had an acceptable predictive power in identifying OA patients a low hip BMD (sensitivity 70%, specificity 71%). Therefore, DXR used as a screening tool could help in identifying patients with knee OA for DXA. (orig.)

  11. Long-term in-vitro precision of direct digital X-ray radiogrammetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dhainaut, Alvilde; Hoff, Mari; Kaelvesten, Johan; Lydersen, Stian; Forslind, Kristina; Haugeberg, Glenn

    2011-01-01

    Digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) calculates peripheral bone mineral density (BMD) from hand radiographs. The short-term precision for direct DXR has been reported to be highly satisfactory. However, long-term precision for this method has not been examined. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the long-term in-vitro precision for the new direct digital version of DXR. The in-vitro precision for direct DXR was tested with cadaver phantoms on four different X-ray systems at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, and in one machine also at 12 months. At each time point, 31 measurements were performed. The in-vitro longitudinal precision for the four radiographic systems ranged from 0.22 to 0.43% expressed as coefficient of variation (CV%). The smallest detectable difference (SDD) ranged from 0.0034 to 0.0054 g/cm 2 . The in vitro long-term precision for direct DXR was comparable to the previous reported short-term in-vitro precision for all tested X-ray systems. These data show that DXR is a stable method for detecting small changes in bone density during 6-12 months of follow-up. (orig.)

  12. Normative influence on condom use in the personal networks of female cocaine smokers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard, A J; Bell, D C; Montoya, I D

    2000-08-01

    Attitudes-norms research (the theories of planned behavior and reasoned action) has been successful in accounting for many types of behavior change. One of the strengths of this approach has been to combine individual beliefs and normative influences in the explanation of behavior change. However, the conceptualization of normative influence in these theories makes very strong assumptions about self-awareness in the selection of normative referents. These assumptions are particularly problematic when applied to female cocaine smokers, who report frequent sex while under duress or while cognitively impaired. In this study the original conceptualization of normative influence and two alternatives (assuming emotion-based and interaction-based selection of normative referents) are operationalized to evaluate stage of change for condom use among women who are heavy crack cocaine users with multiple sex partners. Results show that stage of change for use of condoms with nonmain partners is best accounted for by interaction-based selection of normative referents.

  13. Evaluation of bone-mineral density by digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) in pediatric renal transplant recipients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mentzel, Hans-J.; Boettcher, Joachim; Malich, Ansgar; Pfeil, Alexander; Kaiser, Werner A.; John, Ulrike; Misselwitz, Joachim; Vollandt, Ruediger

    2005-01-01

    Loss of bone mass and increased fracture risk are known complications after renal transplantation in adults. Risk factors include donor source, dialysis status prior to transplantation, aetiology of renal disease, transplant rejection and drug therapy, particularly steroids. In this preliminary study of quantification of bone loss in children after renal transplantation, we evaluated the applicability of digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) of hand radiographs to estimate cortical bone mineral density (DXR-BMD). A total of 23 renal transplant recipients (9 girls, 14 boys; age 6.5-20 years, median 16.3 years) underwent DXR measurements for calculation of DXR-BMD and metacarpal index (DXR-MCI) using radiographs of the non-dominant left hand. The duration between transplantation and the DXR evaluation, the duration of dialysis and medication were considered. The results were compared to a local age-matched and gender-matched reference data base. Our study revealed a significant decrease in bone mineral density compared to an age-matched and sex-matched normal population (P<0.05). In three patients the DXR-BMD was reduced more than -2.5 SD. In 12 patients the DXR-BMD was between -1 and -2.5 SD, and in 7 patients the DXR-BMD was in the normal range. In one patient, evaluation was not possible. Fractures were documented in three patients following transplantation. Reduced DXR-BMD was not significantly associated with immunosuppressive therapy or the duration of dialysis, and there was no significant correlation between DXR-BMD and the time between transplantation and DXR evaluation. (orig.)

  14. Evaluation of bone-mineral density by digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) in pediatric renal transplant recipients

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mentzel, Hans-J.; Boettcher, Joachim; Malich, Ansgar; Pfeil, Alexander; Kaiser, Werner A. [Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Jena (Germany); John, Ulrike; Misselwitz, Joachim [Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Jena (Germany); Vollandt, Ruediger [Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Institute of Medical Statistics, Computer Sciences and Documentation, Jena (Germany)

    2005-05-01

    Loss of bone mass and increased fracture risk are known complications after renal transplantation in adults. Risk factors include donor source, dialysis status prior to transplantation, aetiology of renal disease, transplant rejection and drug therapy, particularly steroids. In this preliminary study of quantification of bone loss in children after renal transplantation, we evaluated the applicability of digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) of hand radiographs to estimate cortical bone mineral density (DXR-BMD). A total of 23 renal transplant recipients (9 girls, 14 boys; age 6.5-20 years, median 16.3 years) underwent DXR measurements for calculation of DXR-BMD and metacarpal index (DXR-MCI) using radiographs of the non-dominant left hand. The duration between transplantation and the DXR evaluation, the duration of dialysis and medication were considered. The results were compared to a local age-matched and gender-matched reference data base. Our study revealed a significant decrease in bone mineral density compared to an age-matched and sex-matched normal population (P<0.05). In three patients the DXR-BMD was reduced more than -2.5 SD. In 12 patients the DXR-BMD was between -1 and -2.5 SD, and in 7 patients the DXR-BMD was in the normal range. In one patient, evaluation was not possible. Fractures were documented in three patients following transplantation. Reduced DXR-BMD was not significantly associated with immunosuppressive therapy or the duration of dialysis, and there was no significant correlation between DXR-BMD and the time between transplantation and DXR evaluation. (orig.)

  15. Sport concussion assessment tool-Third edition normative reference values for professional Rugby Union players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuller, G W; Govind, O; Tucker, R; Raftery, M

    2018-04-01

    To establish normative reference data for the SCAT3 in professional Rugby Union players. A cross sectional study in professional Rugby Union players competing in national and international professional competitions between 2015 and 2016. The SCAT3 was administered pre-season or prior to tournaments. Data was collected electronically using a custom tablet application. SCAT3 subcomponents distributions were described and normative ranges determined using percentile cut-offs for average, unusually low/high, and extremely low/high scores. The association between player characteristics and performance in SCAT3 subcomponents was also investigated in exploratory analyses. A total of 3611 professional Rugby Union players were included. The most common baseline symptom was fatigue (14%). The symptom score median (md) was 0 (interquartile range (IQR)=0-1). Symptom severity md was 0 (IQR=0-1). The md of the SAC score was 28 (IQR=26-29). The md of the MBESS was 2 (IQR=0-4). The Tandem gait md was 11.1s (IQR=10.0-12.7s). Upper limb coordination was normal in 98.4%. Younger age and lower educational level were associated with worse performance on delayed recall and reverse month sub-components of the SCAT3 (pRugby Union players are provided. Baseline performance on concentration and delayed recall tests may be lower in younger athletes or in those with lower educational level. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  16. New Normative Database of Inner Macular Layer Thickness Measured by Spectralis OCT Used as Reference Standard for Glaucoma Detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nieves-Moreno, María; Martínez-de-la-Casa, José M; Bambo, María P; Morales-Fernández, Laura; Van Keer, Karel; Vandewalle, Evelien; Stalmans, Ingeborg; García-Feijoó, Julián

    2018-02-01

    This study examines the capacity to detect glaucoma of inner macular layer thickness measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) using a new normative database as the reference standard. Participants ( N = 148) were recruited from Leuven (Belgium) and Zaragoza (Spain): 74 patients with early/moderate glaucoma and 74 age-matched healthy controls. One eye was randomly selected for a macular scan using the Spectralis SD-OCT. The variables measured with the instrument's segmentation software were: macular nerve fiber layer (mRNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), and inner plexiform layer (IPL) volume and thickness along with circumpapillary RNFL thickness (cpRNFL). The new normative database of macular variables was used to define the cutoff of normality as the fifth percentile by age group. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of each macular measurement and of cpRNFL were used to distinguish between patients and controls. Overall sensitivity and specificity to detect early-moderate glaucoma were 42.2% and 88.9% for mRNFL, 42.4% and 95.6% for GCL, 42.2% and 94.5% for IPL, and 53% and 94.6% for RNFL, respectively. The best macular variable to discriminate between the two groups of subjects was outer temporal GCL thickness as indicated by an AUROC of 0.903. This variable performed similarly to mean cpRNFL thickness (AUROC = 0.845; P = 0.29). Using our normative database as reference, the diagnostic power of inner macular layer thickness proved comparable to that of peripapillary RNFL thickness. Spectralis SD-OCT, cpRNFL thickness, and individual macular inner layer thicknesses show comparable diagnostic capacity for glaucoma and RNFL, GCL, and IPL thickness may be useful as an alternative diagnostic test when the measure of cpRNFL shows artifacts.

  17. Normative Power

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    's normative power than any other academic journal, including a special issue on "What Kind of Power?" in 2006. As the leading journal in the debate, this special issue brings together seven normative power articles published in JEPP since the 2006 special issue, together with Ian Manners' ‘Normative power......The social sciences have many different understandings of ‘normative power', but in European Union (EU) studies normative power has three particular meanings. The first meaning of normative power is its emphasis on normative theory, that is, how we judge and justify truth claims in social science...... effects of EU relations with the world in areas ranging from inter-regional relations, through traditional diplomacy, to environmental politics. Research areas of particular interest include the study of the interplay between physical, material and normative forms of power, as well as the constitutive...

  18. Metacarpal index by digital X-ray radiogrammetry: normative reference values and comparison with dual X-ray absorptiometry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hyldstrup, Lars; Nielsen, S P

    2001-01-01

    Metacarpal index (MCI), the combined cortical midmetacarpal thickness divided by the outer mid-metacarpal diameter, fell into oblivion when dual photon absorptiometry was introduced a quarter of a century ago. Modern PC-based digital X-ray diameter measurements offers a unique opportunity...

  19. The impact of technical conditions of X-ray imaging on reproducibility and precision of digital computer-assisted X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malich, A.; Boettcher, J.; Pfeil, A.; Sauner, D.; Heyne, J.P.; Petrovitch, A.; Hansch, A.; Kaiser, W.A.; Linss, W.

    2004-01-01

    To evaluate the reproducibility of imaging and analysis for bone mineral density (BMD) determination using digital computer-assisted X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR; Pronosco X-posure, version V.2, Sectra Pronosco, Denmark); to verify potential factors that influence BMD extrapolation such as tube voltage, film-focus distance (FFD), film quality and brand (Kodak T-MAT-Plus, Konika SRH, Agfa Scopix), imaging technology (conventional, digital), imaging system (Kodak, Agfa) and exposure level (mAs); and to clarify whether DXR analysis based on printouts of digital images is comparable to analysis of conventional images. The hand of a cadaver was X-rayed using varied parameters: 4-8 mAs, 40-52 kV, 90-130 cm FFD. Radiographs under standardised conditions were performed 10 times using a conventional machine (Philips Super 80 CP) and the printouts of a digital system (Digital Diagnost Philips Optimus) for the analysis of reproducibility. One image was scanned and analysed 10 times additionally for imaging reproducibility. Reliability error of the system for the imaging process using conventional radiographs-rays was 0.49% (standard conditions: 6 mAs, 40 kV, 1 m FFD), using printouts of digital images was 2.89% (4 mAs, 42 kV, 1 m FFD) and regarding the analysis process was 0.22%. BMD calculation is not affected by alterations in FFD (precision error 1.21%), mAs (0.83%) or film quality/brand (0.38%), but differs significantly depending on tube voltage (2.70%). The system was not able to analyse conventional images with tube voltages of 49/52 kV. DXR technology is stable with most of the tested parameters. Normative data should exclusively be used for calculations using similar tube voltage or correction factors. All other parameters had no significant influence on the BMD calculation. Reproducibility is high. For technical reasons it is not recommended to use the printouts of digital images for BMD determination. (orig.)

  20. Relations between normative beliefs and initiation intentions toward cigarette, alcohol and marijuana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olds, R Scott; Thombs, Dennis L; Tomasek, Jennifer Ray

    2005-07-01

    To examine the relations between normative beliefs and intentions to initiate cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use among adolescents reporting no prior use. An anonymous questionnaire was administered to 6,594 seventh- to twelfth-grade students in northeast Ohio. Separate analyses were conducted on sub-samples of respondents reporting no prior use of each substance. Within each of these 3 sub-samples, respondents were classified as holding high-risk intentions if they reported that they intended to begin using that particular substance within the next 6 months or were "not sure" of their intentions. Those reporting that they did not intend to start using a substance were classified as holding low-risk intentions. Multivariate logistic regression analyses examined the relations between normative beliefs and intention status (low- vs. high-risk), while accounting for socio-demographic characteristics. Across all 3 substances, normative beliefs were stronger predictors of intention status than socio-demographic variables. Higher levels of perceived acceptability and perceived prevalence were associated with holding high-risk intentions. Normative belief measures assessing close friend and sibling reference groups were much more important in explaining intention status than those assessing other reference groups (e.g., same age peers). Among adolescents with no prior use, normative beliefs concerning close friends and siblings may play an important role in the catalysis and support of intentions to initiate substance use. These findings challenge the utility of primary prevention strategies that provide normative feedback based on rates of substance use among distal reference groups.

  1. Normative Bone Mineral Density values in Isfahani women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z Sayed Bonakdar

    2005-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: The correct interpretation of bone mineral density (BMDmeasurement by dual energy x ray absorptiometry(DEXA requires a population specific reference range. We collected data on age 20-35 years to obtain reference values of BMD for Isfahani women in order to make a population specific diagnosis of osteoporosis. Methods: In 660 healthy Isfahani women Volunteers (20-35 years without illness, use of drugs or predisposing conditions to osteoporosis, the BMD (gr/cm² of lumbar spine and non-dominant femur was measured by lunar DPX –IQ machine. Results: The mean BMD and its standard deviations at each site were calculated and compared with normative data from Caucasian US/North European women. No significant differences were detected between them. Conclusions: Bone mineral density measurements of these 660 healthy Isfahani women can serve as a reference guide for the diagnosis of osteoporosis in Isfahani women. Key words: Bone Mineral Density, Osteoporosis, Normative data, DEXA

  2. Bone loss in unclassified polyarthritis and early rheumatoid arthritis is better detected by digital x ray radiogrammetry than dual x ray absorptiometry: relationship with disease activity and radiographic outcome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, T; Klarlund, Mette; Hansen, M

    2004-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To compare changes in regional bone mineral density (BMD) of the metacarpal joints measured by dual x ray absorptiometry (DXA) and digital x ray radiogrammetry (DXR) in relation to disease activity and radiographic outcome in a two year follow up study of patients with early RA...... polyarthritis. The patients with RA were divided into groups according to mean disease activity, average glucocorticoid dose, and MRI and x ray detected bone erosions in the hands. Clinical and biochemical measurements were made every month and an x ray examination of the hands and BMD of the metacarpal joints...

  3. Five Elements of Normative Ethics - A General Theory of Normative Individualism

    OpenAIRE

    Pfordten, Dietmar

    2012-01-01

    The article tries to inquire a third way in normative ethics between consequentialism or utilitarianism and deontology or Kantianism. To find such a third way in normative ethics, one has to analyze the elements of these classical theories and to look if they are justified. In this article it is argued that an adequate normative ethics has to contain the following five elements: (1) normative individualism, i. e., the view that in the last instance moral norms and values can only be justified...

  4. Empirical research in medical ethics: How conceptual accounts on normative-empirical collaboration may improve research practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background The methodology of medical ethics during the last few decades has shifted from a predominant use of normative-philosophical analyses to an increasing involvement of empirical methods. The articles which have been published in the course of this so-called 'empirical turn' can be divided into conceptual accounts of empirical-normative collaboration and studies which use socio-empirical methods to investigate ethically relevant issues in concrete social contexts. Discussion A considered reference to normative research questions can be expected from good quality empirical research in medical ethics. However, a significant proportion of empirical studies currently published in medical ethics lacks such linkage between the empirical research and the normative analysis. In the first part of this paper, we will outline two typical shortcomings of empirical studies in medical ethics with regard to a link between normative questions and empirical data: (1) The complete lack of normative analysis, and (2) cryptonormativity and a missing account with regard to the relationship between 'is' and 'ought' statements. Subsequently, two selected concepts of empirical-normative collaboration will be presented and how these concepts may contribute to improve the linkage between normative and empirical aspects of empirical research in medical ethics will be demonstrated. Based on our analysis, as well as our own practical experience with empirical research in medical ethics, we conclude with a sketch of concrete suggestions for the conduct of empirical research in medical ethics. Summary High quality empirical research in medical ethics is in need of a considered reference to normative analysis. In this paper, we demonstrate how conceptual approaches of empirical-normative collaboration can enhance empirical research in medical ethics with regard to the link between empirical research and normative analysis. PMID:22500496

  5. Inviting complementary perspectives on situated normativity in everyday life

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klaassen, P.; Rietveld, E.; Topal, J.

    In everyday life, situations in which we act adequately yet entirely without deliberation are ubiquitous. We use the term “situated normativity” for the normative aspect of embodied cognition in skillful action. Wittgenstein’s notion of “directed discontent” refers to a context-sensitive reaction of

  6. Normative interpretations of diversity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lægaard, Sune

    2009-01-01

    Normative interpretations of particular cases consist of normative principles or values coupled with social theoretical accounts of the empirical facts of the case. The article reviews the most prominent normative interpretations of the Muhammad cartoons controversy over the publication of drawings...... of the Prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The controversy was seen as a case of freedom of expression, toleration, racism, (in)civility and (dis)respect, and the article notes different understandings of these principles and how the application of them to the controversy implied different...... social theoretical accounts of the case. In disagreements between different normative interpretations, appeals are often made to the ‘context', so it is also considered what roles ‘context' might play in debates over normative interpretations...

  7. The ethics of normative power

    OpenAIRE

    Beiniks, Stacia

    2015-01-01

    peer-reviewed The question addressed by this research is; how can the concept of normative power be morally evaluated? In general terms, normative power is thought to be an ability or disposition, where A has normative power when it is able to diffuse through communicative acts a norm n to B. However, prevailing theories also assume that all uses of normative power are justified, and that this is dependent on the norm promoted being defined as valid. This alters the definition of normative...

  8. [Normative dimensions of nursing practice--the ethical relevance of the body].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remmers, H

    1997-10-01

    A combination of preliminary considerations concerning a theory of action and a philosophy of science illustrates the determining influence of the scientific preconception of the subject matter, and of the approach which is presupposed by this preconception, on the normative orientation of nursing practice. The specific physical nearness involved in nursing practice ("body to body") holds problems with regard to an appropriate theoretical frame of reference and corresponding practical convictions. This background provides the context for a concluding critical examination of several representative nursing theories with regard to their implicit, normative premises.

  9. The relationship of proximal normative beliefs and global subjective norms to college students' alcohol consumption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maddock, Jay; Glanz, Karen

    2005-02-01

    Heavy drinking among college students is a major concern across the country. Several studies have shown that students tend to overestimate the alcohol consumption of students, in general (global social norms), and of their close friends (proximal normative beliefs). Research has also shown that beliefs about others' alcohol consumption is strongly related to alcohol use. We hypothesized that normative beliefs about important referent individuals would mediate the relationship between campus social norms and alcohol consumption. A survey of alcohol use and related variables was completed by 433 university students. Multiple regression was used to examine the mediational role of normative beliefs on social norms and alcohol consumption. These analyses indicate that normative beliefs are a significant mediator of the relationship between social norms and alcohol consumption. Normative beliefs accounted for 52-62% of the proportion of variance mediated. Normative beliefs are an important construct in understanding the relationship between social norms and alcohol use among college students and may be an important area for future interventions.

  10. Normative social influence is underdetected.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolan, Jessica M; Schultz, P Wesley; Cialdini, Robert B; Goldstein, Noah J; Griskevicius, Vladas

    2008-07-01

    The present research investigated the persuasive impact and detectability of normative social influence. The first study surveyed 810 Californians about energy conservation and found that descriptive normative beliefs were more predictive of behavior than were other relevant beliefs, even though respondents rated such norms as least important in their conservation decisions. Study 2, a field experiment, showed that normative social influence produced the greatest change in behavior compared to information highlighting other reasons to conserve, even though respondents rated the normative information as least motivating. Results show that normative messages can be a powerful lever of persuasion but that their influence is underdetected.

  11. Co-operatives and Normative Control

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bregn, Kirsten; Jagd, Søren

    1992-01-01

    This paper explores the conditions for applying normative control in co-operatives. For normative control to be effective two conditions are found particularly important: Individuals must be morally involved and the organization must have a system of making it possible to link common norms...... and individual action. If these conditions are not fulfilled, as may be the case in many co-operatives, normative control cannot be expected to work. The problems of normative control in co-operatives may then not be caused by the use of normative control as such, but may instead be a problem of securing...

  12. The de Morton Mobility Index: Normative Data for a Clinically Useful Mobility Instrument

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. M. Macri

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Determining mobility status is an important component of any health assessment for older adults. In order for a mobility measure to be relevant and meaningful, normative data are required for comparison to a healthy reference population. The DEMMI is the first mobility instrument to measure mobility across the spectrum from bed bound to functional levels of independent mobility. In this cross-sectional observational study, normative data were obtained for the DEMMI from a population of 183 healthy, community-dwelling adults age 60+ who resided in Vancouver, Canada and Melbourne, Australia. Older age categories had significantly lower DEMMI mobility mean scores (P<0.05, as did individuals who walked with a mobility aid or lived in semi-independent living (assisted living or retirement village, whereas DEMMI scores did not differ by sex (P=0.49 or reported falls history (P=0.21. Normative data for the DEMMI mobility instrument provides vital reference scores to facilitate its use across the mobility spectrum in clinical, research, and policymaking settings.

  13. Against essential normativity of the mental

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Steglich-Petersen, Asbjørn

    2008-01-01

    A number of authors have recently developed and defended various versions of ‘normative essentialism’ about the mental, i.e. the claim that propositional attitudes are constitutively or essentially governed by normative principles. I present two arguments to the effect that this claim cannot be r...... essentially normative, propositional attitude ascriptions could not support normative rationality judgments, which would remove the central appeal of normative essentialism....

  14. Establishment of age- and sex-adjusted reference data for hand bone mass and investigation of hand bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated in clinical practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ørnbjerg, Lykke Midtbøll; Østergaard, Mikkel; Jensen, Trine

    2016-01-01

    remission (0.0032 vs. 0.0058 g/cm(2)/year; p clinical practice, and only......BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis is characterised by progressive joint destruction and loss of periarticular bone mass. Hand bone loss (HBL) has therefore been proposed as an outcome measure for treatment efficacy. A definition of increased HBL adjusted for age- and sex-related bone loss is lacking....... In this study, we aimed to: 1) establish reference values for normal hand bone mass (bone mineral density measured by digital x-ray radiogrammetry (DXR-BMD)); and 2) examine whether HBL is normalised in rheumatoid arthritis patients during treatment with tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitors (TNFI). METHODS...

  15. ANALYSIS OF THE NORMATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR ENSURING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eva VELIČKOVÁ

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available During the process of electrostatic powder coating in coating booths, there is a probability of the risk of explosion. Compliance with the normative requirements referred to in the legislation in force minimize the hazards associated with the risk of explosion. This article focuses on the analysis of the current security level of coating booths in terms of the risk of explosion in relation to the lower explosive limit of the selected powder paints.

  16. Pudendal and median nerve sensory perception threshold: a comparison between normative studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quaghebeur, Jörgen; Wyndaele, Jean Jacques

    2014-12-01

    For the evaluation of sensory innervation, normative data are necessary as a comparison. To compare our current perception thresholds (CPTs) with normative data from other research. Healthy volunteers were assessed for 2000, 250, and 5 Hz CPTs of the median and pudendal nerve and data were compared with other studies. Normative data in the studied group n = 41 (male: 21; female: 20) for the median nerve, 2 kHz, 250 Hz, and 5 Hz were respectively: 241.85 ± 67.72 (140-444); 106.27 ± 39.12 (45-229); 82.05 ± 43.40 (13-271). Pudendal nerve CPTs 250 Hz were: 126.44 ± 69.46 (6-333). For men 2 kHz: 349.95 ± 125.76 (100-588); 5 Hz: 132.67 ± 51.81 (59-249) and women 2 kHz:226.20 ± 119.65 (64-528); 5 Hz: 92.45 ± 44.66 (35-215). For the median nerve no statistical differences for gender were shown. For the pudendal nerve, only 250 Hz showed no difference for gender (t-test: 0.516). Comparison of our data with CPTs of other normative data showed no agreement for the pudendal nerve. For the median nerve only 2 kHz showed agreement in three studies and for 5 Hz with one study. Comparing normative data of multiple studies shows a variety of results and poor agreement. Therefore, referring to normative data of other studies should be handled with caution.

  17. Non-normative Critique

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Magnus Paulsen

    2016-01-01

    The close ties between modes of governing, subjectivities and critique in contemporary societies challenge the role of critical social research. The classical normative ethos of the unmasking researcher unravelling various oppressive structures of dominant vs. dominated groups in society is inade......The close ties between modes of governing, subjectivities and critique in contemporary societies challenge the role of critical social research. The classical normative ethos of the unmasking researcher unravelling various oppressive structures of dominant vs. dominated groups in society...... outlines a non-normative but critical programme based on an ethos of re-politicizing contemporary pervasive modes of governing. The analytical advantages and limitations of such a programme are demonstrated by readings of both Foucauldian studies and the works of and debates regarding the French pragmatic...

  18. The importance of normative beliefs to the self-prophecy effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sprott, David E; Spangenberg, Eric R; Fisher, Robert

    2003-06-01

    Asking people to predict whether they will undertake a target behavior increases their probability of performing that behavior. Now referred to as the self-prophecy effect, this phenomenon has been demonstrated across several contexts. Although theoretical explanations for the effect have been offered, empirical evidence for proposed accounts is sparse. The current research tests the theoretically relevant precondition for the effect that normative beliefs--evaluations of what is socially desirable or appropriate--underlie manifestation of the self-prophecy effect. Results of 2 experiments for different behaviors indicate that the act of making a prediction is most effective when normative beliefs are strong. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to theoretical explanations for the effect and successful use of self-prophecy to promote socially desirable behaviors.

  19. Normative and counter-normative stress messages and symptom reporting: implications for health promotion and a methodological artefact for stress research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Eamonn; Lawrence, Claire

    2013-05-01

    There is increasing use of counter-normative health messages (i.e., evidence-based health information about cause-effect relationships that run counter to shared normative beliefs, e.g., stress can lead to personal growth). The current studies examine the effect of normative and counter-normative messages about stress on levels of symptom reporting. Predictions are derived from reactance, social comparison, and self-enhancement theories. Two studies focus on the development of the messages, and two experimental studies examine the effect of manipulating normative and counter-normative messages on symptom reports. The final study controls for mere-measurement effects and explores the role of stress process variables (appraisals and coping). Exposure to a normative message (stress causes ill health) results in reduced symptom reporting compared to a counter-normative message (stress provides challenge, growth, and development) and control groups. The results suggest that people may use symptom reporting strategically to indicate coping. Based on the argument that beliefs about stress and health are stored as mental models, the theoretical associations derived from stress theory are only observed when a normative message is presented. Counter-normative stress messages may carry no tangible benefits compared to normative messages. Some stress research may suffer from inherent methodological bias when normative information is provided in information and consent sheets. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? At present, nothing is known about counter-normative health messages, despite the fact that they are becoming widely used as a public intervention. What does this study add? A clear operational definition of counter-normative messages. A test of three competing theories for counter-normative messages that focus of the stress-symptom link. Demonstrating for the first time, that in the domain of stress and health, counter-normative messages

  20. Integrated empirical ethics: loss of normativity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Scheer, Lieke; Widdershoven, Guy

    2004-01-01

    An important discussion in contemporary ethics concerns the relevance of empirical research for ethics. Specifically, two crucial questions pertain, respectively, to the possibility of inferring normative statements from descriptive statements, and to the danger of a loss of normativity if normative statements should be based on empirical research. Here we take part in the debate and defend integrated empirical ethical research: research in which normative guidelines are established on the basis of empirical research and in which the guidelines are empirically evaluated by focusing on observable consequences. We argue that in our concrete example normative statements are not derived from descriptive statements, but are developed within a process of reflection and dialogue that goes on within a specific praxis. Moreover, we show that the distinction in experience between the desirable and the undesirable precludes relativism. The normative guidelines so developed are both critical and normative: they help in choosing the right action and in evaluating that action. Finally, following Aristotle, we plead for a return to the view that morality and ethics are inherently related to one another, and for an acknowledgment of the fact that moral judgments have their origin in experience which is always related to historical and cultural circumstances.

  1. Normative Power Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian

    2009-01-01

    The chapter develops a normative power approach to European studies that can be applied across and beyond its constitutive disciplines in order to interrogate and transgress the ideas and spaces on/of Europe. In four parts the chapter explores the terms ‘normative', ‘power', and ‘Europe', before......' - in order to make sense of ideas of the common good. Part two looks at three different types of power - ‘relational', ‘structural', and ‘normative' - as a means of understanding the power of ideas of the common good. Part three considers three different means of understanding Europe - ‘civilizational......', ‘categorical', and ‘cultural' - to show how the power of ideas of the common good shape our means of comprehending contemporary Europe. Part four attempts to apply the approach to the question of a European counter-terrorist response. This example was chosen because of the challenges it presents...

  2. Direct X-ray radiogrammetry versus dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: assessment of bone density in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and growth hormone deficiency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rijn, Rick R. van; Wittenberg, Rianne [Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam, Department of Radiology, Amsterdam Zuid-Oost (Netherlands); Boot, Annemieke; Sluis, Inge M. van der; MuinckKeizer-Schrama, Sabine M.P.F. de [Erasmus MC-Sophia Children' s Hospital, Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M. van den [Erasmus MC-Sophia Children' s Hospital, Department of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Lequin, Maarten H. [Erasmus MC-Sophia Children' s Hospital, Department of Paediatric Radiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Kuijk, Cornelis Van [University Medical Centre ' Radboud' , Department of Radiology, Nijmegen (Netherlands)

    2006-03-15

    In recent years interest in bone densitometry in children has increased. To evaluate the clinical application of digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) and compare the results with those of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). A total of 41 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and 26 children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) were included in this longitudinal study. Radiographs of the left hand were obtained and used for DXR. DXA of the total body and of the lumbar spine was performed. In both study populations significant correlations between DXR and DXA were found, and, with the exception of the correlation between DXR bone mineral density (DXR-BMD) and bone mineral apparent density in the GHD population, all correlations had a P-value of <0.001. During treatment a change in DXR-BMD was found in children with GHD. Our study showed that DXR in a paediatric population shows a strong correlation with DXA of the lumbar spine and total body and that it is able to detect a change in BMD during treatment. (orig.)

  3. Direct X-ray radiogrammetry versus dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: assessment of bone density in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and growth hormone deficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rijn, Rick R. van; Wittenberg, Rianne; Boot, Annemieke; Sluis, Inge M. van der; MuinckKeizer-Schrama, Sabine M.P.F. de; Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M. van den; Lequin, Maarten H.; Kuijk, Cornelis Van

    2006-01-01

    In recent years interest in bone densitometry in children has increased. To evaluate the clinical application of digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) and compare the results with those of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). A total of 41 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and 26 children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) were included in this longitudinal study. Radiographs of the left hand were obtained and used for DXR. DXA of the total body and of the lumbar spine was performed. In both study populations significant correlations between DXR and DXA were found, and, with the exception of the correlation between DXR bone mineral density (DXR-BMD) and bone mineral apparent density in the GHD population, all correlations had a P-value of <0.001. During treatment a change in DXR-BMD was found in children with GHD. Our study showed that DXR in a paediatric population shows a strong correlation with DXA of the lumbar spine and total body and that it is able to detect a change in BMD during treatment. (orig.)

  4. Dangerous Dogs, Constructivism and Normativity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Allan Dreyer

    2010-01-01

    This article argues that although there is no necessary link between constructivism and particular sets of norms, constructivism opens up a space for normativity and can be articulated through particular normative or political programs. I show how Laclau’s deconstructive constructivism can...

  5. Strong or Weak Handgrip? Normative Reference Values for the German Population across the Life Course Stratified by Sex, Age, and Body Height.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadia Steiber

    Full Text Available Handgrip strength is an important biomarker of healthy ageing and a powerful predictor of future morbidity and mortality both in younger and older populations. Therefore, the measurement of handgrip strength is increasingly used as a simple but efficient screening tool for health vulnerability. This study presents normative reference values for handgrip strength in Germany for use in research and clinical practice. It is the first study to provide normative data across the life course that is stratified by sex, age, and body height. The study used a nationally representative sample of test participants ages 17-90. It was based on pooled data from five waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel (2006-2014 and involved a total of 11,790 persons living in Germany (providing 25,285 observations. Handgrip strength was measured with a Smedley dynamometer. Results showed that peak mean values of handgrip strength are reached in men's and women's 30s and 40s after which handgrip strength declines in linear fashion with age. Following published recommendations, the study used a cut-off at 2 SD below the sex-specific peak mean value across the life course to define a 'weak grip'. Less than 10% of women and men aged 65-69 were classified as weak according to this definition, shares increasing to about half of the population aged 80-90. Based on survival analysis that linked handgrip strength to a relevant outcome, however, a 'critically weak grip' that warrants further examination was estimated to commence already at 1 SD below the group-specific mean value.

  6. Correction and transformation of normative neurophysiological data: is there added value in the diagnosis of distal symmetrical peripheral neuropathy?

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Mchugh, John C

    2012-02-01

    INTRODUCTION: Despite theoretical advantages, the practical impact of mathematical correction of normative electrodiagnostic data is poorly quantified. METHODS: One hundred five healthy volunteers had clinical and neurophysiological assessment. The effects of age, height, gender, weight, and body mass index were explored using stepwise regression modeling. Reference values were derived from raw and adjusted data, which were transformed to allow appropriate use of parametric statistics. The diagnostic accuracy of derived limits was tested in patients at risk of distal symmetric peripheral neuropathy (DSPN) from chemotherapy. RESULTS: The variability of our normative data was reduced by up to 69% through the use of regression modeling, but the overall benefits of mathematical correction were marginal. The most accurate reference limits were established using the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of the raw data. CONCLUSIONS: Stepwise statistical regression and mathematical transformation improve the distribution of normative data, but their practical impact for diagnosis of distal symmetrical polyneuropathy is small.

  7. Normative reference values for the 20 m shuttle‐run test in a population‐based sample of school‐aged youth in Bogota, Colombia: the FUPRECOL study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palacios‐López, Adalberto; Humberto Prieto‐Benavides, Daniel; Enrique Correa‐Bautista, Jorge; Izquierdo, Mikel; Alonso‐Martínez, Alicia; Lobelo, Felipe

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Objectives Our aim was to determine the normative reference values of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and to establish the proportion of subjects with low CRF suggestive of future cardio‐metabolic risk. Methods A total of 7244 children and adolescents attending public schools in Bogota, Colombia (55.7% girls; age range of 9–17.9 years) participated in this study. We expressed CRF performance as the nearest stage (minute) completed and the estimated peak oxygen consumption (V˙O2peak). Smoothed percentile curves were calculated. In addition, we present the prevalence of low CRF after applying a correction factor to account for the impact of Bogota's altitude (2625 m over sea level) on CRF assessment, and we calculated the number of participants who fell below health‐related FITNESSGRAM cut‐points for low CRF. Results Shuttles and V˙O2peak were higher in boys than in girls in all age groups. In boys, there were higher levels of performance with increasing age, with most gains between the ages of 13 and 17. The proportion of subjects with a low CRF, suggestive of future cardio‐metabolic risk (health risk FITNESSGRAM category) was 31.5% (28.2% for boys and 34.1% for girls; X2 P = .001). After applying a 1.11 altitude correction factor, the overall prevalence of low CRF was 11.5% (9.6% for boys and 13.1% for girls; X2 P = .001). Conclusions Our results provide sex‐ and age‐specific normative reference standards for the 20 m shuttle‐run test and estimated V˙O2peak values in a large, population‐based sample of schoolchildren from a large Latin‐American city at high altitude. PMID:27500986

  8. Normative Data for the Balance Error Scoring System in Adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grant L. Iverson

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background. The balance error scoring system (BESS is a brief, easily administered test of static balance. The purpose of this study is to develop normative data for this test. Study Design. Cross-sectional, descriptive, and cohort design. Methods. The sample was drawn from a population of clients taking part in a comprehensive preventive health screen at a multidisciplinary healthcare center. Community-dwelling adults aged 20–69 (N=1,236 were administered the BESS within the context of a fitness evaluation. They did not have significant medical, neurological, or lower extremity problems that might have an adverse effect on balance. Results. There was a significant positive correlation between BESS scores and age (r=.34. BESS performance was similar for participants between the ages of 20 and 49 and significantly declined between ages 50 and 69. Men performed slightly better than women on the BESS. Women who were overweight performed significantly more poorly on the test compared to women who were not overweight (P<.0001; Cohen's d=.62. The BESS normative data are stratified by age and sex. Conclusions. These normative data provide a frame of reference for interpreting BESS performance in adults who sustain traumatic brain injuries and adults with diverse neurological or vestibular problems.

  9. Nurses' attitudinal and normative beliefs concerning hemodynamic assessment by pulmonary artery catheterization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinto, Cristiano José Mendes; Colombo, Roberta Cunha Rodrigues; Gallani, Maria Cecília Bueno Jayme

    2006-01-01

    The objective of this study was to identify, by using the Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior, the attitude and normative beliefs that influence the behavioral intention of the nurse to perform a hemodynamic assessment using the pulmonary artery catheterization. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews involving 23 nurses from three hospitals in the city of Campinas, São Paulo. The data were analyzed according to a qualitative methodology. Among the Attitude Beliefs, affective beliefs and those related to the advantages and disadvantages of performing the behavior stand out. Among the Normative Beliefs social referents were identified for the behavior, as well as the behavior-stimulating factors and the factors that discourage the performance of the behavior.

  10. A Review of Norms and Normative Multiagent Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoud, Moamin A.; Ahmad, Mohd Sharifuddin; Mustapha, Aida

    2014-01-01

    Norms and normative multiagent systems have become the subjects of interest for many researchers. Such interest is caused by the need for agents to exploit the norms in enhancing their performance in a community. The term norm is used to characterize the behaviours of community members. The concept of normative multiagent systems is used to facilitate collaboration and coordination among social groups of agents. Many researches have been conducted on norms that investigate the fundamental concepts, definitions, classification, and types of norms and normative multiagent systems including normative architectures and normative processes. However, very few researches have been found to comprehensively study and analyze the literature in advancing the current state of norms and normative multiagent systems. Consequently, this paper attempts to present the current state of research on norms and normative multiagent systems and propose a norm's life cycle model based on the review of the literature. Subsequently, this paper highlights the significant areas for future work. PMID:25110739

  11. A review of norms and normative multiagent systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoud, Moamin A; Ahmad, Mohd Sharifuddin; Yusoff, Mohd Zaliman Mohd; Mustapha, Aida

    2014-01-01

    Norms and normative multiagent systems have become the subjects of interest for many researchers. Such interest is caused by the need for agents to exploit the norms in enhancing their performance in a community. The term norm is used to characterize the behaviours of community members. The concept of normative multiagent systems is used to facilitate collaboration and coordination among social groups of agents. Many researches have been conducted on norms that investigate the fundamental concepts, definitions, classification, and types of norms and normative multiagent systems including normative architectures and normative processes. However, very few researches have been found to comprehensively study and analyze the literature in advancing the current state of norms and normative multiagent systems. Consequently, this paper attempts to present the current state of research on norms and normative multiagent systems and propose a norm's life cycle model based on the review of the literature. Subsequently, this paper highlights the significant areas for future work.

  12. Effects of norm referent salience on young people's dietary orientation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarrant, Mark; Khan, Sammyh S; Qin, Qi

    2015-02-01

    We examined the effects of making salient different norm referents on young people's dietary orientation. Participants were exposed to a referent who was either of similar age to themselves or older before reporting their normative beliefs, attitudes and intentions concerning dietary behavior. As predicted, exposure to the older referent was associated with stronger perceptions that eating five portions of fruit and vegetables each day was normative. Compared to those exposed to the same-age referent, participants exposed to the older referent reported more positive attitudes towards eating "five-a-day" and stronger intentions to do so over the coming week. Referent salience was also associated with a behavioral outcome, with those participants exposed to the older referent more likely to take a piece of fruit upon completion of the study (OR: 4.97, 95% CI: 1.39-17.82). The implications of these findings for norms-based interventions for changing dietary behavior are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Inquiry and the normative aspect in learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wiberg, Merete

    as the interplay between intentions and life-story of the individual and culture and community. The theory of inquiry in the philosophy of Dewey offers an understanding of processes of learning as transformation from an indeterminate to a determinate situation. Furthermore, the normative aspect of learning......“Inquiry and the normative aspect of learning” In the paper it will be argued that the normative aspect of learning is to be found in the interplay between individual and world when the individual in an inquiring process tries to come to terms with the world. Normativity in learning is seen...

  14. Book Review: Genocide: A Normative Account

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scott Nicholas Romaniuk

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Academics studying genocide are required, amid the exigency of predicting and preventing further instances of this crime, to extend their efforts so as to connect with policy makers, provide vital information, respond to particular instances of genocide or state-inspired genocidal campaigns, and prompt a political will to intervene at any stage in this crime. May starts by placing genocide studies in the normative foundation of this discipline. In this work, which stands as the fourth volume of a broader project that assesses the “conceptual and normative underpinnings of this ‘crime of crimes’”, genocide is treated as the most serious of all international crimes. May calls for additional work to be performed to include other forms and conceptualizations of genocide such as cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing. The book outlines the fundamental concepts behind the crime, its study, and the discipline, while offering a unique presentation of “special problems of genocide”. It also considers steps that should be taken forward with the view of facilitating reconciliation. May refers to war as the final response to genocidal situations, not the first, stating that, “there are situations where there is not unambiguous groups of victims”. Thus, humanitarian intervention, as a viable approach to mitigating acts of genocide, is still difficult to justify.

  15. Normative values for a functional capacity evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soer, Remko; van der Schans, Cees P; Geertzen, Jan H; Groothoff, Johan W; Brouwer, Sandra; Dijkstra, Pieter U; Reneman, Michiel F

    2009-10-01

    Soer R, van der Schans CP, Geertzen JH, Groothoff JW, Brouwer S, Dijkstra PU, Reneman MF. Normative values for a functional capacity evaluation. To establish normative values for a functional capacity evaluation (FCE) of healthy working subjects. Descriptive. Rehabilitation center. Healthy working subjects (N=701; 448 men, 253 women) between 20 and 60 years of age, working in more than 180 occupations. Subjects performed a 2-hour FCE consisting of 12 work-related tests. Subjects were classified into categories based on physical demands according to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Means, ranges, SDs, and percentiles were provided for normative values of FCE, and a regression analysis for outcome of the 12 tests was performed. Normative FCE values were established for 4 physical demand categories. The normative values enable comparison of patients' performances to these values. If a patient's performance exceeds the lowest scores in his/her corresponding demand category, then the patient's capacity is very likely to be sufficient to meet the workload. Further, clinicians can make more precise return-to-work recommendations and set goals for rehabilitation programs. A comparison of the normative values can be useful to the fields of rehabilitation, occupational, and insurance medicine. Further research is needed to test the validity of the normative values with respect to workplace assessments and return-to-work recommendations.

  16. Associations between adolescent seatbelt non-use, normative perceptions and screen media exposure: results from a national US survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunlop, Sally M; Romer, Daniel

    2010-10-01

    Failure to use seatbelts in motor vehicles is a major source of youth injuries, and previous research has noted the widespread non-use of seatbelts in popular media. To explore whether increased exposure to entertainment screen media was associated with inflated normative perceptions regarding seatbelt non-use, and to determine any associations between normative perceptions and seatbelt non-use. A nationally representative telephone survey of school-aged American adolescents (14-17 years, n=915) measuring: screen media exposure; normative perceptions with reference to friends' disapproval of non-use, and prevalence of non-use among friends, school peers and peers; and self-reported seatbelt non-use. Using structural equation modelling, analyses indicate that, after demographic and individual characteristics relevant to screen media exposure and seatbelt non-use had been controlled for, frequent exposure to entertainment media was associated with positive normative perceptions about seatbelt non-use for boys, but not for girls. Normative perceptions related to friends' and school peers' seatbelt use were associated with seatbelt non-use for both boys and girls. Attempts to increase adolescent seatbelt use could include public communication campaigns to alter normative perceptions. Broadcasting these campaigns in conjunction with the media that under-represent seatbelt use may be a successful strategy for reducing the influence of such media on male adolescents.

  17. The Intrinsic Normativity of Law in Light of Kant`s Doctrine of Right

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet Ruhi Demiray

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper claims that a particular interpretation of Kant`s legal-political philosophy, as it is presented in his Doctrine of Right, provides us with the much needed resolution to the question of the normativity of law, precisely because it brings in a perspective that avoids both positivism and ethicism. This particular interpretation follows a strategy of argumentation that I call the “argument for the intrinsic normativity of law”, i.e., the argument that law is defined and justified on its own grounds, without any need to refer to ethics, or rational/enlightened self-interest. This argument highlights the concept of legal person with the innate right to freedom as the necessary presupposition of legal practices, and sets forth a fundamental sense of justice inherent to the concept of law that consists in the reciprocal recognition of legal personality. In the end, I come up with a distinctive conception of law that I formulate as a last resort of normativity in the face of a conflict wherein an ethical solution does not appeal to all parties.

  18. Parents? and peers? normative influence on adolescents? smoking: results from a Swiss-Italian sample of middle schools students

    OpenAIRE

    Scalici, Francesca; Schulz, Peter J.

    2017-01-01

    Background and method Adolescents observe and imitate people to whom they are associated in their social context, and the normative factors sent out by reference groups are crucial determinants of their decision to smoke. The aim of the study is to investigate how adolescents? smoking changes when they are exposed to factors of pro-smoking normative influence by parents and peers, and how age moderate this relation. A cross sectional survey collected data from 5657 students, aged between 11 a...

  19. Normative Virtue Theory in Theological Ethics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas Austin

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available What place is there for virtue theory in theological ethics? Many question the normative significance of virtue theory in theological ethics today, leaving it to rule-based ethics to provide action-guidance. There are three key objections to the normativity of virtue theory: that virtue theory is about agents rather than actions, that virtue theory has nothing to say directly about the morality of actions, and that the virtues are too vague to be of normative or action-guiding significance. This essay, drawing on Thomas Aquinas’s account of virtue, challenges these perceptions and argues for a genuinely normative, action-guiding virtue theory within theological ethics. Theological ethics, in turn, can contribute to virtue theory, especially by its emphasis on the ecstatic nature of mature moral virtue, and through its reflection on the virtue of spiritual discernment.

  20. Normative Study of Rorschach (Parisian School for Brazilian Adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Luísa Casillo Jardim-Maran

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACTAmong the projective methods of psychological assessment, the relevance of the Rorschach method stands out in the investigation of personality, albeit without normative references in the Parisian School for adolescents in Brazil. This study addresses this gap by developing normative standards of the Rorschach method (Parisian School for this age group, evaluating specificities of production associated with sex, age and school system. The Rorschach tests were individually administered to 180 students aged from 15 to 17 years old, with typical signs of development. Data considering the 54 Rorschach's variables were descriptively and inferentially examined. The main average results were: (a productivity: R = 17.7; (b modes of apperception: G = 35.0%, D = 33.4%, Dd = 30.3% and Dd = 1.1%; (c determinants and formal indexes: F% = 54.5%, F+% = 55.6% and F+ext% = 57.3%; (d predominant content: A% = 51.0% and H% = 20.9%; (e Ban = 17.0%. Specificities of production according to sex, age and school system were identified, which supports the analysis and interpretation of Rorschach's variables with contemporary Brazilian adolescents.

  1. Dangerous Dogs, Constructivism and Normative Implications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Allan Dreyer

    The paper argues that even though there is no necessary link between constructivism and specific norms, constructivism opens a space for normativity and can be articulated with specific normative or political programs. The argument is based on Laclau’s deconstructive constructivism, but instead...

  2. Normative Cognition in Culture and Religion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jeppe Sinding

    2013-01-01

    "Normative Cognition" is a theoretical model of human cognition as driven, modulated and governed by symbolically mediated inter-subjective norms and conventions......"Normative Cognition" is a theoretical model of human cognition as driven, modulated and governed by symbolically mediated inter-subjective norms and conventions...

  3. Implicit normativity in scientific advice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Folker, Anna Paldam; Andersen, Hanne; Sandøe, Peter

    2008-01-01

    This paper focuses on implicit normative considerations underlying scientific advice-those normative questions, decisions, or issues that scientific advisers and the general public are not fully aware of but that nevertheless have implications for the character of the advice given. Using...... nutritional science as an example, we identify three such implicit normative issues. The first concerns the aim of scientific advice: whether it is about avoiding harm or promoting good. The second concerns the intended beneficiaries of the advice: whether advice should be framed to benefit the society...... as a whole or with special concern for the most vulnerable members of the population. The third consideration involves scientific advisers' attempts to balance the strengths of the scientific evidence with the expected consequences of scientific advice. We hope to promote more explicit discussion...

  4. Formal and Informal Normative Beliefs Regarding Purchasing and Using Condoms

    OpenAIRE

    樋口, 匡貴; 中村, 菜々子

    2009-01-01

    Properly using condoms is one of the most effective types of protection against HIV. To clarify the contents of normative beliefs regarding purchasing and using condoms, 390 undergraduate student volunteers were surveyed. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that both males and females held two types of normative beliefs, namely formal normative beliefs and informal normative beliefs, regarding purchasing and using condoms. Formal normative beliefs were concerned with the...

  5. Social Institutions as Tools in Normative Cognition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jeppe Sinding

    Social institutions are normative cognitive tools, the functions of which should be an important subject in cognitive anthropology......Social institutions are normative cognitive tools, the functions of which should be an important subject in cognitive anthropology...

  6. NORMATIVE MODERATORS OF IMPULSE BUYING BEHAVIOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danes Jaya Negara

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Prior research has presented the moderating role of normative evaluations in the relationship between the impulsive buying trait and consumers’ buying behaviors. In this article the authors show that consumer tendency to buy something spontaneous, unreflectively and immediately can be perceived as a factor which describes buying impulsiveness. This article also shows conceptual and empirical evidence that there is some support for the moderating role of normative evaluations in the relationship between buying impulsiveness and impulse buying behaviors. Significance occurs when consumers believe that act on impulse is suitable. The result suggests that consumers’ normative evaluation can moderate the link between the trait and behavioral aspects of impulse buying.

  7. Two Notions of Epistemic Normativity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Klausen, Søren Harnow

    2009-01-01

    Although the dominant view of epistemic normativity is an extreme form of deontology, it is argued that there is no good reason for not also adopting a complementary consequentialist notion, which can be put to use in applied epistemology.......Although the dominant view of epistemic normativity is an extreme form of deontology, it is argued that there is no good reason for not also adopting a complementary consequentialist notion, which can be put to use in applied epistemology....

  8. 169 CONTENT NORMATIVITY AND THE INTERDEPENDENCY OF ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Tracie1

    INTERDEPENDENCY OF BELIEF AND DESIRE. Seyed Ali ... attriЛutions are constitutively normative since “it is a condition on ... the concept of Лelief is constitutively normative since .... according to the definition (14) the concept of content.

  9. Un-National Normative Justification for European Union Foreign Policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian

    2011-01-01

    The European Union's foreign policy has traditionally been described in terms of national, supranational or transnational interests rather than being justified in terms of normative political theory. As European Commissioner Bonino declared over a decade ago, such differentiation between...... descriptive interests and normative ethics is unsustainable in European Union (EU) foreign policy. What are needed are normative justifications that can help inform political choices about foreign policy in the EU's democratic political order. In other words, what are the un-national normative justifications...

  10. Some features of normative document development at application of nanotechnologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hajiyev, S.K.; Kazimov, F.K.; Nazarova, U.N.

    2010-01-01

    Development of normative documents connected with nanotechnologies application in oil extraction requires necessity of accounting the peculiarity of adoption of these technologies. For example, conditions of object application, physical-chemical parameters of used nanosubstances and nanocomposites as well as some anomalies of rheological properties of nanosolutions can be referred to such ones. One of such anomalies is ambiguity of distribution laws of various rheological parameters at selected data at different experiment conditions, which on distribution diagrams are expressed by characteristic concavity in the area of lowest concentrations (up to 0,001%) of nanopowders.

  11. Response of cortical bone to antiresorptive treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hyldstrup, Lars; Jørgensen, J T; Sørensen, T K

    2001-01-01

    A total of 113 postmenopausal women (69 controls, 33 using hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and 11 using bisphosphonate) were evaluated twice over 2 years with a new noninvasive, radiogrammetry-based technique called digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) and conventional bone densitometry of the s...

  12. Normativity and deflationary theories of truth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Mölder

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available It has been argued that deflationary theories of truth stumble over the normativity of truth. This paper maintains that the normativity objection does not pose problems to at least one version of deflationism, minimalism. The rest of the paper discusses truth-related norms, showing that either they do not hold or they are not troublesome for deflationism.

  13. The European Union’s normative power in global politics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian

    2012-01-01

    comparison. Both political and scholarly assessments argue that ‘we are one of the most important, if not the most important, normative powers in the world’ (Barroso in Peterson, 2008: 69) and that ‘Europe has tremendous normative power’ (Moravcsik, 2010: 18). The normative power approach set out here makes...... it possible to explain, understand, and judge the EU in global politics by rethinking the nature of power and actorness in a globalising, multilateralising and multipolarising era. The EU uses normative power in global politics but the question is whether it is more prone than other actors to do so? In areas...... which are core to the ‘European project’, it seems clear that the EU is more disposed to use normative power....

  14. Once more with feeling: Normative data for the aha experience in insight and noninsight problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Margaret E; Little, Daniel R; Cropper, Simon J

    2017-10-19

    Despite the presumed ability of insight problems to elicit the subjective feeling of insight, as well as the use of so-called insight problems to investigate this phenomenon for over 100 years, no research has collected normative data regarding the ability of insight problems to actually elicit the feeling of insight in a given individual. The work described in this article provides an overview of both classic and contemporary problems used to examine the construct of insight and presents normative data on the success rate, mean time to solution, and mean rating of aha experience for each problem and task type. We suggest using these data in future work as a reference for selecting problems on the basis of their ability to elicit an aha experience.

  15. Normative values and functional fitness in 60-to-69 year-old men

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leandro Ferreira

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to develop normative reference of functional fitnessand an overall functional fitness index (OFFI for 60- to 69-year-old men. A total of 112 oldermen living in Florianópolis/SC and Rio Claro/SP, who had been participating in structured andsupervised physical activities on a regular basis for the past 6 months, were evaluated by theAAHPERD test battery. This battery consists of five tests that evaluate flexibility, coordination,balance and agility, muscle strength, and aerobic capacity. Percentile scores were calculated forthe raw scores obtained in each test and the sum of percentiles was used as the OFFI. The 20th,40th, 60th and 80th percentiles were taken as limits to classify the components and OFFI asvery weak, weak, fair, good, and very good, respectively. The development of normative referencemight be useful for professionals to improve the evaluation, supervision and prescriptionof physical activity to older men.

  16. Normative and descriptive rationality: from nature to artifice and back

    Science.gov (United States)

    Besold, T. R.; Uckelman, S. L.

    2018-03-01

    Rationality plays a key role in both the study of human reasoning and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Certain notions of rationality have been adopted in AI as guides for the development of intelligent machines and these notions have been given a normative function. The notions of rationality in AI are often taken to be closely related to conceptions of rationality in human contexts. In this paper, we argue that the normative role of rationality differs in the human and artificial contexts. While rationality in human-focused fields of study is normative, prescribing how humans ought to reason, the normative conception in AI is built on a notion of human rationality which is descriptive, not normative, in the human context, as AI aims at building agents which reason as humans do. In order to make this point, we review prominent notions of rationality used in psychology, cognitive science, and (the history of) philosophy, as well as in AI, and discuss some factors that contributed to rationality being assigned the differing normative statuses in the differing fields of study. We argue that while 'rationality' is a normative notion in both AI and in human reasoning, the normativity of the AI conception of 'rationality' is grounded in a descriptive account of human rationality.

  17. Evolutionary Debunking of Normative Realism. Not a Real Threat for Realists

    OpenAIRE

    Pellegrino, Gianfranco

    2017-01-01

    A debunking argument has been recently levelled against normative realism. According to this line of reasoning, most of our normative beliefs have been strongly influenced by evolutionary forces. As evolution is a non-truth-tracking process, this influence may lead our normative beliefs off track. If so, normative realists need to provide an explanation of how it is possible that our normative beliefs track stance-independent truth, or of how their falsity could be spotted, when evolution pow...

  18. Designing normative open virtual enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, Emilia; Giret, Adriana; Botti, Vicente

    2016-03-01

    There is an increasing interest on developing virtual enterprises in order to deal with the globalisation of the economy, the rapid growth of information technologies and the increase of competitiveness. In this paper we deal with the development of normative open virtual enterprises (NOVEs). They are systems with a global objective that are composed of a set of heterogeneous entities and enterprises that exchange services following a specific normative context. In order to analyse and design systems of this kind the multi-agent paradigm seems suitable because it offers a specific solution for supporting the social and contractual relationships between enterprises and for formalising their business processes. This paper presents how the Regulated Open Multi-agent systems (ROMAS) methodology, an agent-oriented software methodology, can be used to analyse and design NOVEs. ROMAS offers a complete development process that allows identifying and formalising of the structure of NOVEs, their normative context and the interactions among their members. The use of ROMAS is exemplified by means of a case study that represents an automotive supply chain.

  19. Normative and Descriptive Aspects of Management Education: Differentiation and Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meirovich, Gavriel

    2015-01-01

    This study advocates strongly for clear differentiation and synthesis of descriptive and normative approaches in management education. There is a certain isolation of normative and descriptive theoretical frameworks presented in management courses. Normative frameworks in management explain how organizations "should be" managed, while…

  20. Disaggregated regulation in network sections: The normative and positive theory; Disaggregierte Regulierung in Netzsektoren: Normative und positive Theorie

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Knieps, G. [Inst. fuer Verkehrswissenschaft und Regionalpolitik, Albert-Ludwigs-Univ. Freiburg i.B. (Germany)

    2007-09-15

    The article deals with the interaction of normative and positive theorie of regulation. Those parts of the network which need regulation could be localised and regulated with the help of the normative theory of the monopolistic bottlenecks. Using the positive theory, the basic elements of a mandate for regulation in the sense of the disaggregated economy of regulation are derived.

  1. On the Normative Function of Metatheoretical Endeavors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zachary Stein

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available I reconstruct an historical understanding of metatheory that emphasizes its normative function. The pioneering work of James Mark Baldwin inspires an account of how metatheoretical constructs emerge developmentally and come to serve a discourse-regulative function—overseeing, organizing, and regulating whole fields of discourse. Then I look to Charles S. Peirce as an exemplary normatively oriented metatheorist and explain how both continue a philosophical tradition concerned with the normative function of humanity more broadly. Thus, while I think it is valuable to pursue a variety of metatheoretical endeavors, including descriptive and empirical ones—mapping the terrain of various discourses, or summarizing their contributions—I argue for a specific vision of metatheory as a normative endeavor with rich intellectual and historical precedence. Unpacking some of the implications involved with this way of viewing and doing metatheory lead to considerations about the differences between two general types of metatheory (scholastic-reductionist and cosmopolitan-comprehensivist, the role of philosophical interlocutors in the public-sphere, and the trajectory of human evolution in the coming decades.

  2. Normative ethics does not need a foundation: it needs more science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quintelier, Katinka; Van Speybroeck, Linda; Braeckman, Johan

    2011-03-01

    The impact of science on ethics forms since long the subject of intense debate. Although there is a growing consensus that science can describe morality and explain its evolutionary origins, there is less consensus about the ability of science to provide input to the normative domain of ethics. Whereas defenders of a scientific normative ethics appeal to naturalism, its critics either see the naturalistic fallacy committed or argue that the relevance of science to normative ethics remains undemonstrated. In this paper, we argue that current scientific normative ethicists commit no fallacy, that criticisms of scientific ethics contradict each other, and that scientific insights are relevant to normative inquiries by informing ethics about the options open to the ethical debate. Moreover, when conceiving normative ethics as being a nonfoundational ethics, science can be used to evaluate every possible norm. This stands in contrast to foundational ethics in which some norms remain beyond scientific inquiry. Finally, we state that a difference in conception of normative ethics underlies the disagreement between proponents and opponents of a scientific ethics. Our argument is based on and preceded by a reconsideration of the notions naturalistic fallacy and foundational ethics. This argument differs from previous work in scientific ethics: whereas before the philosophical project of naturalizing the normative has been stressed, here we focus on concrete consequences of biological findings for normative decisions or on the day-to-day normative relevance of these scientific insights.

  3. Transitional Justice: A Conceptual and Normative Framework for Combating Terrorism in Occupied Territories

    OpenAIRE

    QUESADA ALCALA, Carmen; ZAKERIAN, Mehdi

    2010-01-01

    Product of workshop No. 2 at the 10th MRM 2009 Transitional justice generally refers to a range of approaches, judicial and non-judicial, that States may use to build the transition from violence and repression to societal stability and peace. The term “transitional justice” has recently received ever greater attention with respect to the Occupied Territories, especially in relation to terrorism and its consequences. The purpose of this paper is to establish a normative and ...

  4. Normative beliefs and sexual risk in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Li; Ding, Ying Ying; Wu, Zunyou; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Guo, Sam

    2011-08-01

    We examined normative beliefs about multiple sexual partners and social status in China and their association with risky sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Self-reported and biological markers of sexual risk were examined among 3,716 market vendors from a city in eastern China. Men who were older or with less education believed having multiple sexual partners was linked to higher social status. Adjusting for demographic characteristics, normative beliefs were significantly associated with having multiple sexual partners, while having multiple sexual partners was significantly associated with STIs. Normative beliefs regarding sexual behaviors may play an important role in individual risk behaviors. Future HIV/STI interventions must address community beliefs about the positive meaning of sexual risks, particularly among men with traditional beliefs about gender roles.

  5. Hate crimes and normative regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kovačević Milica

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is primarily devoted to issues related to the normative regulation of hate crimes, with special reference to the regulations of the Republic of Serbia, which are indirectly related to this matter. This kind of crimes are characterized by prejudices that perpetrators have towards injured parties, as members of certain, mostly, minority groups, due to which many hate crimes could be also called crimes of prejudice. In comparative law there are two different basic directions when it comes to regulating hate crimes: separation of hate crimes in a separate category on the one hand, and punishment of perpetrators of criminal acts with the detriment of minority groups through the usual charges of a given criminal justice system, on the other. The author finds that, regardless of the formal response forms, real life suggests that hate crimes can be essentially suppressed only by promoting values such as equality, respect for diversity and tolerance, and by continuous education of public about the danger of hate crimes.

  6. Focus Groups as Social Arenas for the Negotiation of Normativity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristiansen, T. M.; Gronkjaer, M.

    2018-01-01

    Aim: This article aims to demonstrate how focus group discussions act as a social arena for the negotiation of social norms and normativity and to discuss the implications for the analysis of focus group discussions. Participants and methods: We have used sequences of group interactions from...... a focus group study on everyday life and chronic illness to demonstrate how methodological tools from conversation analysis and discursive psychology can be used to facilitate a systematic analysis of the negotiation and legitimization of social norms and normativity in focus groups. The empirical data...... consisted of six focus groups with a total of 32 participants. Results: The analysis demonstrated negotiations on normativity concerning four central aspects related to living with chronic illness: negotiating normativity about adjustment to the disease, negotiating normativity about being a dutiful...

  7. GOOD GOVERNANCE: NORMATIVE VS. DESCRIPTIVE DIMENSION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciprian IFTIMOAEI

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The concept of “good governance” was used for the first time in the 1989 World Bank Report – Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth. A Long-Term Perspective Study – and has already made history in international studies, especially after the breakdown of the communist regimes. The governance has to do with authority, decision-making and accountability.The good governance is defined as the capacity of the government to manage a nation’s affaires, to provide economic development, welfare for citizens, and social protection for the poor. In this article,the concept of good governance is analysed according to two main dimensions: the normative dimension which comprises principles, values and norms that are guiding the international community and the governments in the management of policymaking process;the descriptive dimension which refers to the practical aspects of implementing the good governance’s standards as policies, programmes and structural reforms with the aim of solving or ameliorating the problems of developing countries.

  8. Energy conservation normatives in Italy: Thermotechnical Committee organizational efforts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Casagrande, A [Comitato Termotecnico Italiano, Milan (Italy)

    1991-10-01

    A recent Italian law (No. 10/91) calls for energy conservation to be implemented in building materials and HVAC systems through the creation of a suitable set of normatives. The CTI (Italian Thermotechnical Committee) has been assigned the task of creating these normatives and is currently in the organizational stage. This paper lists the proposed normatives and reports on CTI's progress in assembling groups of consultants from various sectors - public administration, end users, industrial firms, etc.

  9. Social normative beliefs about smoking among Vietnamese adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, Randy M; Huong, Nguyen Thanh; Chi, Hoang Khanh; Tien, Truong Quang

    2012-01-01

    Tobacco-related deaths in Vietnam are forecast to climb from 40 000 annually to 70 000 by 2030. Previous research in Western nations has found social factors to be important determinants of adolescent smoking. Because these factors remain unexplored in Vietnamese youth, the purpose of this study was to examine social normative beliefs regarding smoking in a school-based sample of North Vietnamese adolescents and the association of these factors with smoking behavior and susceptibility to smoking. Three measures of normative beliefs regarding smoking were evaluated in cross-sectional surveys of secondary students. Of the 3 measures, parent/peer disapproval was the most consistent normative belief associated with smoking behavior and susceptibility to smoking. Youth smoking prevention programs should consider assessing and taking into account normative beliefs and develop strategies that provide accurate information about the actual prevalence of smoking, the types of individuals who smoke, and approval/disapproval of smoking by parents and peers.

  10. Normative expectations : Employing "communities of practice" models for assessing journalism's normative claims

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Eldridge, Scott; Steel, John

    2016-01-01

    Journalism's relationship with the public has historically rested on an assumption of its Fourth Estate roles and as fulfilling democratic imperatives. The normative dimensions of these ideals have also long been taken as given in journalism studies, serving as a starting point for discussions of

  11. NEW METHODS OF NORMATIVE MONETARY EVALUATION OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Tretiak

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Approaches to the normative monetary evaluation of agricultural lands, adopted by the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 23, 1995 No. 213, did not allow to accomplish objective actualization of the indicators, as they did not take into account changes in the economy and the system of agricultural land use that occurred during the implementation of land reform in agriculture. So there is no doubt of the necessity to take into consideration the changes and to improve methodical approaches to the evaluation of agricultural land. The resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated November 16, 2016 No. 831 adopted the updated "Methodology of normative monetary evaluation of agricultural lands ". According to the paragraph 3 of the methodology, normative monetary evaluation of agricultural lands is determined in accordance with the requirements of capitalized rental income for agricultural lands of natural and agricultural districts of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regions, cities of Kiev and Sevastopol in accordance with the Annex and indicators of soil evaluation by drawing up scales of normative monetary evaluation of agricultural industrial groups of soils of natural and agricultural areas (for farmlands. The first question that arises regarding the updated methods is a natural-agricultural zoning. In fact, in this methodology there is no list of borders, natural agricultural areas in the section of the territories of village councils and settlements included in one or another area. If we use the map of the natural-agricultural zoning and the reference book to it proposed for consideration by the site of State Geocadaster of Diagrams, it contains other boundaries, and another list of village councils, settlements, for example in the section of the mentioned Radekhiv district, than the natural-agricultural zoning was previously approved. So, one of them combines 29, and others combine 2 village councils each

  12. Social normative beliefs regarding cigarette smoking in Hungarian adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, Randy M; Piko, Bettina F; Balazs, Mate A; Struk, Tamara

    2011-10-01

    Hungary will continue to experience a high burden of disease and death from lung cancer and other tobacco-induced disease unless there is a significant reduction in youth smoking. Social factors have been found to be among the most important determinants of adolescent smoking, yet few studies have investigated social normative beliefs in Hungarian youth. The purpose of the current study was to investigate three measures of smoking normative beliefs thought to influence adolescent smoking: perceived prevalence of smoking; perceived popularity of smoking among successful/elite elements of society; and perceived disapproval by friends and family. A cross-sectional school-based survey of eighth grade (n = 258) and 12th grade (n = 288) students in Mako, Hungary was conducted to assess social normative beliefs about smoking, current smoking, ever smoking, and susceptibility to smoking. The association of the normative beliefs with the smoking behavior variables was examined through logistic regression analysis, and the underlying factor structure of the normative belief items in the current sample was determined through factor analysis. The percent of boys reporting current smoking was 40.5% in 12th grade and 27.0% in eighth grade. Among girls, the percent was 44.0% of 12th graders and 29.1% of eighth graders. Parent/peer disapproval was the most consistently associated normative belief with smoking behavior and susceptibility to smoking across both samples. Youth smoking prevention programs should consider assessing and taking into account normative beliefs and develop strategies that provide accurate information about the actual prevalence of smoking, the types of individuals who smoke, and approval/disapproval of smoking by parents and peers. © 2011 The Authors. Pediatrics International © 2011 Japan Pediatric Society.

  13. Normative data for cutaneous threshold and spatial discrimination in the feet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinkel, Willem D; Aziz, M Hosein; Van Deelen, Meike J M; Willemsen, Sten P; Castro Cabezas, Manuel; Van Neck, Johan W; Coert, J Henk

    2017-09-01

    No data are available for normative values of cutaneous threshold and spatial discrimination in the feet. We developed clinically applicable reference values in relation to the nerve distributions of the feet. We determined foot sensation in 196 healthy individuals. Cutaneous threshold (1-point static discrimination, S1PD) was tested with monofilaments (0.008 to 300 gram) and spatial discrimination (2-point static [S2PD] and moving [M2PD] discrimination) on five locations per foot. There was a significant age-dependent increase in S1PD, S2PD, and M2PD values (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found between both feet. S1PD values differed up to 0.8 g between genders. There were no significant differences between genders for S2PD and M2PD measurements. M2PD values were generally lower than S2PD values. This study provides age-related normative values for foot sensation to help clinicians assess sensory deficits in relation to aging and identify patients with underlying nerve problems. Muscle Nerve 56: 399-407, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. [Memorandum IV: Theoretical and Normative Grounding of Health Services Research].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baumann, W; Farin, E; Menzel-Begemann, A; Meyer, T

    2016-05-01

    With Memoranda and other initiatives, the German Network for Health Service Research [Deutsches Netzwerk Versorgungsforschung e.V. (DNVF)] is fostering the methodological quality of care research studies for years. Compared to the standards of empirical research, questions concerning the role and function of theories, theoretical approaches and scientific principles have not been taken up on its own. Therefore, the DNVF e.V. has set up a working group in 2013, which was commissioned to prepare a memorandum on "theories in health care research". This now presented memorandum will primarily challenge scholars in health care services research to pay more attention to questions concerning the theoretical arsenal and the background assumptions in the research process. The foundation in the philosophy of science, the reference to normative principles and the theory-bases of the research process are addressed. Moreover, the memorandum will call on to advance the theorizing in health services research and to strengthen not empirical approaches, research on basic principles or studies with regard to normative sciences and to incorporate these relevant disciplines in health services research. Research structures and funding of health services research needs more open space for theoretical reflection and for self-observation of their own, multidisciplinary research processes. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  15. Normative Judgments and Individual Essence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Freitas, Julian; Tobia, Kevin P; Newman, George E; Knobe, Joshua

    2017-04-01

    A growing body of research has examined how people judge the persistence of identity over time-that is, how they decide that a particular individual is the same entity from one time to the next. While a great deal of progress has been made in understanding the types of features that people typically consider when making such judgments, to date, existing work has not explored how these judgments may be shaped by normative considerations. The present studies demonstrate that normative beliefs do appear to play an important role in people's beliefs about persistence. Specifically, people are more likely to judge that the identity of a given entity (e.g., a hypothetical nation) remains the same when its features improve (e.g., the nation becomes more egalitarian) than when its features deteriorate (e.g., the nation becomes more discriminatory). Study 1 provides a basic demonstration of this effect. Study 2 shows that this effect is moderated by individual differences in normative beliefs. Study 3 examines the underlying mechanism, which is the belief that, in general, various entities are essentially good. Study 4 directly manipulates beliefs about essence to show that the positivity bias regarding essences is causally responsible for the effect. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  16. Experts opinion on the use of normative data for functional capacity evaluation in occupational and rehabilitation medicine and disability claims.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soer, Remko; Reneman, Michiel F; Frings-Dresen, Monique H W; Kuijer, P Paul; Kuijer, P Paul F M

    2014-12-01

    Application of normative values for functional capacity evaluation (FCE) is controversial for the assessment of clients for work ability. The objective of this study was to study when clinicians and researchers consider normative values of FCE useful or of no use for their purposes. A focus group meeting was organized among 43 FCE experts working in insurance, occupational and/or rehabilitation medicine from eight countries during the first international FCE research meeting on October 25th, 2012 in the Netherlands. Participants were asked to rate to which degree they agree or disagree with a statement concerning their position toward normative values for FCE on a 10 cm VAS ranging from 0 (completely disagree) to 100 (completely agree) at T0 and T1. Arguments for aspects that are useful and of no use for normative values were systematically collected during the meeting and afterwards independently clustered by two researchers in higher order topics. Baseline opinion of participants on their position toward normative values was 49 ± 29 points. After the meeting, mean VAS was 55 ± 23 (p = 0.07), indicating that participants did not significantly change their opinion toward normative values. Based on arguments provided by the experts, seven higher order topics were constructed namely 'Comparison with job demands or treatment goals'; 'Comparison with co-workers physical ability'; 'Sincerity of effort'; 'Validity for work ability and return to work'; 'Experience of referrer with assessment method'; 'Clinimetrics compared to alternative assessment methods or reference values'; and 'Ease of use for clinician and stakeholders'. Although experts state useful aspects for the use of normative values of FCE for these assessments, it may also lead to over-interpretation of results, leading to dualistic statements concerning work ability, with potential harmful consequences for work ability of patients.

  17. THE STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIONS OF CIVIL SERVANTS’ NORMATIVE ORIENTATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander A Oboznov

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The concept of the normative personal orientation seeks to specify how personnel motivation should be organized in the value-motivational sphere for professional activity execution in accordance with its social purpose. Based on the priority of the civil service social purpose, the hierarchical structure of the personal normative orientations was theoretically validated. Social motives related to serving for the benefit of the Fatherland as well as work motives associated with the achievement of some role positions are the major motives. The subordinate motives are the monetary rewards and self-development. Development of the future civil servants’ orientation is based on a conscious idea about the required motives’ subordination, that is, about the normative civil servant’s orientation. The study involved 63 students of the 2nd and 4th year studying at the Russian management institute in the specialty “Customs” and 51 students of the 1st and 2nd year studying at the Public Administration Academy of the Republic of Armenia, as well as 4 experts (two from Russia and Armenia having long-term experience in the civil service. The method is an author’s closed-questions’ inventory containing a list of 18 personal goals, that should guide the civil servant in professional work. The instruction required the selection of five most important goals. An absolute majority (from 66 to 90% of Russian and Armenian students has the motives’ subordination that is inconsistent with the normative orientation. According to the students’ view, self-development, self-creation and material benefit are the leading motives of a civil servant. The expert motives’ representations are identical to the required content of civil servant normative orientation. The authors defined the need to develop a special psychological and educational program for promoting required representations about the normative orientation of future civil servants.

  18. Measuring Normative Risk Preferences

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    G.A.G. Alserda (Gosse)

    2017-01-01

    textabstractThe results of eliciting risk preferences depend on the elicitation method. Different methods of measuring the same variable tend to produce different results. This raises the question whether normative risk preferences can be elicited at all. Using two types of manipulation, I assess

  19. Informational and Normative Influences in Conformity from a Neurocomputational Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toelch, Ulf; Dolan, Raymond J

    2015-10-01

    We consider two distinct influences that drive conformity behaviour. Whereas informational influences facilitate adaptive and accurate responses, normative influences bias decisions to enhance social acceptance. We explore these influences from a perspective of perceptual and value-based decision-making models and apply these models to classical works on conformity. We argue that an informational account predicts a surprising tendency to conform. Moreover, we detail how normative influences fit into this framework and interact with social influences. Finally, we explore potential neuronal substrates for informational and normative influences based on a consideration of the neurobiological literature, highlighting conceptual shortcomings particularly with regard to a failure to segregate informational and normative influences. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. The EU's Normative Power in Changing World Politics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian

    2009-01-01

    global order: 1) what is the concept of normative power in world politics?; 2) what is an effective EU toolbox for tackling new challenges?; 3) how does the EU go beyond self-perception and rhetoric?; 4) what is the raison d'etre of the EU?; and 5) how might normative power in EU external policies lead...

  1. The effect of normative context variability on recognition memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steyvers, Mark; Malmberg, Kenneth J

    2003-09-01

    According to some theories of recognition memory (e.g., S. Dennis & M. S. Humphreys, 2001), the number of different contexts in which words appear determines how memorable individual occurrences of words will be: A word that occurs in a small number of different contexts should be better recognized than a word that appears in a larger number of different contexts. To empirically test this prediction, a normative measure is developed, referred to here as context variability, that estimates the number of different contexts in which words appear in everyday life. These findings confirm the prediction that words low in context variability are better recognized (on average) than words that are high in context variability. (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved

  2. The role of interpretation of existing practice in normative political argument

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lægaard, Sune

    2017-01-01

    of contextualism and practice-dependence. The paper focuses on Andrea Sangiovanni’s methodological claims about social interpretation to illustrate both how facts can be part of the justification of principles and how interpretation is also faced with a number of problems as a way of justifying normative......In political theory concerned with normative evaluations and prescriptions facts can play two roles: (1) Facts can be of importance for the application of general normative principles to particular cases, and (2) facts can be of importance for the justification of normative principles as such...... principles. The paper finally argues that some of these problems can be avoided if one considers the two roles together; what enables interpretation of facts as part of the justification of normative principles precisely is that application and justification are not separate exercises....

  3. The normative feedback approach for energy conservation behavior in the military community

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Meng; Young, Robert; Cui, Qingbin

    2016-01-01

    In the field of energy conservation programs, the behavior-based method, especially the normative feedback approach, has emerged as a cost-effective solution for energy savings. However it remains doubtful whether normative feedback would generate significant energy savings in absence of financial accountability and whether the normative feedback is influenced by the proximity of the comparison groups. Here we test various normative feedback approaches at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, with an objective of understanding this approach. We show that the normative feedback approach can lead to 3.4% energy savings, even when residents are not billed for their electricity usage. Through an analysis of covariance, this paper evaluates the effects of different proximities of comparison and concludes that a street-level comparison level can generate the highest energy savings of 5.4%. Furthermore, this paper also explores and defines the relationship between electricity savings and physical variables including home size, unit type, neighborhood, and the variation of cooling degree days. The study contributes to the understanding of how to realizing the full potential of normative feedback approach in energy savings. - Highlights: • Normative feedback leads to 3.4% energy savings even without financial incentives. • The study identifies the mere-exposure effect of normative feedback approach. • The street-level comparison doubles the energy savings compared to other levels. • Optimal normative feedback for energy saving should be compared at street-level. • Medium-sized homes in experiment show the greatest potential for energy savings.

  4. Normative Functional Performance Values in High School Athletes: The Functional Pre-Participation Evaluation Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Onate, James A; Starkel, Cambrie; Clifton, Daniel R; Best, Thomas M; Borchers, James; Chaudhari, Ajit; Comstock, R Dawn; Cortes, Nelson; Grooms, Dustin R; Hertel, Jay; Hewett, Timothy E; Miller, Meghan Maume; Pan, Xueliang; Schussler, Eric; Van Lunen, Bonnie L

    2018-01-01

      The fourth edition of the Preparticipation Physical Evaluation recommends functional testing for the musculoskeletal portion of the examination; however, normative data across sex and grade level are limited. Establishing normative data can provide clinicians reference points with which to compare their patients, potentially aiding in the development of future injury-risk assessments and injury-mitigation programs.   To establish normative functional performance and limb-symmetry data for high school-aged male and female athletes in the United States.   Cross-sectional study.   Athletic training facilities and gymnasiums across the United States.   A total of 3951 male and female athletes who participated on high school-sponsored basketball, football, lacrosse, or soccer teams enrolled in this nationwide study.   Functional performance testing consisted of 3 evaluations. Ankle-joint range of motion, balance, and lower extremity muscular power and landing control were assessed via the weight-bearing ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge, single-legged anterior-reach, and anterior single-legged hop-for-distance (SLHOP) tests, respectively. We used 2-way analyses of variance and χ 2 analyses to examine the effects of sex and grade level on ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge, single-legged anterior-reach, and SLHOP test performance and symmetry.   The SLHOP performance differed between sexes (males = 187.8% ± 33.1% of limb length, females = 157.5% ± 27.8% of limb length; t = 30.3, P performance. We observed differences for SLHOP and ankle-dorsiflexion-lunge performance among grade levels, but these differences were not clinically meaningful.   We demonstrated differences in normative data for lower extremity functional performance during preparticipation physical evaluations across sex and grade levels. The results of this study will allow clinicians to compare sex- and grade-specific functional performances and implement approaches for preventing musculoskeletal

  5. Normative Beliefs about Aggression as a Mediator of Narcissistic Exploitativeness and Cyberbullying

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ang, Rebecca P.; Tan, Kit-Aun; Mansor, Abu Talib

    2011-01-01

    The current study examined normative beliefs about aggression as a mediator between narcissistic exploitativeness and cyberbullying using two Asian adolescent samples from Singapore and Malaysia. Narcissistic exploitativeness was significantly and positively associated with cyberbullying and normative beliefs about aggression and normative beliefs…

  6. Tracing How Normative Messages May Influence Physical Activity Intention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Bavel, René; Esposito, Gabriele; Baranowski, Tom; Duch-Brown, Néstor

    2017-04-01

    Normative messages have been shown to increase intention to do physical activity. We traced how "positive" and "negative" normative messages influenced physical activity intention by comparing constructs of the model of goal-directed behavior with descriptive norms (MGDB + DNs) across control and treatment groups in an experiment. For this purpose, 16-24-year-old respondents (n = 1,200) in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania were asked about their age, sex, and levels of physical activity before being exposed to positive and negative normative messages and completing a questionnaire with MGDB + DNs scales. Different MGDB + DNs constructs were influenced by the normative messages: compared with the control, the negative message group showed stronger attitudes (p = .003) and the positive message group showed higher positive anticipated emotions (p = .005). The positive message's effect is consistent with the literature on conformity to social norms. The negative message's effect lends itself to interpretations based on social identity and deviance regulation theories.

  7. Reflecting on Normative Power Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Diez, Thomas; Manners, Ian James

    2014-01-01

    -interested geographical expansion or military superiority. In the 1970s, François Duchêne called it a ‘civilian power’ (1972: 43); in the early 2000s it was argued that the label ‘normative power’ would be better suited (Manners 2000, 2002). Just as Duchêne’s civilian power reflected the Cold War milieu of the 1970s......There is a widespread belief that the European Union (EU) is a novel kind of power not only in its own institutional set-up but also in its external relations. It is said to rely on civilian rather than military means and to pursue the spread of particular norms rather than self......, the normative power approach signified a crystallisation of the EU in the post-Cold War era....

  8. Contextualism in Normative Political Theory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lægaard, Sune

    2016-01-01

    Contextualism denotes a set of ideas about the importance of attention to context. The topic of the article is contextualism in normative political theory/philosophy, in relation to the part of political theory concerned with systematic political argument for normative claims—evaluative claims...... that can be invoked to contextualize a specific object of political discussion such as a law, an institution, or the like. Contextualism denotes any view that political theory should take context into account, but there are many different views about what this means. Contextualism can be characterized...... by way of different contrasts, which imply that the resulting conceptions of contextualism are views about different things, such as justification, the nature of political theory, or methodology. Here the focus is on characterizations of contextualism in terms of methodology and justification...

  9. The normativity of artefacts

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Franssen, M.

    2006-01-01

    Part of the distinction between artefacts, objects made by humans for particular purposes, and natural objects is that artefacts are subject to normative judgements. A drill, say, can be a good drill or a poor drill, it can function well or correctly or it can malfunction. In this paper I

  10. Normative reasons and the possibility of motivation | Luco | South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... objects of psychological states –particularly beliefs, desires and intentions. In reply to the objection that normative reasons can never be objects of psychological states, I contend that all normative reasons are capable of being represented as the objects of psychological states. South African Journal of Philosophy 2014, ...

  11. RECASTING THE NATURALISM–NORMATIVITY DEBATE: NEUROSCIENCE, NEUROPHILOSOPHY, NEUROETHICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nythamar de Oliveira

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Assuming that there is a "neuroscientific turn" in moral philosophy, I will be discussing in this paper how neurophilosophy could shed light on the normative problems raised by a naturalistic project of ethical and social research, particularly related to the question of the articulation between the biological evolution of human species and the social and historical evolution of society and social groups. Taking a critical approach to naturalism and normative theories, I argue that there is a neurophenomenological deficit in naturalism (particularly in the versions of naturalism that follow the program of a naturalized epistemology and in the normative theories (particularly in the critical theory and I put forward a version of social constructivism that combines the neuroscientific and neurophilosophical models of Antonio Damasio and Jesse Prinz.

  12. Hunger, taste, and normative cues in predictions about food intake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vartanian, Lenny R; Reily, Natalie M; Spanos, Samantha; McGuirk, Lucy C; Herman, C Peter; Polivy, Janet

    2017-09-01

    Normative eating cues (portion size, social factors) have a powerful impact on people's food intake, but people often fail to acknowledge the influence of these cues, instead explaining their food intake in terms of internal (hunger) or sensory (taste) cues. This study examined whether the same biases apply when making predictions about how much food a person would eat. Participants (n = 364) read a series of vignettes describing an eating scenario and predicted how much food the target person would eat in each situation. Some scenarios consisted of a single eating cue (hunger, taste, or a normative cue) that would be expected to increase intake (e.g., high hunger) or decrease intake (e.g., a companion who eats very little). Other scenarios combined two cues that were in conflict with one another (e.g., high hunger + a companion who eats very little). In the cue-conflict scenarios involving an inhibitory internal/sensory cue (e.g., low hunger) with an augmenting normative cue (e.g., a companion who eats a lot), participants predicted a low level of food intake, suggesting a bias toward the internal/sensory cue. For scenarios involving an augmenting internal/sensory cue (e.g., high hunger) and an inhibitory normative cue (e.g., a companion who eats very little), participants predicted an intermediate level of food intake, suggesting that they were influenced by both the internal/sensory and normative cue. Overall, predictions about food intake tend to reflect a general bias toward internal/sensory cues, but also include normative cues when those cues are inhibitory. If people are systematically biased toward internal, sensory, and inhibitory cues, then they may underestimate how much food they or other people will eat in many situations, particularly when normative cues promoting eating are present. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. The normativity of intentions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verbeek, B.J.E.

    2013-01-01

    Suppose you intend now to φ at some future time t. However, when t has come you do not φ. Something has gone wrong. This failing is not just a causal but also a normative failing. This raises the question how to characterize this failing. I discuss three alternative views. On the first view, the

  14. Normative Data for Interpreting the BREAST-Q: Augmentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mundy, Lily R.; Homa, Karen; Klassen, Anne F.; Pusic, Andrea L.; Kerrigan, Carolyn L.

    2016-01-01

    Background The BREAST-Q is a rigorously developed, well-validated, patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument with a module designed for evaluating breast augmentation outcomes. However, there are no published normative BREAST-Q scores, limiting interpretation. Methods Normative data were generated for the BREAST-Q Augmentation Module via the Army of Women (AOW), an online community of women (with and without breast cancer) engaged in breast-cancer related research. Members were recruited via email, with women 18 years or older without a history of breast cancer or breast surgery invited to participate. Descriptive statistics and a linear multivariate regression were performed. A separate analysis compared normative scores to findings from previously published BREAST-Q augmentation studies. Results The preoperative BREAST-Q Augmentation Module was completed by 1,211 women. Mean age was 54 ±24 years, mean body mass index (BMI) was 27 ±6, and 39% (n=467) had a bra cup size ≥D. Mean scores were Satisfaction with Breasts (54 ±19), Psychosocial Well-being (66 ±20), Sexual Well-being (49 ±20), and Physical Well-being (86 ±15). Women with a BMI of 30 or greater and bra cup size D or greater had lower scores. In comparison to AOW scores, published BREAST-Q augmentation scores were lower before and higher after surgery for all scales except Physical Well-being. Conclusions The AOW normative data represent breast-related satisfaction and well-being in woman not actively seeking breast augmentation. This data may be used as normative comparison values for those seeking and undergoing surgery as we did, demonstrating the value of breast augmentation in this patient population. PMID:28350657

  15. Neurath's ship: The constitutive relation between normative and descriptive theories of rationality

    OpenAIRE

    Waldmann, Michael R.

    2011-01-01

    I defend the claim that in psychological theories concerned with theoretical or practical rationality there is a constitutive relation between normative and descriptive theories: Normative theories provide idealized descriptive accounts of rational agents. However, we need to resist the temptation to collapse descriptive theories with any specific normative theory. I show how a partial separation is possible. peerReviewed

  16. Developmental changes in children's normative reasoning across learning contexts and collaborative roles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riggs, Anne E; Young, Andrew G

    2016-08-01

    What influences children's normative judgments of conventional rules at different points in development? The current study explored the effects of two contextual factors on children's normative reasoning: the way in which the rules were learned and whether the rules apply to the self or others. Peer dyads practiced a novel collaborative board game comprising two complementary roles. Dyads were either taught both the prescriptive (i.e., what to do) and proscriptive (i.e., what not to do) forms of the rules, taught only the prescriptive form of the rules, or created the rules themselves. Children then judged whether third parties were violating or conforming to the rules governing their own roles and their partner's roles. Early school-aged children's (6- to 7-year-olds; N = 60) normative judgments were strongest when they had been taught the rules (with or without the proscriptive form), but were more flexible for rules they created themselves. Preschool-aged children's (4- to 5-year-olds; N = 60) normative judgments, however, were strongest when they were taught both the prescriptive and proscriptive forms of the rules. Additionally, preschoolers exhibited stronger normative judgments when the rules governed their own roles rather than their partner's roles, whereas school-aged children treated all rules as equally normative. These results demonstrate that children's normative reasoning is contingent on contextual factors of the learning environment and, moreover, highlight 2 specific areas in which children's inferences about the normativity of conventions strengthen over development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. Normative Power Europe and the Importance of the Discursive Context

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Henrik

    2014-01-01

    Europe, with the notable exceptions of Diez (2013); Keene (2012); Forsberg (2011) and Huelss (2011) (who also discuss the meaning of the ‘normative’). Focusing on power, the question asked in this article is how the discursive context of the politics of religion affects the EU’s ability to exert......This article attempts to demonstrate the importance of the discursive context for whether and, if so, how the European Union (EU) can exert normative power in different policy areas. Surprisingly, the concept of power has not been extensively discussed in the academic literature on Normative Power...... normative power in this area. The article examines the politics of religion by looking at the case of the debate about human rights versus religion in the United Nations Human Rights Council after the year 2000. The broader point addressed in the article is whether the EU can exert normative power...

  18. Radiogrammetric analysis of upper limb long bones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stojanović Zlatan

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Radiogrammetry is radiological method of bone mineral density quantification. Besides giving an insight in diagnostics and evolution of metabolic bone disorders (osteoporosis, osteomalacia, osteitis deformans- Paget's disease, it can also explain some specific biomechanical characteristics of bone structures. The aim of this study is to evaluate the significance and perspectives of radiogrammetry as a scientific model for further inquiry of skeletal system. The work demonstrates mathematical parameters (Ca-Cortical area, CI- Cortical index, GI- Garn's index, ESI- Exton Smith's index of upper limb long bones (humerus, radius, ulna. Two standard radiological projections of bones were taken: antero-posterior (AP and latero-lateral (LL. Correlation with metacarpal and lower limb bones was also performed. The value of the cortical area of humerus is significantly higher comparing with the two other examined bones (Xmean 2,2443 cm2, p < 0.01. Radial bone has the highest values of the relational mathematical parameters, which implicates its higher strength by volumetric unit concerning humerus and ulna. Despite the development of contemporary osteometric procedures (ultrasound densitometry, dual X-ray absorptiometry, digital X-ray radiogrammetry, the classical radiogrammetry sustains its important role in diagnostics of metabolic bone disorders and it can be successfully used for biomechanical inquiry of skeletal system.

  19. Relationship between boys' normative beliefs about aggression and their physical, verbal, and indirect aggressive behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Si Huan; Ang, Rebecca P

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the contribution of general normative beliefs about aggression and specific normative beliefs about retaliatory aggression in predicting physical, verbal, and indirect aggressive behaviors. Two hundred and forty-nine Grade 4 and Grade 5 boys completed the Normative Beliefs about Aggression Scale (NOBAGS) and provided self-reports on the frequency of their physical, verbal, and indirect aggressive behaviors. A series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that general normative beliefs about aggression contributed significantly in predicting all three types of aggressive behaviors. When general normative beliefs about aggression were controlled for, specific normative beliefs about retaliatory aggression against males but not specific normative beliefs about retaliatory aggression against females, contributed significantly to predict physical, verbal, and indirect aggressive behaviors. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.

  20. Developing a normative critique of international trade law: special & differential treatment

    OpenAIRE

    Garcia, Frank J.

    2007-01-01

    Although the problem of trade and inequality is central to the resolution of the WTO Doha Round and to contemporary trade policy in general, it is currently undertheorized from a normative perspective. In this paper I develop a normative critique of WTO special and differential treatment law, as a case study of how normative political theory can be applied to international economic law. Using Rawls' theory of Justice as Fairness, I argue both that special and differential treatment can play a...

  1. Geologic history of quartz-normative and olivine-normative basalts in the vicinity of Hadley Rille (Apollo 15)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grove, T.L.

    1985-01-01

    The geologic history of the quartz normative (QNB) and olivine normative (ONB) basalt types at Hadley Rille are discussed. A model for the geology of the mare basalts was constructed from a combination of field observations, sample chemistry, sample petrology and personal bias from terrestrial experience. The model proposes that the QNBs are the only mare lava type that is present as outcrop in the area traversed by the astronauts during the Apollo 15 mission. The returned QNB samples formed during a single eruptive phase of the Hadley Rille lava tube system. The ONB lavas are an exotic component transported to the site by a cratering event, or the ONBs are samples excavated from older are bedrock that was partly covered by the QNB lavas

  2. 'Nobody tosses a dwarf!' The relation between the empirical and the normative reexamined.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leget, Carlo; Borry, Pascal; de Vries, Raymond

    2009-05-01

    This article discusses the relation between empirical and normative approaches in bioethics. The issue of dwarf tossing, while admittedly unusual, is chosen as a point of departure because it challenges the reader to look with fresh eyes upon several central bioethical themes, including human dignity, autonomy, and the protection of vulnerable people. After an overview of current approaches to the integration of empirical and normative ethics, we consider five ways that the empirical and normative can be brought together to speak to the problem of dwarf tossing: prescriptive applied ethics, theoretical ethics, critical applied ethics, particularist ethics and integrated empirical ethics. We defend a position of critical applied ethics that allows for a two-way relation between empirical and normative theories. Against efforts fully to integrate the normative and the empirical into one synthesis, we propose that the two should stand in tension and relation to one another. The approach we endorse acknowledges that a social practice can and should be judged both by the gathering of empirical data and by normative ethics. Critical applied ethics uses a five stage process that includes: (a) determination of the problem, (b) description of the problem, (c) empirical study of effects and alternatives, (d) normative weighing and (e) evaluation of the effects of a decision. In each stage, we explore the perspective from both the empirical (sociological) and the normative ethical point of view. We conclude by applying our five-stage critical applied ethics to the example of dwarf tossing.

  3. A Proposal for More Sophisticated Normative Principles in Introductory Economics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt, Stephen

    2017-01-01

    Introductory textbooks teach a simple normative story about the importance of maximizing economic surplus that supports common policy claims. There is little defense of the claim that maximizing surplus is normatively important, which is not obvious to non-economists. Difficulties with the claim that society should maximize surplus are generally…

  4. Comparison of the Reading Subtests of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test-Revised/Normative Update

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ott, Lauren M.

    2010-01-01

    This study compared the reading subtests of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Third Edition and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test-Revised/Normative Update. Scores were compared on these two tests in a group of 28 students ages 7 through 12 who were referred or reevaluated for suspected learning problems. The data were collected…

  5. A normative ethical framework in climate change

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grasso, M. [Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, Universita degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Edificio U7, via Bicocca degli Arcimboldi 8, 20126 Milan (Italy)

    2007-04-15

    The article spells out four domains of international distributive justice and the consequent criteria of equity, the purpose being to identify a pluralistic normative ethical framework for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Justice and equity should play a major role in favouring collective action against climate change, because the more the various dimensions of such action are just, the more any international climate initiative is feasible in principle. As far as mitigation is concerned, the definition of a just initial allocation of endowments focuses on the criterion of differentiated equality, taking account of undeserved inequalities as suggested by Rawls' theory of justice as fairness. With regard to the subsequent exchange of endowments, the Pareto principle, supplemented by the envy-freeness one, is a viable option. Possibly a sound reference for the just financing of adaptation activities is the criterion of differentiated historical responsibility, backed by Rawls' theory of justice as fairness. As regards the allocation of adaptation resources, the criterion of lack of human security, as substantiated in Sen's capability approach, seems promising.

  6. Morality, Normativity, and Economic Development in Slovakia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Karjanen

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This article examines debates over local economic development policies and practices in contemporary Slovakia, particularly regarding property and land development. Debates about economic development often occur in relation to economic outcomes, driven by quantitative data and empirical assessments provided by city officials or consultants. In this article, I find that such debates are more likely to be driven by normative concerns, including moral outcomes. I develop a theoretical framework to understand why policy debates occur not in purely objective terms, but the more subjective normative and moral frameworks. The analysis provides greater insight into political debates and policymaking in the postsocialist context.

  7. Naturalism, Normativity, and the Study of Religion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anil Mundra

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This article repudiates the common view that the study of religion, in order to qualify as academic, must be descriptively neutral and naturalistic rather than normative or prescriptive. Following philosophers like John McDowell, John Cottingham, and Tyler Roberts, I claim that such a methodological stance amounts to viewing humans as determined rather than free agents. On the basis of W.V.O. Quine and Donald Davidson’s analysis of translation, I argue that normativity is ineliminable from humanistic scholarship, which is itself inextricable from religious studies. Robert Pippin and Thomas A. Lewis’s readings of Hegel then provide resources to reconcile human freedom and constraint in religion.

  8. The European Union's Normative Power

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian

    2011-01-01

    this period it became increasingly clear that the study of the EU in world politics needed to engage with both critical social theory and normative international theory. This chapter represents a return to critical social theory - a holistic research programme that works within a cosmopolitical understanding...

  9. Two-minute walk test performance by adults 18 to 85 years: normative values, reliability, and responsiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bohannon, Richard W; Wang, Ying-Chih; Gershon, Richard C

    2015-03-01

    To provide (1) normative reference values for the 2-minute walk test (2MWT), (2) reference equations for the 2MWT, and (3) information on the reliability and responsiveness of the 2MWT across the adult lifespan. Cross-sectional study. General community settings. A population-based sample of adult participants (N=1137) contributed data to this study, which was part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox for the Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function Norming Project. Not applicable. 2MWT. Overall, the distance participants walked ranged from 64.6 to 300.8m (mean, 180.9m). Men walked farther than did women (189.4m vs 176.0m; t=6.8; df=1,135; PRehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Normative values of eccentric hip abduction strength in novice runners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Daniel Ramskov; Pedersen, Mette Broen; Kastrup, Kristrian

    2014-01-01

    .354) Nm/kg. CONCLUSION: Normative values for maximal eccentric hip abduction strength in novice runners can be calculated by taking into account the differences in strength across genders and the decline in strength that occurs with increasing age. Age and gender were associated with maximal eccentric hip...... associated with maximal eccentric hip abduction strength from a univariate analysis were included in a multivariate linear regression model. Based on the results from the regression model, a regression equation for normative hip abduction strength is presented. RESULTS: A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN MAXIMAL...... was found, p gender. Based on this, the equation to calculate normative values for relative eccentric hip abduction strength became: (1.600 + (age * -0.005) + (gender (1 = male / 0 = female) * 0.215) ± 1 or 2 * 0...

  11. Does Europe Include Japan? European Normativity in Japanese Attitudes towards International Law, 1854–1945

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Urs Matthias Zachmann

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available European normativity has been an epistemological problem for Japan throughout modernity (1868–1945. This essay discusses this problem in the case of international law by tracing its reception and application from the beginning, the opening- up of Japan in 1854, until the final demise of its imperialist project in 1945. During this period, Japan was the only non-Western great power in the hitherto all-European concert of powers. International law and the critique of European normativity played a central role in Japan’s ascent to power and confrontation with the West. In the first phase of reception between 1954 and 1905, Japanese attitudes towards international law were marked by an exceptional commitment to and acquiescence with the European standard, in line with Japan’s ambition to »leave Asia«. However, due to its strategic purposes, European normativity was more a means of political expediency than a matter of intrinsic conviction. Moreover, after the initial phase of receiving and practicing the principles of international law with considerable success, many Japanese began to feel a certain estrangement and inner reservation to European standards. Not until 1905, was Japan in a position to gradually challenge Europe. Thus, Japan’s interwar period (1905–1931 was an uneasy combination of outward compliance and inner reservation, a tension that Japan eventually resolved by withdrawing from Europe and trying to build its own autonomous sphere in East Asia after 1931. However, the example of Japanese international lawyers shows that in order to save international law from its ultranationalist critics and enemies, European normativity still remained the central cultural reference, albeit now in its revisionist variant (especially Soviet and Nazi German political thought and subject to a strategic re-interpretation. Thus, from the perspective of Japanese international lawyers, despite the Pan-Asianist pretenses of Japan’s official

  12. Challenging Normative Sexual and Gender Identity Beliefs through Romeo and Juliet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ressler, Paula

    2005-01-01

    Paula Ressler, an English teacher, suggests unconventional ways to work with William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" in the secondary school English curriculum to challenge normative sexual and gender identity beliefs. Reading queerly to explore non-normative sex and gender identities and reading for social justice have the potential to…

  13. Normative calcaneal quantitative ultrasound data for the indigenous Shuar and non-Shuar Colonos of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madimenos, Felicia C; Snodgrass, J Josh; Blackwell, Aaron D; Liebert, Melissa A; Cepon, Tara J; Sugiyama, Lawrence S

    2011-01-01

    Minimal data on bone mineral density changes are available from populations in developing countries. Using calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) techniques, the current study contributes to remedying this gap in the literature by establishing a normative data set on the indigenous Shuar and non-Shuar Colonos of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The paucity of bone mineral density (BMD) data from populations in developing countries partially reflects the lack of diagnostic resources in these areas. Portable QUS techniques now enable researchers to collect bone health data in remote field-based settings and to contribute normative data from developing regions. The main objective of this study is to establish normative QUS data for two Ecuadorian Amazonian populations-the indigenous Shuar and non-Shuar Colonos. The effects of ethnic group, sex, age, and body size on QUS parameters are also considered. A study cohort consisting of 227 Shuar and 261 Colonos (15-91 years old) were recruited from several small rural Ecuadorian communities in the Upano River Valley. Calcaneal QUS parameters were collected on the right heel of each participant using a Sahara bone sonometer. Three ultrasound generated parameters were employed: broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), speed of sound (SOS), and calculated heel BMD (hBMD). In both populations and sexes, all QUS values were progressively lower with advancing age. Shuar have significantly higher QUS values than Colonos, with most pronounced differences found between pre-menopausal Shuar and Colono females. Multiple regression analyses show that age is a key predictor of QUS while weight alone is a less consistent determinant. Both Shuar males and females display comparatively greater QUS parameters than other reference populations. These normative data for three calcaneal QUS parameters will be useful for predicting fracture risk and determining diagnostic QUS criteria of osteoporosis in non-industrialized populations in South America and

  14. Toddlers View Artifact Function Normatively

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casler, Krista; Terziyan, Treysi; Greene, Kimberly

    2009-01-01

    When children use objects like adults, are they simply tracking regularities in others' object use, or are they demonstrating a normatively defined awareness that there are right and wrong ways to act? This study provides the first evidence for the latter possibility. Young 2- and 3-year-olds (n = 32) learned functions of 6 artifacts, both…

  15. Physical Performance Measures of Flexibility, Hip Strength, Lower Limb Power and Trunk Endurance in Healthy Navy Cadets: Normative Data and Differences Between Sex and Limb Dominance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopes, Thiago Jambo Alves; Simic, Milena; Alves, Daniel de Souza; Bunn, Priscila Dos Santos; Rodrigues, Allan Inoue; Terra, Bruno de Souza; Lima, Maicom da Silva; Ribeiro, Fabrício Miranda; Vilão, Patrick; Pappas, Evangelos

    2018-01-17

    The objectives were to provide normative data on commonly used physical performance tests that may be associated with musculoskeletal injuries in Navy cadets, and assess for sex and limb dominance differences. A large cohort of Navy cadets were assessed for physical performance tests of flexibility (ankle dorsiflexion range of motion and sit and reach), isometric hip strength, lower limb power (single leg hop), and trunk endurance (plank and side plank tests). Besides providing normative data tables, sex and limb dominance differences were assessed by a two-way mixed ANOVA. A total of 545 Brazilian Navy cadets (394 males) representing 79% of the cadets in the Academy participated. Normative reference values were reported as mean±SD, 95%CI and percentiles. For tests of muscle strength, power and endurance, males performed better than females (p<0.001). For flexibility tests, females achieved greater distances than males for the sit and reach test (p<0.001), but no difference for ankle dorsiflexion (p=0.51). Overall, there were no clinically relevant differences between limbs. In conclusion, normative data for commonly used physical performance tests were provided. Although no clinically relevant side-to-side differences were found, males presented higher values for lower limb strength and power, as well as trunk endurance than females, while females demonstrated increased flexibility. Valuable normative data are provided to professionals who work with young, active populations from the injury prevention or rehabilitation perspective; as the current study may help professionals to identify athletes or cadets whose performance is outside the normative values and may be at risk for injury.

  16. Strategic entrepreneurial internationalization : A normative framework

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Autio, Erkko

    Much of the literature on international new ventures (INVs) tends to focus on early internationalization and view it as the expression of firm-specific advantages that existed prior to internationalization. This paper presents a normative framework that articulates how INVs can leverage

  17. A normative analysis of nursing knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zanotti, Renzo; Chiffi, Daniele

    2016-03-01

    This study addresses the question of normative analysis of the value-based aspects of nursing. In our perspective, values in science may be distinguished into (i) epistemic when related to the goals of truth and objectivity and (ii) non-epistemic when related to social, cultural or political aspects. Furthermore, values can be called constitutive when necessary for a scientific enterprise, or contextual when contingently associated with science. Analysis of the roles of the various forms of values and models of knowledge translation provides the ground to understand the specific role of values in nursing. A conceptual framework has been built to classify some of the classical perspectives on nursing knowledge and to examine the relationships between values and different forms of knowledge in nursing. It follows that adopting a normative perspective in the analysis of nursing knowledge provides key elements to identify its proper dimension. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Normative Beliefs, Expectancies, and Alcohol-Related Problems among College Students; Implications for Theory and Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fearnow-Kenny, Melodie D.; Wyrick, David L.; Hansen, William B.; Dyreg, Doug; Beau, Dan B.

    2001-01-01

    Investigation (1) examined interrelations among normative beliefs, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol-related problems, and (2) investigated whether alcohol-related expectancies mediate associations between normative beliefs and alcohol-related problems. Analyses revealed that alcohol expectancies mediate the relationship between normative beliefs…

  19. Heuristics and biases: interactions among numeracy, ability, and reflectiveness predict normative responding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaczynski, Paul A

    2014-01-01

    In Stanovich's (2009a, 2011) dual-process theory, analytic processing occurs in the algorithmic and reflective minds. Thinking dispositions, indexes of reflective mind functioning, are believed to regulate operations at the algorithmic level, indexed by general cognitive ability. General limitations at the algorithmic level impose constraints on, and affect the adequacy of, specific strategies and abilities (e.g., numeracy). In a study of 216 undergraduates, the hypothesis that thinking dispositions and general ability moderate the relationship between numeracy (understanding of mathematical concepts and attention to numerical information) and normative responses on probabilistic heuristics and biases (HB) problems was tested. Although all three individual difference measures predicted normative responses, the numeracy-normative response association depended on thinking dispositions and general ability. Specifically, numeracy directly affected normative responding only at relatively high levels of thinking dispositions and general ability. At low levels of thinking dispositions, neither general ability nor numeric skills related to normative responses. Discussion focuses on the consistency of these findings with the hypothesis that the implementation of specific skills is constrained by limitations at both the reflective level and the algorithmic level, methodological limitations that prohibit definitive conclusions, and alternative explanations.

  20. Heuristics and Biases: Interactions among Numeracy, Ability, and Reflectiveness Predict Normative Responding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul A Klaczynski

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In Stanovich's (2009a, 2011 dual-process theory, analytic processing occurs in the algorithmic and reflective minds. Thinking dispositions, indexes of reflective mind functioning, are believed to regulate operations at the algorithmic level, indexed by general cognitive ability. General limitations at the algorithmic level impose constraints on, and affect the adequacy of, specific strategies and abilities (e.g., numeracy. In a study of 216 undergraduates, the hypothesis that thinking dispositions and general ability moderate the relationship between numeracy (understanding of mathematical concepts and attention to numerical information and normative responses on probabilistic heuristics and biases problems was tested. Although all three individual difference measures predicted normative responses, the numeracy-normative response association depended on thinking dispositions and general ability. Specifically, numeracy directly affected normative responding only at relatively high levels of thinking dispositions and general ability. At low levels of thinking dispositions, neither general ability nor numeric skills related to normative responses. Discussion focuses on the consistency of these findings with the hypothesis that the implementation of specific skills is constrained by limitations at both the reflective level and the algorithmic level, methodological limitations that prohibit definitive conclusions, and alternative explanations.

  1. Attachment reorganization following divorce: normative processes and individual differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sbarra, David A; Borelli, Jessica L

    2018-03-21

    This paper uses attachment theory as a lens for reviewing contemporary research on how adults cope with marital separation and loss. The first section of the paper discusses the process of normative attachment reorganization, or the psychology of adaptive grief responses following relationship transitions. We argue that changes two processes, in particular, can be uses to track changes in this normative reorganization process: narrative coherence and self-concept clarity. The second section of the paper suggest that individual differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance shape the variability in this normative reorganization process, largely as a result of the characteristic ways in which these styles organize emotion-regulatory tendencies. The paper closes with a series of integrative questions for future research, including a call for new studies aimed at understanding under what contexts anxiety and avoidance may be adaptive in promoting emotion recovery to separation and divorce experiences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Normative perceptions of alcohol-related consequences among college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brett, Emma I; Leavens, Eleanor L; Miller, Mary Beth; Lombardi, Nathaniel; Leffingwell, Thad R

    2016-07-01

    College students in the U.S. continue to drink in hazardous ways and experience a range of alcohol-related consequences. Personalized feedback interventions (PFIs), which often include normative components comparing personal drinking to that of similar peers, have been effective in reducing alcohol outcomes among college students. Though normative perceptions of the quantity and frequency of alcohol use have been examined in many studies, norms for alcohol-related consequences have received less attention. The current study examined self-other discrepancies (SODs) for alcohol-related consequences among college students. Participants overestimated how often alcohol-related consequences are experienced by other same-sex students on campus and rated consequences as more acceptable for others to experience than themselves. No differences in SODs were found between those who did and did not report alcohol use. Future studies should examine the efficacy of PFIs that incorporate normative feedback on alcohol-related consequences. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Phrenic nerve conduction studies: normative data and technical aspects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Analucia Abreu Maranhão

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of the present study was to define normative data of phrenic nerve conduction parameters of a healthy population. Methods: Phrenic nerve conduction studies were performed in 27 healthy volunteers. Results: The normative limits for expiratory phrenic nerve compound muscle action potential were: amplitude (0.47 mv - 0.83 mv, latency (5.74 ms - 7.10 ms, area (6.20 ms/mv - 7.20 ms/mv and duration (18.30 ms - 20.96 ms. Inspiratory normative limits were: amplitude (0.67 mv - 1.11 mv, latency (5.90 ms - 6.34 ms, area (5.62 ms/mv - 6.72 ms/mv and duration (13.77 ms - 15.37 ms. Conclusion: The best point of phrenic nerve stimulus in the neck varies among individuals between the medial and lateral border of the clavicular head of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and stimulation of both sites, then choosing the best phrenic nerve response, seems to be the appropriate procedure.

  4. Phrenic nerve conduction studies: normative data and technical aspects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maranhão, Analucia Abreu; Carvalho, Sonia Regina da Silva; Caetano, Marcelo Ribeiro; Alamy, Alexandre Hofke; Peixoto, Eduardo Mesquita; Filgueiras, Pedro Del Esporte Peçanha

    2017-12-01

    The aim of the present study was to define normative data of phrenic nerve conduction parameters of a healthy population. Phrenic nerve conduction studies were performed in 27 healthy volunteers. The normative limits for expiratory phrenic nerve compound muscle action potential were: amplitude (0.47 mv - 0.83 mv), latency (5.74 ms - 7.10 ms), area (6.20 ms/mv - 7.20 ms/mv) and duration (18.30 ms - 20.96 ms). Inspiratory normative limits were: amplitude (0.67 mv - 1.11 mv), latency (5.90 ms - 6.34 ms), area (5.62 ms/mv - 6.72 ms/mv) and duration (13.77 ms - 15.37 ms). The best point of phrenic nerve stimulus in the neck varies among individuals between the medial and lateral border of the clavicular head of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and stimulation of both sites, then choosing the best phrenic nerve response, seems to be the appropriate procedure.

  5. Normative values of eccentric hip abduction strength in novice runners

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ramskov, D; Pedersen, M B; Kastrup, K

    2014-01-01

    normative values of maximal eccentric hip abduction strength in novice runners. METHODS: Novice healthy runners (n = 831) were recruited through advertisements at a hospital and a university. Maximal eccentric hip abduction strength was measured with a hand-held dynamometer. The demographic variables...... was found, p values were identified using a regression equation adjusting for age and gender. Based on this, the equation to calculate normative values for relative eccentric hip abduction strength became: (1.600 + (age * -0.005) + (gender (1 = male / 0 = female) * 0.215) ± 1 or 2 * 0......PURPOSE: Low eccentric strength of the hip abductors, might increase the risk of patellofemoral pain syndrome and iliotibial band syndrome in runners. No normative values for maximal eccentric hip abduction strength have been established. Therefore the purpose of this study was to establish...

  6. Normative Multiagent Systems and Trust Dynamics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    G. Boella (Guido); L.W.N. van der Torre (Leon)

    2005-01-01

    htmlabstractIn this paper we use recursive modelling to formalize sanction-based obligations in a qualitative game theory. In particular, we formalize an agent who attributes mental attitudes such as goals and desires to the normative system which creates and enforces its obligations. The wishes

  7. Normative beliefs about aggression and cyber aggression among young adults: a longitudinal investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Michelle F; Li, Yan

    2013-01-01

    This longitudinal study examined normative beliefs about aggression (e.g., face-to-face, cyber) in relation to the engagement in cyber aggression 6 months later among 126 (69 women) young adults. Participants completed electronically administered measures assessing their normative beliefs, face-to-face and cyber aggression at Time 1, and cyber aggression 6 months later (Time 2). We found that men reported more cyber relational and verbal aggression when compared to women. After controlling for each other, Time 1 face-to-face relational aggression was positively related to Time 2 cyber relational aggression, whereas Time 1 face-to-face verbal aggression was positively related to Time 2 cyber verbal aggression. Normative beliefs regarding cyber aggression was positively related to both forms of cyber aggression 6 months later, after controlling for normative beliefs about face-to-face aggression. Furthermore, a significant two-way interaction between Time 1 cyber relational aggression and normative beliefs about cyber relational aggression was found. Follow-up analysis showed that Time 1 cyber relational aggression was more strongly related to Time 2 cyber relational aggression when young adults held higher normative beliefs about cyber relational aggression. A similar two-way interaction was found for cyber verbal aggression such that the association between Time 1 and Time 2 cyber verbal aggression was stronger at higher levels of normative beliefs about cyber verbal aggression. Results are discussed in terms of the social cognitive and behavioral mechanisms associated with the engagement of cyber aggression. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Quantitative assessment of finger motor performance: Normative data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessio Signori

    Full Text Available Finger opposition movements are the basis of many daily living activities and are essential in general for manipulating objects; an engineered glove quantitatively assessing motor performance during sequences of finger opposition movements has been shown to be useful to provide reliable measures of finger motor impairment, even subtle, in subjects affected by neurological diseases. However, the obtained behavioral parameters lack published reference values.To determine mean values for different motor behavioral parameters describing the strategy adopted by healthy people in performing repeated sequences of finger opposition movements, examining associations with gender and age.Normative values for finger motor performance parameters were obtained on a sample of 255 healthy volunteers executing sequences of finger-to-thumb opposition movements, stratified by gender and over a wide range of ages. Touch duration, inter-tapping interval, movement rate, correct sequences (%, movements in advance compared with a metronome (% and inter-hand interval were assessed.Increasing age resulted in decreased movement speed, advance movements with respect to a cue, correctness of sequences, and bimanual coordination. No significant performance differences were found between male and female subjects except for the duration of the finger touch, the interval between two successive touches and their ratio.We report age- and gender-specific normal mean values and ranges for different parameters objectively describing the performance of finger opposition movement sequences, which may serve as useful references for clinicians to identify possible deficits in subjects affected by diseases altering fine hand motor skills.

  9. Knowing versus liking: Separating normative knowledge from social desirability in first impressions of personality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, Katherine H; Biesanz, Jeremy C

    2015-12-01

    There are strong differences between individuals in the tendency to view the personality of others as similar to the average person. That is, some people tend to form more normatively accurate impressions than do others. However, the process behind the formation of normatively accurate first impressions is not yet fully understood. Given that the average individual's personality is highly socially desirable (Borkenau & Zaltauskas, 2009; Wood, Gosling & Potter, 2007), individuals may achieve high normative accuracy by viewing others as similar to the average person or by viewing them in an overly socially desirable manner. The average self-reported personality profile and social desirability, despite being strongly correlated, independently and strongly predict first impressions. Further, some individuals have a more accurate understanding of the average individual's personality than do others. Perceivers with more accurate knowledge about the average individual's personality rated the personality of specific others more normatively accurately (more similar to the average person), suggesting that individual differences in normative judgments include a component of accurate knowledge regarding the average personality. In contrast, perceivers who explicitly evaluated others more positively formed more socially desirable impressions, but not more normatively accurate impressions. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. “Nobody tosses a dwarf!” The relation between the empirical and normative reexamined

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leget, C.; Borry, P.; De Vries, R.

    2009-01-01

    This article discusses the relation between empirical and normative approaches in bioethics. The issue of dwarf tossing, while admittedly unusual, is chosen as point of departure because it challenges the reader to look upon several central bioethical themes – including human dignity, autonomy, and the protection of vulnerable people – with fresh eyes. After an overview of current approaches to the integration of empirical and normative ethics, we consider five ways that the empirical and normative can be brought together to speak to the problem of dwarf tossing: prescriptive applied ethics, theorist ethics, critical applied ethics, particularist ethics and integrated empirical ethics. We defend a position of critical applied ethics that allows for a two-way relation between empirical and normative theories. The approach we endorse acknowledges that a social practice can and should be judged by both the gathering of empirical data and by the normative ethics. Critical applied ethics uses a five stage process that includes: (a) determination of the problem, (b) description of the problem, (c) empirical study of effects and alternatives, (d) normative weighing and (e) evaluation of the effects of a decision. In each stage, we explore the perspective from both the empirical (sociological) and the normative ethical poles that, in our view, should operate as two independent focuses of the ellipse that is called bioethics. We conclude by applying our five stage critical applied ethics to the example of dwarf tossing. PMID:19338523

  11. Practicing vaginistic femininity: Doing bodies, enacting normative heterosexuality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephanie Stelko

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Vaginismus is a female sexual pain disorder, characterized by contractions of the pubococcygeus (PC muscle that surrounds the outer third of the vagina, which makes penetrative penile-vaginal intercourse (coitus, insertion of a finger or tampon and gynecological examinations hard or impossible, and painful for the woman. The condition is believed to be associated with negative beliefs, attitudes or experiences related to sex. Vaginismus has important social repercussions in everyday life, which acquire meaning in the context of hegemonic heterosexuality. In line with theories of performativity, heterosexuality and gender are normatively and performatively linked sets of practices, with coitus being the central practice of heterosexuality and thus defining for one’s gender. Thus, the inability of vaginistic women to perform coitus impairs their performance of normative heterogender. In this article I address gender experiences of women with primary vaginismus, by looking at social and bodily practices they engage in. In the first part of the article, I explore how women with primary vaginismus do (vaginistic heterogender. In the second part I address the practices they do in order to ‘overcome’ vaginismus, thus improving their performance of normative heterogender, and argue that these practices are gendering themselves.

  12. Oscillometric casual blood pressure normative standards for Swedish children using ABPM to exclude casual hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krmar, Rafael T; Holtbäck, Ulla; Bergh, Anita; Svensson, Eva; Wühl, Elke

    2015-04-01

    Casual blood pressure (CBP) is considered a reliable proxy for cardiovascular health. Although the auscultatory technique is the reference standard method for measuring CBP, oscillometric devices are increasingly being used in children. We sought to establish oscillometric CBP normative standards for Swedish children. Cross-sectional oscillometric CBP readings were obtained by the Welch Allyn Spot Vital Signs 420 monitor and measured according to the International Guidelines' recommendations. Participants with elevated oscillometric CBP levels underwent verification by the auscultatory method. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was used to exclude casual hypertension. Data on 1,470 (772 males) apparently healthy Swedish schoolchildren aged 6-16 years were analyzed and sex-specific reference charts normalized to age or height were constructed. Systolic and diastolic CBP values were significantly higher with age, height, height standard deviation score (SDS), body mass index (BMI), and BMI SDS. Gender differences for systolic CBP were present starting from age of 15 years and revealed significantly higher values in boys than in girls, whereas for diastolic CBP, the differences were apparent at the age of 12 years, with higher values in girls. Increased BMI and BMI SDS were positively associated with CBP levels. Positive parental history of hypertension turned out to be a risk factor for higher systolic and diastolic CBP across all ages. Our normative standard for CBP can be used for blood pressure screening and control programs in Swedish children. The use of ABPM should be considered to confirm the diagnosis of casual hypertension. © American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd 2014. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Four Normative Languages of Welfare

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Mathias Herup

    2018-01-01

    This article explores the normative languages used by ordinary citizens to measure ongoing welfare state transformations in Denmark. Empirically, the article turns to qualitative data from a deliberative democratic forum where 35 citizens gathered to reflect upon and discuss the future of the wel...... of worth stating welfare dependency to be one of the big problems and stressing the need for individual responsibility and for giving structural incentives for such behaviour....

  14. Europe's Common Market: Natural gas sector normatives and certification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Musazzi, V.

    1992-01-01

    Europe's Common Market offers an interesting challenge to its member countries' natural gas distribution system operators in that which regards the creation of a European-wide natural gas control board, and European standardization and regulatory committees contemporaneously guaranteeing a free market for suppliers, as well as, consumer protection. Relative legislation and normatives activities will be deemed the responsibility of the European administrative structure and the the European Normatives Committee respectively. This paper briefly illustrates the progress that has been accomplished thus far in the standardization of technical aspects. Focus is on the certification of natural gas distribution system constructors

  15. Do women who choose to become surrogate mothers have different psychological profiles compared to a normative female sample?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pizitz, Todd D; McCullaugh, Joseph; Rabin, Alexa

    2013-03-01

    Surrogate mothers are routinely assessed for their suitability to function in the role of surrogacy. Such assessments often include psychological testing including the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory-revised (MMPI-2). There has been a paucity of research detailing the personality structures of these women, especially with the MMPI-2. The current study examined the validity and clinical profiles of surrogate mothers (N=43) compared to a non-patient, normative reference sample of women (N=40) using their MMPI-2 results. This study examined between group differences among the 68 scales of the MMPI-2. Independent-sample t-tests were conducted for each of the scales, with those violating homogeneity of variance assessed with a non-parametric, Mann-Whitney U test. The findings demonstrated that surrogate mothers produce profiles with lower values than normative samples across several MMPI-2 scales. For this unique group, elevations were observed on scales that assess profile validity, views on traditional gender roles, repression, ego strength, social obligation and duties, and contained hostility, relative to the normative group. The findings provide an initial examination of the profiles of surrogate mothers on the MMPI-2. The findings revealed that the psychological suitability of surrogate mother candidates appear to be a composite of being both tough-minded and sensitive, sufficiently resilient to manage the role of surrogacy, and aware of the importance of emotional boundary-setting related to pre-natal attachment. Copyright © 2012 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. A Normative Approach to the Legitimacy of Muslim Schools in Multicultural Britain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hills, Peter Matthew

    2015-01-01

    Debate has grown about the legitimacy of Muslim faith schools within the British education system. At the same time, scepticism has developed towards multiculturalism as a normative approach for dealing with diversity. This article argues that it is worth retaining the normative impetus of multiculturalism by returning to its roots in political…

  17. The Figure of Radha in Miniature Paintings: From the Pastoral to the Courtly, from Text to Visuality, from Polyphony to Normativity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadia Cattoni

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available This article analyses how Radha was depicted in miniature paintings between the 16th and 19th century in North India. Interrogating the link between text and image, contrasting poetry, style and historical settings with the visual representations of this central figure, the reflections focus on the changing nature of Radha. Through various examples from miniature paintings of different periods and schools, this article analyses the way the rich personality of Radha was transposed into images. In order to stress the changes brought to this female figure, she will be compared to Krishna, the masculine figure who is always at her side. The main goal of the article is to show the normative power of images on the figure of Radha, with normativity being understood as the simplification, iconisation, aestheticisation and stereotypification of a figure with polysemous references.

  18. Exercise testing of pre-school children using the Bruce treadmill protocol: new reference values

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M.H.M. van der Cammen-van Zijp (Monique); H. IJsselstijn (Hanneke); T. Takken (Tim); S.P. Willemsen (Sten); D. Tibboel (Dick); H.J. Stam (Henk); H.J.G. van den Berg-Emons (Rita)

    2010-01-01

    textabstractThe Bruce treadmill protocol is an often-used exercise test for children and adults. Few and mainly old normative data are available for young children. In this cross-sectional observational study we determined new reference values for the original Bruce protocol in children aged 4 and 5

  19. Nudges and coercion: conceptual, empirical, and normative considerations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cratsley, Kelso

    2015-01-01

    Given that the concept of coercion remains a central concern for bioethics, Quigley's (Monash Bioethics Rev 32:141-158, 2014) recent article provides a helpful analysis of its frequent misapplication in debates over the use of 'nudges'. In this commentary I present a generally sympathetic response to Quigley's argument while also raising several issues that are important for the larger debates about nudges and coercion. I focus on several closely related topics, including the definition of coercion, the role of empirical research, and the normative concerns at the core of these disputes. I suggest that while a degree of precision is certainly required when deploying the relevant concepts, perhaps informed by empirical data, we need to continue to push these debates towards more pressing normative considerations.

  20. Normative Values for a Functional Capacity Evaluation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soer, Remko; van der Schans, Cees P.; Geertzen, Jan H.; Groothoff, Johan W.; Brouwer, Sandra; Dijkstra, Pieter U.; Reneman, Michiel F.

    2009-01-01

    Objective: To establish normative values for a functional capacity evaluation (FCE) of healthy working subjects. Design: Descriptive. Setting: Rehabilitation center. Participants: Healthy working subjects (N=701; 448 men, 253 women) between 20 and 60 years of age, working in more than 180

  1. Normative Orders in the Coast Guard Response to  Melting Arctic Ice: Institutional Logics or Anchoring Concepts

    OpenAIRE

    Haider, Haider A

    2017-01-01

    Underlying institutional forms are normative orders which give meaning to rules, norms, practices and customs. It is only recently that scholars have seriously considered the role of normative orders in institutional dynamics. Two meta-theories of institutionalism offer competing visions of how these normative orders are invoked. The Institutional Logics Perspective calls normative orders “institutional logics” and suggest that they are invoked in a consistent stable fashion. The Pragmatist I...

  2. Comparing Canadian and American normative scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrison, Allyson G; Armstrong, Irene T; Harrison, Laura E; Lange, Rael T; Iverson, Grant L

    2014-12-01

    Psychologists practicing in Canada must decide which set of normative data to use for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). The purpose of this study was to compare the interpretive effects of applying American versus Canadian normative systems in a sample of 432 Canadian postsecondary-level students who were administered the WAIS-IV as part of an evaluation for a learning disability, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or other mental health problems. Employing the Canadian normative system yielded IQ, Index, and subtest scores that were systematically lower than those obtained using the American norms. Furthermore, the percentage agreement in normative classifications, defined as American and Canadian index scores within five points or within the same classification range, was between 49% and 76%. Substantial differences are present between the American and Canadian WAIS-IV norms. Clinicians should consider carefully the implications regarding which normative system is most appropriate for specific types of evaluations. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  3. A normative study of the sport concussion assessment tool (SCAT2) in children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Aliyah R; Bauer, Russell M

    2014-01-01

    Recent clinical practice parameters encourage systematic use of concussion surveillance/management tools that evaluate participating athletes at baseline and after concussion. Office-based tools (Sports Concussion Assessment Tool; SCAT2) require accurate baseline assessment to maximize utility but no normative data exist for children on the SCAT2, limiting identification of "normal" or "impaired" score ranges. The purpose of this study was to develop child and adolescent baseline norms for the SCAT2 to provide reference values for different age groups. A community-based approach was implemented to compile baseline performance data on the SCAT2 in 761 children aged 9 to 18 to create age- and sex-graded norms. Findings indicate a significant age effect on SCAT2 performance such that older adolescents and teenagers produced higher (better) total scores than younger children (ages 9 to 11) driven by age differences on individual components measuring cognition (SAC), postural stability (BESS), and symptom report. Females endorsed greater numbers of symptoms at baseline than males. Normative data tables are presented. Findings support the SCAT2 as a useful clinical tool for assessing baseline functioning in teenagers, but suggest clinical utility may be limited in children under age 11. Follow-up studies after incident concussion are needed to confirm this assumption.

  4. Explaining landholders' decisions about riparian zone management: the role of behavioural, normative, and control beliefs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fielding, Kelly S; Terry, Deborah J; Masser, Barbara M; Bordia, Prashant; Hogg, Michael A

    2005-10-01

    Water quality is a key concern in the current global environment, with the need to promote practices that help to protect water quality, such as riparian zone management, being paramount. The present study used the theory of planned behaviour as a framework for understanding how beliefs influence decisions about riparian zone management. Respondents completed a survey that assessed their behavioural, normative, and control beliefs in relation to intentions to manage riparian zones on their property. The results of the study showed that, overall, landholders with strong intentions to manage their riparian zones differed significantly in terms of their beliefs compared to landholders who had weak intentions to manage their riparian zones. Strong intentions to manage riparian zones were associated with a favourable cost-benefit analysis, greater perceptions of normative support for the practice and lower perceptions of the extent to which barriers would impede management of riparian zones. It was also evident that willingness to comply with the recommendations of salient referents, beliefs about the benefits of riparian zone management and perceptions of the extent to which barriers would impede riparian zone management were most important for determining intentions to manage riparian zones. Implications for policy and extension practice are discussed.

  5. Using a Relational Models Perspective to Understand Normatively Appropriate Conduct in Ethical Leadership

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S.R. Giessner (Steffen); N. van Quaquebeke (Niels)

    2011-01-01

    textabstractTo describe leadership as ethical is largely a perceptional phenomenon informed by beliefs about what is normatively appropriate. Yet there is a remarkable scarcity in the leadership literature regarding how to define what is “normatively appropriate”. To shed light on this issue, we

  6. EU Development Aid towards Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the Normative Principle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georgios K. Bountagkidis

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The EU and most aid donors invoke a strong normative power face by explicitly connecting foreign aid with human and social development. However, how well the EU’s rhetoric is consistent with its practices as a multilateral development actor has not been explored extensively. In this study, we challenge the normative dimension of the EU’s development policy and explore whether the EU’s Official Development Assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa is based on objective deprivation on the part of recipient countries or whether it is “interest driven”. We use a least squares dummy variable model regression to examine aid flows from the EU to all 48 Sub-Saharan African states for the period 2000 to 2010. The evidence found indicates that in certain instances, aid allocation contradicts the normative rhetoric that the EU uses to describe its development policy, as the donor’s own interests in the region seem to supersede priority given to the needs of the aid recipient states. A limitation to the findings is the fact that normative values and strategic interests are not mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, the present study suggests that the EU’s portrayal as a force for good in international relations requires cautious critique.

  7. A facet approach to extending the normative component of the theory of reasoned action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donald, I; Cooper, S R

    2001-12-01

    Using facet theory, this study addresses the weak explanatory power of normative influence in theories of reasoned action or planned behaviour. A broad normative construct is hypothesized as being characterized by two facets--social unit and behavioural modality--each of which is examined in relation to recreational drug use. A questionnaire was developed from the facets and administered to undergraduate students. Data (N = 181) were analysed using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). The results suggest that the facets provide an adequate description of the normative construct and that personal and social normative beliefs, behavioural norms and behavioural intentions can be distinguished empirically. The results also lend partial support to Ajzen's (1988; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977) principle of compatibility. Implications for how social influence is operationalized and conceptualized are also discussed.

  8. Normative data for Aδ contact heat evoked potentials in adult population: a multicenter study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Granovsky, Yelena; Anand, Praveen; Nakae, Aya; Nascimento, Osvaldo; Smith, Benn; Sprecher, Elliot; Valls-Solé, Josep

    2016-05-01

    There has been a significant increase over recent years in the use of contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs) for the evaluation of small nerve fiber function. Measuring CHEP amplitude and latency has clinical utility for the diagnosis and assessment of conditions with neuropathic pain. This international multicenter study aimed to provide reference values for CHEPs to stimuli at 5 commonly examined body sites. Contact heat evoked potentials were recorded from 226 subjects (114 females), distributed per age decade between 20 and 79 years. Temperature stimuli were delivered by a thermode (32°C-51°C at a rate of 70°C/s). In phase I of the study, we investigated side-to-side differences and reported the maximum normal side-to-side difference in Aδ CHEP peak latency and amplitude for leg, forearm, and face. In phase II, we obtained normative data for 3 CHEP parameters (N2P2 amplitude, N2 latency, and P2 latency), stratified for gender and age decades from face, upper and lower limbs, and overlying cervical and lumbar spine. In general, larger CHEP amplitudes were associated with higher evoked pain scores. Females had CHEPs of larger amplitude and shorter latency than males. This substantive data set of normative values will facilitate the clinical use of CHEPs as a rapid, noninvasive, and objective technique for the assessment of patients presenting with neuropathic pain.

  9. Auditory temporal processing tests – Normative data for Polish-speaking adults

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joanna Majak

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Several subjects exposed to neurotoxins in the workplace need to be assessed for central auditory deficit. Although central auditory processing tests are widely used in other countries, they have not been standardized for the Polish population. The aim of the study has been to evaluate the range of reference values for 3 temporal processing tests: the duration pattern test (DPT, the frequency pattern test (FPT and the gaps in noise test (GIN. Material and Methods: The study included 76 normal hearing individuals (38 women, 38 men at the age of 18 to 54 years old (mean ± standard deviation: 39.4±9.1. All study participants had no history of any chronic disease and underwent a standard ENT examination. Results: The reference range for the DPT was established at 55.3% or more of correct answers, while for the FPT it stood at 56.7% or more of correct answers. The mean threshold for both ears in the GIN test was defined as 6 ms. In this study there were no significant associations between the DPT, FPT and GIN results and age or gender. Symmetry between the ears in the case of the DPT, FPT and GIN was found. Conclusions: Reference ranges obtained in this study for the DPT and FPT in the Polish population are lower than reference ranges previously published for other nations while the GIN test results correspond to those published in the related literature. Further investigations are needed to explain the discrepancies between normative values in Poland and other countries and adapt tests for occupational medicine purposes. Med Pr 2015;66(2:145–152

  10. Reliability and Normative Reference Values for the Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) Tool in Youth Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran, Ryan N; Covassin, Tracey; Elbin, R J; Gould, Dan; Nogle, Sally

    2018-05-01

    The Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) measure is a newly developed vestibular and ocular motor symptom provocation screening tool for sport-related concussions. Baseline data, psychometric properties, and reliability of the VOMS are needed to further understand the applications of this tool, especially in the youth population, where research is scarce. To establish normative data and document the internal consistency and false-positive rate of the VOMS in a sample of nonconcussed youth athletes. Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. A total of 423 youth athletes (male = 278, female = 145) between the ages of 8 and 14 years completed baseline VOMS screening before the start of their respective sport seasons. Internal consistency was measured with Cronbach α and inter-item correlations. Approximately 60% of youth athletes reported no symptom provocation on baseline VOMS assessment, with 9% to 13% scoring over the cutoff levels (score of ≥2 for any individual VOMS symptom, near point convergence distance of ≥5 cm). The VOMS displayed a high internal consistency (Cronbach α = .97) at baseline among youth athletes. The current findings provide preliminary support for the implementation of VOMS baseline assessment into clinical practice, due to a high internal consistency, strong relationships between VOMS items, and a low false-positive rate at baseline in youth athletes.

  11. Normative and Subjective Need for Orthodontic Treatment within ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2018-01-30

    Jan 30, 2018 ... orthodontic treatment within different age groups in Turkey. Methods: One ... Professionals usually classify the normative need for. Original Article ..... orthodontic services among adolescents in the United States. Am. J Orthod ...

  12. Median Nerve Conduction in Healthy Nigerians: Normative Data

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    of median nerve disease using multiple studies, and rendering ... Aim: To develop normative values for motor and sensory median nerve ..... Table 5: Comparison of median motor nerve conduction study parameters to studies elsewhere. Study.

  13. What men want: the role of reflective opposite-sex normative preferences in alcohol use among college women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Labrie, Joseph W; Cail, Jessica; Hummer, Justin F; Lac, Andrew; Neighbors, Clayton

    2009-03-01

    Misperceptions of peer drinking norms have been found to be strongly associated with individual drinking behavior, especially for proximal reference groups such as same-sex friends. Less studied are the effects of perceived preferences from the opposite sex on alcohol use; that is, the behaviors an individual believes the opposite sex prefers from them. Research suggests that these perceived "reflective" normative preferences may be particularly salient among college women, who may drink in pursuit of intimate relationships and positive attention from male peers. Heterosexual undergraduate students from two universities participated in this project. Females answered questions regarding the amount of alcohol they believe a typical male would like his female friends, dates, or romantic partners to drink. Males answered the same questions, stating their actual preferences. Results showed that females overestimate the amount of alcohol males want their female friends, dating partners, and sexual partners to drink, and that this misperception was associated with their drinking behavior, even after controlling for perceived same-sex norms. These results suggest that reflective normative feedback may offer a powerful new tool for female-targeted interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. Beyond Evidence-Based Belief Formation: How Normative Ideas Have Constrained Conceptual Change Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohlsson, Stellan

    2013-01-01

    The cognitive sciences, including psychology and education, have their roots in antiquity. In the historically early disciplines like logic and philosophy, the purpose of inquiry was normative. Logic sought to formalize valid inferences, and the various branches of philosophy sought to identify true and certain knowledge. Normative principles are…

  15. Normative data of Modified Functional Reach Test in younger and middle-aged North Eastern Indian population

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Priyanka Singh

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Purpose: The modified functional reach test (MFRT is the objective measure for dynamic sitting balance. It quantifies sitting balance in two directions: Forward and lateral reach. So, the purpose of the study was to 1 provide clinical reference value and 2 examine the factors that may influence the anthropometrics measures. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 apparently healthy subjects participated in this descriptive study. All subjects were divided in two groups: Younger (20-39 yr and middle-aged (40-59 yr. After anthropometric measurement, all subjects performed test by reaching forward and lateral with a closed fist while sitting. MFRT was taken with 3 trials with 15 sec break in between. Results: The mean score of the forward and lateral reach of right and left in group 1 was higher compared to group 2. The normative value of forward reach in group 1 was 34.05 ± 9.03 cm; for lateral reach right and left, it was 18.2 ± 5.26 cm and 17.32 ± 5.21 cm, respectively. For group 2, normative values for forward reach, lateral right and left were 25.18 ± 5.71 cm, 14.02 ± 3.98 cm and 13.53 ± 4.25 cm, respectively. There was no significant correlation of forward and lateral reach measures with the anthropometric characteristics in both the groups, except trunk length and BMI in group 1, which was significantly correlated ( P < 0.001. Conclusion: This study provides clinical reference value for younger and middle age group subjects while anthropometrics do not affect performance except trunk length and BMI in younger age group.

  16. Effects of normative feedback for drinkers who consume less than the norm: Dodging the boomerang.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince, Mark A; Reid, Allecia; Carey, Kate B; Neighbors, Clayton

    2014-06-01

    Several alcohol interventions designed for college students attempt to correct exaggerated perceptions of alcohol use on college campuses through the use of personalized normative feedback. Personalized normative feedback has been shown to be effective in reducing drinking as a stand-alone intervention and as a part of a multicomponent intervention. This feedback is typically targeted to heavier drinkers to create a discrepancy between their personal beliefs and behavior and the actual lower levels of use on campus. However, little is known about how this form of normative feedback might affect lighter drinkers who learn that they are drinking less than the typical student at their school. The risk is a potential boomerang effect, or an increase in drinking among lighter drinkers receiving personalized feedback. The current study examined four samples from three geographic locations: two using computer-delivered personalized normative feedback alone and two delivering personalized feedback in the context of a brief motivational intervention. We found no evidence for a boomerang effect among lighter drinkers receiving personalized normative feedback in any of the four samples. These findings help to assuage fears of increasing drinking among lighter drinkers through widespread implementation of normative interventions for college students in the absence of screening for current drinking status.

  17. Toward a virtue-based normative ethics for the health professions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellegrino, E D

    1995-09-01

    Virtue is the most perdurable concept in the history of ethics, which is understandable given the ineradicability of the moral agent in the events of the moral life. Historically, virtue enjoyed normative force as long as the philosophical anthropology and the metaphysics of the good that grounded virtue were viable. That grounding has eroded in both general and medical ethics. If virtue is to be restored to a normative status, its philosophical underpinnings must be reconstructed. Such reconstruction seems unlikely in general ethics, where the possibility of agreement on the good for humans is remote. However, it is a realistic possibility in the professional ethics fo the health professions where agreement on the telos of the healing relationship is more likely to arise. Nevertheless, virtue-based ethics must be related conceptually and normatively to other ethical theories in a comprehensive moral philosophy of the health professions. If he really does think there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our house, let us count our spoons. Samuel Johnson

  18. PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF REPRODUCTIVE NORMATIVITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anastasia Aleksandrovna Zmievskaya

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The article investigates the reproductive normativity in the context of its relationship to person’s psychological well-being. The theoretical analysis allowed to formulate the definition of reproductive normativity (RN and its structural components. It’s considered the problem of relation between objective and subjective components of RN as the determinant of psychological well-being. It’s presented and justified one of the possible typologies of RN, reflecting the most common variants of modern Russians’ reproductive behavior: 1 high RN («The total normativity»; 2 medium-high RN («Family with deviant past»; 3 medium-low RN («Single parenthood»; 4 low RN («No family and children». The presence of different relations between objective and subjective components of RN in described types is empirically detected. The highest consistency of RN components is observed in groups with high and low RN, the lowest consistency is manifested among single parents. The mismatch between RN components is associated with lower psychological well-being. Single parents are at risk: they demonstrate the most negative evaluations of their life, self-awareness and self-attitude. Average- auspicious and almost identical indicators of psychological well-being were found among respondents with deviant past (medium-high RN and respondents with no family and children (low RN: psychological benefits of having family and children are eliminated by abnormal parenthood experience and by the mismatch between desired and actual implementation of family life. Thereby the «blocked» parent role is connected with the same level of psychological well-being as the improperly played parent role. The highest level of psychological well-being is expectedly found among respondents with high RN («The total normativity».

  19. JO Famakinwa Revisiting Professor Gyekye's Critique of Normative ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    JO Famakinwa

    the current methodology shift in the whole communitarian theory (Etzioni 2004, 10; ... According to Gyekye, normative cultural relativism denies the universality or ... Likewise, the ill-treatment of an old man or woman would be a sacrilege.

  20. Parents' and peers' normative influence on adolescents' smoking: results from a Swiss-Italian sample of middle schools students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scalici, Francesca; Schulz, Peter J

    2017-01-21

    Adolescents observe and imitate people to whom they are associated in their social context, and the normative factors sent out by reference groups are crucial determinants of their decision to smoke. The aim of the study is to investigate how adolescents' smoking changes when they are exposed to factors of pro-smoking normative influence by parents and peers, and how age moderate this relation. A cross sectional survey collected data from 5657 students, aged between 11 and 14, from public and private middle schools in the Italian region of Switzerland (Ticino) on their smoking habits, perceived parents' and peers' approval and smoking. Multinomial logistic regression show that, as adolescents get older, more of the pro-smoking factors come from peers and parents, the higher the risk gets of being a "heavy smoker" has compared against having no experience with smoking. Living in a context with no factor of normative influence toward smoking play a protective role against smoking, and this effect becomes more important than more harmful the smoking behavior in question is. Furthermore, peers' descriptive norms are more influential for adolescents to become "light" and "heavy smokers", while smoking being approved by peers is important for adolescents to become accustomed to smoking. Findings support the different influence of parents' and peers' norms on adolescents' smoking, and highlight the importance of peers' model behavior as the most important factor influencing smoking during adolescence. Such results have implications for programs that aim to prevent or reduce smoking in early adolescence when friendship choice starts to become crucial.

  1. Practical Intersubjectivity and Normative Guidance: Bratman on Shared Agency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roth Abraham Sesshu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In an important new book on shared agency, Michael Bratman develops an account of the normative demand for the coordination of intentions amongst participants in shared agency. Bratman seeks to understand this form of normative guidance in terms of that associated with individual planning intentions. I give reasons to resist his form of reductionism. In addition, I note how Bratman’s discussion raises the interesting issue of the function or purpose of shared intention and of shared agency more generally. According to Bratman, the function of shared intention is to promote interpersonal coordination of intention and action. I suggest that power sharing amongst participants must also be included as a function of shared intention.

  2. Normative data for near point of convergence, accommodation, and phoria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abraham, Neethu G.; Srinivasan, Krithica; Thomas, Jyothi

    2015-01-01

    Background: Measurement of for near point of convergence (NPC), amplitude of accommodation (AA) and phoria are important components of diagnosing nonstrabismic binocular vision anomalies. There is a huge variation in the normative data established for orthoptic parameters because of the variation in measurement technique. There are only limited studies for normative data based on nonclinical population in Indian population. Therefore, we aim estimate the normative values for NPC, AA, and phoria measurement in Indian population using techniques, which has good repeatability and reliability. Materials and Methods: Subjects between the age group 10-35 years participated in this prospective cross-sectional study. A self-administered symptom questionnaire was used to exclude patients with asthenopic symptoms. Clinical techniques which have good repeatability and reliability were used. NPC was measured using pen light red, green glass test. AA was measured using minus lens technique. Horizontal and vertical phoria at distance and near was measured using modified Thorington method. Results: One hundred and fifty subjects participated in the study. We found that NPC receded with age, which could because of the increase in horizontal phoria at near with age. The mean normative value for objective NPC, break and recovery of subjective NPC, monocular and binocular AA, horizontal and vertical phoria at distance and near for the three age groups are reported in the study. Conclusion: The data presented in this study can be used as a cut-off by eye care practitioners while diagnosing convergence, accommodation related anomalies in Indian population. PMID:25709268

  3. Associations between Verbal Reasoning, Normative Beliefs about Aggression, and Different Forms of Aggression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikas, Eve; Peets, Katlin; Tropp, Kristiina; Hinn, Maris

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of sex, verbal reasoning, and normative beliefs on direct and indirect forms of aggression. Three scales from the Peer Estimated Conflict Behavior Questionnaire, Verbal Reasoning tests, and an extended version of Normative Beliefs About Aggression Scale were administered to 663 Estonian…

  4. Standards of Ombudsman Assessment: A New Normative Concept?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milan Remac

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Today, an ombudsman is a traditional component of democratic legal systems. Generally, reports of the ombudsman are not legally binding. Due to this fact, the ombudsman can rely only on his own persuasiveness, on his acceptance by individuals and state institutions, on the understanding of the administration and on the accessibility and transparency of rules that underpin his reports. During investigations, ombudsmen assess whether the administration has acted in accordance with certain legal or extra-legal standards. Depending on the legal system, ombudsmen can investigate whether there is an instance of maladministration in the activities of administrative bodies, whether the administration has acted ‘properly’, whether it has acted in accordance with the law, whether administrative actions have breached the human rights of complainants or whether the actions of the administration were in accordance with anti-corruption rules etc. Regardless of the legislative standard of an ombudsman’s control, the ombudsman should consider and assess the situation described in complaints against certain criteria or against certain normative standards. A distinct set of standards which ombudsmen use during their investigation, or at least a clear statement of their assessment criteria, can increase the transparency of their procedures and the persuasiveness of their reports. Are the normative standards used by different ombudsmen the same? Do they possibly create a new normative concept? And can it possibly lead to a higher acceptance of their reports by the administration?

  5. Relevance of normative values for functional capacity evaluation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soer, R.; Van Der Schans, C.; Geertzen, J.; Groothoff, J.; Brouwer, Sandra; Dijkstra, P.; Reneman, M.

    2009-01-01

    Background: Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs) are evaluations designed to measure capacity to perform activities and are used to make recommendations for participation in work. Normative values of healthy working subjects' performances are unavailable, thus patients' performances cannot be

  6. [Pattern-reversal electroretinogram (PERG): a normative study in adults].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alves, Letícia Dourado; Berezovsky, Adriana; Sacai, Paula Yuri; Pereira, Josenilson Martins; Salomão, Solange Rios

    2010-01-01

    To determine normative values for pattern-reversal electroretinogram (PERG) in healthy adult volunteers according to the standard protocol recommended by the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision-ISCEV. Participants were 30 healthy volunteers (15 males) with ages from 18 to 61 years (mean= 30.8 +/- 8.7 yrs.; median= 29.5 yrs). Inclusion criteria were: visual acuity of 0.0 logMAR (20/20 Snellen) in each eye, absence of visual complaints, absence of media opacities, negative history for ocular or neurological diseases, negative family history for ocular and informed consent. PERG was recorded from each eye in a darkened room at 1 m from a high resolution display monitor. Stimuli were monochromatic checkerboards subtending 60, 15 e 7.5 minutes of visual angle reversing at 1.9 Hz. Responses were obtained from modified disposable fiber electrodes developed at UNIFESP. Latency (ms) for N35, P50 and N95 components as well as peak-to-peak amplitudes (microV) for N35-P50 and P50-N95 were determined. For normative values only one randomly chosen eye was included. Normal limits were calculated as 97.5% percentiles for latency and 2.5% percentile for amplitudes for each stimulus size. Normal limits for N35, P50 and N95 latencies for 60', 15' and 7.5' stimuli were respectively: N35 - 40.1; 39.9 and 41.3 ms; P50 - 60.5; 64.4 and 65.6 ms and N95 - 103.4; 104.6 and 104.6 ms. For amplitude the normative values for N35-P50 and P50-N95 for 60', 15' and 7.5' were respectively: N35-P50 - 1.7; 1.6 and 0.9 microV; P50-N95 - 3.8; 2.8 and 1.5 microV. No gender differences were found either for latency or for amplitude in the three stimulus sizes. There was no correlation between PERG latency and amplitude with age, except for P50 amplitude for stimulus 15'(r=0.39; P=0.035). Normative values were determined for PERG parameters of amplitude and latency for three stimulus sizes. These parameters are important for evaluating the normal functioning of retinal ganglion

  7. The normative dimensions of extending the human lifespan by age-related biomedical innovations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ehni, Hans-Joerg; Marckmann, Georg

    2008-10-01

    The current normative debate on age-related biomedical innovations and the extension of the human lifespan has important shortcomings. Mainly, the complexity of the different normative dimensions relevant for ethical and/or juridicial norms is not fully developed and the normative quality of teleological and deontological arguments is not properly distinguished. This article addresses some of these shortcomings and develops the outline of a more comprehensive normative framework covering all relevant dimensions. Such a frame necessarily has to include conceptions of a good life on the individual and societal levels. Furthermore, as a third dimension, a model for the access to and the just distribution of age-related biomedical innovations and technologies extending the human lifespan will be developed. It is argued that such a model has to include the different levels of the general philosophical theories of distributive justice, including social rights and theories of just health care. Furthermore, it has to show how these theories can be applied to the problem area of aging and extending the human lifespan.

  8. Normative and Subjective Need for Orthodontic Treatment within ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objective: To evaluate and compare the normative and subjective need for orthodontic treatment within different age groups in Turkey. Methods: One thousand and sixteen patients from seven different demographic regions of Turkey (Marmara, Black Sea, East Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia, Mediterranean, Aegean,

  9. The Normative Constitution of Agency

    OpenAIRE

    Korsgaard, Christine M.

    2014-01-01

    On a naturalistic conception of agency, someone is an agent when certain of his own mental states are the cause of his movements. On a normative conception, a person constitutes his agency by following certain principles or laws. In Kant’s conception, for example, a movement counts as the agent’s own when it is chosen autonomously, that is, in accordance with the categorical imperative. To say that someone acts is to imply that his movements are a manifestation of his own activity and that it...

  10. The normativity of life scripts and its relation with life story events across cultures and subcultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatiboğlu, Neşe; Habermas, Tilmann

    2016-11-01

    This study explored the normativity of individual life scripts and their relation to actual life story memories across countries (Turkey and Germany) and subcultures (urban vs. rural, of migrant vs. of indigenous descent). Young adults from provincial Karabük and metropolitan Istanbul (Turkey), second generation Turkish migrants and Germans from Frankfurt a.M. (Germany) provided both their individual versions of the life script and seven most important personal memories. We expected the agreement on the life script, that is, its normativity, and correspondingly its guiding influence on the selection of life story memories to correlate positively with a collectivistic, negatively an individualistic cultural orientation, that is, to be highest in provincial Karabük, less in Istanbul, still less in Turkish migrants in Germany, and finally lowest in native Germans. The study confirmed expectations for the normativity of life scripts, but not for the normativity of most important memories. We conclude that the normativity of life scripts is influenced both by the individualist vs. collectivist orientation.

  11. Assessment of Optical Coherence Tomography Color Probability Codes in Myopic Glaucoma Eyes After Applying a Myopic Normative Database.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seol, Bo Ram; Kim, Dong Myung; Park, Ki Ho; Jeoung, Jin Wook

    2017-11-01

    To evaluate the optical coherence tomography (OCT) color probability codes based on a myopic normative database and to investigate whether the implementation of the myopic normative database can improve the OCT diagnostic ability in myopic glaucoma. Comparative validity study. In this study, 305 eyes (154 myopic healthy eyes and 151 myopic glaucoma eyes) were included. A myopic normative database was obtained based on myopic healthy eyes. We evaluated the agreement between OCT color probability codes after applying the built-in and myopic normative databases, respectively. Another 120 eyes (60 myopic healthy eyes and 60 myopic glaucoma eyes) were included and the diagnostic performance of OCT color codes using a myopic normative database was investigated. The mean weighted kappa (Kw) coefficients for quadrant retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, clock-hour RNFL thickness, and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness were 0.636, 0.627, and 0.564, respectively. The myopic normative database showed a higher specificity than did the built-in normative database in quadrant RNFL thickness, clock-hour RNFL thickness, and GCIPL thickness (P database in quadrant RNFL thickness, clock-hour RNFL thickness, and GCIPL thickness (P = .011, P = .004, P database. The implementation of a myopic normative database is needed to allow more precise interpretation of OCT color probability codes when used in myopic eyes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Judi Dench's age-inappropriateness and the role of M: challenging normative temporality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krainitzki, Eva

    2014-04-01

    This article approaches Judi Dench's role as M in the long-running James Bond series from a gender and ageing studies' perspective and explores this character's subversion of normative concepts of gender and temporality. Based on the assumption that cultural narratives shape our understanding of ageing, it examines how M disrupts prescribed age- and gender roles, presenting an alternative within films which otherwise perpetuate normative notions of a sexualised, youthful femininity. It focusses on Dench's return as M in Casino Royale (2006), as an instance of anachronism (Russo, 1999), subverting viewers' expectation of linear timelines and examines M's challenge of normative age-appropriateness in Skyfall (2012). Despite M's portrayal as a more vulnerable female character in the latter, this article presents her character as an alternative to traditional portrayals of older women on screen. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Freesurfer cortical normative data for adults using Desikan-Killiany-Tourville and ex vivo protocols.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Potvin, Olivier; Dieumegarde, Louis; Duchesne, Simon

    2017-08-01

    We recently built normative data for FreeSurfer morphometric estimates of cortical regions using its default atlas parcellation (Desikan-Killiany or DK) according to individual and scanner characteristics. We aimed to produced similar normative values for Desikan-Killianny-Tourville (DKT) and ex vivo-based labeling protocols, as well as examine the differences between these three atlases. Surfaces, thicknesses, and volumes of cortical regions were produced using cross-sectional magnetic resonance scans from the same 2713 healthy individuals aged 18-94 years as used in the reported DK norms. Models predicting regional cortical estimates of each hemisphere were produced using age, sex, estimated intracranial volume (eTIV), scanner manufacturer and magnetic field strength (MFS) as predictors. The DKT and DK models generally included the same predictors and produced similar R 2 . Comparison between DK, DKT, ex vivo atlases normative cortical measures showed that the three protocols generally produced similar normative values. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Contributions of work stressors, alcohol, and normative beliefs to partner violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ames, Genevieve M; Cunradi, Carol B; Duke, Michael; Todd, Michael; Chen, Meng-Jinn

    2013-03-01

    A body of research has established that lower socioeconomic populations, including blue-collar workers, are at higher risk for problem drinking and intimate partner violence. This study of married/cohabiting construction workers and their spouses/partners describes how work stressors, hazardous drinking, and couple characteristics interact to influence normative beliefs around partner violence and, thereafter, its occurrence. Our survey respondents from a sample of 502 dual-earner couples were asked about drinking patterns, past-year partner violence, normative beliefs about partner violence, work-related stressors, impulsivity, and childhood exposure to violence and other adverse events. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 81 workers on context of work stress, partner violence, and drinking. Analyses of data revealed that men's and women's normative beliefs about partner violence were positively related to maleto- female partner violence; female partner violence normative beliefs were associated with female-to-male partner violence. Both partners' levels of impulsivity were directly associated with male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence, and male partner's frequency of intoxication mediated the association between level of impulsivity and male-to-female partner violence. Female partner's adverse childhood experience was directly associated with male-to-female partner violence. Both survey and qualitative interviews identified individual and workrelated factors that influence the occurrence of violence between men and women. These findings provide guidelines for prevention of partner violence that can be implemented in the workplace with attention to hazardous drinking, job stress, treatment, education, and work culture.

  15. Varying versions of moral relativism: the philosophy and psychology of normative relativism

    OpenAIRE

    Quintelier, Katinka; Fessler, Daniel MT

    2012-01-01

    Among naturalist philosophers, both defenders and opponents of moral relativism argue that prescriptive moral theories (or normative theories) should be constrained by empirical findings about human psychology. Empiricists have asked if people are or can be moral relativists, and what effect being a moral relativist can have on an individual’s moral functioning. This research is underutilized in philosophers’ normative theories of relativism; at the same time, the empirical work, while useful...

  16. When is normative recruitment legitimate?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lars Øystein Ursin

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Rosamond Rhodes and John Harris have both recently argued that we all have a general moral duty to participate in medical research. However, neither Rhodes' nor Harris' arguments in support of this obligation stand up to scrutiny, and severe and convincing criticism has been levelled against their case. Still, to refute their arguments is not to refute the conclusion. There seems to be some truth in the view that when people are asked to take part in medical research, their choice is not completely morally neutral. In this article, we argue that the proper question to ask is when, rather than if, a certain moral duty to volunteer for medical research can be appealed to. To answer this question, we need a denser description of relevant research projects and their context rather than just describing medical research in general. Drawing on our study of participants in the Norwegian HUNT biobank, we use the normative implications of the Norwegian concept «dugnad» as an analogy to discuss the requirement of providing neutral information to potential biobank participants in order to promote their free and informed decision as to whether or not to take part. We suggest that normative recruitment is not just a question of principles and ethics. It is also a question of research design and the creation of the common good in the community where the research takes place.http://dx.doi.org/10.5324/eip.v2i2.1697

  17. The normative score and the cut-off value of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tonosu, Juichi; Takeshita, Katsushi; Hara, Nobuhiro; Matsudaira, Ko; Kato, So; Masuda, Kazuhiro; Chikuda, Hirotaka

    2012-08-01

    The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) is one of the most common scoring systems used for patients with low back pain (LBP). Although the normative score of the ODI was reported to be 10.19 in a review article, no study has calculated the normative score after adjusting the value based on the age distribution. In addition, none of the previous studies has estimated the cut-off value which separates LBP with disability from LBP without disability. The purpose of this study was to estimate the normative score by adjusting the data for age distribution in Japan, and to determine the cut-off value which separates LBP with disability from LBP without disability. We conducted an internet survey on LBP using the Japanese version of the ODQ. A total of 1,200 respondents, composed of 100 males and 100 females in each age group (from the 20s to 70s), participated in this study. We also asked them to provide information about their backgrounds. We estimated the normative score after correcting for the age distribution of Japan. We also estimated the ODI of those with or without disability, the factors associated with the ODI, and the cut-off value which separates LBP with disability from LBP without disability. The participants' backgrounds were similar to the national survey. The normative score of the ODI was estimated at 8.73. The ODI of the LBP with disability group was 22.07. Those with sciatica and obese subjects showed higher ODI than those without. The optimal cut-off value was estimated to be 12. We defined the normative score and the cut-off value of the ODI.

  18. From moral to legal judgment: the influence of normative context in lawyers and other academics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schleim, Stephan; Spranger, Tade M; Erk, Susanne; Walter, Henrik

    2011-01-01

    Various kinds of normative judgments are an integral part of everyday life. We extended the scrutiny of social cognitive neuroscience into the domain of legal decisions, investigating two groups, lawyers and other academics, during moral and legal decision-making. While we found activation of brain areas comprising the so-called 'moral brain' in both conditions, there was stronger activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and middle temporal gyrus particularly when subjects made legal decisions, suggesting that these were made in respect to more explicit rules and demanded more complex semantic processing. Comparing both groups, our data show that behaviorally lawyers conceived themselves as emotionally less involved during normative decision-making in general. A group × condition interaction in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex suggests a modulation of normative decision-making by attention based on subjects' normative expertise.

  19. Normative data for Chinese compound remote associate problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ching-Lin; Chen, Hsueh-Chih

    2017-12-01

    The Remote Associates Test (RAT) is a well-known measure of creativity, with each item on the RAT is composed of three unrelated stimulus words. The participant's task is to find an answer in the form of a word that could combine with each of the stimulus words, thus forming three new actual nouns. Researchers have modified the RAT to develop compound remote associate problems that emphasize combining vocabulary to form compound words. In the field of creativity research for Mandarin speakers, the Chinese RAT has been widely applied for over 10 years. The original RAT, compound remote associate problems, and Chinese RAT have various common advantages, such as being convenient to use and having objective scoring; additionally, the development of items for certain tests is easy and satisfies the requirements of psychological assessments in terms of the quantity of items. Currently, many language editions of the RAT and compound remote associate problems already exist. In particular, the English and Italian versions of these tests already have derived normative data. Because approximately 20% of the world's population are native Mandarin speakers, and because increasing numbers of people are choosing Mandarin as a second language, the need to increase Mandarin-language resources is growing; however, normative data for the Chinese RAT still do not exist. To address this issue, in the present study we developed Chinese compound remote associate problems and analyzed the passing rates by items, problem solving times, and various normative data, using the responses of 253 subjects in three experiments.

  20. Y-balance normative data for female collegiate volleyball players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Christy; Garrison, J Craig; Pollard, Kalyssa

    2016-11-01

    The Lower Quarter Y Balance (YBT-LQ) Test performance varies depending on competitive level, sport, gender, and age; therefore, determining normative scores specific to a population may be helpful in identifying injury-risk thresholds and return-to-play criteria following an injury. The purpose of this study was to determine normative YBT-LQ scores by assessing a subset of female, Division I volleyball players. A descriptive analysis cohort study. Ninety healthy (19.6 ± 1.2 y/o), collegiate female volleyball players. YBT-LQ was measured in 3 distinct directions of anterior (ANT), posteromedial (PM) and posterolateral (PL) on both the dominant and non-dominant limbs. In addition, a one way ANOVA was performed to determine mean group differences of YBT-LQ dominant and non-dominant limb composite score across position. Baseline values for this population were 94.1 ± 6.6% on the dominant limb and 93.9 ± 6.2% on the non-dominant limb. There were no significant differences for YBT-LQ composite scores on dominant (P = 0.867) and non-dominant (P = 0.989) limbs between position. This study identified normative YBT-LQ composite scores for healthy, female, collegiate volleyball players. Participants performed similarly despite their position. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. The Complex Normative Foundations of Language Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinstock, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    The language policy of a liberal democratic state must be formulated in a context of multiple, often conflicting sets of interests and of normative constraints that limit the means by which the liberal state can manage these interests. The interests at stake are, first, those of the individual, for whom language is viewed both instrumentally, and…

  2. Total and regional brain volumes in a population-based normative sample from 4 to 18 years: the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Using a population-based sampling strategy, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Normal Brain Development compiled a longitudinal normative reference database of neuroimaging and correlated clinical/behavioral data from a demographically representative sample of healthy children and adolescents aged newborn through early adulthood. The present paper reports brain volume data for 325 children, ages 4.5-18 years, from the first cross-sectional time point. Measures included volumes of whole-brain gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM), left and right lateral ventricles, frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobe GM and WM, subcortical GM (thalamus, caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus), cerebellum, and brainstem. Associations with cross-sectional age, sex, family income, parental education, and body mass index (BMI) were evaluated. Key observations are: 1) age-related decreases in lobar GM most prominent in parietal and occipital cortex; 2) age-related increases in lobar WM, greatest in occipital, followed by the temporal lobe; 3) age-related trajectories predominantly curvilinear in females, but linear in males; and 4) small systematic associations of brain tissue volumes with BMI but not with IQ, family income, or parental education. These findings constitute a normative reference on regional brain volumes in children and adolescents.

  3. Semantic verbal fluency in elderly Mexican adults: Reference values.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chávez-Oliveros, M; Rodríguez-Agudelo, Y; Acosta-Castillo, I; García-Ramírez, N; Rojas de la Torre, G; Sosa-Ortiz, A L

    2015-05-01

    The semantic verbal fluency test (SVF) is sensitive to detecting cognitive decline. It is fast and easy to use in any cultural context; therefore, it is included in most of the neuropsychological assessment protocols. To estimate normative values for the SVF test (animals), in an elderly population aged 65 years and over. 1233 subjects who were healthy, cognitively preserved, residents of two areas (rural and urban) of Mexico were assessed. A neurological and neuropsychological exploration battery was applied, including SVF. The age average was 73+6 and schooling was 4.0+3.9 years, with 59% women. The average of the words generated in the SVF test was 14+5, and a correlation of 0.16 of these scores with age, education, and gender was found (pimportant contribution provided by this study was that the data analysis enabled normative values to be obtained for an elderly Mexican population aged 65 years and over. It was also confirmed, as other neuropsychological assessment studies have done, that the SVF test is influenced by socio-demographic variables, such as age and education, aspects to be considered at the time of obtaining normative values. Finally, it was noted that the average scores obtained were lower than other published reference values, due to the low educational level of our sample. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  4. Autism and normative sexual development: a narrative review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dewinter, J.; Vermeiren, R.R.J.M.; Vanwesenbeeck, I.; van Nieuwenhuizen, C.

    2013-01-01

    Aims and objectives: To explore the existing knowledge on sexuality and autism spectrum disorders. To this end, the concept of normative sexual development was used as an organising framework. Background: Sexual health can be seen as a developmental task for all children, adolescents and adults.

  5. The effect of normative feedback on stability and efficacy of some selected muscles in a balancing task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saeed Ashrafpoor Navaee

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of normative feedback on stability and efficacy of some selected muscles at different task difficulty levels in novice individuals. Thirty participants (age Mean= 22.60, SD=1.89 years were randomly assigned into three groups of positive, negative normative feedback and control.  The experimental groups participated in 160 acquisition trials (16 blocks of 10trials for 4 consecutive days (40 per day. Post test was performed after last practice session. The result of ANOVA-repeated measure test indicated that positive normative feedback group outperformed the other groups in stability indices of overall stability (P=0.004, anterior-posterior (P=0.01 and medial-lateral (P=0.001. In addition, the result of Covariance test at electromyography indices of the Soleus and Peroneus brevis showed significant differences in the favor of positive normative feedback in post-test. The findings of the present study showed that normative feedback has functional motivation affect that directly influences physiological changes level of stability control. KEY WORDS: Electromyography, knowledge of result, normative feedback, performance, stability control.

  6. "Family-friendly" without the double entendre: a spatial analysis of normative game spaces and lesbian fans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muller Myrdahl, Tiffany K

    2009-01-01

    In this article, I demonstrate the importance of employing a feminist geographic framework in order to both read WNBA game spaces and to understand lesbian fan participation within these spaces. I argue that attending to the production of WNBA game spaces makes visible the ways that normative cultural politics become manifest, and brings to the fore the ways that dominant relations are naturalized and rarely questioned. Further, attention to the production of these leisure spaces compels an examination of the relationship between spatialized normativity and claims to, and performances of, lesbian identity. By understanding social space as a productive force, it is possible to conduct a critical reading of the materiality of WNBA game spaces and the implications for the reproduction of naturalized (hetero)normativity. In addition, it illustrates that lesbian fan experiences and interpretations of normative WNBA game spaces must be examined in a framework that takes seriously the factors that inhibit critical engagement with (hetero)normativity, as well as the central role that lesbian fans play in the co-production of these spaces.

  7. Beyond Normativity in Sociocultural Reproduction and Sociocultural Transformation: Curriculum Work--Leadership within an Evolving Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ylimaki, Rose M.; Fetman, Lisa J.; Matyjasik, Erin; Brunderman, Lynnette; Uljens, Michael

    2017-01-01

    Background: The purpose of this article is to examine the contributions, gaps, and normativity problems in mainstream sociocultural theories, curriculum theory, and educational leadership studies, considering reflective education theories that provide a less normative alternative. Framework: Our framework introduces reflective education for social…

  8. Normative ultrasound values of renal parenchymal thickness among ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objective: To determine the ultrasound normative values of renal parenchymal thickness (RPT) among adults and correlate them with age ... Methods: This was a prospective clinic based study involving 310 normal adults (135 males and 175 females) scanned at ... kidneys and subjects in which three RPT measurements.

  9. Normative and rational choice accounts of human behavior

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Griffiths, John

    1995-01-01

    Two approaches to the problem of social order are compared: the rational choice approach (as represented in Coleman's Foundations of Social Theory) and the normative or social control approach, in which rules and rule-following play the central role. Considered in therms of Coleman's own criteria

  10. Autism and normative sexual development : A narrative review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dewinter, J.; Vermeiren, R.; Vanweesenbeeck, I.; van Nieuwenhuizen, Ch.

    2013-01-01

    Aims and objectives To explore the existing knowledge on sexuality and autism spectrum disorders. To this end, the concept of normative sexual development was used as an organising framework. Background Sexual health can be seen as a developmental task for all children, adolescents and adults. Core

  11. The normative structure of mathematization in systematic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sterner, Beckett; Lidgard, Scott

    2014-06-01

    We argue that the mathematization of science should be understood as a normative activity of advocating for a particular methodology with its own criteria for evaluating good research. As a case study, we examine the mathematization of taxonomic classification in systematic biology. We show how mathematization is a normative activity by contrasting its distinctive features in numerical taxonomy in the 1960s with an earlier reform advocated by Ernst Mayr starting in the 1940s. Both Mayr and the numerical taxonomists sought to formalize the work of classification, but Mayr introduced a qualitative formalism based on human judgment for determining the taxonomic rank of populations, while the numerical taxonomists introduced a quantitative formalism based on automated procedures for computing classifications. The key contrast between Mayr and the numerical taxonomists is how they conceptualized the temporal structure of the workflow of classification, specifically where they allowed meta-level discourse about difficulties in producing the classification. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  12. Modeling the impact of normative beliefs in the context of online buying: Direct and moderating effects

    OpenAIRE

    Iconaru Claudia

    2012-01-01

    Normative beliefs tend to play a significant role in the context of online buying, having both direct and moderating effects. The results of the structural equation modeling indicate a direct effect of normative beliefs on the intention to buy online. Also, the magnitude of the relationship between online trust and perceived risk depends on the level of normative beliefs, showing that the effect of online trust on perceived risk varies as a function of the level of the moderator variable. Thi...

  13. Extending the theory of normative practices : an application to two cases of networked military operations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Burken, van C.G.; Vries, de M.J.

    2012-01-01

    The theory of normative practices has proven to be helpful in eliciting the normative dimension of social practices. In this article we apply the theory to military practice. Since current military missions are Network Enabled Operations, which mandate a strong focus on cooperation with other

  14. Normative data on the sleep habits of Australian children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olds, Tim; Maher, Carol; Blunden, Sarah; Matricciani, Lisa

    2010-10-01

    To provide normative sleep data on 9-18 year old Australians. Cohort study. Participants' homes. 4032 Australians aged 9-18 years. N/A. Participants completed a 48h use of time recall, comprising sleep data for one complete night. Sleep duration, bedtime and wake time were compared across age groups, between genders, and between school and non-school days using ANOVA. Sleep duration declined with age (P sleep was 16 min longer than school day sleep (P sleep duration guidelines. Normative sleep data will provide a valuable yardstick for health and education professionals when dealing with sleep-related issues.

  15. Normative identity construction among women diagnosed with a gambling disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gavriel-Fried, Belle; Peled, Einat; Ajzenstadt, Mimi

    2015-03-01

    Women with a gambling problem bear a negative social stigma. Based on the theory of symbolic interactionism, this study examined the construction of social identities by 17 Israeli women diagnosed with a gambling disorder. Interpretive interactionist analysis revealed how they construct their identity through correspondence with patterns of behavior that are perceived as normative, and identified 3 major themes: "I'm not actually a gambler" (the presentation of a multidimensional identity comprising other identities besides that of a gambler); "Staying normative during gambling"; and "I have changed" (reformed gamblers' presentation of themselves as having changed for the better). The findings underscore the complex dialogue behind the identity construction put forward by women with a gambling problem, their yearning to be perceived by society as normative women and to fit in despite their stigmatized behavior, and the tension they feel in society's relationship toward them. The findings also suggest that practitioners who work with women gamblers may want to pay attention to the power relations shaping identity construction in an interview setting, and look more closely at the women's awareness of the stigma they bear and the complex processes that make up their multidimensional identity. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. [Normative values of kinetic tests in VNG assessment].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamysłowska-Szmytke, Ewa; Sliwińska-Kowalska, Mariola

    2011-01-01

    Balance assessment plays an important role in occupational medicine. The diagnosis of patients with balance disturbances is based on a number of laboratory tests, including rotational chair tests, one of the most important. The normative value of kinetic tests greatly depends on movement parameters and laboratory equipment, which vary between diagnostic centers. The aim of the presented paper was to establish normatives for our laboratory and testing methodology in a group of healthy persons. The balance examination included 45 healthy persons (21 women and 24 men) aged 20-63 years (mean 38.5 +/- 14.9). The study population underwent very thorough neuro-otological examination, static posturography and VNG tests. The caloric test result was a crucial criterion for inclusion to the group of healthy persons. Rotational tests included: one "burst" test analyzing vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) with and without optokinetic stimulation visual vestibular optokinetic reflex (VVOR) and cervico-ocular reflex (COR); three impulse tests and sinusoidal harmonic rotation tests of 0.04, 0.08, 0.1, 0.16, 0.32, and 0.64 Hz. The mean values were: VVOR, 0.9 +/- 0.1; VOR, 0.5 +/- 0.1; and COR, 0.2 +/- 0.1. The mean value of rotational and post-rotational nystagmus induced by sudden chair stop (impulse stimulus) was 9 +/- 7 s, the gain values were 0.4 for sinusoidal tests, in the stimulation range of 0.1-0.32 and 0.5 for 0.64 Hz stimulation. There was no significant linear relationship between age and test parameters except for the test using sinusoidal-decreasing stimulation. These normative values form the base for a closer incorporation of rotational tests in occupational medicine procedures.

  17. Regional Commonalities and Regional Identities: Forging a Normative Understanding of Southeast Asian Identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gürol Baba

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In the last two decades, most of the IR academia’s attention on Southeast Asian regionalism utilised constructivism and/or realism and has focused on ASEAN and its derivatives. This article aims to skew this angle by elaborating a possible relationship between Asian values and a normative understanding of Southeast Asian identity. The major reason for this article’s focus on a normative interpretation is that a practical application of Southeast Asian identity is not very achievable due to various ethnic, cultural, political, territorial, and historical diversities. While the region is diverse, there are also a number of commonalities among its states. Asian values, from a Confucian perspective, account for some of these commonalities. By using constructivists’ claims on both the links between norms and identity and the dynamic interaction between values and norms, this article argues that Asian values could contribute to the development of Amitav Acharya’s widely cited normative/ideational format of Southeast Asian identity. The article takes ASEAN identity as a case study and aims to show why a normative identity is more achievable than a practical identity among Southeast Asians, and how Asian values might contribute to the creation of this shared identity.

  18. Moral courage and the normative professionalism of teachers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klaassen, C.A.C.; Maslovaty, N.

    2010-01-01

    In the past two decades there has been a growing concern in politics and schools to pay more attention to norms and values. Teachers and schools are confronted with normative problems, school violence and students who sometimes seem to have lost their way when it comes to norms and values. Teachers

  19. Preschool children with gender normative and gender non-normative peer preferences: psychosocial and environmental correlates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Carol Lynn; DiDonato, Matthew D; Clary, Laura; Fabes, Richard A; Kreiger, Tyson; Palermo, Francisco; Hanish, Laura

    2012-08-01

    We addressed several issues concerning children who show gender non-normative (GNN) patterns of peer play. First, do young children with GNN peer preferences differ from children with gender normative (GN) peer preferences in problem behaviors? Second, do GNN and GN children differ in sociability and isolation and do they have differential socialization opportunities with externalizing, internalizing, and socially competent peers? We employed a Bayesian approach for classifying children as GNN based on their peer preferences as compared to their peers using a sample of Head Start preschool children from a large Southwestern city (N = 257; 53 % boys; M age = 51 months; 66 % Mexican American). To calculate socialization opportunities, we assessed affiliation to each child in the class and weighted that by each peer's characteristics to determine the exposure that each child had to different kinds of peers. GN children of both sexes interacted more with same-sex peers, which may limit learning of different styles of interaction. As compared to GN children, GNN children exhibited more engagement in other-sex activities and with other-sex play partners and GNN children experienced somewhat fewer peer interactions, but did not differ on problem behaviors or social competence. Boys with GNN peer preferences had increased exposure to peers with problem behaviors. GNN girls experienced little exposure to peers with problem behaviors, but they also had little exposure to socially competent peers, which may reduce learning social skills from peers. Implications of these findings for future socialization and development will be discussed.

  20. Preschool Children with Gender Normative and Gender Non-Normative Peer Preferences: Psychosocial and Environmental Correlates

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiDonato, Matthew D.; Clary, Laura; Fabes, Richard A.; Kreiger, Tyson; Palermo, Francisco; Hanish, Laura

    2013-01-01

    We addressed several issues concerning children who show gender non-normative (GNN) patterns of peer play. First, do young children with GNN peer preferences differ from children with gender normative (GN) peer preferences in problem behaviors? Second, do GNN and GN children differ in sociability and isolation and do they have differential socialization opportunities with externalizing, internalizing, and socially competent peers? We employed a Bayesian approach for classifying children as GNN based on their peer preferences as compared to their peers using a sample of Head Start preschool children from a large Southwestern city (N = 257; 53% boys; M age = 51 months; 66% Mexican American). To calculate socialization opportunities, we assessed affiliation to each child in the class and weighted that by each peer’s characteristics to determine the exposure that each child had to different kinds of peers. GN children of both sexes interacted more with same-sex peers, which may limit learning of different styles of interaction. As compared to GN children, GNN children exhibited more engagement in other-sex activities and with other-sex play partners and GNN children experienced somewhat fewer peer interactions, but did not differ on problem behaviors or social competence. Boys with GNN peer preferences had increased exposure to peers with problem behaviors. GNN girls experienced little exposure to peers with problem behaviors, but they also had little exposure to socially competent peers, which may reduce learning social skills from peers. Implications of these findings for future socialization and development will be discussed. PMID:22528037

  1. Normative Beliefs and Relational Aggression: An Investigation of the Cognitive Bases of Adolescent Aggressive Behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werner, Nicole E.; Nixon, Charisse L.

    2005-01-01

    The relations between normative beliefs about different forms of aggression and corresponding aggressive behaviors were investigated in 2 studies of adolescents. In Study 1, we revised an instrument designed to assess normative beliefs about aggression to include beliefs about the acceptability of relational aggression, and we examined the…

  2. Normative Values and Interrelationship of MDVP Voice Analysis Parameters Before and After Endotracheal Intubation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Martin Kryspin; Durck, Tina Trier; Bork, Kristian

    2016-01-01

    normative values for adults and investigates the correlation between these MDVP parameters in relation to the "standardized" trauma of endotracheal intubation. METHODS: Preoperative and postoperative assessments of vocal fold pathology with flexible videolaryngoscopy and voice analysis with MDVP using...... the best-of-three standardized recording were performed in 121 patients with normal voices included consecutively in the RCT. The procedures of anesthesia were standardized. RESULTS: The normative MDVP values of this study are consistently lower compared with most normative values presented in other...... studies. The preoperative to postoperative differences in jitter values (jitter and relative average perturbation) were closely correlated to the shimmer values for patients with postoperative vocal fold edemas. In the patients with edema, the preoperative to postoperative differences in jitter had...

  3. Quantification of normative ranges and baseline predictors of aortoventricular interface dimensions using multi-detector computed tomographic imaging in patients without aortic valve disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gooley, Robert P.; Cameron, James D.; Soon, Jennifer; Loi, Duncan; Chitale, Gauri; Syeda, Rifath; Meredith, Ian T.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • MDCT imaging of the aortoventricular interface is increasingly common. • We present normative ranges for aortoventricular interface dimensions. • Such techniques and ranges should be used to standardise reporting and research. - Abstract: Background: Multidetector computed tomographic (MDCT) assessment of the aortoventricular interface has gained increased importance with the advent of minimally invasive treatment modalities for aortic and mitral valve disease. This has included a standardised technique of identifying a plane through the nadir of each coronary cusp, the basal plane, and taking further measurements in relation to this plane. Despite this there is no published data defining normal ranges for these aortoventricular metrics in a healthy cohort. This study seeks to quantify normative ranges for MDCT derived aortoventricular dimensions and evaluate baseline demographic and anthropomorphic associates of these measurements in a normal cohort. Methods: 250 consecutive patients undergoing MDCT coronary angiography were included. Aortoventricular dimensions at multiple levels of the aortoventricular interface were assessed and normative ranges quantified. Multivariate linear regression was performed to identify baseline predictors of each metric. Results: The mean age was 59 ± 12 years. The basal plane was eccentric (EI = 0.22 ± 0.06) while the left ventricular outflow tract was more eccentric (EI = 0.32 ±0.06), with no correlation to gender, age or hypertension. Male gender, height and body mass index were consistent independent predictors of larger aortoventricular dimensions at all anatomical levels, while age was predictive of supra-annular measurements. Conclusions: Male gender, height and BMI are independent predictors of all aortoventricular dimensions while age predicts only supra-annular dimensions. Use of defined metrics such as the basal plane and formation of normative ranges for these metrics allows reference for clinical

  4. Quantification of normative ranges and baseline predictors of aortoventricular interface dimensions using multi-detector computed tomographic imaging in patients without aortic valve disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gooley, Robert P., E-mail: robert.gooley@monashhealth.org [MonashHeart, Monash Health, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (MMC), Monash University, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Cameron, James D., E-mail: james.cameron@monash.edu [MonashHeart, Monash Health, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (MMC), Monash University, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Soon, Jennifer, E-mail: jenn.sa@gmail.com [MonashHeart, Monash Health, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (MMC), Monash University, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Loi, Duncan, E-mail: dloi2@student.monash.edu [Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (MMC), Monash University, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Chitale, Gauri, E-mail: gchi21@student.monash.edu [Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (MMC), Monash University, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Syeda, Rifath, E-mail: rssye1@student.monash.edu [Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (MMC), Monash University, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Meredith, Ian T., E-mail: ian.meredith@myheart.id.au [MonashHeart, Monash Health, Melbourne 3168 (Australia); Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Department of Medicine (MMC), Monash University, Melbourne 3168 (Australia)

    2015-09-15

    Highlights: • MDCT imaging of the aortoventricular interface is increasingly common. • We present normative ranges for aortoventricular interface dimensions. • Such techniques and ranges should be used to standardise reporting and research. - Abstract: Background: Multidetector computed tomographic (MDCT) assessment of the aortoventricular interface has gained increased importance with the advent of minimally invasive treatment modalities for aortic and mitral valve disease. This has included a standardised technique of identifying a plane through the nadir of each coronary cusp, the basal plane, and taking further measurements in relation to this plane. Despite this there is no published data defining normal ranges for these aortoventricular metrics in a healthy cohort. This study seeks to quantify normative ranges for MDCT derived aortoventricular dimensions and evaluate baseline demographic and anthropomorphic associates of these measurements in a normal cohort. Methods: 250 consecutive patients undergoing MDCT coronary angiography were included. Aortoventricular dimensions at multiple levels of the aortoventricular interface were assessed and normative ranges quantified. Multivariate linear regression was performed to identify baseline predictors of each metric. Results: The mean age was 59 ± 12 years. The basal plane was eccentric (EI = 0.22 ± 0.06) while the left ventricular outflow tract was more eccentric (EI = 0.32 ±0.06), with no correlation to gender, age or hypertension. Male gender, height and body mass index were consistent independent predictors of larger aortoventricular dimensions at all anatomical levels, while age was predictive of supra-annular measurements. Conclusions: Male gender, height and BMI are independent predictors of all aortoventricular dimensions while age predicts only supra-annular dimensions. Use of defined metrics such as the basal plane and formation of normative ranges for these metrics allows reference for clinical

  5. EXPERIENCE OF NORMATIVE-LEGAL TRAINING OF PEDAGOGICAL STAFF IN THE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND INCREASE QUALIFICATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andzhela Muharbievna Shekhmirzova

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the experience of normative and legal training of pedagogical personnel in the sphere of higher and additional professional education. The results of the analysis of the actual state of the system of normative and legal training of teachers are shown. The problems of forming normative-legal competence are analyzed. The relationship between the improvement of the system of normative-legal training of pedagogical cadres and the solution of a number of problems of a methodological nature is determined. At the same time, the problem of conceptual modeling of an effective pedagogical system of normative-legal training of pedagogical cadres is considered as a core, around which others group in a certain subordination. From the system positions it is shown the need to create an effective system of training teachers for the proper use of regulatory and legal acts in pedagogical activity, to solve complex problems, taking into account dynamically updated legislation. Based on the revealed methodological problems of normative-legal training of teachers, the need for a holistic view of the formation of regulatory-legal competence in the context of continuous teacher education. The purpose of research – presentation of a model of continuous regulatory education of teachers in the field of higher and additional professional education on the basis of identified methodological problems. Method or methodology of work: In the article a set of various methods of pedagogical research is presented: theoretical - analysis of scientific and pedagogical literature on the research problem, study and analysis of normative and legal documentation on the topic under consideration, theoretical generalization of research results; empirical - a survey, an analysis of the content of pedagogical documentation and performance, expert evaluation, modeling. Results: The model of continuous normative-legal training of pedagogical personnel in the sphere of

  6. Decision technologies as normative instruments: exposing the values within.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boivin, A.; Legare, F.; Lehoux, P.

    2008-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: Describe some of the implicit normative and value judgments made in decision technologies development and use. METHODS: Using conceptual analysis of published models, we first outline some of the background assumptions of the knowledge translation/evidence-based medicine view of decision

  7. The Community Integration Questionnaire - Revised: Australian normative data and measurement of electronic social networking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callaway, Libby; Winkler, Dianne; Tippett, Alice; Herd, Natalie; Migliorini, Christine; Willer, Barry

    2016-06-01

    Consideration of the relationship between meaningful participation, health and wellbeing underpins occupational therapy intervention, and drives measurement of community integration following acquired brain injury (ABI). However, utility of community integration measures has been limited to date by lack of normative data against which to compare outcomes, and none examine the growing use of electronic social networking (ESN) for social participation. This research had four aims: (i) develop and pilot items assessing ESN to add to the Community Integration Questionnaire, producing the Community Integration Questionnaire-Revised (CIQ-R); (ii) examine factor structure of the CIQ-R; (iii) collect Australian CIQ-R normative data; and (iv) assess test-retest reliability of the revised measure. Australia. A convenience sample of adults without ABI (N = 124) was used to develop and pilot ESN items. A representative general population sample of adults without ABI aged 18-64 years (N = 1973) was recruited to gather normative CIQ-R data. Cross-sectional survey. Demographic items and the CIQ-R. The CIQ-R demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, with minor modification to the original scoring based on the factor analyses provided. Large representative general population CIQ-R normative data have been established, detailing contribution of a range of independent demographic variables to community integration. The addition of electronic social networking items to the CIQ-R offers a contemporary method of assessing community integration following ABI. Normative CIQ-R data enhance the understanding of community integration in the general population, allowing occupational therapists and other clinicians to make more meaningful comparisons between groups. © 2016 Occupational Therapy Australia.

  8. Preliminary Normative Data on the Penn State University Symbol Cancellation Task With Nonconcussed Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conder, Robert L; Conder, Alanna A; Register-Mihalik, Johna; Conder, Lauren H; Newton, Shannon

    2015-01-01

    Visual concentration impairment after neurologic injury is frequent, making its identification a critical component of neurocognitive concussion assessment. Visual target cancellation tests such as the Penn State University Symbol Cancellation Task (PSUSCT) have been widely used in assessing professional and collegiate athletes. To date, there are no normative studies using the PSUSCT with an adolescent population. Given that 38 million children and adolescents participate in sports and an estimated 5% to 10% are concussed annually, adolescent normative data are critically needed to evaluate concussions in this vulnerable population. The purpose of this study was to provide adolescent normative data on the PSUSCT. Participants included 40 healthy, nonconcussed high school students aged 14 to 19 years old (20 men, 20 women). Participants were administered Forms A and C of the PSUSCT within a 4-day period. Data analysis examined hits, omission errors, and commission errors, with descriptive statistics calculated for the total sample and for subgroups by gender and age. Study 1 provided normative adolescent data on Form A. Study 2 examined practice effects and established reliable change indexes (RCIs) by comparing results on Forms A and C. Neither Study 1 nor Study 2 demonstrated significant group differences for gender or age. In conclusion, this study presents adolescent normative data, apparent practice effects, and RCIs on the PSUSCT. These norms provide data needed to appropriately include the PSUSCT in baseline and postinjury concussion evaluation batteries with adolescent student-athletes. Findings should be replicated with a larger, more heterogeneous sample.

  9. Normal or abnormal? 'Normative uncertainty' in psychiatric practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bassett, Andrew M; Baker, Charley

    2015-06-01

    The 'multicultural clinical interaction' presents itself as a dilemma for the mental health practitioner. Literature describes two problematic areas where this issues emerges--how to make an adequate distinction between religious rituals and the rituals that may be symptomatic of 'obsessive compulsive disorder' (OCD), and how to differentiate 'normative' religious or spiritual beliefs, behaviours, and experiences from 'psychotic' illnesses. When it comes to understanding service user's 'idioms of distress', beliefs about how culture influences behaviour can create considerable confusion and 'normative uncertainty' for mental health practitioners. In the absence of clear diagnostic and assessment criteria on distinguishing between 'culture' and 'psychopathology', practitioners have had to rely on their own intuition and seek out possible 'strategies' or 'procedures' from a contradictory and cross-disciplinary evidence base. Decontextualisation of service users' experiences may result in the pathologisation of culturally 'normative' phenomenon, 'category fallacy' errors, and poor health care experiences and outcomes for service users.This paper situates this dilemma within a wider debate that has concerned both the biomedical and social sciences, namely, the unresolved question of 'normality' or 'abnormality'. Indeed, issues that arise from dilemmas surrounding the question of 'culture' or 'psychopathology' are intimately tied to wider cultural ideas about what is considered 'normal'. The disciplines of psychiatry, psychology, and medical anthropology have struggled to establish workable criteria against which to judge behaviour as 'normal', 'abnormal', or 'pathological'. Three models for understanding mental 'abnormality' are evident in 'transcultural psychiatry' (what is now commonly known as 'cultural psychiatry'), and these models have corresponded closely to the interpretive models used by anthropologists attempting to make sense of the apparent diversity of

  10. Globalisation: Old and New Normative Strategies in Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coulby, David

    2012-01-01

    The recession has concealed from many commentators in the West the overwhelming economic force of the last decade, the inexorable rise of China. Commensurate with this has been the economic and political decline of Europe and especially of the European Union. The European normative strategy in education was always an unrealised ideal. But, if the…

  11. Hungers that Need Feeding: On the Normativity of Mindful Nourishment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogel, Else

    2017-08-01

    Drawing on participant observation in a 'mindful weight loss' course offered in the Netherlands, this paper explores the normative register through which mindfulness techniques cast people in relation to concerns with overeating and body weight. The women seeking out mindfulness use eating to cope with troubles in their lives and are hindered by a preoccupation with the size of their bodies. Mindfulness coaches aim to help them let go of this 'struggle with eating' by posing as the central question: 'what do I really hunger after?' The self's hungers include 'belly hunger' but also stem from mouths, hearts, heads, noses and eyes. They cannot all be fed by food. The techniques detailed in this paper focus on recognizing and disentangling one's hungers; developing self-knowledge of and a sensitivity to what 'feeds' one's life; and the way one positions oneself in relation to oneself and the world. While introducing new norms, the course configures 'goods' and 'bads' in different ways altogether, shaping the worlds people come to inhabit through engaging in self-care. In particular, the hungering body is foregrounded as the medium through which life is lived. Taking a material semiotic approach, this paper makes an intervention by articulating the normative register of nourishment in contrast to normalization. Thus, it highlights anthropologists' potential strengthening of different ways of doing normativity.

  12. Effects of Self-Efficacy on Healthy Eating Depends on Normative Support: a Prospective Study of Long-Haul Truck Drivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, Kyra; Hagger, Martin S

    2018-04-01

    Fruit and vegetable intake (FV) is insufficient in industrialized nations and there is excess of discretionary food choices (DC; foods high in fat, sugar, and salt). Long-haul truck drivers are considered a particularly at-risk group given the limited food choices and normatively reinforced eating habits at truck rest-stops. Self-efficacy and normative support are key determinants of eating behavior yet the processes underlying their effects on behavior are not well understood. We tested the direct and interactive effects of self-efficacy and normative support on healthy eating behaviors in long-haul truck drivers in a prospective correlational study. Long-haul truck drivers (N = 82) completed an initial survey containing self-report measures of behavioral intentions, perceived normative support, and self-efficacy for their FV and DC behaviors. Participants completed a follow-up survey 1 week later in which they self-reported their FV and DC behavior. A mediated moderation analysis identified an interactive effect of self-efficacy and normative support on behavior mediated by intention for FV and DC behavior. Specifically, we confirmed a compensation effect in which self-efficacy was more likely to have an effect on FV and DC behavior through intentions in participants with low normative support. Results indicate the importance of self-efficacy in predicting FV and DC intentions and behavior in the absence of a supportive normative environment. The compensatory effect of self-efficacy beliefs on behavior through intentions when normative support is low should be confirmed using experimental methods.

  13. Who crosses the norms? Predictors of the readiness for non-normative political participation among adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Šerek, Jan; Machackova, Hana; Macek, Petr

    2018-01-01

    This study investigated whether adolescents' readiness for non-normative political participation (i.e., readiness to confront social rules for political reasons) was predicted by their interpersonal problems (with parents, teachers, and classmates), low optimism, and political beliefs (political self-efficacy and distrust in public institutions). A structural equation model using two-wave longitudinal data from Czech high school students (N = 768; 54% females; age range at T1 = 14-17, M = 15.97; T2 data collected 1.5 years later) showed that the changes in adolescents' readiness for non-normative participation were predicted by their lower institutional trust. Interpersonal relationships or optimism had no cross-sectional or longitudinal effect on the readiness for non-normative participation. These results suggest that the main source of adolescents' readiness for non-normative political actions lies in their political beliefs, while the effect of adolescents' interpersonal problems is less clear. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behaviour among Nigerian academics: The mediating role of normative organizational commitment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kabiru Ishola Genty

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The research reported in this paper examined the mediating role of normative organizational commitment on the relationship that exists between workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behavior amongst academics at some selected Nigerian Universities. A non-experimental research design was adopted utilizing the quantitative and correlational methods. With the aid of the convenience sampling technique, 350 questionnaires were distributed at an equal proportion to academic staffs at two Nigerian public universities. Three hundred and thirty-one questionnaires were retrieved, of which 328 were found usable for analyses in the study. Three hypotheses were proposed and tested using inferential statistics with the aid of SPSS version 20 and the IBM SPSS AMOS version 22. The outcomes of the study brought to the fore that, there exists a statistical significant and positive relationship between workplace spirituality and normative organizational commitment. Correspondingly, a strong and positive relationship was found between normative organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. Finally, a partial mediating influence of normative organizational commitment was established on the workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behavior relationship. Conclusively, this study recommended that, universities management should recognize workplace spirituality for the attainment of normative commitment to foster more organizational citizenship behavior among the academics.

  15. The Significance of Normativity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Presskorn-Thygesen, Thomas

    and Weber. It does so by situating Durkheim and Weber in the context of Neo-Kantian philosophy, which prevailed among their contemporaries, and the chapter thereby reveals a series of under-thematised similarities not only with regard to their methodological positions, but also in their conception of social...... of social theory. In pursuing this overall research agenda, the dissertation contributes to a number of specific research literatures. Following two introductory and methodological chapters, Chapter 3 thus critically examines the analysis of normativity suggested in the recent attempts at transforming...... the methods of neo-classical economics into a broader form of social theory. The chapter thereby contributes to the critical discourses, particularly in philosophy of science, that challenge the validity of neo-classical economics and its underlying conception of practical rationality. In examining...

  16. Normative data for stretched penile length in term neonates born in Tamil Nadu.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prabhu, Sudha Rathna; Mahadevan, Shriraam; Bharath, R; Jagadeesh, Sujatha; Kumutha, J; Suresh, Seshadri

    2014-07-01

    To establish normative data for stretched penile length (SPL) in term male neonates born in Tamil Nadu. All live term male neonates delivered in a hospital during a given period were included. SPL was measured from the pubic ramus to the tip of the glans. Two consecutive measurements were taken and average was recorded. The mean SPL observed in our study was 2.83 ± 0.49 cm. This study helps establish normative values for SPL in neonates of Tamil Nadu origin.

  17. New normative standards of conditional reasoning and the dual-source model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singmann, Henrik; Klauer, Karl Christoph; Over, David

    2014-01-01

    There has been a major shift in research on human reasoning toward Bayesian and probabilistic approaches, which has been called a new paradigm. The new paradigm sees most everyday and scientific reasoning as taking place in a context of uncertainty, and inference is from uncertain beliefs and not from arbitrary assumptions. In this manuscript we present an empirical test of normative standards in the new paradigm using a novel probabilized conditional reasoning task. Our results indicated that for everyday conditional with at least a weak causal connection between antecedent and consequent only the conditional probability of the consequent given antecedent contributes unique variance to predicting the probability of conditional, but not the probability of the conjunction, nor the probability of the material conditional. Regarding normative accounts of reasoning, we found significant evidence that participants' responses were confidence preserving (i.e., p-valid in the sense of Adams, 1998) for MP inferences, but not for MT inferences. Additionally, only for MP inferences and to a lesser degree for DA inferences did the rate of responses inside the coherence intervals defined by mental probability logic (Pfeifer and Kleiter, 2005, 2010) exceed chance levels. In contrast to the normative accounts, the dual-source model (Klauer et al., 2010) is a descriptive model. It posits that participants integrate their background knowledge (i.e., the type of information primary to the normative approaches) and their subjective probability that a conclusion is seen as warranted based on its logical form. Model fits showed that the dual-source model, which employed participants' responses to a deductive task with abstract contents to estimate the form-based component, provided as good an account of the data as a model that solely used data from the probabilized conditional reasoning task.

  18. New Normative Standards of Conditional Reasoning and the Dual-Source Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrik eSingmann

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available There has been a major shift in research on human reasoning towards Bayesian and probabilistic approaches, which has been called a new paradigm. The new paradigm sees most everyday and scientific reasoning as taking place in a context of uncertainty, and inference is from uncertain beliefs and not from arbitrary assumptions. In this manuscript we present an empirical test of normative standards in the new paradigm using a novel probabilized conditional reasoning task. Our results indicated that for everyday conditional with at least a weak causal connection between antecedent and consequent only the conditional probability of the consequent given antecedent contributes unique variance to predicting the probability of conditional, but not the probability of the conjunction, nor the probability of the material conditional. Regarding normative accounts of reasoning, we found significant evidence that participants' responses were confidence preserving (i.e., p-valid in the sense of Adams, 1998 for MP inferences, but not for MT inferences. Additionally, only for MP inferences and to a lesser degree for DA inferences did the rate of responses inside the coherence intervals defined by mental probability logic (Pfeifer & Kleiter, 2005, 2010 exceed chance levels. In contrast to the normative accounts, the dual-source model (Klauer, Beller, & Hütter, 2010 is a descriptive model. It posits that participants integrate their background knowledge (i.e., the type of information primary to the normative approaches and their subjective probability that a conclusion is seen as warranted based on its logical form. Model fits showed that the dual-source model, which employed participants' responses to a deductive task with abstract contents to estimate the form-based component, provided as good an account of the data as a model that solely used data from the probabilized conditional reasoning task.

  19. The normative study of acoustic parameters in normal Egyptian ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Yehia A. Abo-Ras

    2013-03-21

    Mar 21, 2013 ... all children were subjected to computerized acoustic analysis using Multidimensional voice program ... cal quality is important for social relations to happen effectively. ... lish comparative parameters with the normal values of the acoustic ... from lower age ranges in the normative studies since the child's.

  20. Managing Normative Criteria in Action Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boulus-Rødje, Nina

    2014-01-01

    experiences from an action research project in a healthcare infrastructural setting. I use these experiences as a basis for appraising the normative crite- ria for rigor and relevance that are enacted in IS action research literature. I argue that while these criteria originally had important contributions......, there are also weaknesses with norma- tive approaches. Specifically, these norms of action research leave relatively little space for understanding and managing emerging empirical uncertainties. These norms are important because they have implications not only on how we conduct action research in practice...

  1. On the possibility of a pragmatic discourse bioethics: Putnam, Habermas, and the normative logic of bioethical inquiry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooke, Elizabeth F

    2003-01-01

    Pragmatic bioethics represents a novel approach to the discipline of bioethics, yet has met with criticisms which have beset the discipline of bioethics in the past. In particular, pragmatic bioethics has been criticized for its excessively fuzzy approach to fundamental questions of normativity, which are crucial to a field like bioethics. Normative questions need answers, and consensus is not always enough. The approach here is to apply elements of the discourse ethics of Habermas and Putnam to the sphere of bioethics, in order to develop a normative structure out of the framework of bioethical inquiry as it stands. The idea here is that the process of inquiry contains its own normative structure as it aims to discover norms. Such an approach, which fuses pragmatic bioethics with discourse ethics (which equally draws on pragmatism), may rightly be called a "Pragmatic Discourse Bioethics."

  2. A Framework for Normative MultiAgent Organisations

    OpenAIRE

    Boissier, Olivier; Hübner, Jomi Fred

    2009-01-01

    The social and organisational aspects of agency have led to a good amount of theoretical work in terms of formal models and theories. From these different works normative multiagent systems and multiagent organisations are particularily considered in this paper. Embodying such models and theories in the conception and engineering of proper infrastructures that achieve requirements of openness and adaptation, is still an open issue. In this direction, this paper presents and discusses a framew...

  3. Normalization and normativity practices: the subjectivization of the hyperactive student within the social media - doi: 10.4025/actascilangcult.v35i4.19879

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Franceschini

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Current research verifies media discourse practices which objectify and subjectify the hyperactive student. Discourse processes that constitute the subject of education are analyzed. They verify the occurrence of discursive regularities between the medical and the school discourses within social media discourse. The theoretical and methodological concepts developed by Michel Foucault are employed, with special reference to topics related to enunciation modalities, disciplinary power, normalization and normativity which make possible the analysis of the effects of truth of enunciations in the corpus of current project. The latter comprise articles published in Brazilian newspapers and magazines and other educational texts on Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD. Research investigates the discursive formations that deal with the identity of the subjects and tries to understand how knowledge-power and history-memory relationships produce truth effects on hyperactive students’ identity. Likewise, it also discusses how truth effects establish meaning effects that marginalize the subjects and label them as restless, non-attentive, disquiet and others furnished by authorized subjects who intend to normatize and discipline the hyperactive student within social environments.

  4. Normative data on mental and motor development in Nigerian children

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Normative data on mental and motor development in Nigerian children. ... Inventory (DSI) and Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID): a screening and ... and the scores made blind to the researchers until after the subject\\'s assessment ...

  5. CAMPAIGN JOURNALISM ON ROMANIAN TELEVISIONS: TOWARDS A NORMATIVE VIEW OF ADVOCACY IN THE MEDIA

    OpenAIRE

    IRINA DIANA MĂDROANE

    2016-01-01

    Advocacy media campaigns, staged by Romanian television channels and focused on changing social policies, have gained increasing visibility in the Romanian public sphere. The article examines models of journalism and normative theories about the role of the press in a democracy in order to carve out a normative position from which this emerging media format can be analysed. It situates media advocacy within the frame of interpretive journalism, aimed both at facilitating democratic debate ...

  6. Professional autonomy and the normative structure of medical practice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoogland, Jan; Jochemsen, Henk

    2000-01-01

    Professional autonomy is often described as a claim of professionals that has to serve primarily their own interests. However, it can also be seen as an element of a professional ideal that can function as a standard for professional, i.e. medical practice. This normative understanding of the

  7. Individual and Peer Group Normative Beliefs about Relational Aggression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werner, Nicole E.; Hill, Laura G.

    2010-01-01

    Studies show that children who use relational aggression process social information in unique ways; however, findings have been inconsistent and limited by methodological weaknesses. This short-term longitudinal study examined developmental changes in 245 (49% female; ages 8-13) 3rd through 8th graders' normative beliefs about relational…

  8. Improving measurement of normative beliefs involving smoking among adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Primack, Brian A; Switzer, Galen E; Dalton, Madeline A

    2007-05-01

    To identify different components of smoking normative beliefs and determine if each component is independently associated with 2 clinically relevant measures of smoking in adolescents. Cross-sectional survey. One large suburban high school. A total of 1211 high school students aged 14 to 18 years. Current smoking and susceptibility to smoking. Of the 1138 students with data on current smoking, 216 (19.0%) reported current smoking, and 342 (38.3%) of the 893 nonsmoking students with susceptibility data were susceptible to future smoking. Factor analysis identified 3 normative belief constructs, labeled "perceived prevalence of smoking," "perceived popularity of smoking among elite/successful elements of society," and "disapproval of smoking by parents/peers." On average, students believed that 56% of people in the United States smoke cigarettes; 27.7% believed that wealthy people smoke more than poor people. Multiple logistic regression showed that each of the 3 constructs was independently associated with current smoking (adjusted odds ratios, 1.05 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.02-1.08], 1.12 [95% CI, 1.02-1.23], and 0.66 [95% CI, 0.59-0.75], respectively), even after controlling for covariates. Students' perceptions of smoking among the successful/elite and disapproval by parents/peers were independently associated with susceptibility to future smoking (adjusted odds ratios, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.11-1.29] and 0.87 [95% CI, 0.79-0.96], respectively). Adolescents' normative beliefs about smoking are multidimensional and include at least 3 distinct components, each of which was independently related to smoking outcomes. These distinct components should be considered in the design and evaluation of programs related to prevention and cessation of adolescent smoking.

  9. Normative beliefs, misperceptions, and heavy episodic drinking in a british student sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAlaney, John; McMahon, John

    2007-05-01

    Numerous studies have demonstrated the existence and effect of normative misperceptions on heavy episodic drinking behavior. However, there has been little work on these processes or application of normative-belief interventions outside the U.S. college system. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to investigate heavy episodic drinking and normative misperceptions in a U.K. university setting. An email containing a link to a survey Web site was distributed to all current undergraduate students at the University of Paisley, Scotland. In addition to age and gender questions, the survey contained items on students' personal behavior and perception of the level of that behavior in three groups of increasing social distance: close friends, other students of the same age, and other people of the same age in U.K. society in general. Completed surveys from 500 respondents were returned. In keeping with previous research, significant correlations were found between the respondents' behavior and the perception of that behavior in others, with beliefs about the most proximal individuals being the most strongly correlated. The majority of respondents were also found to overestimate alcohol consumption in other students. An age effect was noted, in which misperceptions appeared to decrease with age but did not vary between genders. The findings of the study indicate that the normative-belief alcohol consumption processes that have been found on U.S. college campuses also operate in U.K. university settings. This raises the possibility of applying social-norms interventions from the United States to the United Kingdom and potentially elsewhere in the world. Furthermore, the study noted apparent age effects in the degree of misperception, the implications of which are discussed.

  10. A normative model for assessing competitive strategy

    OpenAIRE

    Ungerer, Gerard David; Cayzer, Steve

    2016-01-01

    The hyper-competitive nature of e-business has raised the need for a generic way to appraise the merit of a developed business strategy. Although progress has been made in the domain of strategy evaluation, the established literature differs over the ‘tests’ that a strategy must pass to be considered well-constructed. This paper therefore investigates the existing strategy-evaluation literature to propose a more integrated and comprehensive normative strategic assessment that can be used to e...

  11. Reference values for physical performance measures in the aging working population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cote, Mark P; Kenny, Anne; Dussetschleger, Jeffrey; Farr, Dana; Chaurasia, Ashok; Cherniack, Martin

    2014-02-01

    The aim of this study was to determine reference physical performance values in older aging workers. Cross-sectional physical performance measures were collected for 736 manufacturing workers to assess effects of work and nonwork factors on age-related changes in musculoskeletal function and health. Participants underwent surveys and physical testing that included bioelectrical impedance analysis, range-of-motion measures, exercise testing, and dynamic assessment. Physical characteristics, such as blood pressure and body fat percentage, were comparable to published values. Dynamic and range-of-motion measurements differed from published normative results. Women had age-related decreases in cervical extension and lateral rotation. Older men had better spinal flexion than expected. Predicted age-related decline in lower-extremity strength and shoulder strength in women was not seen. Men declined in handgrip, lower-extremity strength, and knee extension strength, but not trunk strength, across age groups. There was no appreciable decline in muscle fatigue at the trunk, shoulder, and knee with aging for either gender, except for the youngest age group of women. Normative values may underestimate physical performance in "healthy" older workers, thereby underappreciating declines in less healthy older workers. Work may be preservative of function for a large group of selected individuals. A "healthy worker effect" may be greater for musculoskeletal disease and function than for heart disease and mortality. Clinicians and researchers studying musculoskeletal function in older workers can use a more specific set of reference values.

  12. Longitudinal Modeling of Adolescent Normative Beliefs and Substance Initiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lillehoj, Catherine J.; Trudeau, Linda; Spoth, Richard

    2005-01-01

    Pstudy investigated the effects of baseline levels of academic achievement and longitudinal trends in normative beliefs on adolescent substance initiation across a 42-month time period. Participants were 272 rural adolescents who were an average of 12.3 years old at the baseline assessment. Academic achievement positively predicted the intercept…

  13. It’s Not Just a “Woman Thing:” The Current State of Normative Discontent

    OpenAIRE

    TANTLEFF-DUNN, STACEY; BARNES, RACHEL D.; LAROSE, JESSICA GOKEE

    2011-01-01

    This study assessed “normative discontent,” the concept that most women experience weight dissatisfaction, as an emerging societal stereotype for women and men (Rodin, Silberstein, & Streigel-Moore, 1984). Participants (N = 472) completed measures of stereotypes, eating disorders, and body image. Normative discontent stereotypes were pervasive for women and men. Endorsing stereotypes varied by sex and participants’ own disturbance, with trends towards eating disorder symptomotology being posi...

  14. Validation of psychoanalytic theories: towards a conceptualization of references.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zachrisson, Anders; Zachrisson, Henrik Daae

    2005-10-01

    The authors discuss criteria for the validation of psychoanalytic theories and develop a heuristic and normative model of the references needed for this. Their core question in this paper is: can psychoanalytic theories be validated exclusively from within psychoanalytic theory (internal validation), or are references to sources of knowledge other than psychoanalysis also necessary (external validation)? They discuss aspects of the classic truth criteria correspondence and coherence, both from the point of view of contemporary psychoanalysis and of contemporary philosophy of science. The authors present arguments for both external and internal validation. Internal validation has to deal with the problems of subjectivity of observations and circularity of reasoning, external validation with the problem of relevance. They recommend a critical attitude towards psychoanalytic theories, which, by carefully scrutinizing weak points and invalidating observations in the theories, reduces the risk of wishful thinking. The authors conclude by sketching a heuristic model of validation. This model combines correspondence and coherence with internal and external validation into a four-leaf model for references for the process of validating psychoanalytic theories.

  15. An initial test of a normative Figure Of Merit for the quality of overall task performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemay, Moira; Comstock, J. R., Jr.

    1990-01-01

    An overall indicator, or Figure Of Merit (FOM), of the quality of crew/vehicle system performance is needed to establish the effect of workload on efficiency and to identify overload conditions. A normative FOM is proposed in which performance is measured on a representative task and a normative data base obtained. FOMs for subsequent executions of the task are then reported in terms of weighted deviations from average task performance. Performance of discrete tasks is measured primarily in terms of subtask time and errors. Discrete task performance is then combined with a measure of continuous vehicle control. In order to test the normative FOM procedure, the technique was applied to an existing set of data from a simulated landing task in which standard communications with ATC was compared with a data link communications system. The results indicated that while mean task performance was not affected, task variability, as measured by the FOM, was significantly higher when data link communications were used. In order to establish the sensitivity of the normative FOM method, further testing of the measure is recommended.

  16. Normativity II – Towards an Integral Perspective | Strauss | South ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This is a follow-up article of Strauss 2011. In order to transcend the shortcomings present in the dialectical legacy regarding normativity, this article further explores key elements within the dialectical tradition focused on the basic motive of nature and freedom and the effect it had on modern social contract theories which ...

  17. The normative trap in ethnopolitical research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bochsler, Daniel; Schläpfer, Basil

    2016-01-01

    , there is no generally accepted model of ethnic relations which would inform us about ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ identities. Even advanced industrial democracies differ tremendously in how states and societies relate to their members: since the 1970s the cultural model of the United States and Canada has built on its ethnic...... try to avoid possible biases, and discuss how their data and results might influence politics and the public debate. We warn against any practice that would lead to self-censorship of research results that conflict with the dominant normative views of scholars or society. The debate about ethnic...

  18. The Effect of Framing and Normative Messages in Building Support for Climate Policies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurlstone, Mark J.; Lewandowsky, Stephan; Newell, Ben R.; Sewell, Brittany

    2014-01-01

    Deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are required to mitigate climate change. However, there is low willingness amongst the public to prioritise climate policies for reducing emissions. Here we show that the extent to which Australians are prepared to reduce their country's CO2 emissions is greater when the costs to future national income are framed as a “foregone-gain”—incomes rise in the future but not by as much as in the absence of emission cuts—rather than as a “loss”—incomes decrease relative to the baseline expected future levels (Studies 1 & 2). The provision of a normative message identifying Australia as one of the world's largest CO2 emitters did not increase the amount by which individuals were prepared to reduce emissions (Study 1), whereas a normative message revealing the emission policy preferences of other Australians did (Study 2). The results suggest that framing the costs of reducing emissions as a smaller increase in future income and communicating normative information about others' emission policy preferences are effective methods for leveraging public support for emission cuts. PMID:25501009

  19. The effect of framing and normative messages in building support for climate policies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark J Hurlstone

    Full Text Available Deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are required to mitigate climate change. However, there is low willingness amongst the public to prioritise climate policies for reducing emissions. Here we show that the extent to which Australians are prepared to reduce their country's CO2 emissions is greater when the costs to future national income are framed as a "foregone-gain"--incomes rise in the future but not by as much as in the absence of emission cuts--rather than as a "loss"--incomes decrease relative to the baseline expected future levels (Studies 1 & 2. The provision of a normative message identifying Australia as one of the world's largest CO2 emitters did not increase the amount by which individuals were prepared to reduce emissions (Study 1, whereas a normative message revealing the emission policy preferences of other Australians did (Study 2. The results suggest that framing the costs of reducing emissions as a smaller increase in future income and communicating normative information about others' emission policy preferences are effective methods for leveraging public support for emission cuts.

  20. The effect of framing and normative messages in building support for climate policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurlstone, Mark J; Lewandowsky, Stephan; Newell, Ben R; Sewell, Brittany

    2014-01-01

    Deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are required to mitigate climate change. However, there is low willingness amongst the public to prioritise climate policies for reducing emissions. Here we show that the extent to which Australians are prepared to reduce their country's CO2 emissions is greater when the costs to future national income are framed as a "foregone-gain"--incomes rise in the future but not by as much as in the absence of emission cuts--rather than as a "loss"--incomes decrease relative to the baseline expected future levels (Studies 1 & 2). The provision of a normative message identifying Australia as one of the world's largest CO2 emitters did not increase the amount by which individuals were prepared to reduce emissions (Study 1), whereas a normative message revealing the emission policy preferences of other Australians did (Study 2). The results suggest that framing the costs of reducing emissions as a smaller increase in future income and communicating normative information about others' emission policy preferences are effective methods for leveraging public support for emission cuts.

  1. Eye-tracking measurements and their link to a normative model of monitoring behaviour.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasse, Catrin; Bruder, Carmen

    2015-01-01

    Increasing automation necessitates operators monitoring appropriately (OMA) and raises the question of how to identify them in future selections. A normative model was developed providing criteria for the identification of OMA. According to this model, the monitoring process comprises distinct monitoring phases (orientation, anticipation, detection and recheck) in which attention should be focused on relevant areas. The current study tests the normative model on the basis of eye tracking. The eye-tracking data revealed increased concentration on relevant areas during the orientation and anticipation phase in comparison to the other phases. For the assessment of monitoring behaviour in the context of personnel selection, this implies that the anticipation and orientation phases should be considered separately as they appear to be more important in the context of monitoring than the other phases. A normative model was developed for the assessment of monitoring behaviour. Using the eye-tracking method, this model was tested with applicants for an Air Traffic Controller training programme. The results are relevant for the future selection of human operators, who will have to monitor highly automated systems.

  2. A Twin Study of Normative Personality and DSM-IV Personality Disorder Criterion Counts: Evidence for Separate Genetic Influences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czajkowski, Nikolai; Aggen, Steven H; Krueger, Robert F; Kendler, Kenneth S; Neale, Michael C; Knudsen, Gun Peggy; Gillespie, Nathan A; Røysamb, Espen; Tambs, Kristian; Reichborn-Kjennerud, Ted

    2018-03-21

    Both normative personality and DSM-IV personality disorders have been found to be heritable. However, there is limited knowledge about the extent to which the genetic and environmental influences underlying DSM personality disorders are shared with those of normative personality. The aims of this study were to assess the phenotypic similarity between normative and pathological personality and to investigate the extent to which genetic and environmental influences underlying individual differences in normative personality account for symptom variance across DSM-IV personality disorders. A large population-based sample of adult twins was assessed for DSM-IV personality disorder criteria with structured interviews at two waves spanning a 10-year interval. At the second assessment, participants also completed the Big Five Inventory, a self-report instrument assessing the five-factor normative personality model. The proportion of genetic and environmental liabilities unique to the individual personality disorder measures, and hence not shared with the five Big Five Inventory domains, were estimated by means of multivariate Cholesky twin decompositions. The median percentage of genetic liability to the 10 DSM-IV personality disorders assessed at wave 1 that was not shared with the Big Five domains was 64%, whereas for the six personality disorders that were assessed concurrently at wave 2, the median was 39%. Conversely, the median proportions of unique environmental liability in the personality disorders for wave 1 and wave 2 were 97% and 96%, respectively. The results indicate that a moderate-to-sizable proportion of the genetic influence underlying DSM-IV personality disorders is not shared with the domain constructs of the Big Five model of normative personality. Caution should be exercised in assuming that normative personality measures can serve as proxies for DSM personality disorders when investigating the etiology of these disorders.

  3. Bank of Standardized Stimuli (BOSS phase II: 930 new normative photos.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathieu B Brodeur

    Full Text Available Researchers have only recently started to take advantage of the developments in technology and communication for sharing data and documents. However, the exchange of experimental material has not taken advantage of this progress yet. In order to facilitate access to experimental material, the Bank of Standardized Stimuli (BOSS project was created as a free standardized set of visual stimuli accessible to all researchers, through a normative database. The BOSS is currently the largest existing photo bank providing norms for more than 15 dimensions (e.g. familiarity, visual complexity, manipulability, etc., making the BOSS an extremely useful research tool and a mean to homogenize scientific data worldwide. The first phase of the BOSS was completed in 2010, and contained 538 normative photos. The second phase of the BOSS project presented in this article, builds on the previous phase by adding 930 new normative photo stimuli. New categories of concepts were introduced, including animals, building infrastructures, body parts, and vehicles and the number of photos in other categories was increased. All new photos of the BOSS were normalized relative to their name, familiarity, visual complexity, object agreement, viewpoint agreement, and manipulability. The availability of these norms is a precious asset that should be considered for characterizing the stimuli as a function of the requirements of research and for controlling for potential confounding effects.

  4. AULA-Advanced Virtual Reality Tool for the Assessment of Attention: Normative Study in Spain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iriarte, Yahaira; Diaz-Orueta, Unai; Cueto, Eduardo; Irazustabarrena, Paula; Banterla, Flavio; Climent, Gema

    2016-06-01

    The present study describes the obtention of normative data for the AULA test, a virtual reality tool designed to evaluate attention problems, especially in children and adolescents. The normative sample comprised 1,272 participants (48.2% female) with an age range from 6 to 16 years (M = 10.25, SD = 2.83). The AULA test administered to them shows both visual and auditory stimuli, while randomized distractors of ecological nature appear progressively. Variables provided by AULA were clustered in different categories for their posterior analysis. Differences by age and gender were analyzed, resulting in 14 groups, 7 per sex group. Differences between visual and auditory attention were also obtained. Obtained normative data are relevant for the use of AULA for evaluating attention in Spanish children and adolescents in a more ecological way. Further studies will be needed to determine sensitivity and specificity of AULA to measure attention in different clinical populations. (J. of Att. Dis. 2016; 20(6) 542-568). © The Author(s) 2012.

  5. The historical-normative trajectory of agricultural education: from Brazil-Empire to Brazil-Republic (1960

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marta Leandro da Silva

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available This study, developed from research carried out during a master’s program, focuses on the historical, normative and political trajectory of agricultural education (at high school level, now in the context of federal legislation reforms. This segment of vocational education developed in the light of stereotypes and isolation, with scarce scientific analysis as rare object of research. This paper aims to present a descriptive and analytical approach to the main normative acts that guided the historical and curricular trajectory of Agricultural Education at high school level. Highlighting the educational policies embodied in the federal educational legislation, within these major historical milestones: from Imperial Brazil to the Republican period (1960. Based on qualitative research on education, with emphasis on documentary / normative and institutional research, it is necessary to identify the multiple historical determinations that outlined and preceded current secondary vocational education policies (agricultural area aiming to offer contributions for the analysis of contemporary policies.

  6. Ethics by opinion poll? The functions of attitudes research for normative deliberations in medical ethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salloch, Sabine; Vollmann, Jochen; Schildmann, Jan

    2014-09-01

    Empirical studies on people's moral attitudes regarding ethically challenging topics contribute greatly to research in medical ethics. However, it is not always clear in which ways this research adds to medical ethics as a normative discipline. In this article, we aim to provide a systematic account of the different ways in which attitudinal research can be used for normative reflection. In the first part, we discuss whether ethical judgements can be based on empirical work alone and we develop a sceptical position regarding this point, taking into account theoretical, methodological and pragmatic considerations. As empirical data should not be taken as a direct source for normative justification, we then delineate different ways in which attitudes research can be combined with theoretical accounts of normative justification in the second part of the article. Firstly, the combination of attitudes research with normative-ethical theories is analysed with respect to three different aspects: (a) The extent of empirical data which is needed, (b) the question of which kind of data is required and (c) the ways in which the empirical data are processed within the framework of an ethical theory. Secondly, two further functions of attitudes research are displayed which lie outside the traditional focus of ethical theories: the exploratory function of detecting and characterising new ethical problems, and the field of 'moral pragmatics'. The article concludes with a methodological outlook and suggestions for the concrete practice of attitudinal research in medical ethics. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  7. When do normative beliefs about aggression predict aggressive behavior? An application of I3 theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jian-Bin; Nie, Yan-Gang; Boardley, Ian D; Dou, Kai; Situ, Qiao-Min

    2015-01-01

    I(3) theory assumes that aggressive behavior is dependent on three orthogonal processes (i.e., Instigator, Impellance, and Inhibition). Previous studies showed that Impellance (trait aggressiveness, retaliation tendencies) better predicted aggression when Instigator was strong and Inhibition was weak. In the current study, we predicted that another Impellance (i.e., normative beliefs about aggression) might predict aggression when Instigator was absent and Inhibition was high (i.e., the perfect calm proposition). In two experiments, participants first completed the normative beliefs about aggression questionnaire. Two weeks later, participants' self-control resources were manipulated either using the Stroop task (study 1, N = 148) or through an "e-crossing" task (study 2, N = 180). Afterwards, with or without being provoked, participants played a game with an ostensible partner where they had a chance to aggress against them. Study 1 found that normative beliefs about aggression negatively and significantly predicted aggressive behavior only when provocation was absent and self-control resources were not depleted. In Study 2, normative beliefs about aggression negatively predicted aggressive behavior at marginal significance level only in the "no-provocation and no-depletion" condition. In conclusion, the current study provides partial support for the perfect calm proposition and I(3) theory. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Toward a Normative Theory of Freedom of the Press.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, Dwight Wm.

    In considering the possibility of a normative theory of freedom of the press, this paper examines arguments about such freedom in the Third World and elsewhere. Some of the arguments discussed in the paper are derived from the theories of John Locke and Karl Marx; others are drawn from the concepts of divine rights, elitism, liberal democracy, and…

  9. The influence of tobacco marketing on adolescent smoking intentions via normative beliefs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Abraham; Moodie, Crawford

    2009-08-01

    Using cross-sectional data from three waves of the Youth Tobacco Policy Study, which examines the impact of the UK's Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act (TAPA) on adolescent smoking behaviour, we examined normative pathways between tobacco marketing awareness and smoking intentions. The sample comprised 1121 adolescents in Wave 2 (pre-ban), 1123 in Wave 3 (mid-ban) and 1159 in Wave 4 (post-ban). Structural equation modelling was used to assess the direct effect of tobacco advertising and promotion on intentions at each wave, and also the indirect effect, mediated through normative influences. Pre-ban, higher levels of awareness of advertising and promotion were independently associated with higher levels of perceived sibling approval which, in turn, was positively related to intentions. Independent paths from perceived prevalence and benefits fully mediated the effects of advertising and promotion awareness on intentions mid- and post-ban. Advertising awareness indirectly affected intentions via the interaction between perceived prevalence and benefits pre-ban, whereas the indirect effect on intentions of advertising and promotion awareness was mediated by the interaction of perceived prevalence and benefits mid-ban. Our findings indicate that policy measures such as the TAPA can significantly reduce adolescents' smoking intentions by signifying smoking to be less normative and socially unacceptable.

  10. Normative values for the unipedal stance test with eyes open and closed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Springer, Barbara A; Marin, Raul; Cyhan, Tamara; Roberts, Holly; Gill, Norman W

    2007-01-01

    Limited normative data are available for the unipedal stance test (UPST), making it difficult for clinicians to use it confidently to detect subtle balance impairments. The purpose of this study was to generate normative values for repeated trials of the UPST with eyes opened and eyes closed across age groups and gender. This prospective, mixed-model design was set in a tertiary care medical center. Healthy subjects (n= 549), 18 years or older, performed the UPST with eyes open and closed. Mean and best of 3 UPST times for males and females of 6 age groups (18-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, and 80+) were documented and inter-rater reliability was tested. There was a significant age dependent decrease in UPST time during both conditions. Inter-rater reliability for the best of 3 trials was determined to be excellent with an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.994 (95% confidence interval 0.989-0.996) for eyes open and 0.998 (95% confidence interval 0.996-0.999) for eyes closed. This study adds to the understanding of typical performance on the UPST. Performance is age-specific and not related to gender. Clinicians now have more extensive normative values to which individuals can be compared.

  11. Development, equivalence study, and normative data of version B of the Spanish-language Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grau-Guinea, L; Pérez-Enríquez, C; García-Escobar, G; Arrondo-Elizarán, C; Pereira-Cutiño, B; Florido-Santiago, M; Piqué-Candini, J; Planas, A; Paez, M; Peña-Casanova, J; Sánchez-Benavides, G

    2018-05-08

    The Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) is widely used for the assessment of verbal episodic memory, mainly in patients with Alzheimer disease. A Spanish version of the FCSRT and normative data were developed within the NEURONORMA project. Availability of alternative, equivalent versions is useful for following patients up in clinical settings. This study aimed to develop an alternative version of the original FCSRT (version B) and to study its equivalence to the original Spanish test (version A), and its performance in a sample of healthy individuals, in order to develop reference data. We evaluated 232 healthy participants of the NEURONORMA-Plus project, aged between 18 and 90. Thirty-three participants were assessed with both versions using a counterbalanced design. High intra-class correlation coefficients (between 0.8 and 0.9) were observed in the equivalence study. While no significant differences in performance were observed in total recall scores, free recall scores were significantly lower for version B. These preliminary results suggest that the newly developed FCSRT version B is equivalent to version A in the main variables tested. Further studies are necessary to ensure interchangeability between versions. We provide normative data for the new version. Copyright © 2018 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  12. A Critical Concept of Injustice. Trichotomy Critique, Explanation, and Normativity

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hrubec, Marek

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 13, č. 1 (2014), s. 50-73 ISSN 1677-2954 Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : Injustice * justice * critical * critical theory * descriptive * normative Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/ ethic /article/view/1677-2954.2014v13n1p50

  13. Childhood dental fear in the Netherlands: prevalence and normative data.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    ten Berge, M.; Hoogstraten, J.; Prins, P.J.M.; Veerkamp, J.S.

    2002-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to present normative data on dental fear for the Dutch child population, by identifying not only highly fearful children but also children at risk for developing this high dental fear. METHODS: Fear distribution of samples of high and low fearful children was studied,

  14. A Universal Model for the Normative Evaluation of Internet Information.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spence, E.H.

    2009-01-01

    Beginning with the initial premise that as the Internet has a global character, the paper will argue that the normative evaluation of digital information on the Internet necessitates an evaluative model that is itself universal and global in character (I agree, therefore, with Gorniak- Kocikowska’s

  15. A fallacious jar? The peculiar relation between descriptive premises and normative conclusions in neuroethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, Nils-Frederic; Northoff, Georg

    2015-06-01

    Ethical questions have traditionally been approached through conceptual analysis. Inspired by the rapid advance of modern brain imaging techniques, however, some ethical questions appear in a new light. For example, hotly debated trolley dilemmas have recently been studied by psychologists and neuroscientists alike, arguing that their findings can support or debunk moral intuitions that underlie those dilemmas. Resulting from the wedding of philosophy and neuroscience, neuroethics has emerged as a novel interdisciplinary field that aims at drawing conclusive relationships between neuroscientific observations and normative ethics. A major goal of neuroethics is to derive normative ethical conclusions from the investigation of neural and psychological mechanisms underlying ethical theories, as well as moral judgments and intuitions. The focus of this article is to shed light on the structure and functioning of neuroethical arguments of this sort, and to reveal particular methodological challenges that lie concealed therein. We discuss the methodological problem of how one can--or, as the case may be, cannot--validly infer normative conclusions from neuroscientific observations. Moreover, we raise the issue of how preexisting normative ethical convictions threaten to invalidate the interpretation of neuroscientific data, and thus arrive at question-begging conclusions. Nonetheless, this is not to deny that current neuroethics rightly presumes that moral considerations about actual human lives demand empirically substantiated answers. Therefore, in conclusion, we offer some preliminary reflections on how the discussed methodological challenges can be met.

  16. Instituting Interaction: Normative Transformations in Human Communicative Practices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Z. Elias

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Recent experiments in semiotics and linguistics demonstrate that groups tend to converge on a common set of signs or terms in response to presented problems. This process might be described as an implicit institutionalization of communicative practices, particularly when conventionalized to the point of overriding alternatives more functionally conducive to the current situation. However, the emergence of such convergence and conventionalization does not in itself constitute an institution, in the strict sense of a social organization partly created and governed by explicit rules. A further step towards institutions proper may occur when others are instructed about a task. That is, given task situations which select for successful practices, instructions about such situations make explicit what was tacit practice, instructions which can then be followed correctly or incorrectly. This transition gives rise to the normative distinction between conditions of success versus conditions of correctness, a distinction which will be explored and complicated in the course of this paper. Using these experiments as a basis, then, the emergence of institutions will be characterized in evolutionary and normative terms, beginning with our adaptive responses to the selective pressures of certain situational environments, and continuing with our capacity to then shape, constrain, and institute those environments to further refine and streamline our problem-solving activity.

  17. A design process for using normative models in shared decision making: a case study in the context of prenatal testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rapaport, Sivan; Leshno, Moshe; Fink, Lior

    2014-12-01

    Shared decision making (SDM) encourages the patient to play a more active role in the process of medical consultation and its primary objective is to find the best treatment for a specific patient. Recent findings, however, show that patient preferences cannot be easily or accurately judged on the basis of communicative exchange during routine office visits, even for patients who seek to expand their role in medical decision making (MDM). The objective of this study is to improve the quality of patient-physician communication by developing a novel design process for SDM and then demonstrating, through a case study, the applicability of this process in enabling the use of a normative model for a specific medical situation. Our design process goes through the following stages: definition of medical situation and decision problem, development/identification of normative model, adaptation of normative model, empirical analysis and development of decision support systems (DSS) tools that facilitate the SDM process in the specific medical situation. This study demonstrates the applicability of the process through the implementation of the general normative theory of MDM under uncertainty for the medical-financial dilemma of choosing a physician to perform amniocentesis. The use of normative models in SDM raises several issues, such as the goal of the normative model, the relation between the goals of prediction and recommendation, and the general question of whether it is valid to use a normative model for people who do not behave according to the model's assumptions. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Persuasive Normative Messages: The Influence of Injunctive and Personal Norms on Using Free Plastic Bags

    OpenAIRE

    Judith I.M. de Groot; Wokje Abrahamse; Kayleigh Jones

    2013-01-01

    In this exploratory field-study, we examined how normative messages ( i.e. , activating an injunctive norm, personal norm, or both) could encourage shoppers to use fewer free plastic bags for their shopping in addition to the supermarket’s standard environmental message aimed at reducing plastic bags. In a one-way subjects-design ( N = 200) at a local supermarket, we showed that shoppers used significantly fewer free plastic bags in the injunctive, personal and combined normative message cond...

  19. The EU as a Normative Power and the Research on External Perceptions: the Missing Link

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Henrik

    2014-01-01

    perception offer some findings that are central for the NPE debate. This article’s argument is that the external perceptions literature points to a limited (if still identifiable) perception of the EU as a normative power depending on the geographical area. By comparison, the image of a powerful economic......In research on European foreign policy two important axes of debate have been running relatively independently of each other for more than a decade: the study of the European Union as a normative power (NPE) and the study of external perceptions of the EU. However, the studies of external...... actor is prevalent. The article raises the question of whether the thin and geographically varied character of the perceptions relating to the EU as a normative power justifies the general designation of NPE.Anew agenda focusing on geographical differences and interaction with other sources of power...

  20. What is popular? Distinguishing bullying and aggression as status correlates within specific peer normative contexts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Palacios

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This study tested social status correlates of aggression and bullying and how these are influenced by peer groups’ normative beliefs about aggression and prosocial behavior among 1165 fourth, fifth and sixth graders in Chile. Associations between aggression and popularity (positive and social preference (negative were confirmed, whereas bullying was negatively associated with both dimensions. Normative beliefs about aggression and prosocial behavior were assessed at the group level, while social status was assessed at the classroom level through peer nominations. Hierarchical Linear Analyses showed that in groups with a higher value associated with aggression, classmates rated aggressive peers as less popular but also less disliked. The status correlates of bullying remained unaffected by peer normative beliefs. The discussion focuses on the social function of aggression as compared to the social sanction associated with bullying, and on the specificity of these associations at different layers of the social ecology.

  1. Reasons Internalism and the function of normative reasons

    OpenAIRE

    Sinclair, Neil

    2017-01-01

    What is the connection between reasons and motives? According to Reasons Internalism there is a non-trivial conceptual connection between normative reasons and the possibility of rationally accessing relevant motivation. Reasons Internalism is attractive insofar as it captures the thought that reasons are for reasoning with and repulsive insofar as it fails to generate sufficient critical distance between reasons and motives. Rather than directly adjudicate this dispute, I extract from it two...

  2. The science of morality and its normative implications

    OpenAIRE

    Bruni, Tommaso; Mameli, Matteo; Rini, Regina A.

    2014-01-01

    Neuromoral theorists are those who claim that a scientific understanding of moral judgment through the methods of psychology, neuroscience and related disciplines can have normative implications and can be used to improve the human ability to make moral judgments. We consider three neuromoral theories: one suggested by Gazzaniga, one put forward by Gigerenzer, and one developed by Greene. By contrasting these theories we reveal some of the fundamental issues that neuromoral theories in genera...

  3. Normativity of Scientific Law in the Perspective of Neo-Kantian Schools of Thought

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    FX. Adji Samekto

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Scientific normativity of law conceived as a character inherent in legal science as a sui generis. Jurisprudence basically studies the law, something that initially emerged from the dogmatic belief in philosophy. Dogmatism refuse to alter beliefs one iota. The teachings of dogmatic philosophy stem from the teachings of Plato and reflected in the legal enforceability. Dogmatism in the law is reflected in the Corpus Juris Civilis. Along with the development of post Era Scholastic philosophical thinking, the philosophy synthesizes thought between dogmatic thinking and skeptic has appeared in the Age of Enlightenment. This idea is reflected in Transcendental Idealist philosophy thought of Immanuel Kant. The core idea is that real human beings are given the ability to understand based on empirical experience and actually also able to gain an understanding of the human being that is the essence of symptoms. Transcendental Idealist, thus dynamic, moving to look for values that are useful for life. Transcendental Idealist thought then be adopted Kelsen in the teaching of normativity in legal positivism. Normativity in the teachings of Hans Kelsen’s legal positivism derived from the integration of empirical positivism and idealistic empiricism.

  4. Normative functional fitness standards and trends of Portuguese older adults: cross-cultural comparisons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marques, Elisa A; Baptista, Fátima; Santos, Rute; Vale, Susana; Santos, Diana A; Silva, Analiza M; Mota, Jorge; Sardinha, Luís B

    2014-01-01

    This cross-sectional study was designed to develop normative functional fitness standards for the Portuguese older adults, to analyze age and gender patterns of decline, to compare the fitness level of Portuguese older adults with that of older adults in other countries, and to evaluate the fitness level of Portuguese older adults relative to recently published criterion fitness standards associated with maintaining physical independence. A sample of 4,712 independent-living older adults, age 65-103 yr, was evaluated using the Senior Fitness Test battery. Age-group normative fitness scores are reported for the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles. Results indicate that both women and men experience age-related losses in all components of functional fitness, with their rate of decline being greater than that observed in other populations, a trend which may cause Portuguese older adults to be at greater risk for loss of independence in later years. These newly established normative standards make it possible to assess individual fitness level and provide a basis for implementing population-wide health strategies to counteract early loss of independence.

  5. Re-Thinking Normative Democracy and the Political Economy of Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, Paul R.

    2010-01-01

    Normative thinking around democracy often emphasizes the supremacy of electoral politics, underplaying the salience of education as a defining feature to produce a more meaningful, engaged, inclusive form of democracy. Critical pedagogy can be an extremely useful, illuminating and transformative means and process of deconstructing how democracy is…

  6. Normative data on mental and motor development in Nigerian children

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: In Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa at large, there has been heavy reliance on the “Caucasian data” in the developmental assessment of children. Hence, this study set out to establish normative data for psychomotor development on Nigerian children. Study design: One hundred and twenty eight children ...

  7. Normative significance of transnationalism? The case of the Danish cartoons controversy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sune Lægaard

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper concerns the specific transnational aspects of the ‘cartoons controversy’ over the publication of 12 drawings of the Prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Transnationalism denotes the relationships that are not international (between states or domestic (between states and citizens, or between groups or individuals within a state. The paper considers whether the specifically transnational aspects of the controversy are normatively significant, that is, whether transnationalism makes a difference for the applicability or strength of normative considerations concerning publications such as the Danish cartoons. It is argued that, although some of the usual arguments about free speech only or mainly apply domestically, many also apply transnationally; that standard arguments for multicultural recognition are difficult to apply transnationally; and that requirements of respect may have problematic implications if applied to transnational relationships.

  8. Accurate reporting of adherence to inhaled therapies in adults with cystic fibrosis: methods to calculate normative adherence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hoo ZH

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Zhe Hui Hoo,1,2 Rachael Curley,1,2 Michael J Campbell,1 Stephen J Walters,1 Daniel Hind,3 Martin J Wildman1,2 1School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR, University of Sheffield, 2Sheffield Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Northern General Hospital, 3Sheffield Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK Background: Preventative inhaled treatments in cystic fibrosis will only be effective in maintaining lung health if used appropriately. An accurate adherence index should therefore reflect treatment effectiveness, but the standard method of reporting adherence, that is, as a percentage of the agreed regimen between clinicians and people with cystic fibrosis, does not account for the appropriateness of the treatment regimen. We describe two different indices of inhaled therapy adherence for adults with cystic fibrosis which take into account effectiveness, that is, “simple” and “sophisticated” normative adherence. Methods to calculate normative adherence: Denominator adjustment involves fixing a minimum appropriate value based on the recommended therapy given a person’s characteristics. For simple normative adherence, the denominator is determined by the person’s Pseudomonas status. For sophisticated normative adherence, the denominator is determined by the person’s Pseudomonas status and history of pulmonary exacerbations over the previous year. Numerator adjustment involves capping the daily maximum inhaled therapy use at 100% so that medication overuse does not artificially inflate the adherence level. Three illustrative cases: Case A is an example of inhaled therapy under prescription based on Pseudomonas status resulting in lower simple normative adherence compared to unadjusted adherence. Case B is an example of inhaled therapy under-prescription based on previous exacerbation history resulting in lower sophisticated normative adherence compared to unadjusted adherence and simple normative adherence

  9. International Neurocognitive Normative Study: Neurocognitive Comparison Data in Diverse Resource Limited Settings: AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5271

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, K; Jiang, H; Evans, SR; Marra, CM; Berzins, B; Hakim, J; Sacktor, N; Silva, M Tulius; Campbell, TB; Nair, A; Schouten, J; Kumwenda, J; Supparatpinyo, K; Tripathy, S.; Kumarasamy, N; La Rosa, A; Montano, S; Mwafongo, A; Firnhaber, C; Sanne, I; Naini, L.; Amod, F; Walawander, A

    2016-01-01

    Summary ACTG A5271 collected neurocognitive normative comparison test data in 2400 at-risk HIV seronegative participants from Brazil, India, Malawi, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and Zimbabwe. The participants were enrolled in strata by site (10 levels), age (2 levels), education (2 levels), and gender (2 levels). These data provide necessary normative data infrastructure for future clinical research and care in these diverse resource limited settings. Infrastructure for conducting neurological research in resource limited settings (RLS) is limited. The lack of neurological and neuropsychological (NP) assessment, and normative data needed for clinical interpretation impede research and clinical care. Here we report on ACTG 5271, which provided neurological training of clinical site personnel, and collected neurocognitive normative comparison data in diverse settings. At 10 sites in seven RLS countries, we provided training for NP assessments. We collected normative comparison data on HIV- participants from Brazil (n=240), India (n=480), Malawi (n=481), Peru (n=239), South Africa (480), Thailand (n=240) and Zimbabwe (n=240). Participants had a negative HIV test within 30 days before standardized NP exams were administered at baseline, and 770 at six-months. Participants were enrolled in 8 strata, gender (female and male), education (<10 years and ≥ 10 years), and age (<35 years and ≥35 years). Of 2400 enrolled, 770 completed the six-month follow up. As expected, significant between-country differences were evident in all the neurocognitive test scores (p<.0001). There was variation between the age, gender and education strata on the neurocognitive tests. Age and education were important variables for all tests; older participants had poorer performance and those with higher education had better performance. Women had better performance on verbal learning/memory and speed of processing tests, while men performed better on motor tests. This study provides the

  10. A normative model for assessing competitive strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ungerer, Gerard David

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The hyper-competitive nature of e-business has raised the need for a generic way to appraise the merit of a developed business strategy. Although progress has been made in the domain of strategy evaluation, the established literature differs over the ‘tests’ that a strategy must pass to be considered well-constructed. This paper therefore investigates the existing strategy-evaluation literature to propose a more integrated and comprehensive normative strategic assessment that can be used to evaluate and refine a business’ s competitive strategy , adding to its robustness and survivability.

  11. Extending the Theory of Normative Social Behavior to Predict Hand-Washing among Koreans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Minwoong; Lapinski, Maria Knight

    2018-04-10

    The current study tests the predictions of the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB) in a hand-washing context in a Korean sample and extends the theory to examine the role of perceived publicness, a variable believed to activate face concerns, as a moderator of the norm-behavior relationship. The findings show substantial main effects for all of the study variables on behavior. In addition, the descriptive norm-behavior relationship is moderated by perceived publicness and outcome expectations, but the nature of the interactions is not consistent with that evidenced in previous literature on US samples. Implications for normative theory and communication campaigns are discussed.

  12. It's not just a "woman thing:" the current state of normative discontent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tantleff-Dunn, Stacey; Barnes, Rachel D; Larose, Jessica Gokee

    2011-01-01

    This study assessed "normative discontent," the concept that most women experience weight dissatisfaction, as an emerging societal stereotype for women and men (Rodin, Silberstein, & Streigel-Moore, 1984). Participants (N = 472) completed measures of stereotypes, eating disorders, and body image. Normative discontent stereotypes were pervasive for women and men. Endorsing stereotypes varied by sex and participants' own disturbance, with trends towards eating disorder symptomotology being positively correlated with stereotype endorsement. Individuals with higher levels of body image and eating disturbance may normalize their behavior by perceiving that most people share their experiences. Future research needs to test prevention and intervention strategies that incorporate the discrepancies between body image/eating-related stereotypes and reality with focus on preventing normalization of such experiences.

  13. The normative basis of the Precautionary Principle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schomberg, Rene von [European Commission, Directorate General for Research, Brussels (Belgium)

    2006-09-15

    Precautionary measures are provisional measures by nature, and need to be regularly reviewed when scientific information either calls for relaxation or strengthening of those measures. Within the EU context, these provisional measures do not have a prefixed 'expiry' date: one can only lift precautionary measures if scientific knowledge has progressed to a point that one would be able to translate (former) uncertainties in terms of risk and adverse effects in terms of defined, consensual levels of harm/damage. Precautionary frameworks facilitate in particular deliberation at the science/policy/society interfaces to which risk management is fully connected. Applying the precautionary principle is to be seen as a normative risk management exercise which builds upon scientific risk assessments. An ongoing scientific and normative deliberation at the science/policy interface involves a shift in science centred debates on the probability of risks towards a science informed debate on uncertainties and plausible adverse effects: this means that decisions should not only be based on available data but on a broad scientific knowledge base including a variety of scientific disciplines. The invocation, implementation and application of the precautionary principle follows a progressive line of different levels of deliberations (which obviously can be interconnected to each other but are distinguished here for analytical purposes). I have listed these levels of deliberation in a table. The table provides a model for guiding all the relevant normative levels of deliberation which are all needed in order to eventually make the legitimate conclusions on the acceptability of products or processes. The table provides a progressive line of those levels of deliberations from the initial invocation of the precautionary principle at the political level down to level of risk management decisions but at the same time show their inter relatedness. Although the table may suggest a

  14. The normative basis of the Precautionary Principle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schomberg, Rene von

    2006-01-01

    Precautionary measures are provisional measures by nature, and need to be regularly reviewed when scientific information either calls for relaxation or strengthening of those measures. Within the EU context, these provisional measures do not have a prefixed 'expiry' date: one can only lift precautionary measures if scientific knowledge has progressed to a point that one would be able to translate (former) uncertainties in terms of risk and adverse effects in terms of defined, consensual levels of harm/damage. Precautionary frameworks facilitate in particular deliberation at the science/policy/society interfaces to which risk management is fully connected. Applying the precautionary principle is to be seen as a normative risk management exercise which builds upon scientific risk assessments. An ongoing scientific and normative deliberation at the science/policy interface involves a shift in science centred debates on the probability of risks towards a science informed debate on uncertainties and plausible adverse effects: this means that decisions should not only be based on available data but on a broad scientific knowledge base including a variety of scientific disciplines. The invocation, implementation and application of the precautionary principle follows a progressive line of different levels of deliberations (which obviously can be interconnected to each other but are distinguished here for analytical purposes). I have listed these levels of deliberation in a table. The table provides a model for guiding all the relevant normative levels of deliberation which are all needed in order to eventually make the legitimate conclusions on the acceptability of products or processes. The table provides a progressive line of those levels of deliberations from the initial invocation of the precautionary principle at the political level down to level of risk management decisions but at the same time show their inter relatedness. Although the table may suggest a particular

  15. Using A Normative Framework to Explore the Prototyping of Wireless Grids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Balke, Tina; De Vos, Marina; Padget, Julian

    2011-01-01

    The capacity for normative frameworks to capture the essential features of interactions between components in open architectures suggests they might also be of assistance in an early, rapid prototyping phase of system development, helping to refine concepts, identify actors, explore policies...

  16. Pricing: A Normative Strategy in the Delivery of Human Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Stephen T.

    1995-01-01

    Discusses a normative strategy toward pricing human services, which will allow providers to develop pricing strategies within the context of organizational missions, goals, and values. Pricing is an effective tool for distributing resources and improving efficiency, and can be used as a tool for encouraging desired patterns of service utilization.…

  17. The impact of normative message types on off-trail hiking

    Science.gov (United States)

    P.L. Winter

    2006-01-01

    Depreciative activities and high annual visitation levels threaten the health and sustainability of the giant Sequoia. Signage is one route to managing visitor behavior. Research suggests a two-by-two conceptualization of normative messages in signs. Messages may present the "ought" (injunctive) or the "is" (descriptive) of behavior and may be...

  18. Reference equations for handgrip strength: Normative values in young adult and middle-aged subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopes, Jordão; Grams, Samantha Torres; da Silva, Edy Floriano; de Medeiros, Luana Adriano; de Brito, Christina May Moran; Yamaguti, Wellington Pereira

    2018-06-01

    Handgrip strength (HS) has been widely used as a functionality parameter of the upper limbs (UL) and general health. The measurement of HS by dynamometry is a low cost, non-invasive method of simple applicability, widely used in pulmonary rehabilitation and in critical care units. However, there are no reports in the literature of reference equations for the Brazilian population involving young and middle-aged adults. The aim of this study was to establish reference equations to predict normal HS for young and middle-aged adults through demographic and anthropometric data. This is a cross-sectional study with a sample of 80 healthy subjects (40 men and 40 women), aged 20-60 years. Inclusion criteria were: 1) BMI between 18.5 and 30 kg/m 2 ; 2) presence of dominant hand; 3) no cardiac, pulmonary, metabolic, or neurologic diseases; 4) lack of musculoskeletal disorders; 5) no history of fractures or trauma of the UL. Anthropometric measurements of the UL were obtained by a tape (hand length and width, forearm circumference and length). The dominance of hands was defined by the Dutch Handedness Questionnaire. HS measures were obtained by a manual hydraulic dynamometer, according to the recommendations of the American Association of Hand Therapists. Data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows, version 17.0, and treated with descriptive and inferential analysis. Normality was evaluated by Kolmogorov-Smirnov. Pearson or Spearman coefficients and multiple regression analysis were also used. HS was significantly higher for men compared to women, and also higher for the dominant hand (HSD) compared to the non-dominant hand (HSND) (p  0.05). No correlation was found between HS and age. A weak correlation was found between HS and BMI. A moderate correlation of HS was observed with weight and height. Finally, moderate and high correlations were found between HS and anthropometric variables of UL. The best reference equations with R 2 , adjusted to 0.71 and 0.70, were

  19. How Oedipus falsifies Popper: psychoanalysis as a normative science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wax, M L

    1983-05-01

    The scientific status of psychoanalysis has been the subject of continual debate. Influential philosophers of science have challenged the form of its theories and the nature of the evidence offered on their behalf. Some have concluded that the theories are beyond testing--i.e., they can neither be confirmed nor refuted, and psychoanalysis is thus intrinsically unscientific, akin to pseudosciences such as astrology. From that body of criticism, I have chosen for examination and rebuttal the issue of falsifiability. I refute the charge that psychoanalysis is not scientific because its theories are not "falsifiable." On the contrary, I show that psychoanalysis contains theories which make strong and unequivocal statements that are subject to the test of possible falsification. This capacity has been concealed and the falsifiability criticism rendered plausible because of the normative judgments which are latent in discussions of human development and human society. In explicating these judgments, I will move from the philosophy of science to the anthropology and sociology of science (and of the professions). The normative character of psychoanalytic science reinforces the ethical code of the therapeutic profession, a combination which imposes a disciplinary rigidity of the theoretical system.

  20. Regulated open multi-agent systems (ROMAS) a multi-agent approach for designing normative open systems

    CERN Document Server

    Garcia, Emilia; Botti, Vicente

    2015-01-01

    Addressing the open problem of engineering normative open systems using the multi-agent paradigm, normative open systems are explained as systems in which heterogeneous and autonomous entities and institutions coexist in a complex social and legal framework that can evolve to address the different and often conflicting objectives of the many stakeholders involved. Presenting  a software engineering approach which covers both the analysis and design of these kinds of systems, and which deals with the open issues in the area, ROMAS (Regulated Open Multi-Agent Systems) defines a specific multi-agent architecture, meta-model, methodology and CASE tool. This CASE tool is based on Model-Driven technology and integrates the graphical design with the formal verification of some properties of these systems by means of model checking techniques. Utilizing tables to enhance reader insights into the most important requirements for designing normative open multi-agent systems, the book also provides a detailed and easy t...

  1. Political legitimacy and European monetary union: contracts, constitutionalism and the normative logic of two-level games

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellamy, Richard; Weale, Albert

    2015-01-01

    ABSTRACT The crisis of the euro area has severely tested the political authority of the European Union (EU). The crisis raises questions of normative legitimacy both because the EU is a normative order and because the construction of economic and monetary union (EMU) rested upon a theory that stressed the normative value of the depoliticization of money. However, this theory neglected the normative logic of the two-level game implicit in EMU. It also neglected the need for an impartial and publically acceptable constitutional order to acknowledge reasonable disagreements. By contrast, we contend that any reconstruction of the EU's economic constitution has to pay attention to reconciling a European monetary order with the legitimacy of member state governance. The EU requires a two-level contract to meet this standard. Member states must treat each other as equals and be representative of and accountable to their citizens on an equitable basis. These criteria entail that the EU's political legitimacy requires a form of demoicracy that we call ‘republican intergovernmentalism’. Only rules that could be acceptable as the product of a political constitution among the peoples of Europe can ultimately meet the required standards of political legitimacy. Such a political constitution could be brought about through empowering national parliaments in EU decision-making. PMID:26924935

  2. Political legitimacy and European monetary union: contracts, constitutionalism and the normative logic of two-level games.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellamy, Richard; Weale, Albert

    2015-02-07

    The crisis of the euro area has severely tested the political authority of the European Union (EU). The crisis raises questions of normative legitimacy both because the EU is a normative order and because the construction of economic and monetary union (EMU) rested upon a theory that stressed the normative value of the depoliticization of money. However, this theory neglected the normative logic of the two-level game implicit in EMU. It also neglected the need for an impartial and publically acceptable constitutional order to acknowledge reasonable disagreements. By contrast, we contend that any reconstruction of the EU's economic constitution has to pay attention to reconciling a European monetary order with the legitimacy of member state governance. The EU requires a two-level contract to meet this standard. Member states must treat each other as equals and be representative of and accountable to their citizens on an equitable basis. These criteria entail that the EU's political legitimacy requires a form of demoi cracy that we call 'republican intergovernmentalism'. Only rules that could be acceptable as the product of a political constitution among the peoples of Europe can ultimately meet the required standards of political legitimacy. Such a political constitution could be brought about through empowering national parliaments in EU decision-making.

  3. An Argumentation-Based Approach to Normative Practical Reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    Shams, Zohreh

    2015-01-01

    Autonomous agents operating in a dynamic environment must be able to reason about their actions in pursuit of their goals. An additional consideration for such agents is that their actions may be constrained by norms that aim at defining an acceptable behaviour for the agents. The inclusion of normative reasoning into practical reasoning is derived from the necessity for effective mechanisms that regulate an agent’s behaviour in an open environment without compromising their autonomy. However...

  4. Gender differences on the Five to Fifteen questionnaire in a non-referred sample with inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity and a clinic-referred sample with hyperkinetic disorder

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lambek, Rikke; Trillingsgaard, Anegen; Kadesjö, Björn

    2010-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to examine gender differences in children with inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity on the Five to Fifteen (FTF) parent questionnaire. First, non-referred girls (n = 43) and boys (n = 51) with problems of attention and hyperactivity-impulsivity and then cli......The aim of the present study was to examine gender differences in children with inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity on the Five to Fifteen (FTF) parent questionnaire. First, non-referred girls (n = 43) and boys (n = 51) with problems of attention and hyperactivity...... questionnaire. Secondly, it was examined whether the application of gender mixed norms versus gender specific norms would result in varying proportions of clinic-referred children with HKD being identified as impaired on the subdomains of the FTF questionnaire. Based on results it was concluded that the use...... of a gender mixed normative sample may lead to overestimation of impairment in boys with HKD, but the type of sample applied to define impairment on the FTF should depend on the purpose for applying the questionnaire....

  5. Instituting interaction: normative transformations in human communicative practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elias, John Z; Tylén, Kristian

    2014-01-01

    Recent experiments in semiotics and linguistics demonstrate that groups tend to converge on a common set of signs or terms in response to presented problems, experiments which potentially bear on the emergence and establishment of institutional interactions. Taken together, these studies indicate a spectrum, ranging from the spontaneous convergence of communicative practices to their eventual conventionalization, a process which might be described as an implicit institutionalization of those practices. However, the emergence of such convergence and conventionalization does not in itself constitute an institution, in the strict sense of a social organization partly created and governed by explicit rules. A further step toward institutions proper may occur when others are instructed about a task. That is, given task situations which select for successful practices, instructions about such situations make explicit what was tacit practice, instructions which can then be followed correctly or incorrectly. This transition gives rise to the normative distinction between conditions of success versus conditions of correctness, a distinction which will be explored and complicated in the course of this paper. Using these experiments as a basis, then, the emergence of institutions will be characterized in evolutionary and normative terms, beginning with our adaptive responses to the selective pressures of certain situational environments, and continuing with our capacity to then shape, constrain, and institute those environments to further refine and streamline our problem-solving activity.

  6. Normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment need in Nigerian school children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajayi, Emmanuel Olubusayo

    2015-07-01

    The aim of this study was to assess the normative and self-perceived need for orthodontic treatment in Nigerian children, and to evaluate distribution of orthodontic treatment need according to gender and age. The sample consisted of 441 randomly selected school children, aged 11-18 years in Benin City, Nigeria. The subjects were further sub-grouped according to gender (229 males and 212 females) and age (246 11-13 years old and 195 14-18 years old). The Dental health Component (DHC) and Aesthetic Component (AC) of Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) were used to assess orthodontic treatment need normatively. Self-perceived need was evaluated by asking the subjects to rate their dental aesthetics on the Aesthetic Component scale of IOTN. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate gender and age differences in distribution of treatment need. A definite need for orthodontic treatment was found among 21.5% (grades 4-5 of DHC) and 6.3% (grades 8-10 of AC) of the subjects; 3.9% of the subjects perceived a definite need for orthodontic treatment (grades 8-10 of AC). There were no statistically significant gender and age differences in distribution of orthodontic treatment need among the subjects (p > 0.05). The study revealed a need for orthodontic treatment in slightly more than one fifth (21.5%) of this sample of Nigerian children. The sample population has a lower need on aesthetic grounds and their normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment needs were not influenced by gender and age.

  7. Advanced Neuropsychological Diagnostics Infrastructure (ANDI): A Normative Database Created from Control Datasets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vent, Nathalie R; Agelink van Rentergem, Joost A; Schmand, Ben A; Murre, Jaap M J; Huizenga, Hilde M

    2016-01-01

    In the Advanced Neuropsychological Diagnostics Infrastructure (ANDI), datasets of several research groups are combined into a single database, containing scores on neuropsychological tests from healthy participants. For most popular neuropsychological tests the quantity, and range of these data surpasses that of traditional normative data, thereby enabling more accurate neuropsychological assessment. Because of the unique structure of the database, it facilitates normative comparison methods that were not feasible before, in particular those in which entire profiles of scores are evaluated. In this article, we describe the steps that were necessary to combine the separate datasets into a single database. These steps involve matching variables from multiple datasets, removing outlying values, determining the influence of demographic variables, and finding appropriate transformations to normality. Also, a brief description of the current contents of the ANDI database is given.

  8. Rational versus unreasonable persuasion in doctor-patient communication: a normative account.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubinelli, Sara

    2013-09-01

    Persuasion plays a critical role in doctor-patient communication. The relevant literature tends to equate persuasion to manipulation as a suboptimal form of interaction. The objective of this paper is to distinguish among different types of persuasion processes and to highlight when their use can be beneficial or risky from the perspective of the patient's autonomy. This paper presents a conceptual analysis of persuasion based on the analytical and normative frameworks of argumentation theory. Persuasion is a generic term that refers to at least four main forms of persuasion: rational persuasion, unintentional unreasonable persuasion, intentional (without deception) unreasonable persuasion and intentional (with deception) unreasonable persuasion (i.e., manipulation). Rational persuasion can be a process of value for the medical encounter. The other forms of persuasion can negatively impact patients' decision making. They are suboptimal for different reasons that are partly due to the quality of communication, and partly due to ethics of the medical conduct. This paper offers a basis for developing training opportunities that foster deeper understanding of different forms and uses of persuasion. Also, it can inspire the development of educational material for patients targeted to the enhancement of their critical health literacy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Physical Fitness Reference Standards in French Youth: The BOUGE Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanhelst, Jérémy; Labreuche, Julien; Béghin, Laurent; Drumez, Elodie; Fardy, Paul S; Chapelot, Didier; Mikulovic, Jacques; Ulmer, Zékya

    2017-06-01

    The aim of this study was to establish sex- and age-specific physical fitness percentiles in French youth. A sample of 11,186 children and adolescents (5,546 boys and 5,640 girls), aged between 10 and 15 years, was assessed in the French national BOUGE study. Participants were tested for their cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, speed, flexibility, and agility using the following tests: 20-m shuttle run tests, curl-ups test, 50-m sprint test, back-saver sit and reach test, and 10 × 5-m shuttle run test. Percentile values were estimated for French youth as a function of age stratified by sex using the generalized additive model for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS). In general, physical fitness was better in boys than in girls, except for the back-saver sit and reach test, in which girls performed better. Except for the back-saver sit and reach test and 10 × 5-m shuttle run test, physical fitness performance was significantly associated with age. Sex- and age-specific normative values for physical fitness tests in French youth expressed as percentiles from the fifth to the 95th are provided. Reference values provide normative data for French youth. The data are useful in identifying special needs for appropriate intervention programs.

  10. Injustice to transsexual women in a hetero-normative healthcare system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman-Valentine, Douglas; Duma, Sinegugu

    2014-11-21

    Transsexual women who are on the journey of sexual re-alignment will experience various health problems. These problems are related directly to the treatment regime that they are following in order to attain and maintain their physical embodiment as a woman. They are forced to negotiate a hetero-normative healthcare system in order to receive assistance and care for their health problems related to their sexual re-alignment process. The questions posed were: What are the unique health problems that transsexual women experience whilst on the journey of sexual re-alignment? What is the current context of the South African healthcare system in which transsexual women should negotiate healthcare? These questions were asked in order to explore the health problems with which transsexual women are faced and to describe the hetero-normative healthcare system in South Africa. An electronic literature search was executed via the EBSCO host with specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The search words that were used were: Transsexual/s and Health/Healthcare. All studies had to be peer reviewed and published in the English language, from January 1972 up until February 2013. Literature on transsexual children was excluded. Transsexual women have the potential to suffer significant side-effects from their sexual re-alignment treatment, including cardio-vascular problems, endocrine problems and mental ill-health. They are also vulnerable to HIV infection. They have poor access to quality holistic healthcare and this may lead an increase in the mortality and morbidity figures of women. A hetero-normative healthcare system has a negative impact on the health of transsexual women and will cause them to be marginalised. This could contribute to both homo- and trans-phobia that will in turn strengthen the belief that transsexual women are un-African.

  11. R. S. Peters' Normative Conception of Education and Educational Aims

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katz, Michael S.

    2009-01-01

    This article aims to highlight why R. S. Peters' conceptual analysis of "education" was such an important contribution to the normative field of philosophy of education. In the article, I do the following: 1) explicate Peters' conception of philosophy of education as a field of philosophy and explain his approach to the philosophical analysis of…

  12. FOREIGN EXPERIENCE OF MANAGEMENT AND NORMATIVELY-LEGAL ADJUSTING BY INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataliya Grigorievna Kuftinova

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article foreign experience of management is examined by international transportations and prospects of development of management information by bus transportations and transportations of loads. Normatively-legal adjusting, basic norms of domestic law as article of intergovernmental agreements on international transportations.

  13. Explaining radical group behavior: Developing emotion and efficacy routes to normative and nonnormative collective action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tausch, Nicole; Becker, Julia C; Spears, Russell; Christ, Oliver; Saab, Rim; Singh, Purnima; Siddiqui, Roomana N

    2011-07-01

    A recent model of collective action distinguishes 2 distinct pathways: an emotional pathway whereby anger in response to injustice motivates action and an efficacy pathway where the belief that issues can be solved collectively increases the likelihood that group members take action (van Zomeren, Spears, Fischer, & Leach, 2004). Research supporting this model has, however, focused entirely on relatively normative actions such as participating in demonstrations. We argue that the relations between emotions, efficacy, and action differ for more extreme, nonnormative actions and propose (a) that nonnormative actions are often driven by a sense of low efficacy and (b) that contempt, which, unlike anger, entails psychological distancing and a lack of reconciliatory intentions, predicts nonnormative action. These ideas were tested in 3 survey studies examining student protests against tuition fees in Germany (N = 332), Indian Muslims' action support in relation to ingroup disadvantage (N = 156), and British Muslims' responses to British foreign policy (N = 466). Results were generally supportive of predictions and indicated that (a) anger was strongly related to normative action but overall unrelated or less strongly related to nonnormative action, (b) contempt was either unrelated or negatively related to normative action but significantly positively predicted nonnormative action, and (c) efficacy was positively related to normative action and negatively related to nonnormative action. The implications of these findings for understanding and dealing with extreme intergroup phenomena such as terrorism are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

  14. Normative Beliefs about Sharing Housing with an Older Family Member

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coleman, Marilyn; Ganong, Lawrence

    2008-01-01

    The aims of this study were: (a) to examine general perceptions of filial obligations toward sharing housing with older parents and stepparents; and (b) to assess the effects of selected contextual factors on those normative beliefs. A national sample of 579 men and 582 women (mean age = 44.6, SD = 17.2) responded to a multiple segment factorial…

  15. The normative background of empirical-ethical research: first steps towards a transparent and reasoned approach in the selection of an ethical theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salloch, Sabine; Wäscher, Sebastian; Vollmann, Jochen; Schildmann, Jan

    2015-04-04

    Empirical-ethical research constitutes a relatively new field which integrates socio-empirical research and normative analysis. As direct inferences from descriptive data to normative conclusions are problematic, an ethical framework is needed to determine the relevance of the empirical data for normative argument. While issues of normative-empirical collaboration and questions of empirical methodology have been widely discussed in the literature, the normative methodology of empirical-ethical research has seldom been addressed. Based on our own research experience, we discuss one aspect of this normative methodology, namely the selection of an ethical theory serving as a background for empirical-ethical research. Whereas criteria for a good ethical theory in philosophical ethics are usually related to inherent aspects, such as the theory's clarity or coherence, additional points have to be considered in the field of empirical-ethical research. Three of these additional criteria will be discussed in the article: (a) the adequacy of the ethical theory for the issue at stake, (b) the theory's suitability for the purposes and design of the empirical-ethical research project, and (c) the interrelation between the ethical theory selected and the theoretical backgrounds of the socio-empirical research. Using the example of our own study on the development of interventions which support clinical decision-making in oncology, we will show how the selection of an ethical theory as a normative background for empirical-ethical research can proceed. We will also discuss the limitations of the procedures chosen in our project. The article stresses that a systematic and reasoned approach towards theory selection in empirical-ethical research should be given priority rather than an accidental or implicit way of choosing the normative framework for one's own research. It furthermore shows that the overall design of an empirical-ethical study is a multi-faceted endeavor which has to

  16. An Observation of Normative Structure for College Admission and Recruitment Officers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodum, Robert L.; James, Glenn W.

    2010-01-01

    This study suggests that an unwritten code of ethics exists in the form of a behavioral normative structure for college and university admission officers. Also considered are the influences that personal and institutional factors have on the espousal of these norms. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)

  17. Transitional paternalism: how shared normative powers give rise to the asymmetry of adolescent consent and refusal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manson, Neil C

    2015-02-01

    In many jurisdictions, adolescents acquire the right to consent to treatment; but in some cases their refusals - e.g. of life-saving treatment - may not be respected. This asymmetry of adolescent consent and refusal seems puzzling, even incoherent. The aim here is to offer an original explanation, and a justification, of this asymmetry. Rather than trying to explain the asymmetry in terms of a variable standard of competence - where the adolescent is competent to consent to, but not refuse, certain interventions - the account offered here focuses more closely on the normative power to render actions permissible. Where normative powers are shared they can readily give rise to an asymmetry between consent and refusal. We then turn to why it is justifiable that normative powers be shared in adolescence. Transitional paternalism holds that the acquisition of normative powers by competent adolescents should not be an instant one, achieved in a single step, but that there should be a transitional period where paternalistic protection is rolled back, but not entirely withdrawn until a later date. Transitional paternalism could be implemented without generating the asymmetry between consent and refusal but, it is argued, the asymmetric version of transitional paternalism is to be preferred insofar as it offers a greater respect for the adolescent's decisions than the symmetrical alternative. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Low bone mineral density is associated with reduced hip joint space width in women: results from the Copenhagen Osteoarthritis Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Steffen; Jensen, Trine W; Bach-Mortensen, Pernille

    2007-01-01

    inconclusive. The present cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between reduced bone mineral density (BMD), as a surrogate parameter of endogenous estrogen status assessed by digital x-ray radiogrammetry, and reduced minimum hip joint space width (JSW). DESIGN: Standardized hand radiographs...... of the Copenhagen Osteoarthritis Study cohort of 3,913 adults (1,470 male/2,443 female) with a mean age of 60 years (range, 18-92) were analyzed using X-Posure digital software, version 2.0 (Sectra-Pronosco). The system is operator independent. From 1,200 individual measurements per radiograph, mean BMD...... was calculated. Minimum hip JSW was assessed on standardized pelvic radiographs. RESULTS: Digital x-ray radiogrammetry BMD decreased in both men and women after the age of 45 years, progressively more so in women. Although minimum hip JSW in men remained relatively unaltered throughout life, a marked decline...

  19. Advanced Neuropsychological Diagnostics Infrastructure (ANDI: A Normative Database Created from Control Datasets.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathalie R. de Vent

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available In the Advanced Neuropsychological Diagnostics Infrastructure (ANDI, datasets of several research groups are combined into a single database, containing scores on neuropsychological tests from healthy participants. For most popular neuropsychological tests the quantity and range of these data surpasses that of traditional normative data, thereby enabling more accurate neuropsychological assessment. Because of the unique structure of the database, it facilitates normative comparison methods that were not feasible before, in particular those in which entire profiles of scores are evaluated. In this article, we describe the steps that were necessary to combine the separate datasets into a single database. These steps involve matching variables from multiple datasets, removing outlying values, determining the influence of demographic variables, and finding appropriate transformations to normality. Also, a brief description of the current contents of the ANDI database is given.

  20. Cognitive Success: Instrumental Justifications of Normative Systems of Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerhard eSchurz

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In the first part of the paper (sec. 1-4, I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011 distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological versus teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based versus a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5-7, I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general versus locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve a dual account of rationality.

  1. Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schurz, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    In the first part of the paper (sec. 1–4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5–7), I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general vs. locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions that should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological) rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve within a dual account of rationality. PMID:25071624

  2. Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schurz, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    In the first part of the paper (sec. 1-4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5-7), I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general vs. locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions that should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological) rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve within a dual account of rationality.

  3. Normative Ethics Does Not Need a Foundation : It Needs More Science

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Quintelier, Katinka; van Speybroeck, Linda; Braeckman, Johan

    2011-01-01

    The impact of science on ethics forms since long the subject of intense debate. Although there is a growing consensus that science can describe morality and explain its evolutionary origins, there is less consensus about the ability of science to provide input to the normative domain of ethics.

  4. Away with Linguists! Normativity, Inequality and Metascientific Reflexivity in Sociolinguistic Fieldwork

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaspers, Jürgen; Meeuwis, Michael

    2013-01-01

    This paper addresses the fact that in spite of the descriptive and well-intentioned ambitions of much sociolinguistic-ethnographic research, members of studied groups often continue to interpret such research as a largely vertically organized socio-political activity that communicates a prescriptive social and linguistic normativity the researcher…

  5. Fostering students' reflection about bias in healthcare: cognitive dissonance and the role of personal and normative standards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernandez, Rachael A; Haidet, Paul; Gill, Anne C; Teal, Cayla R

    2013-04-01

    To reduce cognitive dissonance about one's beliefs or behavior, individuals may compare their behavior to personal and/or normative standards. The details of this reflection process are unclear. We examined how medical students compare their behavior or beliefs to standards in discussions about implicit bias, and explored if and how different reflective pathways (preserving vs. reconciling) are associated with each standard. Third-year students engaged in a small-group discussion about bias. Some students and group facilitators also participated in a debriefing about the experience. Using qualitative methods, the transcripts from these 11 sessions were analyzed for evidence of student comparison to a standard and of reflection pathways. Of 557 text units, 75.8% could be coded with a standard and/or a path of reflection. Students referenced personal and normative standards about equally, and preserved or reconciled existing beliefs about equally. Uses of normative standards were associated with preservation-type reflection, and uses of personal standards with reconciliation-type reflection. Normative expectations of physicians are sometimes used to provoke students' consideration of implicit biases about patients. To encourage critical reflection and reconciliation of biased beliefs or behavior, educators should frame reflective activities as a personal exercise rather than as a requirement.

  6. Knowledge, attitudes, and normative beliefs as predictors of hookah smoking initiation: a longitudinal study of university students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sidani, Jaime E; Shensa, Ariel; Barnett, Tracey E; Cook, Robert L; Primack, Brian A

    2014-06-01

    While cross-sectional studies have shown that hookah tobacco smoking (HTS) is an increasingly popular behavior among university students, little is known about factors associated with initiation. This study sought to determine associations between knowledge, attitudes, and normative beliefs and initiation of HTS among university students. Data were from a prospective longitudinal cohort study of 569 randomly selected first- and second-year university students. Online questionnaires that were developed in accordance with our composite theoretical model were completed in September 2010 and April 2011. About one-seventh (13%) of participants initiated HTS by follow-up. Positive attitudes and favorable normative beliefs were associated with increased adjusted odds of initiation (AOR = 4.12, 95% CI = 2.56, 6.59; and AOR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.35, 2.99, respectively), while negative attitudes were associated with decreased adjusted odds (AOR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.48, 0.80). Correct knowledge regarding toxicants associated with HTS was not significantly associated with initiation. While positive attitudes and favorable normative beliefs are associated with initiation of HTS in a cohort of never-users, increased knowledge about toxins is not associated with lower initiation. It may be particularly valuable for educational interventions to attempt to alter positive attitudes and normative beliefs related to HTS.

  7. Normative static grip strength of population of Turkey, effects of various factors and a comparison with international norms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekşioğlu, Mahmut

    2016-01-01

    Normative data are of importance in ergonomics and clinical settings. Applying normative data internationally is questionable. To this end, this study aimed to establish gender- and age-specific reference values for static (isometric) hand grip strength of normal population of Turkey with special regard to occupational demand, and compare them with the international norms. The secondary aims were to investigate the effects of gender, age-group, weight-group, job-group, hand and several anthropometric variables on static grip strength. A sample of 211 (128 male and 83 female) volunteers aged between 18 and 69 with various occupations participated in the study. Grip strength data were collected using a Jamar dynamometer with standard testing position, protocol and instructions. The mean and std deviation of maximum voluntary static grip strength values (in N) for dominant and non-dominant hands respectively were 455.2 ± 73.6 and 441.5 ± 72.6 for males, and 258 ± 46.1 and 246.2 ± 49.1 for females. The mean female strength was about 57% of the mean male strength value for both dominant and non-dominant hands. There was a curvilinear relationship of grip strength to age, significant differences between genders, hands, and some age-groups, and a correlation to height, body-mass, BMI and hand dimensions depending on the gender. The comparisons with the norms of other world populations indicate that there are cross-national grip strength variations among some nations but not all. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  8. Validation of a Measure of Normative Beliefs About Smokeless Tobacco Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adkison, Sarah E; O'Connor, Richard J; Bansal-Travers, Maansi; Cummings, K Michael; Rees, Vaughan W; Hatsukami, Dorothy K

    2016-05-01

    Validated methods to evaluate consumer responses to modified risk tobacco products (MRTPs) are needed. Guided by existing literature that demonstrates a relationship between normative beliefs and future intentions to use tobacco the current research sought to (1) develop a measure of normative beliefs about smokeless tobacco (ST) and establish the underlying factor structure, (2) evaluate the structure with confirmatory factor analysis utilizing an independent sample of youth, and (3) establish the measure's concurrent validity. Respondents (smokers and nonsmokers aged 15-65; N = 2991) completed a web-based survey that included demographic characteristics, tobacco use history and dependence, and a measure of attitudes about ST adapted from the Normative Beliefs about Smoking scale. A second sample of youth (aged 14-17; N = 305) completed a similar questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis produced the anticipated three-factor solution and accounted for nearly three-quarters of the variance in the data reflecting (1) perceived prevalence of ST use, (2) popularity of ST among successful/elite, and (3) approval of ST use by parents/peers. Confirmatory factor analysis with data from the youth sample demonstrated good model fit. Logistic regression demonstrated that the scales effectively discriminate between ST users and nonusers and are associated with interest in trying snus. Assessment of MRTPs for regulatory purposes, which allows messages of reduced risk, should include measurement of social norms. Furthermore, surveillance efforts that track use of new MRTPs should include measures of social norms to determine how norms change with prevalence of use. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. Normative, gain and hedonic goal frames guiding environmental behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Lindenberg, Siegwart; Steg, Linda

    2007-01-01

    This article discusses new developments about goal-dependent framing and multiple goal frames (sometimes also called "multiple motives"), which are highly relevant for understanding environmental behavior. We introduce goal-framing theory, which postulates that goals "frame" the way people process information and act upon it. Three goal frames are distinguished: a hedonic, gain, and normative goal frame. In general, multiple goals are active at any given time, which may (or may not) be compat...

  10. A Reformulation of Normative Economics for Models with Endogenous

    OpenAIRE

    Bhatt, Vipul; Ogaki, Masao; Yaguchi, Yuichi

    2015-01-01

    This paper proposes a framework to balance considerations of welfarism and virtue ethics in the normative analysis of economic models with endogenous preferences. We introduce the moral evaluation function (MEF), which ranks alternatives based purely on virtue ethics, and define the social objective function (SOF), which combines the Social Welfare Function (SWF) and the MEF. In a model of intergenerational altruism with endogenous time preference, using numerical simulations we show that max...

  11. Identities of the political theory: among science, normativity and history

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ricardo Silva

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to present a brief overview of the evolving debates on the problem of the identity of political theory, mainly in the Anglophone academic context since the end of the 1950’s. At least three ways of identifying the nature of political theory have shaped those de-bates: the scientistic, the normative and the historical.

  12. Psychological distress of parents in conflict areas: the mediating role of war atrocities, normative stressors and family resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khamis, Vivian

    2017-04-01

    Despite the ongoing controversy regarding which types of stressors or resources contribute to psychological distress, there has been little research examining the relationship between war trauma, normative stressors, family resources for management and psychopathology. This study investigated the differences between mothers and fathers in psychological distress, normative stressors and war atrocities experienced, and family's resources for management. It was hypothesized that a combination of risk variables and protective variables would be predictive of psychological distress in parents. Questionnaires were used with 205 Palestinian parents from Gaza Strip. Mothers had more psychiatric disorders than did fathers. Although, mothers and fathers were exposed to comparable levels of normative stressors, mothers concerns about intrafamily strains, and family legal violations were greater than they were for fathers. Results revealed that fathers possess a larger repertoire of resources for management when compared to mothers reflected in esteem and communication, mastery and health, extended family social support and financial well-being. However, mastery and health seem to buffer the effect of war traumas and normative stressors on neuroticism in both parents. The different patterns of predictor-outcome relations have practical as well as theoretical implications.

  13. Hippocampal volumetry: Normative data in the Indian population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohandas, Aravind Narayan; Bharath, Rose Dawn; Prathyusha, Parthipulli Vasuki; Gupta, Arun K

    2014-07-01

    Mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) is the most common cause of temporal lobe epilepsy. Quantitative analysis of the hippocampus using volumetry is commonly being used in the diagnosis of MTS and is being used as a marker in prognostication of seizure control. Although normative data for hippocampal volume (HV) is available for the western population, no such data is available for the Indian population. The aim of the study was to establish normative data for HV for the Indian population, which can aid in the accurate diagnosis of MTS. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 200 healthy volunteers were acquired using a 3 Tesla (3T) MRI scanner. Manual segmentation and volumetry was done using Siemens Syngo software. The data was analyzed using two tailed t-test to detect associations between HV and age, gender, and education. The data so obtained was also correlated with the data available from the rest of the world. A mean HV of 2.411 cm(3) (standard deviation -0.299) was found in the study, which was significantly smaller when compared to the data from the western population. The right hippocampus was larger than the left, with a mean volume of 2.424 cm(3) and 2.398 cm(3), respectively. HV was detected to be significantly higher in males. No association was found between HV and age and education. The values obtained in this study may be adopted as a standard in the evaluation of patients with intractable epilepsy.

  14. The Value of Information: Normativity, Epistemology, and LIS in Luciano Floridi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fyffe, Richard

    2015-01-01

    This paper is a critical reconstruction of Luciano Floridi's view of librarianship as "stewardship of a semantic environment," a view that is at odds with the dominant tradition in which library and information science (LIS) is understood as social epistemology. Floridi's work helps to explain the normative dimensions of librarianship in…

  15. Demonstration of the need for cardiovascular and pulmonary normative data for cancer survivors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, C M; Repka, C P; Brown, J M; Lalonde, T L; Dallow, K T; Barlow, C E; Hayward, R

    2014-12-01

    Despite evidence that cancer and its treatments severely reduce cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), normative data for cancer survivors do not exist. The present study identifies age and gender-specific CRF distributions in a cancer population. The use of cancer-specific normative CRF data may help stratify initial fitness status and assess improvements in response to exercise interventions in cancer survivors. Data from 703 cancer survivors were analyzed for this study. Quintiles were compiled for peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), forced vital capacity (FVC), and forced expiratory volume (FEV1) for males and females in 5 age groups (19-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and ≥70 years of age). VO2peak values for the cancer population were significantly lower than the general US population. The cancer population average in each age group fell within the "very poor" classification of VO2peak values for the general population. FVC values in the cancer population were similar to the general population. Cancer survivors had very low age group-specific VO2peak values compared to the apparently healthy general US population. Previously, CRF values of cancer survivors were compared to normative values for the apparently healthy general population, which yielded imprecise classifications of initial fitness and changes in fitness, resulting in patient discouragement. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  16. Experts Opinion on the Use of Normative Data for Functional Capacity Evaluation in Occupational and Rehabilitation Medicine and Disability Claims

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soer, Remko; Reneman, Michiel F.; Frings-Dresen, Monique H. W.; Kuijer, P. Paul F. M.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose Application of normative values for functional capacity evaluation (FCE) is controversial for the assessment of clients for work ability. The objective of this study was to study when clinicians and researchers consider normative values of FCE useful or of no use for their purposes. Methods

  17. Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog): Normative Data for the Portuguese Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nogueira, Joana; Freitas, Sandra; Duro, Diana; Tábuas-Pereira, Miguel; Guerreiro, Manuela; Almeida, Jorge; Santana, Isabel

    2018-02-28

    The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale is a brief battery developed to assess cognitive functioning in Alzheimer's disease that encompasses the core characteristics of cognitive decline (e.g. memory, language, praxis, constructive ability and orientation). The early detection, as well as the monitoring of cognitive decline along disease progression, is extremely important in clinical care and interventional research. The main goals of the present study were to analyze the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale, and to establish normative values for the Portuguese population. The Portuguese version of Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale was administered to 223 cognitively healthy participants according to a standard assessment protocol consisting of the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and the Adults and Older Adults Functional Assessment Inventory. Normal performance on the assessment protocol was the inclusion criteria for the study. The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale revealed good psychometric properties when used in the Portuguese population. Age was the main predictor of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale total score (R2 = 0.123), whereas the influence of education level was lower (R2 = 0.027). These two variables explained 14.4% of the variance on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale scores and were used to stratify the normative values for the Portuguese population presented here. On the total sample, the average total score in the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale was 6 points. The normative data were determined according to age and educational level as these were the sociodemographic variables that significantly contributed to the prediction of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale

  18. Varying versions of moral relativism : The philosophy and psychology of normative relativism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Quintelier, Katinka J P; Fessler, Daniel M T

    2012-01-01

    Among naturalist philosophers, both defenders and opponents of moral relativism argue that prescriptive moral theories (or normative theories) should be constrained by empirical findings about human psychology. Empiricists have asked if people are or can be moral relativists, and what effect being a

  19. Normative data for distal line bisection and baking tray task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Facchin, Alessio; Beschin, Nicoletta; Pisano, Alessia; Reverberi, Cristina

    2016-09-01

    Line bisection is one of the tests used to diagnose unilateral spatial neglect (USN). Despite its wide application, no procedure or norms were available for the distal variant when the task was performed at distance with a laser pointer. Furthermore, the baking tray task was an ecological test aimed at diagnosing USN in a more natural context. The aim of this study was to collect normative values for these two tests in an Italian population. We recruited a sample of 191 healthy subjects with ages ranging from 20 to 89 years. They performed line bisection with a laser pointer on three different line lengths (1, 1.5, and 2 m) at a distance of 3 m. After this task, the subjects performed the baking tray task and a second repetition of line bisection to test the reliability of measurement. Multiple regression analysis revealed no significant effects of demographic variables on the performance of both tests. Normative cut-off values for the two tests were developed using non-parametric tolerance intervals. The results formed the basis for clinical use of these two tools for assessing lateralized performance of patients with brain injury and for diagnosing USN.

  20. Normative biometrics for fetal ocular growth using volumetric MRI reconstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velasco-Annis, Clemente; Gholipour, Ali; Afacan, Onur; Prabhu, Sanjay P; Estroff, Judy A; Warfield, Simon K

    2015-04-01

    To determine normative ranges for fetal ocular biometrics between 19 and 38 weeks gestational age (GA) using volumetric MRI reconstruction. The 3D images of 114 healthy fetuses between 19 and 38 weeks GA were created using super-resolution volume reconstructions from MRI slice acquisitions. These 3D images were semi-automatically segmented to measure fetal orbit volume, binocular distance (BOD), interocular distance (IOD), and ocular diameter (OD). All biometry correlated with GA (Volume, Pearson's correlation coefficient (CC) = 0.9680; BOD, CC = 0.9552; OD, CC = 0.9445; and IOD, CC = 0.8429), and growth curves were plotted against linear and quadratic growth models. Regression analysis showed quadratic models to best fit BOD, IOD, and OD and a linear model to best fit volume. Orbital volume had the greatest correlation with GA, although BOD and OD also showed strong correlation. The normative data found in this study may be helpful for the detection of congenital fetal anomalies with more consistent measurements than are currently available. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Beyond deliberation? considerations about the normativity of the post-structuralist theory of radical democracy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel de Mendonça

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The present article has the objective of presenting and discussing – in the sphere of post-structuralist theories of radical democracy, mainly those identified through the "Theory of speech of the Essex School" – the recent effort in order to reduce what the authors themselves admit to be a normative deficit in relation to their contemporary discussions about democracy. More concretely, this work focuses on two political-normative models that have arisen from this theoretical tradition, especially the works of Chantal Mouffe and Aletta Norval. The aim is to point out the eventual advances obtained through post-structuralism, an alternative theoretical model to the deliberative focus on the contemporary democratic debate.

  2. Normative Beliefs, Discursive Claims, and Implementation of Reform-Based Science Standards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veal, William R.; Riley Lloyd, Mary E.; Howell, Malia R.; Peters, John

    2016-01-01

    Reform-based science instruction is guided by teachers' normative beliefs. Discursive claims are how teachers say they teach science. Previous research has studied the change in teachers' beliefs and how beliefs influence intended practice and action in the classroom. Few studies have connected what teachers believe, how they say they teach, and…

  3. Existentialist Freedom, Distorted Normativity, and Emancipation

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    Sorin Baiasu

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Usually associated with a view of freedom as absolute, Sartre’s philosophy seems particularly able to account for the indeterminacy that we experience today in most areas of human experience that have a normative dimension. Without denying that this is a plausible reading, it will be argued here that it is nevertheless a problematic interpretation. On this reading, existentialism seems unable to account for the fact that we are powerfully conditioned by a significant number of factors, which limit our freedom and, in certain situations, make emancipation a normative requirement. It is held here that this problem can be addressed and a less problematic interpretation of Sartre can be defended, once we start to acknowledge that in Sartre we have a variety of notions of freedom that can provide a robust account of our freedom, of authentic choice and of responsibility. Habitualmente asociada a una visión de la libertad como un concepto absoluto, la filosofía de Sartre parece especialmente capaz de representar la indeterminación que experimentamos hoy en día en la mayoría de las áreas de la experiencia humana que tienen una dimensión normativa. Sin negar que ésta es una lectura convincente, no obstante, se va a argumentar que es una interpretación problemática. Con esta lectura parece que el existencialismo es incapaz de representar el hecho de que estamos fuertemente condicionados por un número importante de factores que limitan nuestra libertad y, en algunas situaciones, hacen de la emancipación una necesidad normativa. En este artículo se defiende que se puede abordar este problema, y se puede defender una interpretación de Sartre menos problemática, una vez empecemos a reconocer que en Sartre se pueden encontrar una variedad de nociones de libertad que permiten ofrecer una explicación sólida de nuestra libertad, de elección auténtica y de responsabilidad. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2622045

  4. Tests over time: Evaluating the currency of normative data in a complex multilingual environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brebner, Chris; Chandler Yeo, Helen; Goh, Magdeline Meilin; Kam, Karryn Wanlin; Yeo, Wendy Su Fen

    2015-04-23

    Assessment of oral language skills is challenging in multilingual environments. With language policies promoting increased use of English and reduction of dialectal varieties of languages, rapid changes in language further confound assessment. This study explores the currency of normative data on an expressive language screening tool in English for English-Mandarin bilingual Singaporean children. Spoken language samples in English from 101 pre-school children were compared with those from 481 children in the original data collection in 2002. Scores for expressive vocabulary and morphosyntax were compared for the two main language groups. Results indicate that the normative data for English-dominant children are still current. The data for younger Mandarin-dominant children showed improved test scores, indicating improvement in expressive morphosyntax in English. English language competency has changed over time for Mandarin-dominant children in Singapore, likely due to the influence of language policy on language use. This is a particular challenge in multilingual environments. Current literature emphasizes the need to develop language assessments specific to populations and language groups for standardized assessments to be valid and reliable. These results demonstrate the need to monitor normative data and characteristics of language over time and to update standardized language assessments accordingly.

  5. NORMATIVE MASCULINITY IN THE INTERWAR LITHUNIAN PRESS AND ADVERTISING: THE IMAGE OF AN OFFICER

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    Gabija Bankauskaitė-Sereikienė

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The present article is an extended research of the expression of normative masculinity, aiming at complementing the studies on the history of culture and advertising, and the perception of masculinity in the First Independent Republic of Lithuania as well as demonstrating the tendencies of male selfidentification process in the interwar context. First research results were published in the article “Masculinity Representation in Lithuanian Interwar Press Advertising” by G. Bankauskaitė-Sereikienė and R. Stravinskaitė ("Respectus Philologicus" No 30 (35 2016. The prevailing images of masculinity were divided into several groups: a heroic superman, a successful careerist, a family man and a hedonistic or narcissistic man. This article complements the normative collection of masculinity with the image traits of an officer. It is the one who, due to the influence of aesthetic standards, fundamental national values active, physical education and aviation achievements, was associated with the highest level of masculinity in the interwar advertising. Active masculine physical power, courage, determination and a wish to dominate, conveyed in the advertisements and articles, are especially important constituent parts of a normative model of masculinity. The model of an officer includes the images of a young, handsome, and educated gentleman who served as a role model for every man in the interwar society.

  6. Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    Schurz, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    In the first part of the paper (sec. 1–4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all p...

  7. Normative social morphogenesis and the opposition “agency-structure”: From individual to institutions, and back

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D G Podvoyskiy

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Sociological theory at any stage of development requires permanent reflection and comprehension of its own conceptual bases including its terminological axiomatic, which incorporates both the antinomy “subject (action, agency and structure” and concepts of order, norms and rules, standards, cultural patterns and values, institutions, social control, power and coercion, conformism, deviation, etc. Conceptual descriptions of the opposition “agency-structure”, the problems of social order and mechanisms of normative and institutional “morphogenesis” traditionally act as one of the main “paradigmatic” axes for the development of sociological theory, and their critical analysis and comparison clarify the general methodological basis of social knowledge as a whole and highlight the fundamental demarcation lines between different schools and branches of sociological thought. The author attempts to provide a preliminary reconstruction and revision of the general argumentation used in social theory to explain how normative orders emerge from the internal logic of social interaction that takes place at different levels including everyday life. The article aims to assist in producing a clear and prominent vision of the issues of the dualism of agency-structure in social relations and of their normative, “rule-oriented” nature.

  8. Whose Education Policies in Aid-Receiving Countries? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Quality and Normative Transfer through Cambodia and Laos

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCormick, Alexandra

    2012-01-01

    Critical discourse analysis of policy contexts and documents has been employed in this research to analyze the role of language in promoting normative positions affecting the quality of education in Cambodia and Laos. The article examines the ways institutional normative influences at multiple levels within the Education for All (EFA) program have…

  9. International biomedical law in search for its normative status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krajewska, Atina

    2012-01-01

    The broad and multifaceted problem of global health law and global health governance has been attracting increasing attention in the last few decades. The global community has failed to establish international legal regime that deals comprehensively with the 'technological revolution'. The latter has posed complex questions to regions of the world with widely differing cultural perspectives. At the same time, an increasing number of governmental and non-state actors have become significantly involved in the sector. They use legal, political, and other forms of decision-making that result in regulatory instruments of contrasting normative status. Law created in this heterogeneous environment has been said to be fragmented, inconsistent, and exacerbating uncertainties. Therefore, claims have been made that a centralised and institutionalised system would help address the problems of transparency, legitimacy and efficiency. Nevertheless, little scholarly consideration is paid to the normative status of international biomedical law. This paper explores whether formalisation and "constitutionalisation" of biomedical law are indeed inevitable for its establishment as a separate regulatory regime. It does so by analysing the proliferation of biomedical law in light of two the theory of fragmentation and the theory of global legal pluralism. Investigating the problem in this way helps determine the theoretical framework and methodology of future studies of biomedical law at the international level. This in turn should help its future development in a more consistent and harmonised manner.

  10. Interplay of normative beliefs and behavior in developmental patterns of physical and relational aggression in adolescence: A four-wave longitudinal study

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    Barbara eKrahé

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available A longitudinal study with N = 1,854 adolescents from Germany investigated patterns of change and gender differences in physical and relational aggression in relation to normative beliefs about aggression. Participants, whose mean age was 13 years at T1, completed self-report measures of physically and relationally aggressive behavior and indicated their normative approval about both forms of aggression at four data waves separated by 12-month intervals. Boys scored higher than did girls on both forms of aggression, but the gender difference was more pronounced for physical aggression. Physical aggression decreased and relational aggression increased over the four data waves in both gender groups. The normative acceptance of both forms of aggression decreased over time, with a greater decrease for the approval of physical aggression. In both gender groups, normative approval of relational aggression prospectively predicted relational aggression across all data waves, and the normative approval of physical aggression predicted physically aggressive behavior at the second and third data waves. A reciprocal reinforcement of aggressive norms and behavior was found for both forms of aggression. The findings are discussed as supporting a social information processing perspective on developmental patterns of change in physical and relational aggression in adolescence.

  11. Interplay of normative beliefs and behavior in developmental patterns of physical and relational aggression in adolescence: a four-wave longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krahé, Barbara; Busching, Robert

    2014-01-01

    In a longitudinal study with N = 1,854 adolescents from Germany, we investigated patterns of change and gender differences in physical and relational aggression in relation to normative beliefs about these two forms of aggression. Participants, whose mean age was 13 years at T1, completed self-report measures of physically and relationally aggressive behavior and indicated their normative approval of both forms of aggression at four data waves separated by 12-month intervals. Boys scored higher than did girls on both forms of aggression, but the gender difference was more pronounced for physical aggression. Physical aggression decreased and relational aggression increased over the four data waves in both gender groups. The normative acceptance of both forms of aggression decreased over time, with a greater decrease for the approval of physical aggression. In both gender groups, normative approval of relational aggression prospectively predicted relational aggression across all data waves, and the normative approval of physical aggression predicted physically aggressive behavior at the second and third data waves. A reciprocal reinforcement of aggressive norms and behavior was found for both forms of aggression. The findings are discussed as supporting a social information processing perspective on developmental patterns of change in physical and relational aggression in adolescence.

  12. Normative data for the Maryland CNC Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendel, Lisa Lucks; Mustain, William D; Magro, Jessica

    2014-09-01

    The Maryland consonant-vowel nucleus-consonant (CNC) Test is routinely used in Veterans Administration medical centers, yet there is a paucity of published normative data for this test. The purpose of this study was to provide information on the means and distribution of word-recognition scores on the Maryland CNC Test as a function of degree of hearing loss for a veteran population. A retrospective, descriptive design was conducted. The sample consisted of records from veterans who had Compensation and Pension (C&P) examinations at a Veterans Administration medical center (N = 1,760 ears). Audiometric records of veterans who had C&P examinations during a 10 yr period were reviewed, and the pure-tone averages (PTA4) at four frequencies (1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz) were documented. The maximum word-recognition score (PBmax) was determined from the performance-intensity functions obtained using the Maryland CNC Test. Correlations were made between PBmax and PTA4. A wide range of word-recognition scores were obtained at all levels of PTA4 for this population. In addition, a strong negative correlation between the PBmax and the PTA4 was observed, indicating that as PTA4 increased, PBmax decreased. Word-recognition scores decreased significantly as hearing loss increased beyond a mild hearing loss. Although threshold was influenced by age, no statistically significant relationship was found between word-recognition score and the age of the participants. RESULTS from this study provide normative data in table and figure format to assist audiologists in interpreting patient results on the Maryland CNC test for a veteran population. These results provide a quantitative method for audiologists to use to interpret word-recognition scores based on pure-tone hearing loss. American Academy of Audiology.

  13. Specific and social fears in children and adolescents: separating normative fears from problem indicators and phobias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laporte, Paola P; Pan, Pedro M; Hoffmann, Mauricio S; Wakschlag, Lauren S; Rohde, Luis A; Miguel, Euripedes C; Pine, Daniel S; Manfro, Gisele G; Salum, Giovanni A

    2017-01-01

    To distinguish normative fears from problematic fears and phobias. We investigated 2,512 children and adolescents from a large community school-based study, the High Risk Study for Psychiatric Disorders. Parent reports of 18 fears and psychiatric diagnosis were investigated. We used two analytical approaches: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)/item response theory (IRT) and nonparametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. According to IRT and ROC analyses, social fears are more likely to indicate problems and phobias than specific fears. Most specific fears were normative when mild; all specific fears indicate problems when pervasive. In addition, the situational fear of toilets and people who look unusual were highly indicative of specific phobia. Among social fears, those not restricted to performance and fear of writing in front of others indicate problems when mild. All social fears indicate problems and are highly indicative of social phobia when pervasive. These preliminary findings provide guidance for clinicians and researchers to determine the boundaries that separate normative fears from problem indicators in children and adolescents, and indicate a differential severity threshold for specific and social fears.

  14. The Normative Foundation of Legal Orders: A Balance between Reciprocity and Mutuality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pessers, D.

    2014-01-01

    Reciprocity seems to figure as a self-evident normative foundation of legal orders. Yet a clear understanding of the often opaque role that reciprocity plays in this regard demands drawing a conceptual distinction. This article views reciprocity as a social morality of duties, in opposition to

  15. Looking Back, Moving Forward: Technical, Normative, and Political Dimensions of School Discipline

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiley, Kathryn E.; Anyon, Yolanda; Yang, Jessica L.; Pauline, Malina E.; Rosch, Alyssa; Valladares, Giovana; Downing, Barbara J.; Pisciotta, Lisa

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: School discipline reformers have presumed that such work is largely a technical task, emphasizing discrete changes to discipline policies and protocols. Yet prior theory and research suggest that emphasizing technical changes may overlook additional and important aspects of reform, namely, the normative and political dimensions within…

  16. Experimental findings on God as an attachment figure: normative processes and moderating effects of internal working models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Granqvist, Pehr; Mikulincer, Mario; Gewirtz, Vered; Shaver, Phillip R

    2012-11-01

    Four studies examined implications of attachment theory for psychological aspects of religion among Israeli Jews. Study 1 replicated previous correlational findings indicating correspondence among interpersonal attachment orientations, attachment to God, and image of God. Studies 2-4 were subliminal priming experiments, which documented both normative and individual-difference effects. Regarding normative effects, findings indicated that threat priming heightened cognitive access to God-related concepts in a lexical decision task (Study 2); priming with "God" heightened cognitive access to positive, secure base-related concepts in the same task (Study 3); and priming with a religious symbol caused neutral material to be better liked (Study 4). Regarding individual differences, interpersonal attachment-related avoidance reduced the normative effects (i.e., avoidant participants had lower implicit access to God as a safe haven and secure base). Findings were mostly independent of level of religiousness. The present experiments considerably extend the psychological literature on connections between attachment constructs and aspects of religion. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

  17. On the normative model of a healthy lifestyle

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    Riza Akhmedzakievich Kasimov

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The formation of a healthy lifestyle among the educational process subjects is one of the main functions of health-saving educational space. This function can be implemented effectively only if the executive bodies in the sphere of education, other agencies, the public and the subjects of the educational process take active part in this process. Such cooperation requires a common understanding in the issues to promote health of all pedagogical process participants, but to date the concept “healthy lifestyle” has not been clearly defined and the effective and optimized pedagogical models for its formation, according to the cross-cutting principle, have not been elaborated. The article analyzes different points of view on this issue. A healthy lifestyle is considered as a complex pedagogical technology to create health culture. Taking into account the scholars’ attitudes to the concept “healthy lifestyle” the author identifies three main components of a healthy lifestyle: health culture, health-saving activity and conditions that ensure a healthy lifestyle. The article argues that health saving needs of a person predetermine his/her health-saving activities. It reveals the main strategic sub-components of a healthy lifestyle: physical, environmental, medical, psychological and spiritual-moral activities. The work presents the normative model of a healthy lifestyle and its structure. It defines a healthy lifestyle as a model of health-saving behavior model. The author proves that the proposed normative model of a healthy lifestyle can be successfully used for the formation of health-saving educational space on the principles of inter-sectoral collaboration

  18. Affective, Normative, and Continuance Commitment Levels across Cultures: A Meta-Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, John P.; Stanley, David J.; Jackson, Timothy A.; McInnis, Kate J.; Maltin, Elyse R.; Sheppard, Leah

    2012-01-01

    With increasing globalization of business and diversity within the workplace, there has been growing interest in cultural differences in employee commitment. We used meta-analysis to compute mean levels of affective (AC; K=966, N=433,129), continuance (CC; K=428, N=199,831), and normative (NC; K=336, N=133,277) organizational commitment for as…

  19. Normative data on the n-back task for children and young adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pelegrina, Santiago; Lechuga, M Teresa; García-Madruga, Juan A; Elosúa, M Rosa; Macizo, Pedro; Carreiras, Manuel; Fuentes, Luis J; Bajo, M Teresa

    2015-01-01

    The n-back task is a frequently used measure of working memory (WM) in cognitive neuroscience research contexts, and it has become widely adopted in other areas over the last decade. This study aimed to obtain normative data for the n-back task from a large sample of children and adolescents. To this end, a computerized verbal n-back task with three levels of WM load (1-back, 2-back, and 3-back) was administered to 3722 Spanish school children aged 7-13 years. Results showed an overall age-related increase in performance for the different levels of difficulty. This trend was less pronounced at 1-back than at 2-back when hits were considered. Gender differences were also observed, with girls outperforming boys although taking more time to respond. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed. Normative data stratified by age and gender for the three WM load levels are provided.

  20. Normative data on the n-back task for children and young adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santiago ePelegrina

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The n-back task is a frequently used measure of working memory (WM in cognitive neuroscience research contexts, and it has become widely adopted in other areas over the last decade. This study aimed to obtain normative data for the n-back task from a large sample of children and adolescents. To this end, a computerized verbal n-back task with three levels of WM load (1-back, 2-back and 3-back was administered to 3722 Spanish school children aged 7–13 years. Results showed an overall age-related increase in performance for the different levels of difficulty. This trend was less pronounced at 1-back than at 2-back when hits were considered. Gender differences were also observed, with girls outperforming boys although taking more time to respond. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed. Normative data stratified by age and gender for the three WM load levels are provided.

  1. Inner ear anatomy in Waardenburg syndrome: radiological assessment and comparison with normative data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kontorinis, Georgios; Goetz, Friedrich; Lanfermann, Heinrich; Luytenski, Stefan; Giesemann, Anja M

    2014-08-01

    As patients with Waardenburg syndrome (WS) represent potential candidates for cochlear implantation, their inner ear anatomy is of high significance. There is an ongoing debate whether WS is related to any inner ear dysplasias. Our objective was to evaluate radiologically the inner ear anatomy in patients with WS and identify any temporal bone malformations. A retrospective case review was carried out in a tertiary, referral center. The high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans of the temporal bone from 20 patients (40 ears) with WS who were managed for deafness in a tertiary referral center from 1995 to 2012 were retrospectively examined. Measurements of 15 different inner ear dimensions, involving the cochlea, the vestibule, the semicircular canals and the internal auditory meatus, as well as measurements of the vestibular aqueduct, were performed independently by two neuroradiologists. Finally, we compared the results from the WS group with a control group consisting of 50 normal hearing subjects (100 ears) and with previously reported normative values. Inner ear malformations were not found in any of the patients with WS. All measured inner ear dimensions were within the normative values compiled by our study group as well as by others. Inner ear malformations are not characteristic for all types of WS; however, certain rare subtypes might be related to inner ear deformities. Normative cochleovestibular dimensions that can help in assessing the temporal bone anatomy are provided. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Quality of employment in Europe. Legal and Normative Perspectives

    OpenAIRE

    Borelli, Silvia; Vielle, Pascale

    2012-01-01

    Since 2001, 'quality of employment' has been at the core of the political, academic and practical agenda, and has fed a wide-ranging debate. For the first time, a scientific work takes stock of the legal and normative understanding of quality of employment in Europe. In order to develop an interdisciplinary dialogue, the book underlines the importance of law in the debate on quality of employment and suggests how European concepts and tools might be adapted to enrich scientific reflection by ...

  3. A Principled-Normative Construction of Transgender Protection in Labor Market

    OpenAIRE

    Americano, Nathalia Martins

    2015-01-01

    Considering the various difficulties faced by transgender people who want a professional placement in the formal labor market, the issues discussed in the sphere of principled- normative construction suggest alternatives to resolve them fairly and effectively. This study is developed through theory analysis of the fundamental principles and guarantees prevailing in the current constitutional order and the international community. Notwithstanding the labor market being an environment where it ...

  4. Observed Normativity and Deviance in Friendship Dyads' Conversations About Sex and the Relations With Youths' Perceived Sexual Peer Norms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Bongardt, Daphne; Reitz, Ellen; Overbeek, Geertjan; Boislard, Marie-Aude; Burk, Bill; Deković, Maja

    2017-08-01

    The current study examined the relations between observed normativity and deviance during adolescents' and young adults' conversations about sex with their friends and their individual perceptions of sexual peer norms. Participants were 16-21-year-old same-sex friendship dyads (31 male and 30 female dyads) who performed a peer interaction task that consisted of five discussion assignments focusing on party planning, sexual double standards, condom use, homosexuality, and consensual sex. Videotaped discussions were coded to capture the amounts of normative talk (e.g., consistent with notions of healthy sexuality) and deviant talk (e.g., consistent with notions of risky sexuality), and the verbal or nonverbal reinforcement thereof. Participants also completed individual questionnaires to assess their perceived sexual descriptive norms, injunctive norms, pressure, and risk norms among their peers. Actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) results revealed that youths' perceived descriptive, injunctive, and risk norms, but not their experienced peer pressure, were related to both their own (actor effects) and their friends' (partner effects) normativity and deviance. Overall, more deviance was related to perceiving friends to be more sexually active, more approving of having sex, and engaging in more risky sex, whereas more normativity was related to these perceptions in the opposite direction. Gender differences in the APIMs indicated that interactive normativity and deviance was related to perceived descriptive, injunctive, and risk norms for boys, but only to perceived injunctive norms for girls. These findings demonstrate the importance of assessing the dyadic nature of youths' sexual communication with friends, their relation to individual sexual peer norm perceptions, and gender differences therein.

  5. Normative weight-adjusted models for the median levels of first trimester serum biomarkers for trisomy 21 screening in a specific ethnicity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ounjai Kor-Anantakul

    Full Text Available To establish normative weight-adjusted models for the median levels of first trimester serum biomarkers for trisomy 21 screening in southern Thai women, and to compare these reference levels with Caucasian-specific and northern Thai models.A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1,150 normal singleton pregnancy women to determine serum pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A and free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG concentrations in women from southern Thailand. The predicted median values were compared with published equations for Caucasians and northern Thai women.The best-fitting regression equations for the expected median serum levels of PAPP-A (mIU/L and free β- hCG (ng/mL according to maternal weight (Wt in kg and gestational age (GA in days were: [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] Both equations were selected with a statistically significant contribution (p< 0.05. Compared with the Caucasian model, the median values of PAPP-A were higher and the median values of free β-hCG were lower in the southern Thai women. And compared with the northern Thai models, the median values of both biomarkers were lower in southern Thai women.The study has successfully developed maternal-weight- and gestational-age-adjusted median normative models to convert the PAPP-A and free β-hCG levels into their Multiple of Median equivalents in southern Thai women. These models confirmed ethnic differences.

  6. Experience of research of valued-normative sphere of persons that accomplish felonious homicides from selfish motives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ю. О. Оберемко

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Problem setting. The valued-normative sphere of consciousness of criminal’s personality is determined by views, persuasions, valued orientation, internal orientation, that altogether gives an opportunity to set reasons of the criminal behavior’s origin. Recent research and publications analysis. The deficiency of frequent researches of the mercenary killers’ personality, analysis of deformations of the axiological-normative sphere of their consciousness is actual for scientists. The question of axiological-normative sphere of criminal’s consciousness draw attention of many scientists, such as Yu. M. Antonyan, B. M. Golovkin, M.I. Enekeev, G.H. Efremova, K.E. Igoshev, A.R. Ratinov, O.M. Yakovlev. Paper main body. Consideration of personality of mercenary killer showed that one of leading morally-psychological lines of such persons a mercenary orientation comes forward. The aim of the article consists in consideration of criminal group, as forms of realization of mercenary orientation and criminogenic elements of consciousness of mercenary killer. The system of the valued orientations comes forward as an index of valued-normative sphere of personality of mercenary killer. It is considered that the valued orientations are regulator that inferior behavior of man. The presence of the different systems of values in society predetermines a wide choice the man of separate from them, as during the life she becomes the participant of many social relationships with the excellent valued structures. The analysis of the system of the valued orientations of mercenary killers we carried out on the basis of results of authorial empiric research. Investigating the psychological constituent of mercenary killers we paid attention to their emotionally-volitional features. We set that the volitional adjusting mercenary killers had at low level. It is persons that are characterized impulsiveness, mental instability and low level of self-control. Depending upon

  7. [The normative concept of guilt in criminal law between freedom of will and neurobiological determinism].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czerner, Frank

    2006-01-01

    To make criminal conduct liable to punishment, criminal responsibility, defined as individual blameworthiness in terms of social ethics, is required as point of reference--both to create and limit the state's right to punish the offender. Neurobiological findings and more recent investigations in brain research have given rise to serious doubts regarding this "conditio sine qua non" of the state's power monopoly. As a result of preceding unconscious decisions, so the argument goes, Man is not free in his will, and the normative principle of culpability would need to be relinquished in favour of a "law of measures" detached from guilt. A detailed analysis of the underlying experimental setups, in particular the investigations by Benjamin Libet involving the measurement of the readiness potential, has shown, however, that the results of the test methods do not justify the demand for a profound change up to the point of a total revision of criminal law, and that they cannot invalidate the concept of freedom of will apostrophised on principle. The empirical data obtained fail to demonstrate if and why decisions of the will should not be free, the more so as the nomothetic method used ignores completely the idiographic understanding and interpretation of the always context-related and socio-structurally (pre)-moulded personality of the offender. Performed in a laboratory setting as individual actions with a comparatively simple structure and unrelated to a concrete situation, they can by no means be translated to the (more) complex situation under which an offence is committed including the decision-making processes determined by psychodynamic, motivational and intentional aspects as well as highly specific reciprocal interactions within the offender-victim constellation. Even if these experiments had shown the determined nature of human decisions, they would not necessarily have to bring about a conceptual change of paradigms of the normative concept of guilt, because

  8. The Role of Social Norms in the Portion Size Effect: Reducing normative relevance reduces the effect of portion size on consumption decisions

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    Iris eVersluis

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available People typically eat more from large portions of food than from small portions. An explanation that has often been given for this so-called portion size effect is that the portion size acts as a social norm and as such communicates how much is appropriate to eat. In this paper, we tested this explanation by examining whether manipulating the relevance of the portion size as a social norm changes the portion size effect, as assessed by prospective consumption decisions. We conducted one pilot experiment and one full experiment in which participants respectively indicated how much they would eat or serve themselves from a given amount of different foods. In the pilot (N = 63, we manipulated normative relevance by allegedly basing the portion size on the behavior of either students of the own university (in-group or of another university (out-group. In the main experiment (N = 321, we told participants that either a minority or majority of people similar to them approved of the portion size. Results show that in both experiments, participants expected to serve themselves and to eat more from larger than from smaller portions. As expected, however, the portion size effect was less pronounced when the reference portions were allegedly based on the behavior of an out-group (pilot or approved only by a minority (main experiment. These findings suggest that the portion size indeed provides normative information, because participants were less influenced by it if it communicated the behaviors or values of a less relevant social group. In addition, in the main experiment, the relation between portion size and the expected amount served was partially mediated by the amount that was considered appropriate, suggesting that concerns about eating an appropriate amount indeed play a role in the portion size effect. However, since the portion size effect was weakened but not eliminated by the normative relevance manipulations and since mediation was only partial

  9. The Genetic and Environmental Sources of Resemblance Between Normative Personality and Personality Disorder Traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kendler, K S; Aggen, S H; Gillespie, Nathan; Neale, M C; Knudsen, G P; Krueger, R F; Czajkowski, Nikolai; Ystrom, Eivind; Reichborn-Kjennerud, T

    2017-04-01

    Recent work has suggested a high level of congruence between normative personality, most typically represented by the "big five" factors, and abnormal personality traits. In 2,293 Norwegian adult twins ascertained from a population-based registry, the authors evaluated the degree of sharing of genetic and environmental influences on normative personality, assessed by the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and personality disorder traits (PDTs), assessed by the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Norwegian Brief Form (PID-5-NBF). For four of the five BFI dimensions, the strongest genetic correlation was observed with the expected PID-5-NBF dimension (e.g., neuroticism with negative affectivity [+], conscientiousness with disinhibition [-]). However, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness had substantial genetic correlations with other PID-5-NBF dimensions (e.g., neuroticism with compulsivity [+], agreeableness with detachment [-]). Openness had no substantial genetic correlations with any PID-5-NBF dimension. The proportion of genetic risk factors shared in aggregate between the BFI traits and the PID-5-NBF dimensions was quite high for conscientiousness and neuroticism, relatively robust for extraversion and agreeableness, but quite low for openness. Of the six PID-5-NBF dimensions, three (negative affectivity, detachment, and disinhibition) shared, in aggregate, most of their genetic risk factors with normative personality traits. Genetic factors underlying psychoticism, antagonism, and compulsivity were shared to a lesser extent, suggesting that they are influenced by etiological factors not well indexed by the BFI.

  10. Significant vestibular system impairment is common in a cohort of elderly patients referred for assessment of falls risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobson, Gary P; McCaslin, Devin L; Grantham, Sarah L; Piker, Erin G

    2008-01-01

    Falls in elderly patients are associated with morbidity, mortality, and cost to the healthcare system. The development of falls risk assessment programs have represented a method of responding to what is known about injurious falls. The multidimensional assessments involve the comparison against normative data of a patient's performance on metrics known to influence the likelihood of future falls. The factors assessed usually include falls and medication history, measures of mentation, depression, orthostatic hypotension, simple or choice reaction time, gait stability, postural stability, and the integrity of the patient's vision, somesthetic, and vestibular senses. This investigation was conducted to measure the proportion of patients referred for falls risk assessment who have evidence of vestibular system impairment. Qualitative, retrospective review of data collected from 2003 to 2007. The cohort was 185 consecutive patients referred for multidimensional assessments of falls risk. Patients underwent quantitative assessments of peripheral and central vestibular system function consisting of electro- or videonystagmography (i.e., ENG/VNG), and sinusoidal harmonic acceleration testing. Results of these tests were compared to normative data. We found that 73% of the sample who underwent vestibular system assessment had quantitative evidence of either peripheral or central vestibular system impairment. Our results suggest that quantitative assessments of the vestibulo-ocular reflex should be conducted on patients who are evaluated for falls risk. These examinations should include at least caloric testing and, where available, rotational testing.

  11. Social Network Implications of Normative School Transitions in Non-Urban School Districts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Temkin, Deborah A.; Gest, Scott D.; Osgood, D. Wayne; Feinberg, Mark; Moody, James

    2018-01-01

    This article expands research on normative school transitions (NSTs) from elementary to middle school or middle to high school by examining the extent to which they disrupt structures of friendship networks. Social network analysis is used to quantify aspects of connectedness likely relevant to student experiences of social support. Data were…

  12. Democracy and Free Speech: A Normative Theory of Society and Government.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodge, John L.

    Noting that the nature and value of free speech depends on the norms and goals of a society and on that society's appropriate form of government, this paper presents a normative theory of democracy and from that theory formulates a theory of free speech. The first section defines a number of terms used in the paper and clarifies several of the…

  13. Regional Organizations and Responsibility to Protect: Normative Reframing or Normative Change?

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    Carla Barqueiro

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The adoption of the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP by all United Nations General Assembly (UNGA member states in 2005, and its reaffirmation in dozens of United Nations Security Council (UNSC resolutions, indicate that there is a growing consensus around the world that egregious human rights violations necessitate a cooperative and decisive international response. But just as the political debates raged surrounding the precise articulation of RtoP between 2001 and 2005, so too goes the contemporary debate surrounding the implementation of RtoP. Regional divergences in RtoP implementation, in particular, have been noted by many scholars, as regional organizations implement those elements of RtoP that best suit their policy goals. This paper will apply recent scholarship on norm-lifecycles, specifically on “norm localization” to the operationalization of RtoP by regional organizations. We seek to explore regional divergences on RtoP implementation between the European Union (EU, League of Arab States (LAS, and the African Union (AU on Libya and Syria. From this assessment, three main arguments will be put forward: (1 regional organizations remain politicized, reframing RtoP in divergent ways that dilute the strength of the norm, (2 politicization of the RtoP discourse constrains regional norm localization processes, (3 politicization and reframing of RtoP inhibit regional normative change and limit the potential for timely and decisive responses to protect civilians.

  14. A Reformulation of Normative Economics for Models with Endogenous Preferences

    OpenAIRE

    Vipul Bhatt; Masao Ogaki; Yuichi Yaguchi

    2014-01-01

    This paper proposes a framework to balance considerations of welfarism and virtue ethics in the normative analysis of economic models with endogenous preferences. We introduce the moral evaluation function (MEF), which ranks alternatives based purely on virtue ethics, and define the social objective function (SOF), which combines the Social Welfare Function (SWF) and the MEF. In a model of intergenerational altruism with endogenous time preference, using numerical simulations we show that max...

  15. Perceived legitimacy of normative expectations motivates compliance with social norms when nobody is watching

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    Giulia eAndrighetto

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Three main motivations can explain compliance with social norms: fear of peer punishment, the desire for others’ esteem and the desire to meet others’ expectations. Though all play a role, only the desire to meet others’ expectations can sustain compliance when neither public nor private monitoring is possible. Theoretical models have shown that such desire can indeed sustain social norms, but empirical evidence is lacking. Moreover it is unclear whether this desire ranges over others’ empirical or normative expectations. We propose a new experimental design to isolate this motivation and to investigate what expectations people are inclined to meet. Results indicate that, when nobody can assign either material or immaterial sanctions, the perceived legitimacy of others’ normative expectations can motivate a significant number of people to comply with costly social norms.

  16. Perceived legitimacy of normative expectations motivates compliance with social norms when nobody is watching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrighetto, Giulia; Grieco, Daniela; Tummolini, Luca

    2015-01-01

    Three main motivations can explain compliance with social norms: fear of peer punishment, the desire for others' esteem and the desire to meet others' expectations. Though all play a role, only the desire to meet others' expectations can sustain compliance when neither public nor private monitoring is possible. Theoretical models have shown that such desire can indeed sustain social norms, but empirical evidence is lacking. Moreover it is unclear whether this desire ranges over others' "empirical" or "normative" expectations. We propose a new experimental design to isolate this motivation and to investigate what kind of expectations people are inclined to meet. Results indicate that, when nobody can assign either material or immaterial sanctions, the perceived legitimacy of others' normative expectations can motivate a significant number of people to comply with costly social norms.

  17. Women, men and public health-how the choice of normative theory affects resource allocation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Månsdotter, Anna; Lindholm, Lars; Ohman, Ann

    2004-09-01

    Women live longer than men in almost all countries, but men are more privileged in terms of power, influence, resources and probably morbidity. This investigation aims at illustrating how the choice of normative framework affects judgements about the fairness in these sex differences, and about desired societal change. The selected theories are welfare economics, health sector extra-welfarism, justice as fairness and feminist justice. By means of five Swedish proposals aiming at improving the population's health or "sex equity", facts and values are applied to resource allocation. Although we do not claim a specific ethical foundation, it seems to us that the feminist criterion has great potential in public health policy. The overall conclusion is that the normative framework must be explicitly discussed and stated in issues of women's and men's health.

  18. Grade 7 students' normative decision making in science learning about global warming through science technology and society (STS) approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luengam, Piyanuch; Tupsai, Jiraporn; Yuenyong, Chokchai

    2018-01-01

    This study reported Grade 7 students' normative decision making in teaching and learning about global warming through science technology and society (STS) approach. The participants were 43 Grade 7 students in Sungkom, Nongkhai, Thailand. The teaching and learning about global warming through STS approach had carried out for 5 weeks. The global warming unit through STS approach was developed based on framework of Yuenyong (2006) that consisted of five stages including (1) identification of social issues, (2) identification of potential solutions, (3) need for knowledge, (4) decision-making, and (5) socialization stage. Students' normative decision making was collected during their learning by questionnaire, participant observation, and students' tasks. Students' normative decision making were analyzed from both pre-and post-intervention and students' ideas during the intervention. The aspects of normative include influences of global warming on technology and society; influences of values, culture, and society on global warming; and influences of technology on global warming. The findings revealed that students have chance to learn science concerning with the relationship between science, technology, and society through their giving reasons about issues related to global warming. The paper will discuss implications of these for science teaching and learning through STS in Thailand.

  19. The Influence of Tobacco Marketing on Adolescent Smoking Intentions via Normative Beliefs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Abraham; Moodie, Crawford

    2009-01-01

    Using cross-sectional data from three waves of the Youth Tobacco Policy Study, which examines the impact of the UK's Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act (TAPA) on adolescent smoking behaviour, we examined normative pathways between tobacco marketing awareness and smoking intentions. The sample comprised 1121 adolescents in Wave 2 (pre-ban), 1123…

  20. Behavioral Profiles of Clinically Referred Children with Intellectual Giftedness

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    Fabian Guénolé

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available It is common that intellectually gifted children—that is, children with an IQ ≥ 130—are referred to paediatric or child neuropsychiatry clinics for socio-emotional problems and/or school underachievement or maladjustment. These clinically-referred children with intellectual giftedness are thought to typically display internalizing problems (i.e., self-focused problems reflecting overcontrol of emotion and behavior, and to be more behaviorally impaired when “highly” gifted (IQ ≥ 145 or displaying developmental asynchrony (i.e., a heterogeneous developmental pattern, reflected in a significant verbal-performance discrepancy on IQ tests. We tested all these assumptions in 143 clinically-referred gifted children aged 8 to 12, using Wechsler’s intelligence profile and the Child Behavior Checklist. Compared to a normative sample, gifted children displayed increased behavioral problems in the whole symptomatic range. Internalizing problems did not predominate over externalizing ones (i.e., acted-out problems, reflecting undercontrol of emotion and behavior, revealing a symptomatic nature of behavioral syndromes more severe than expected. “Highly gifted” children did not display more behavioral problems than the “low gifted.” Gifted children with a significant verbal-performance discrepancy displayed more externalizing problems and mixed behavioral syndromes than gifted children without such a discrepancy. These results suggest that developmental asynchrony matters when examining emotional and behavioral problems in gifted children.

  1. Normative structures, collaboration and conflict in irrigation; a case study of the Pillaro North Canal Irrigation System, Ecuadorian Highlands

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    Jaime Hoogesteger

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes conflict and collaboration and their relation to normative structures based on a case study of the history and external interventions of the Píllaro North Canal Irrigation System in the Ecuadorian Highlands. It does so by using Ostrom’s framework for analyzing the sustainability of socio-ecological systems together with an analysis of the normative structures that define the governance systems through which the interactions in irrigation systems are mediated. I argue that the external interventions by the state and NGOs imposed a new governance system that undermined the existing normative structures and related organizations, leading to internal conflicts. The case study suggests that a reformulation of irrigation policies and state intervention methodologies in user managed supra-community irrigation systems in the Andes could lead to higher levels of cooperation.

  2. Innovation Systems for Transformations towards Sustainability? Taking the Normative Dimension Seriously

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    Michael P. Schlaile

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to complement research on transformations towards sustainability by drawing upon the innovation systems (IS framework. The IS framework already serves as a suitable and influential basis for research on processes of technological innovation and economic change. We argue that improving the capacity of an IS framework for dealing with wicked problems and the normative complexity of sustainability requires a fundamental paradigm shift because in the current IS paradigm innovations are considered as per se desirable and in mostly technological terms. Therefore, we call for IS dedicated to transformations towards sustainability by opening up for systemic innovations beyond the technological dimension and by acknowledging that stakeholders have conflicting visions, interests, norms, and expectations with regard to sustainability goals. Taking the normative dimension of transformations towards sustainability seriously thus requires more explicit and integrative research on directionality, legitimacy, responsibility, and their interrelation in IS. The article concludes by proposing suggestions for future research based on IS-related approaches that can serve as building blocks for an IS framework capable of incorporating legitimate goal-orientation for transformative innovation by and for society.

  3. Maternal Attitudes, Normative Beliefs, and Subjective Norms of Mothers of 2- and 3-Year-Old Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Northrup, Angela A; Smaldone, Arlene

    This exploratory study examined maternal attitudes, normative beliefs, subjective norms, and meal selection behaviors of mothers of 2- and 3-year-old children. Guided by the Theory of Reasoned Action, we had mothers complete three surveys, two interviews, and a feeding simulation exercise. Data were analyzed using descriptive and bivariate statistics and multivariate linear regression. A total of 31 mothers (50% Latino, 34% Black, 46.9% ≤ high school education, 31.3% poor health literacy) of 32 children (37.5% overweight/obese) participated in this study. Maternal normative beliefs (knowledge of U.S. Department of Agriculture recommendations) did not reflect actual U.S. Department of Agriculture recommendations. Collectively, regression models explained 13% (dairy) to 51% (vegetables) of the variance in behavioral intent, with normative belief an independent predictor in all models except grain and dairy. Meal selection behaviors, on average, were predicted by poor knowledge of U.S. Department of Agriculture recommendations. Dietary guidance appropriate to health literacy level should be incorporated into well-child visits. Copyright © 2016 National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Specific and social fears in children and adolescents: separating normative fears from problem indicators and phobias

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    Paola P. Laporte

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To distinguish normative fears from problematic fears and phobias. Methods: We investigated 2,512 children and adolescents from a large community school-based study, the High Risk Study for Psychiatric Disorders. Parent reports of 18 fears and psychiatric diagnosis were investigated. We used two analytical approaches: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA/item response theory (IRT and nonparametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve. Results: According to IRT and ROC analyses, social fears are more likely to indicate problems and phobias than specific fears. Most specific fears were normative when mild; all specific fears indicate problems when pervasive. In addition, the situational fear of toilets and people who look unusual were highly indicative of specific phobia. Among social fears, those not restricted to performance and fear of writing in front of others indicate problems when mild. All social fears indicate problems and are highly indicative of social phobia when pervasive. Conclusion: These preliminary findings provide guidance for clinicians and researchers to determine the boundaries that separate normative fears from problem indicators in children and adolescents, and indicate a differential severity threshold for specific and social fears.

  5. Normative Database and Color-code Agreement of Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer and Macular Ganglion Cell-inner Plexiform Layer Thickness in a Vietnamese Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez, Claudio I; Chansangpetch, Sunee; Thai, Andy; Nguyen, Anh-Hien; Nguyen, Anwell; Mora, Marta; Nguyen, Ngoc; Lin, Shan C

    2018-06-05

    Evaluate the distribution and the color probability codes of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness in a healthy Vietnamese population and compare them with the original color-codes provided by the Cirrus spectral domain OCT. Cross-sectional study. We recruited non-glaucomatous Vietnamese subjects and constructed a normative database for peripapillary RNFL and macular GCIPL thickness. The probability color-codes for each decade of age were calculated. We evaluated the agreement with Kappa coefficient (κ) between OCT color probability codes with Cirrus built-in original normative database and the Vietnamese normative database. 149 eyes of 149 subjects were included. The mean age of enrollees was 60.77 (±11.09) years, with a mean spherical equivalent of +0.65 (±1.58) D and mean axial length of 23.4 (±0.87) mm. Average RNFL thickness was 97.86 (±9.19) microns and average macular GCIPL was 82.49 (±6.09) microns. Agreement between original and adjusted normative database for RNFL was fair for average and inferior quadrant (κ=0.25 and 0.2, respectively); and good for other quadrants (range: κ=0.63-0.73). For macular GCIPL κ agreement ranged between 0.39 and 0.69. After adjusting with the normative Vietnamese database, the percent of yellow and red color-codes increased significantly for peripapillary RNFL thickness. Vietnamese population has a thicker RNFL in comparison with Cirrus normative database. This leads to a poor color-code agreement in average and inferior quadrant between the original and adjusted database. These findings should encourage to create a peripapillary RNFL normative database for each ethnicity.

  6. Political mobilization of Dutch Muslims : religious identity salience, goal framing and normative constraints

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Phalet, Karen; Baysu, Gülseli

    2010-01-01

    This article addresses the question of when and for what purpose Muslims will act collectively in the political arena. The impact of religious identity salience, goal framing, and normative constraints on political mobilization was examined in two Muslim communities with different group positions in

  7. The Normative Orientations of Climate Scientists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bray, Dennis; von Storch, Hans

    2017-10-01

    In 1942 Robert K. Merton tried to demonstrate the structure of the normative system of science by specifying the norms that characterized it. The norms were assigned the abbreviation CUDOs: Communism, Universalism, Disinterestedness, and Organized skepticism. Using the results of an on-line survey of climate scientists concerning the norms of science, this paper explores the climate scientists' subscription to these norms. The data suggests that while Merton's CUDOs remain the overall guiding moral principles, they are not fully endorsed or present in the conduct of climate scientists: there is a tendency to withhold results until publication, there is the intention of maintaining property rights, there is external influence defining research and the tendency to assign the significance of authored work according to the status of the author rather than content of the paper. These are contrary to the norms of science as proposed by Robert K. Merton.

  8. Normative data for the 12 item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0.

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    Gavin Andrews

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0 measures disability due to health conditions including diseases, illnesses, injuries, mental or emotional problems, and problems with alcohol or drugs. METHOD: The 12 Item WHODAS 2.0 was used in the second Australian Survey of Mental Health and Well-being. We report the overall factor structure and the distribution of scores and normative data (means and SDs for people with any physical disorder, any mental disorder and for people with neither. FINDINGS: A single second order factor justifies the use of the scale as a measure of global disability. People with mental disorders had high scores (mean 6.3, SD 7.1, people with physical disorders had lower scores (mean 4.3, SD 6.1. People with no disorder covered by the survey had low scores (mean 1.4, SD 3.6. INTERPRETATION: The provision of normative data from a population sample of adults will facilitate use of the WHODAS 2.0 12 item scale in clinical and epidemiological research.

  9. It’s Not Just a “Woman Thing:” The Current State of Normative Discontent

    Science.gov (United States)

    TANTLEFF-DUNN, STACEY; BARNES, RACHEL D.; LAROSE, JESSICA GOKEE

    2013-01-01

    This study assessed “normative discontent,” the concept that most women experience weight dissatisfaction, as an emerging societal stereotype for women and men (Rodin, Silberstein, & Streigel-Moore, 1984). Participants (N = 472) completed measures of stereotypes, eating disorders, and body image. Normative discontent stereotypes were pervasive for women and men. Endorsing stereotypes varied by sex and participants’ own disturbance, with trends towards eating disorder symptomotology being positively correlated with stereotype endorsement. Individuals with higher levels of body image and eating disturbance may normalize their behavior by perceiving that most people share their experiences. Future research needs to test prevention and intervention strategies that incorporate the discrepancies between body image/eating-related stereotypes and reality with focus on preventing normalization of such experiences. PMID:21932970

  10. Delay, doubt, and decision: how delaying a choice reduces the appeal of (descriptively) normative options.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Ven, Niels; Gilovich, Thomas; Zeelenberg, Marcel

    2010-04-01

    To help explain a regularity in democratic elections, we examined whether choosing to delay making a choice between a focal option and an alternative tends to make people subsequently less likely to choose what they would otherwise have chosen. The results of two experiments demonstrated that participants who were induced to delay making a decision were indeed less likely to choose the descriptively normative option. An additional experiment that primed a sense of doubt in participants provided support for a self-perception account of this result. Electing to delay making a choice is interpreted as an indication of doubt--doubt that tends to be attributed to the most prominent option. Delay-induced doubt about the normative option makes it less likely to be selected.

  11. Persona Rights for User-Generated Content: A Normative Framework for Privacy and Intellectual Property Regulation

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    Tamara Shepherd

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available This article introduces the term “persona rights” as a normative conceptual framework for analyzing the language of regulatory debates around privacy and intellectual property online, mainly from a Canadian perspective. In using the concept of persona rights to interrogate and critique the current limitations of regulatory discourses in protecting user rights online, the legal implications of persona rights law are translated into more conceptual terms. As a normative framework, persona rights is shown to be useful in addressing the gaps in regulatory understandings of privacy and intellectual property – particularly in spaces for user-generated content (UGC – and in suggesting how policy might be written to account for user rights to the integrity of identity in commercial UGC platforms.

  12. The Vroom and Yetton Normative Leadership Model Applied to Public School Case Examples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sample, John

    This paper seeks to familiarize school administrators with the Vroom and Yetton Normative Leadership model by presenting its essential components and providing original case studies for its application to school settings. The five decision-making methods of the Vroom and Yetton model, including two "autocratic," two…

  13. Beyond Territory: Revisiting the Normative Justification of Self-Government in Theory and Practice

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    Janique Dubois

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The association of sovereignty with control over territory is being challenged both internally and externally in modern societies. Demands for political autonomy from sub-state minorities undermine the natural link between nation, state and territory from within, while the movement of capital, goods and information across borders contests the relationship between these concepts from without. Scholars of international relations, law, philosophy and political science have already suggested that the sovereignty of nation-states is under attack; however, scant attention has been paid to the way in which changes in the relation between nation, state, and territory affect the normative weight associated with each of these concepts in discussions about sovereignty and self-government. The objectives of this article is to examine the way in which nation, state, sovereignty, and territory are addressed in normative justifications of indigenous self-government and to better understand how these notions are being treated in its implementation.

  14. CAMPAIGN JOURNALISM ON ROMANIAN TELEVISIONS: TOWARDS A NORMATIVE VIEW OF ADVOCACY IN THE MEDIA

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    IRINA DIANA MĂDROANE

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Advocacy media campaigns, staged by Romanian television channels and focused on changing social policies, have gained increasing visibility in the Romanian public sphere. The article examines models of journalism and normative theories about the role of the press in a democracy in order to carve out a normative position from which this emerging media format can be analysed. It situates media advocacy within the frame of interpretive journalism, aimed both at facilitating democratic debate and citizen participation (civic journalism, and at social reform (radical journalism. The reassessment of media strategies based on emotions and interpretation as mediators of social reality may lead to a positive, ‘optimistic’ view of campaign journalism. However, the advanced commercialisation of the media and the struggles for political representation interfere with and make the task of socially responsible journalism an incredibly challenging one

  15. Rethinking Normative Literacy Practices, Behaviors, and Interactions: Learning from Young Immigrant Boys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souto-Manning, Mariana; Dernikos, Bessie; Yu, Hae Min

    2016-01-01

    In light of the historical failure of boys of color in US schools, this article sheds light onto the ways in which normative discourses of literacy and learning shape the experiences of immigrant boys and how they are perceived and defined as un/successful students. Findings indicate that although these boys--deemed to be "at-risk" or…

  16. Small States as “Contributing Nations” to the EU’s Normative Power: the Case of Slovenia

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    Rok Zupančič

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available How can small states contribute to the overall normative power of the European Union (EU? In this article we assess how much Slovenia, a small EU Member State with limited financial and human resources, contributes to this normative power. We do this by analysing its foreign policy, which consists of three main guiding principles: internationalism, the desire to solve all outstanding issues with its neighbour Croatia, and an attempt to present itself as a bridge between the EU and the Western Balkans. We discover that, while these principles exist on paper, they are often not consistently carried out in practice, which is a symptom of the still-ongoing reorientation of the country’s foreign policy, after successfully joining the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO in 2004. Slovenian decision makers all too often remain reactive, and prefer to support the initiatives of others. When the country does act on its own initiative, its actions can be seen as too individualistic and uncoordinated, both within its own borders, and with its EU partners, as was the case when Slovenia launched the so-called Brdo Process, aimed at promoting cooperation between countries of former Yugoslavia. The conduct of Slovenian foreign policy is, all too often left, to the initiative and ingenuity of individuals, and such an uncoordinated approach hinders Slovenian efforts to become a normative power and to increase its influence in the Western Balkans. Finally, we argue that Slovenia’s Presidency of the EU Council in 2008 was a unique opportunity to contribute to the EU’s normative power. Slovenia managed to accomplish this only in part; despite the fact that the Presidency was an organisational success, most of its goals was too broadly defined and lacked ambition.

  17. Hedonic, Instrumental, and Normative Motives: Differentiating Patterns for Popular, Accepted, and Rejected Adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dijkstra, Jan Kornelis; Kretschmer, Tina; Lindenberg, Siegwart; Veenstra, René

    2015-01-01

    This study examined to what extent motives for behavior differentiated between popular, accepted, and rejected adolescents. Based on goal-framing theory, three types of motives were distinguished: hedonic (aimed at short-term gratification), instrumental (aimed at improvement of one's situation), and normative (aimed at acting in accordance with…

  18. Demographic influences on environmental value orientations and normative beliefs about national forest management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jerry J. Vaske; Maureen P. Donnelly; Daniel R. Williams; Sandra Jonker

    2001-01-01

    Using the cognitive hierarchy as the theoretical foundation, this article examines the predictive influence of individuals' demographic characteristics on environmental value orientations and normative beliefs about national forest management. Data for this investigation were obtained from a random sample of Colorado residents (n = 960). As predicted by theory, a...

  19. Affective and Normative Commitment to Organization, Supervisor, and Coworkers: Do Collectivist Values Matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wasti, S. Arzu; Can, Ozge

    2008-01-01

    Employees' commitment to their organization is increasingly recognized as comprising of different bases (affect-, obligation-, or cost-based) and different foci (e.g., supervisor, coworkers). Two studies investigated affective and normative commitment to the organization, supervisor and coworkers in the Turkish context. The results of Study 1…

  20. Quantifying the lumbar flexion-relaxation phenomenon: theory, normative data, and clinical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neblett, Randy; Mayer, Tom G; Gatchel, Robert J; Keeley, Janice; Proctor, Tim; Anagnostis, Christopher

    2003-07-01

    normative data. In Part 2, 54 patients with chronic disabled work-related spinal disorder referred as candidates for tertiary functional restoration rehabilitation participated in a standardized assessment protocol for sEMG and ROM measurement before rehabilitation. Those who completed the program were retested with the identical methodology after rehabilitation (n = 34) using the empirically derived cutoff scores for sEMG readings at FR and ROM from Part 1 and prior scientific literature. Pain disability self-reported scores were correlated with sEMG and ROM. Sensitivity and specificity of the sEMG for identifying abnormal motion were assessed. In Part 1, the ability of the experienced testers to measure ROM and sEMG reliably at FR was high (r >or= 0.92; P or= 0.82; P pain disability self-report. Flexion-relaxation measures a point at which true lumbar flexion ROM approaches its maximum in asymptomatic subjects. This also is the point at which lumbar extensor muscle contraction relaxes, allowing the lumbar spine to hang on its posterior ligaments. The gluteal and hamstring muscles then lower the flexed trunk even further by allowing the pelvis to rotate around the hips. This phenomenon was subsequently found in Part 2 to offer a potentially promising method for individualizing rehabilitation treatment, decreasing unnecessary utilization, identifying potential postrehabilitation treatment failures, and assessing permanent impairment rating validity. Moreover, this is the first study to demonstrate systematically that an absence of FR in patients with chronic low back pain can be corrected with treatment.

  1. The analysis of normative requirements to materials of PWR components, basing on LBB concepts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anikovsky, V.V.; Karzov, G.P.; Timofeev, B.T.

    1997-01-01

    The paper discusses the advisability of the correction of Norms to solve in terms of material science the Problem: how the normative requirements to materials must be changed in terms of the concept open-quotes leak before breakclose quotes (LBB)

  2. The analysis of normative requirements to materials of PWR components, basing on LBB concepts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anikovsky, V.V.; Karzov, G.P.; Timofeev, B.T. [CRISM Prometey, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation)

    1997-04-01

    The paper discusses the advisability of the correction of Norms to solve in terms of material science the Problem: how the normative requirements to materials must be changed in terms of the concept {open_quotes}leak before break{close_quotes} (LBB).

  3. Bureaucratic Dilemmas: Civil servants between political responsiveness and normative constraints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Jørgen Grønnegård; Opstrup, Niels

    2017-01-01

    The interaction between political executives and civil servants rests on a delicate balance between political responsiveness and the duty of civil servants and ministers to respect legal and other normative constraints on executive authority. In Danish central government, this balance is stressed...... by norms that define the correct behavior when the civil service provides ministers with political advice and assistance. Organizational factors strongly influence civil servants’ behavior when they have to balance responsiveness against constraints on their role as political advisers. Moreover, civil...

  4. Assessment of self-perceived and normative dental needs among teaching faculty of Visveswarapura Group of Institutions: A cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Verma Shikha

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess and compare self-perceived and normative dental needs among teaching faculty of Visveswarapura Group of Institutions, Bangalore, India. Materials and Methods: The study population included 217 teaching faculty from four Visveswarapura Group of Institutions namely Arts and Commerce, Law, Science College and Engineering College. The study population was subjected to a self-administered closed-ended questionnaire inquiring about their socioeconomic status, Oral health status and treatment needs. Clinical examinations, employing WHO dentition status and community periodontal index were performed to determine normative status and needs. Perceived and normative assessments were compared for sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values using Kappa statistics. Results: The degree of agreement (κ values and sensitivity was seen in filled teeth (0.839, 80%, missing teeth (0.696, 85.2%, and mobile teeth (0.57, 55.6%. However, the disagreement was seen with all other questions with average κ = 0.20. Regarding overall proportions, a large discrepancy was found between self-perceived and normative needs for both dental and periodontal health status. Conclusion: Self-assessment questionnaires were of low value in evaluating oral health status and treatment needs compared with clinical examination.

  5. Stand-Alone Personalized Normative Feedback for College Student Drinkers: A Meta-Analytic Review, 2004 to 2014.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keri B Dotson

    Full Text Available Norms clarification has been identified as an effective component of college student drinking interventions, prompting research on norms clarification as a single-component intervention known as Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF. Previous reviews have examined PNF in combination with other components but not as a stand-alone intervention.To investigate the degree to which computer-delivered stand-alone personalized normative feedback interventions reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms among college students and to compare gender-neutral and gender-specific PNF.Electronic databases were searched systematically through November 2014. Reference lists were reviewed manually and forward and backward searches were conducted.Outcome studies that compared computer-delivered, stand-alone PNF intervention with an assessment only, attention-matched, or active treatment control and reported alcohol use and harms among college students.Between-group effect sizes were calculated as the standardized mean difference in change scores between treatment and control groups divided by pooled standard deviation. Within-group effect sizes were calculated as the raw mean difference between baseline and follow-up divided by pooled within-groups standard deviation.Eight studies (13 interventions with a total of 2,050 participants were included. Compared to control participants, students who received gender-neutral (dbetween = 0.291, 95% CI [0.159, 0.423] and gender-specific PNF (dbetween = 0.284, 95% CI [0.117, 0.451] reported greater reductions in drinking from baseline to follow-up. Students who received gender-neutral PNF reported 3.027 (95% CI [2.171, 3.882] fewer drinks per week at first follow-up and gender-specific PNF reported 3.089 (95% CI [0.992, 5.186] fewer drinks. Intervention effects were small for harms (dbetween = 0.157, 95% CI [0.037, 0.278].Computer-delivered PNF is an effective stand-alone approach for reducing college student

  6. Stand-Alone Personalized Normative Feedback for College Student Drinkers: A Meta-Analytic Review, 2004 to 2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dotson, Keri B; Dunn, Michael E; Bowers, Clint A

    2015-01-01

    Norms clarification has been identified as an effective component of college student drinking interventions, prompting research on norms clarification as a single-component intervention known as Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF). Previous reviews have examined PNF in combination with other components but not as a stand-alone intervention. To investigate the degree to which computer-delivered stand-alone personalized normative feedback interventions reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms among college students and to compare gender-neutral and gender-specific PNF. Electronic databases were searched systematically through November 2014. Reference lists were reviewed manually and forward and backward searches were conducted. Outcome studies that compared computer-delivered, stand-alone PNF intervention with an assessment only, attention-matched, or active treatment control and reported alcohol use and harms among college students. Between-group effect sizes were calculated as the standardized mean difference in change scores between treatment and control groups divided by pooled standard deviation. Within-group effect sizes were calculated as the raw mean difference between baseline and follow-up divided by pooled within-groups standard deviation. Eight studies (13 interventions) with a total of 2,050 participants were included. Compared to control participants, students who received gender-neutral (dbetween = 0.291, 95% CI [0.159, 0.423]) and gender-specific PNF (dbetween = 0.284, 95% CI [0.117, 0.451]) reported greater reductions in drinking from baseline to follow-up. Students who received gender-neutral PNF reported 3.027 (95% CI [2.171, 3.882]) fewer drinks per week at first follow-up and gender-specific PNF reported 3.089 (95% CI [0.992, 5.186]) fewer drinks. Intervention effects were small for harms (dbetween = 0.157, 95% CI [0.037, 0.278]). Computer-delivered PNF is an effective stand-alone approach for reducing college student drinking and

  7. Impact of Mental Health Screening on Promoting Immediate Online Help-Seeking: Randomized Trial Comparing Normative Versus Humor-Driven Feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Isabella; Milne, David N; Deady, Mark; Calvo, Rafael A; Harvey, Samuel B; Glozier, Nick

    2018-04-05

    Given the widespread availability of mental health screening apps, providing personalized feedback may encourage people at high risk to seek help to manage their symptoms. While apps typically provide personal score feedback only, feedback types that are user-friendly and increase personal relevance may encourage further help-seeking. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of providing normative and humor-driven feedback on immediate online help-seeking, defined as clicking on a link to an external resource, and to explore demographic predictors that encourage help-seeking. An online sample of 549 adults were recruited using social media advertisements. Participants downloaded a smartphone app known as "Mindgauge" which allowed them to screen their mental wellbeing by completing standardized measures on Symptoms (Kessler 6-item Scale), Wellbeing (World Health Organization [Five] Wellbeing Index), and Resilience (Brief Resilience Scale). Participants were randomized to receive normative feedback that compared their scores to a reference group or humor-driven feedback that presented their scores in a relaxed manner. Those who scored in the moderate or poor ranges in any measure were encouraged to seek help by clicking on a link to an external online resource. A total of 318 participants scored poorly on one or more measures and were provided with an external link after being randomized to receive normative or humor-driven feedback. There was no significant difference of feedback type on clicking on the external link across all measures. A larger proportion of participants from the Wellbeing measure (170/274, 62.0%) clicked on the links than the Resilience (47/179, 26.3%) or Symptoms (26/75, 34.7%) measures (χ 2 =60.35, PWellbeing measures. Participants with a previous episode of poor mental health were less likely than those without such history to click on the external link in the Symptoms measure (P=.003, odds ratio [OR] 0.83, 95% CI 0.02-0.44), and

  8. Is expected utility theory normative for medical decision making?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, B J

    1996-01-01

    Expected utility theory is felt by its proponents to be a normative theory of decision making under uncertainty. The theory starts with some simple axioms that are held to be rules that any rational person would follow. It can be shown that if one adheres to these axioms, a numerical quantity, generally referred to as utility, can be assigned to each possible outcome, with the preferred course of action being that which has the highest expected utility. One of these axioms, the independence principle, is controversial, and is frequently violated in experimental situations. Proponents of the theory hold that these violations are irrational. The independence principle is simply an axiom dictating consistency among preferences, in that it dictates that a rational agent should hold a specified preference given another stated preference. When applied to preferences between lotteries, the independence principle can be demonstrated to be a rule that is followed only when preferences are formed in a particular way. The logic of expected utility theory is that this demonstration proves that preferences should be formed in this way. An alternative interpretation is that this demonstrates that the independence principle is not a valid general rule of consistency, but in particular, is a rule that must be followed if one is to consistently apply the decision rule "choose the lottery that has the highest expected utility." This decision rule must be justified on its own terms as a valid rule of rationality by demonstration that violation would lead to decisions that conflict with the decision maker's goals. This rule does not appear to be suitable for medical decisions because often these are one-time decisions in which expectation, a long-run property of a random variable, would not seem to be applicable. This is particularly true for those decisions involving a non-trivial risk of death.

  9. Is anybody doing it? An experimental study of the effect of normative messages on intention to do physical activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Bavel, René; Esposito, Gabriele; Baranowski, Tom

    2014-07-31

    The study explores whether messages about the physical activity levels of the majority (i.e. normative messages) affect young adults' intention to engage in regular physical activity. An experimental survey among 16 to 24 year-olds in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania (n = 1200) was conducted in March 2013. A control group received no message; one treatment group was told that the majority was physically active (positive message); and another treatment group was told that the majority was not physically active (negative message). Both the positive and (unexpectedly) the negative normative messages showed a significant and positive effect on intention to be physically active. There was no difference between the effects of the messages. Normative messages affect intention, which is encouraging for public health campaigns. The effect of the positive message confirms previous findings on conformity to the norm; the effect of the negative message is unexpected and requires further research to be understood.

  10. Normative Beliefs, Attitudes, and Social Norms: People Reduce Waste as an Index of Social Relationships When Spending Leisure Time

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei-Ta Fang

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study has adopted and refined Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, theory of reasoned action, and the value–belief–norm theory by Stern et al. to investigate the effects of normative beliefs, attitudes, and social norms on pro-environmental behavioral intentions. A total of 391 valid responses were collected from visitors to a theme park in Taiwan. A structure equation analysis indicated that the overall fit of the proposed model was supported. It was also found that both attitudes and social norms had positive and significant influence on waste reduction. While the results did not reveal any direct relation between normative beliefs and behavioral intentions, normative beliefs had positive direct influence on social norms and attitudes, which in turn had an impact on behavioral intentions. The findings provided further insights about pro-environmental behavioral intentions from an Asia perspective and highlighted important implications for environmental policies and education to reduce waste.

  11. Critical neuroscience-or critical science? A perspective on the perceived normative significance of neuroscience

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schleim, Stephan

    2014-01-01

    Members of the Critical Neuroscience initiative raised the question whether the perceived normative significance of neuroscience is justified by the discipline's actual possibilities. In this paper I show how brain research was assigned the ultimate political, social, and moral authority by some

  12. Symbol Digit Modalities Test: Normative data for Spanish-speaking pediatric population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arango-Lasprilla, J C; Rivera, D; Trapp, S; Jiménez-Pérez, C; Hernández Carrillo, C L; Pohlenz Amador, S; Vergara-Moragues, E; Rodríguez-Agudelo, Y; Rodriguez-Irizarry, W; García de la Cadena, C; Galvao-Carmona, A; Galarza-Del-Angel, J; Llerena Espezúa, X; Torales Cabrera, N; Flor-Caravia, P; Aguayo Arelis, A; Saracostti Schwartzman, M; Barranco Casimiro, R; Albaladejo-Blázquez, N

    2017-01-01

    To generate normative data for the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations. The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the SDMT as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. SDMT scores were normed using multiple linear regressions and standard deviations of residual values. Age, age2, sex, and mean level of parental education (MLPE) were included as predictors in the analyses. The final multiple linear regression models showed main effects for age in all countries, such that score increased linearly as a function of age. In addition, age2 had a significant effect in all countries, except in Honduras and Puerto Rico. Models indicated that children whose parent(s) had a MLPE >12 years of education obtained higher score compared to children whose parent(s) had a MLPE ≤12 years for Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain. Sex affected SDMT score for Paraguay and Spain. This is the largest Spanish-speaking pediatric normative study in the world, and it will allow neuropsychologists from these countries to have a more accurate interpretation of the SDMT with pediatric populations.

  13. Tweeting dignity: A practical theological reflection on Twitter’s normative function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Albert Van den Berg

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Social media makes an important contribution to a rapidly changing world in which various domains of meaning are described anew. The evolving nature and dynamic character of social media therefore provides for a rich praxis terrain with which to interact from a practical theological orientation. More specifically associated with the theme of this contribution, the social media sphere also provides an excellent space not only to rethink but also to reenact expressions of dignity in society. The research is facilitated from a practical theological orientation, with particular focus on a normative dimension as embodied in aspects of dignity. Through the use of an interdisciplinary approach and methodology, some contours of dignity specifically associated with South African politics as well as the so-called Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015 in Paris expressed on the social media platform, Twitter, are described and discussed. From this empirical analysis, description and discussion, a practical theological reflection is offered in which aspects of dignity associated with a normativity function are described. Some practical theological perspectives contributing to future relevant tweeting on dignity are also formulated and provided in conclusion.

  14. Quality of life after percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale in patients after cryptogenic stroke compared to a normative sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirzada, Naqibullah; Ladenvall, Per; Hansson, Per-Olof; Eriksson, Peter; Taft, Charles; Dellborg, Mikael

    2018-04-15

    Despite the widespread use of percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) in patients after a cryptogenic stroke, little is known about its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was to assess HRQoL in these patients compared to PFO patients not considered candidates for percutaneous closure, and to a normal population. A total of 402 patients with cryptogenic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) who had been referred to our center for PFO closure were invited to a long-term clinical follow-up (mean follow-up 5.5 years; range 3-13 years). HRQoL was assessed using the SF-36 Health Survey and data were compared with an age- and gender-matched reference group from the Swedish SF-36 normative database. Fifteen patients had died and 43 did not answer the SF-36. Of the remaining 344 patients, 208 had undergone PFO closure, and 136 had not. The closure group and reference group reported similar HRQoL levels. However, the non-closure group showed significantly lower HRQoL in role limitation - physical, vitality, general health, mental health (p < 0.05) and social functioning (p = 0.05) than the reference group and also had significantly lower scores than the closure group, correcting for age differences, on physical functioning, role limitation - physical, vitality and general health (p < 0.05). Non-closure patients had lower HRQoL than their counterparts in the normal population and the closure group. Percutaneous PFO closure is associated with a favorable quality of life. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Living with uncertainty: from the precautionary principle to the methodology of ongoing normative assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dupuy, J.P.; Grinbaum, A.

    2005-01-01

    The analysis of our epistemic situation regarding singular events, such as abrupt climate change, shows essential limitations in the traditional modes of dealing with uncertainty. Typical cognitive barriers lead to the paralysis of action. What is needed is taking seriously the reality of the future. We argue for the application of the methodology of ongoing normative assessment. We show that it is, paradoxically, a matter of forming a project on the basis of a fixed future which one does not want, and this in a coordinated way at the level of social institutions. Ongoing assessment may be viewed as a prescription to live with uncertainty, in a particular sense of the term, in order for a future catastrophe not to occur. The assessment is necessarily normative in that it must include the anticipation of a retrospective ethical judgment on present choices (notion of moral luck). (authors)

  16. Changes in hand bone mineral density and the association with the level of disease activity in patients with RA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dirven, L.; Guler-Yuksel, M.; de Beus, W.M.; Ronday, H.K.; Speyer, I.; Huizinga, T.W.; Dijkmans, B.A.C.; Allaart, C.F.; Lems, W.F.

    2011-01-01

    Objective. To determine if metacarpal bone mineral density (mBMD) gain occurs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). If mBMD loss is driven by inflammation, we expect to find mBMD gain in patients who are in remission. Methods. mBMD was measured by digital X-ray radiogrammetry in consecutive

  17. The natural defense system and the normative self model [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philippe Kourilsky

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Infectious agents are not the only agressors, and the immune system is not the sole defender of the organism. In an enlarged perspective, the ‘normative self model’ postulates that a ‘natural defense system’ protects man and other complex organisms against the environmental and internal hazards of life, including infections and cancers. It involves multiple error detection and correction mechanisms that confer robustness to the body at all levels of its organization. According to the model, the self relies on a set of physiological norms, and NONself (meaning : Non Obedient to the Norms of the self is anything ‘off-norms’. The natural defense system comprises a set of ‘civil defenses’ (to which all cells in organs and tissues contribute, and a ‘professional army ‘, made of a smaller set of mobile cells. Mobile and non mobile cells differ in their tuning abilities. Tuning extends the recognition capabilities of NONself by the mobile cells, which increase their defensive function. To prevent them to drift, which would compromise self/NONself discrimination, the more plastic mobile cells need to periodically refer to the more stable non mobile cells to keep within physiological standards.

  18. Normative Data for Email Writing by Native Speakers of British English

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lindsey Thiel

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This dataset includes emails from forty two control participants ranging from 16 to 88 years of age (mean = 46 and 9 to 24 years of education (mean = 13. Three emails were produced by each participant (between 2011 and 2014, each within a time limit of three minutes. It is expected that this normative data will be useful for clinicians and researchers working with adults with acquired language disorders in assessing email writing.

  19. Normative Data for Email Writing by Native Speakers of British English

    OpenAIRE

    Thiel, Lindsey; Sage, Karen; Conroy, Paul

    2015-01-01

    This dataset includes emails from forty two control participants ranging from 16 to 88 years of age (mean = 46) and 9 to 24 years of education (mean = 13). Three emails were produced by each participant (between 2011 and 2014), each within a time limit of three minutes. It is expected that this normative data will be useful for clinicians and researchers working with adults with acquired language disorders in assessing email writing.

  20. Official ERS technical standards: Global Lung Function Initiative reference values for the carbon monoxide transfer factor for Caucasians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanojevic, Sanja; Graham, Brian L; Cooper, Brendan G; Thompson, Bruce R; Carter, Kim W; Francis, Richard W; Hall, Graham L

    2017-09-01

    There are numerous reference equations available for the single-breath transfer factor of the lung for carbon monoxide ( T  LCO ); however, it is not always clear which reference set should be used in clinical practice. The aim of the study was to develop the Global Lung Function Initiative (GLI) all-age reference values for T  LCO Data from 19 centres in 14 countries were collected to define T  LCO reference values. Similar to the GLI spirometry project, reference values were derived using the LMS (lambda, mu, sigma) method and the GAMLSS (generalised additive models for location, scale and shape) programme in R.12 660 T  LCO measurements from asymptomatic, lifetime nonsmokers were submitted; 85% of the submitted data were from Caucasians. All data were uncorrected for haemoglobin concentration. Following adjustments for elevation above sea level, gas concentration and assumptions used for calculating the anatomic dead space volume, there was a high degree of overlap between the datasets. Reference values for Caucasians aged 5-85 years were derived for T  LCO , transfer coefficient of the lung for carbon monoxide and alveolar volume.This is the largest collection of normative T  LCO data, and the first global reference values available for T  LCO . Copyright ©ERS 2017.

  1. Normative Data for the Spanish Version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matías-Guiu, Jordi A; Fernández-Bobadilla, Ramón; Fernández-Oliveira, Aníbal; Valles-Salgado, María; Rognoni, Teresa; Cortés-Martínez, Ana; Moreno-Ramos, Teresa; Kulisevsky, Jaime; Matías-Guiu, Jorge

    2016-01-01

    Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) is a cognitive test that has been validated for the diagnosis of cognitive disorders. The aim of this study was to provide normative data for the ACE-III for age, education and gender. The Spanish version of the ACE-III was administered to a group of 273 healthy subjects in a multicenter study in Spain. Correlation and determination coefficients for age, education and gender were estimated. The overlapping interval strategy and linear regression analyses were used to provide adjusted norms for demographic factors and to explore the potential influence of these factors in the performance of the test. Age and education correlated significantly with the total score and with all the domains. Gender correlated only with the domains of attention and visuospatial skills. Norms for the total score and for cognitive domains (attention, memory, fluency, language, and visuospatial skills) are provided. This study confirms the influence of demographic factors (especially age and education) on the performance in the ACE-III and provides normative data for the Spanish version of the ACE-III. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  2. Demographic, Behavioural and Normative Risk Factors for Gambling Problems Amongst Sports Bettors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hing, Nerilee; Russell, Alex M T; Vitartas, Peter; Lamont, Matthew

    2016-06-01

    Sports betting is growing exponentially, is heavily marketed and successfully targets young adult males. Associated gambling problems are increasing. Therefore, understanding risk factors for problem gambling amongst sports bettors is an increasingly important area of research to inform the appropriate design and targeting of public health and treatment interventions. This study aimed to identify demographic, behavioural and normative risk factors for gambling problems amongst sports bettors. An online survey of 639 Australian sports bettors using online, telephone and retail betting channels was conducted. Results indicated that vulnerable sports bettors for higher risk gambling are those who are young, male, single, educated, and employed full-time or a full-time student. Risk of problem gambling was also found to increase with greater frequency and expenditure on sports betting, greater diversity of gambling involvement, and with more impulsive responses to betting opportunities, including in-play live action betting. Normative influences from media advertising and from significant others were also associated with greater problem gambling risk. The results of this study can inform a suite of intervention, protection and treatment initiatives targeted especially at young male adults and adolescents that can help to limit the harm from this gambling form.

  3. Systemic Lisbon Battery: Normative Data for Memory and Attention Assessments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gamito, Pedro; Morais, Diogo; Oliveira, Jorge; Ferreira Lopes, Paulo; Picareli, Luís Felipe; Matias, Marcelo; Correia, Sara; Brito, Rodrigo

    2016-05-04

    Memory and attention are two cognitive domains pivotal for the performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). The assessment of these functions is still widely carried out with pencil-and-paper tests, which lack ecological validity. The evaluation of cognitive and memory functions while the patients are performing IADLs should contribute to the ecological validity of the evaluation process. The objective of this study is to establish normative data from virtual reality (VR) IADLs designed to activate memory and attention functions. A total of 243 non-clinical participants carried out a paper-and-pencil Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and performed 3 VR activities: art gallery visual matching task, supermarket shopping task, and memory fruit matching game. The data (execution time and errors, and money spent in the case of the supermarket activity) was automatically generated from the app. Outcomes were computed using non-parametric statistics, due to non-normality of distributions. Age, academic qualifications, and computer experience all had significant effects on most measures. Normative values for different levels of these measures were defined. Age, academic qualifications, and computer experience should be taken into account while using our VR-based platform for cognitive assessment purposes. ©Pedro Gamito, Diogo Morais, Jorge Oliveira, Paulo Ferreira Lopes, Luís Felipe Picareli, Marcelo Matias, Sara Correia, Rodrigo Brito. Originally published in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology (http://rehab.jmir.org), 04.05.2016.

  4. Normative data for the Rappel libre/Rappel indicé à 16 items (16-item Free and Cued Recall) in the elderly Quebec-French population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dion, Mélissa; Potvin, Olivier; Belleville, Sylvie; Ferland, Guylaine; Renaud, Mélanie; Bherer, Louis; Joubert, Sven; Vallet, Guillaume T; Simard, Martine; Rouleau, Isabelle; Lecomte, Sarah; Macoir, Joël; Hudon, Carol

    2015-01-01

    Performance on verbal memory tests is generally associated with socio-demographic variables such as age, sex, and education level. Performance also varies between different cultural groups. The present study aimed to establish normative data for the Rappel libre/Rappel indicé à 16 items (16-item Free and Cued Recall; RL/RI-16), a French adaptation of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (Buschke, 1984; Grober, Buschke, Crystal, Bang, & Dresner, 1988). The sample consisted of 566 healthy French-speaking older adults (50-88 years old) from the province of Quebec, Canada. Normative data for the RL/RI-16 were derived from 80% of the total sample (normative sample) and cross-validated using the remaining participants (20%; validation sample). The effects of participants' age, sex, and education level were assessed on different indices of memory performance. Results indicated that these variables were independently associated with performance. Normative data are presented as regression equations with standard deviations (symmetric distributions) and percentiles (asymmetric distributions).

  5. A normative study of lexical verbal fluency in an educationally-diverse elderly population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Bong Jo; Lee, Cheol Soon; Oh, Byoung Hoon; Hong, Chang Hyung; Lee, Kang Soo; Son, Sang Joon; Han, Changsu; Park, Moon Ho; Jeong, Hyun-Ghang; Kim, Tae Hui; Park, Joon Hyuk; Kim, Ki Woong

    2013-12-01

    Lexical fluency tests are frequently used to assess language and executive function in clinical practice. We investigated the influences of age, gender, and education on lexical verbal fluency in an educationally-diverse, elderly Korean population and provided its' normative information. We administered the lexical verbal fluency test (LVFT) to 1676 community-dwelling, cognitively normal subjects aged 60 years or over. In a stepwise linear regression analysis, education (B=0.40, SE=0.02, standardized B=0.506) and age (B=-0.10, SE=0.01, standardized B=-0.15) had significant effects on LVFT scores (p0.05). Education explained 28.5% of the total variance in LVFT scores, which was much larger than the variance explained by age (5.42%). Accordingly, we presented normative data of the LVFT stratified by age (60-69, 70-74, 75-79, and ≥80 years) and education (0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and ≥13 years). The LVFT norms should provide clinically useful data for evaluating elderly people and help improve the interpretation of verbal fluency tasks and allow for greater diagnostic accuracy.

  6. Conflicting Incentives Risk Analysis: A Case Study of the Normative Peer Review Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaute Wangen

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an approach to conduct risk assessments of complex incentive systems, using a case study of the normative Peer Review Process (PRP. This research centers on appliances and adaptations of the Conflicting Incentives Risk Analysis (CIRA. First as an approach to Root Cause Analysis of a known incident, and then for a full assessment of the incentives in the PRP together with possible risk treatments. CIRA uses an alternative notion of risk, where risk modeling is in terms of conflicting incentives between the risk owner and the stakeholders concerning the execution of actions. Compared to traditional risk assessment approaches, CIRA provides an insight into the underlying incentives behind a risk, and not just the technical vulnerability, likelihood and consequence. The main contributions of this work are an approach to obtain insight into incentives as root causes, and an approach to detecting and analyzing risks from incentives in the normative PRP. This paper also discusses risk treatments in terms of incentives to make the PRP more robust, together with a discussion of how to approach risk analysis of incentives.

  7. Gender Role Attitudes and Male Adolescent Dating Violence Perpetration: Normative Beliefs as Moderators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes, H Luz McNaughton; Foshee, Vangie A; Niolon, Phyllis Holditch; Reidy, Dennis E; Hall, Jeffrey E

    2016-02-01

    Commonly used dating violence prevention programs assume that promotion of more egalitarian gender role attitudes will prevent dating violence perpetration. Empirical research examining this assumption, however, is limited and inconsistent. The current study examined the longitudinal association between gender role attitudes and physical dating violence perpetration among adolescent boys (n = 577; 14 % Black, 5 % other race/ethnicity) and examined whether injunctive (i.e., acceptance of dating violence) and descriptive (i.e., beliefs about dating violence prevalence) normative beliefs moderated the association. As expected, the findings suggest that traditional gender role attitudes at T1 were associated with increased risk for dating violence perpetration 18 months later (T2) among boys who reported high, but not low, acceptance of dating violence (injunctive normative beliefs) at T1. Descriptive norms did not moderate the effect of gender role attitudes on dating violence perpetration. The results suggest that injunctive norms and gender role attitudes work synergistically to increase risk for dating violence perpetration among boys; as such, simultaneously targeting both of these constructs may be an effective prevention approach.

  8. Symbol Digit Modalities Test: Normative data for the Latin American Spanish speaking adult population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arango-Lasprilla, J C; Rivera, D; Rodríguez, G; Garza, M T; Galarza-Del-Angel, J; Rodríguez, W; Velázquez-Cardoso, J; Aguayo, A; Schebela, S; Weil, C; Longoni, M; Aliaga, A; Ocampo-Barba, N; Saracho, C P; Panyavin, I; Esenarro, L; Martínez, C; García de la Cadena, C; Perrin, P B

    2015-01-01

    To generate normative data on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) across 11 countries in Latin America, with country-specific adjustments for gender, age, and education, where appropriate. The sample consisted of 3,977 healthy adults who were recruited from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and, Puerto Rico. Each subject was administered the SDMT as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. A standardized five-step statistical procedure was used to generate the norms. The final multiple linear regression models explained 29-56% of the variance in SDMT scores. Although there were gender differences on the SDMT in Mexico, Honduras, Paraguay, and Guatemala, none of the four countries had an effect size greater than 0.3. As a result, gender-adjusted norms were not generated. This is the first normative multicenter study conducted in Latin America to create norms for the SDMT; this study will have an impact on the future practice of neuropsychology throughout the global region.

  9. Accessibility of tertiary hospitals in Finland: A comparison of administrative and normative catchment areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huotari, Tiina; Antikainen, Harri; Keistinen, Timo; Rusanen, Jarmo

    2017-06-01

    The determination of an appropriate catchment area for a hospital providing highly specialized (i.e. tertiary) health care is typically a trade-off between ensuring adequate client volumes and maintaining reasonable accessibility for all potential clients. This may pose considerable challenges, especially in sparsely inhabited regions. In Finland, tertiary health care is concentrated in five university hospitals, which provide services in their dedicated catchment areas. This study utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS), together with grid-based population data and travel-time estimates, to assess the spatial accessibility of these hospitals. The current geographical configuration of the hospitals is compared to a normative assignment, with and without capacity constraints. The aim is to define optimal catchment areas for tertiary hospitals so that their spatial accessibility is as equal as possible. The results indicate that relatively modest improvements can be achieved in accessibility by using normative assignment to determine catchment areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. The Normative and Legal Mechanism for Provision of the Strategic Planning of Regional Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuharskaya Natalia O.

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The normative and legal provision of the strategic planning of regional development is presented. Features of strategic planning at the regional level in modern conditions are considered. The problems that prevent the use of the system of strategic planning without giving an opportunity both to develop significant plans and to ensure their realization were analyzed. It has been determined that Ukraine as a whole has a normative and legal base for the efficient development of regions, but it requires systematization and harmonization, as some issues are still unresolved. Proposals for further improvement of institutional mechanisms of strategic planning at the regional level are presented, which will improve the quality of development of strategic documents in the process of adoption of managerial decisions. Prospect for further research is the formation of scientifically substantiated proposals to improve the legislation regulating the issues of planning and implementation of strategies for socio-economic development of regions.

  11. Evidence of social network influence on multiple HIV risk behaviors and normative beliefs among young Tanzanian men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulawa, Marta; Yamanis, Thespina J; Hill, Lauren M; Balvanz, Peter; Kajula, Lusajo J; Maman, Suzanne

    2016-03-01

    Research on network-level influences on HIV risk behaviors among young men in sub-Saharan Africa is severely lacking. One significant gap in the literature that may provide direction for future research with this population is understanding the degree to which various HIV risk behaviors and normative beliefs cluster within men's social networks. Such research may help us understand which HIV-related norms and behaviors have the greatest potential to be changed through social influence. Additionally, few network-based studies have described the structure of social networks of young men in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the structure of men's peer networks may motivate future research examining the ways in which network structures shape the spread of information, adoption of norms, and diffusion of behaviors. We contribute to filling these gaps by using social network analysis and multilevel modeling to describe a unique dataset of mostly young men (n = 1249 men and 242 women) nested within 59 urban social networks in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We examine the means, ranges, and clustering of men's HIV-related normative beliefs and behaviors. Networks in this urban setting varied substantially in both composition and structure and a large proportion of men engaged in risky behaviors including inconsistent condom use, sexual partner concurrency, and intimate partner violence perpetration. We found significant clustering of normative beliefs and risk behaviors within these men's social networks. Specifically, network membership explained between 5.78 and 7.17% of variance in men's normative beliefs and between 1.93 and 15.79% of variance in risk behaviors. Our results suggest that social networks are important socialization sites for young men and may influence the adoption of norms and behaviors. We conclude by calling for more research on men's social networks in Sub-Saharan Africa and map out several areas of future inquiry. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All

  12. Bystanders' responses to offline bullying and cyberbullying: The role of empathy and normative beliefs about aggression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machackova, Hana; Pfetsch, Jan

    2016-04-01

    Cyberbullying often takes place with the virtual presence or knowledge of bystanders. While we have some evidence about the determinants of bystanders' responses to offline bullying, we lack empirical studies concerning the variables that influence bystanders' responses to cyberbullying. The current study examines bystanders' responses to offline bullying and cyberbullying incidents. Two types of responses were captured: support toward the victims and the reinforcement of bullies' actions. Using data from 321 German adolescents (ages 12-18; M = 14.99; 44% girls), the association between bystanders' responses and normative beliefs about verbal aggression and cyberaggression, and affective and cognitive empathy, were tested in a path model. Both types of normative beliefs positively predicted the reinforcement of bullies, and normative belief about verbal aggression also predicted support for the victims of offline bullying. Both types of empathy predicted support in offline bullying, but only affective empathy predicted support in cyberbullying. There was no link between affective or cognitive empathy to the reinforcement of bullies. Moreover, bystanders' tendencies to respond supportively to the victim or to reinforce the bully were rather consistent in both cyber- and offline bullying, but there was no link between support and reinforcement. The findings are discussed with regard to implications for prevention and intervention efforts. © 2016 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Moral Disengagement, Normative Beliefs of Peer Group, and Attitudes Regarding Roles in Bullying

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almeida, Ana; Correia, Isabel; Marinho, Sylvie

    2010-01-01

    This article examines how moral disengagement, empathy, belief in a just world, and peer group normative beliefs regarding the roles of bully and defender of the victim are associated with attitudes regarding the roles of the bully and the defender of the victim. Two hundred ninety-two students from grades 6-9 participated. Results showed that…

  14. The all-too-flexible abductive method: ATOM's normative status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romeijn, Jan-Willem

    2008-09-01

    The author discusses the abductive theory of method (ATOM) by Brian Haig from a philosophical perspective, connecting his theory with a number of issues and trends in contemporary philosophy of science. It is argued that as it stands, the methodology presented by Haig is too permissive. Both the use of analogical reasoning and the application of exploratory factor analysis leave us with too many candidate theories to choose from, and explanatory coherence cannot be expected to save the day. The author ends with some suggestions to remedy the permissiveness and lack of normative force in ATOM, deriving from the experimental practice within which psychological data are produced.

  15. Examining the Efficacy of a Personalized Normative Feedback Intervention to Reduce College Student Gambling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Celio, Mark A.; Lisman, Stephen A.

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a stand-alone personalized normative feedback (PNF) intervention targeting misperceptions of gambling among college students. Participants: Undergraduates (N = 136; 55% male) who reported gambling in the past 30 days were recruited between September 2011 and March 2012. Methods: Using a randomized clinical…

  16. The Use of Teachers' Baseline Normative Beliefs to Guide Professional Development in Teaching Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lloyd, Mary Elizabeth Riley; Veal, William; Howell, Malia

    2016-01-01

    This article describes the normative beliefs and the discursive claims related to mathematics and teaching mathematics made by approximately 50 middle-level and secondary mathematics teachers within four high-need local education associations participating in a Mathematics and Science Partnership with a southeastern college's Science and Math for…

  17. Age and education corrected older adult normative data for a short form version of the Financial Capacity Instrument.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerstenecker, Adam; Eakin, Amanda; Triebel, Kristen; Martin, Roy; Swenson-Dravis, Dana; Petersen, Ronald C; Marson, Daniel

    2016-06-01

    Financial capacity is an instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) that comprises multiple abilities and is critical to independence and autonomy in older adults. Because of its cognitive complexity, financial capacity is often the first IADL to show decline in prodromal and clinical Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Despite its importance, few standardized assessment measures of financial capacity exist and there is little, if any, normative data available to evaluate financial skills in the elderly. The Financial Capacity Instrument-Short Form (FCI-SF) is a brief measure of financial skills designed to evaluate financial skills in older adults with cognitive impairment. In the current study, we present age- and education-adjusted normative data for FCI-SF variables in a sample of 1344 cognitively normal, community-dwelling older adults participating in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging (MCSA) in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Individual FCI-SF raw scores were first converted to age-corrected scaled scores based on position within a cumulative frequency distribution and then grouped within 4 empirically supported and overlapping age ranges. These age-corrected scaled scores were then converted to age- and education-corrected scaled scores using the same methodology. This study has the potential to substantially enhance financial capacity evaluations of older adults through the introduction of age- and education-corrected normative data for the FCI-SF by allowing clinicians to: (a) compare an individual's performance to that of a sample of similar age and education peers, (b) interpret various aspects of financial capacity relative to a normative sample, and (c) make comparisons between these aspects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. Normative values of cognitive and physical function in older adults: findings from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kenny, Rose Anne; Coen, Robert F; Frewen, John; Donoghue, Orna A; Cronin, Hilary; Savva, George M

    2013-05-01

    To provide normative values of tests of cognitive and physical function based on a large sample representative of the population of Ireland aged 50 and older. Data were used from the first wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a prospective cohort study that includes a comprehensive health assessment. Health assessment was undertaken at one of two dedicated health assessment centers or in the study participant's home if travel was not practicable. Five thousand eight hundred ninety-seven members of a nationally representative sample of the community-living population of Ireland aged 50 and older. Those with severe cognitive impairment, dementia, or Parkinson's disease were excluded. Measurements included height and weight, normal walking speed, Timed Up-and-Go, handgrip strength, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Color Trails Test, and bone mineral density. Normative values were estimated using generalized additive models for location shape and scale (GAMLSS) and are presented as percentiles, means, and standard deviations. Generalized additive models for location shape and scale fit the observed data well for each measure, leading to reliable estimates of normative values. Performance on all tasks decreased with age. Educational attainment was a strong determinant of performance on all cognitive tests. Tests of walking speed were dependent on height. Distribution of body mass index did not change with age, owing to simultaneous declines in weight and height. Normative values were found for tests of many aspects of cognitive and physical function based on a representative sample of the general older Irish population. © 2013, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2013, The American Geriatrics Society.

  19. [Mini-Mental State Examination: Screening and Diagnosis of Cognitive Decline, Using New Normative Data].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santana, Isabel; Duro, Diana; Lemos, Raquel; Costa, Vanessa; Pereira, Miguel; Simões, Mário R; Freitas, Sandra

    2016-04-01

    The Mini-Mental State Examination is the most commonly used cognitive screening test. In Portugal, the cut-off scores are defined according to literacy groups, but different proposals have been recommended by more representative studies. We therefore propose to confirm the influence of demographical variables, such as age and education, in the subjectâs performance; evaluating the discriminant ability of the new normative data; and to further examine the diagnostic acuity of the validated cut-off scoring for mild cognitive impairment and for the most prevalent types of dementia. Our study includes 1 441 educated subjects, divided into seven subgroups: Mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, community-controls and memory clinic-controls. Altogether age and education explain 10.4% of the Mini-Mental State Examination results variance, with both variables contributing significantly to the resultsâ prediction. The diagnostic acuity based on the most recent normative data was always higher than the one obtained through the validation cut-off scoring, revealing an overall excellent specificity (superior to 90%) and different sensitivity values: excellent for mild Alzheimer's disease (91%), good for dementia with Lewy Bodies (78%) and low for mild cognitive impairment (65%), frontotemporal dementia and vascular dementia (55%). The performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination is influenced by age and education, supporting the use of normative data that consider those variables. With this approach, the Mini-Mental State Examination could be a sensitive and specific instrument for the Alzheimer's disease screening among all healthcare levels. Nevertheless, its diagnostic acuity is limited in other conditions frequently seen in memory clinics, such as Mild Cognitive Impairment and other types of dementia.

  20. Normative data for hand grip strength and key pinch strength, stratified by age and gender for a multiethnic Asian population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lam, Ngee Wei; Goh, Hui Ting; Kamaruzzaman, Shahrul Bahyah; Chin, Ai-Vyrn; Poi, Philip Jun Hua; Tan, Maw Pin

    2016-10-01

    Hand strength is a good indicator of physical fitness and frailty among the elderly. However, there are no published hand strength references for Malaysians aged > 65 years. This study aimed to establish normative data for hand grip strength (HGS) and key pinch strength (KPS) for Malaysians aged ≥ 60 years, and explore the relationship between hand strength and physical ability. Healthy participants aged ≥ 60 years with no neurological conditions were recruited from rural and urban locations in Malaysia. HGS and KPS were measured using hand grip and key pinch dynamometers. Basic demographic data, anthropometric measures, modified Barthel Index scores and results of the Functional Reach Test (FRT), Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT) were recorded. 362 subjects aged 60-93 years were recruited. The men were significantly stronger than the women in both HGS and KPS (p Malaysia. Future studies are required to determine the modifiable factors for poor hand strength. Copyright: © Singapore Medical Association

  1. Users’ encounter with normative discourses on Facebook

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mathieu, David

    2016-01-01

    This study asks whether users’ encounter with normative discourses of lifestyle, consumption, and health on social media such as Facebook gives rise to agency. The theoretical framework draws on reception analysis, for its implied, but central interest in agency that lies at the intersection...... of texts and audiences. Based on a critique of the “participatory paradigm,” a paradigm that situates the locus of agency in the structural opposition between senders and users, in the norms of rational deliberation or in the figure of the activist, gaps are identified which can be filled by adopting...... an explicit focus on the socio-cultural practices of ordinary audiences in their encounters with media discourses. The study investigates user agency on seven Facebook groups and pages with the help of a three-pronged perspective based on the notion of the media–audience relationship as (1) power structure...

  2. Normative data for a battery of free recall, cued recall and recognition tests in the elderly Italian population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coluccia, Emanuele; Gamboz, Nadia; Brandimonte, Maria A

    2011-12-01

    The present study aimed to provide normative data on a large sample of the elderly Italian population (N = 464; range of age = 49-94; range of education = 3-25) on both the word and the picture versions of a battery of free recall, cued recall, and recognition tests of memory. Results from multiple regression analyses showed that both age and education were significant predictors of performance. Therefore, norms were calculated taking into account these demographic variables. The availability of normative data based on a large sample will allow a more reliable use of the battery for clinical assessment in Italian-speaking dementia population.

  3. Contested Normative Cultures. Gendered Perspectives on Religions and the Public/Private Divide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Hanne

    2012-01-01

    The article considers religious and secular normative cultures from a gendered perspective focusing on gender and the class and gender privileges linked to the introduction of a public/private divide. It finally discusses issues concerning 'gender display' and gender performance in the 21st century...... as a field, where 'religion', 'public', 'private' and 'gender' overlap, interact, and possibly take on new forms and new meanings and changes all involved actors....

  4. Radiographic measurements of hip dysplasia at skeletal maturity - new reference intervals based on 2,038 19-year-old Norwegians

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Laborie, Lene Bjerke; Rosendahl, Karen [University of Bergen, Department of Surgical Sciences, Bergen (Norway); Haukeland University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Bergen (Norway); Engesaeter, Ingvild Oevsteboe [University of Bergen, Department of Surgical Sciences, Bergen (Norway); Haukeland University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Bergen (Norway); Haukeland University Hospital, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bergen (Norway); Lehmann, Trude Gundersen; Engesaeter, Lars Birger [University of Bergen, Department of Surgical Sciences, Bergen (Norway); Haukeland University Hospital, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bergen (Norway); Sera, Francesco; Dezateux, Carol [UCL Institute of Child Health, MRC Centre of Epidemiology for Child Health, London (United Kingdom)

    2013-07-15

    Normative references for radiographic measurements commonly used in the diagnosis of developmental dysplasia of the hip at skeletal maturity are incomplete. The present study therefore aimed to establish new gender-specific standards for measurements reflecting the acetabular morphology, namely Sharp's angle, the acetabular roof angle of Toennis (AA) and the acetabular depth-width ratio (ADR), and measurements reflecting the position of the femoral head related to the acetabulum, namely the center-edge (CE) angle of Wiberg, the refined CE angle of Ogata, and the femoral head extrusion index (FHEI). The joint space width (JSW) is also reported. The population-based 1989 Bergen Birth Cohort (n = 3,935) was invited at age 19 years to a follow-up during 2007-09, of which 2,038 (52 %) attended. A standardized antero-posterior radiograph was assessed. The normative references are presented as mean {+-} standard deviation (SD) and 2.5-97.5 percentiles with 95 % confidence intervals. A total of 2,011 (841 males, 1,170 females, mean age 18.6 (SD 0.6)) radiographs were analyzed. Sharp's angle was 38.8 {+-} 3.5 in males and 40.7 {+-} 3.5 in females, with 97.5 percentiles of 46 and 47 , respectively. The CE angle was 32.1 {+-} 6.1 in males and 31.0 {+-} 6.1 in females, with 2.5 percentiles of 21 and 20 , respectively. The FHEI was 86.0 % {+-} 6.3 % in males and 85.6 % {+-} 6.6 % in females, with 2.5 percentiles of 74 and 73 , respectively. Updated gender-specific reference ranges for radiographic measurements commonly used for hip dysplasia at skeletal maturity are reported, similar to or slightly wider than those described in the literature. Statistically significant gender differences have been confirmed for most of the measurements. (orig.)

  5. Wideband Acoustic Immittance: Normative Study and Test-Retest Reliability of Tympanometric Measurements in Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Xiao-Ming

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present normative data of tympanometric measurements of wideband acoustic immittance and to characterize wideband tympanograms. Method: Data were collected in 84 young adults with strictly defined normal hearing and middle ear status. Energy absorbance (EA) was measured using clicks for 1/12-octave…

  6. Normative adjustments to the D-KEFS trail making test: corrections for education and vocabulary level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fine, Eric M; Delis, Dean C; Holdnack, James

    2011-11-01

    The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Trail Making Test (TMT), a modification of the original TMT, was created to isolate set-shifting (Letter-Number Switching) from other component skills. This was accomplished by including four baseline conditions (Visual Scanning, Number Sequencing, Letter Sequencing, and Motor Speed) and by placing equal numbers of stimuli in the three sequencing conditions. Given that some studies with the original TMT demonstrated a significant effect of education and intellectual functioning on performance, we utilized the D-KEFS national standardization sample to examine the effects of education and vocabulary level-i.e., Vocabulary subtest from the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI)-on the D-KEFS TMT. The results indicate a significant effect of these variables on each D-KEFS TMT condition. Normative tables for education- and vocabulary-adjusted scaled scores based on the database from the D-KEFS national normative study were generated.

  7. Creating a normative database of age-specific 3D geometrical data, bone density, and bone thickness of the developing skull: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delye, Hans; Clijmans, Tim; Mommaerts, Maurice Yves; Sloten, Jos Vnder; Goffin, Jan

    2015-12-01

    Finite element models (FEMs) of the head are used to study the biomechanics of traumatic brain injury and depend heavily on the use of accurate material properties and head geometry. Any FEM aimed at investigating traumatic head injury in children should therefore use age-specific dimensions of the head, as well as age-specific material properties of the different tissues. In this study, the authors built a database of age-corrected skull geometry, skull thickness, and bone density of the developing skull to aid in the development of an age-specific FEM of a child's head. Such a database, containing age-corrected normative skull geometry data, can also be used for preoperative surgical planning and postoperative long-term follow-up of craniosynostosis surgery results. Computed tomography data were processed for 187 patients (age range 0-20 years old). A 3D surface model was calculated from segmented skull surfaces. Skull models, reference points, and sutures were processed into a MATLAB-supported database. This process included automatic calculation of 2D measurements as well as 3D measurements: length of the coronal suture, length of the lambdoid suture, and the 3D anterior-posterior length, defined as the sum of the metopic and sagittal suture. Skull thickness and skull bone density calculations were included. Cephalic length, cephalic width, intercoronal distance, lateral orbital distance, intertemporal distance, and 3D measurements were obtained, confirming the well-established general growth pattern of the skull. Skull thickness increases rapidly in the first year of life, slowing down during the second year of life, while skull density increases with a fast but steady pace during the first 3 years of life. Both skull thickness and density continue to increase up to adulthood. This is the first report of normative data on 2D and 3D measurements, skull bone thickness, and skull bone density for children aged 0-20 years. This database can help build an age

  8. Normative framework for the protection against genetic discrimination in Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrušić Nevena

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper is devoted to a normative framework of protection against genetic discrimination in the legal system of the Republic of Serbia, contained in the Law on Patients Rights, as of 2013 and in the Law on Prevention and diagnostics of genetic disorders, genetically conditioned anomalies and rare diseases, as of 2015. The analysis has shown that the rules on protection of the genetic data and the use of genetic samples, which are crucially important for prevention of genetic discrimination, have not been harmonized with contemporary ethical and legal standards. The contents of the Article 9 of the Law on Prevention and diagnostics of genetic disorders, genetically conditioned anomalies and rare diseases reduces the scope and level of protection against genetic discrimination in relation to the protection, given by the General Antidiscrimination Law. The legal definition of the genetic discrimination notion is not comprehensive, clear or precise, either, so it causes confusions, which, additionally, make the application of anti-discrimination regulations more difficult. Having in mind the harmful effects caused by the genetic discrimination, there is a need to eliminate the observed normative failures in due time and enable people to enjoy the benefits, provided by genetic investigations, without the fear from discrimination. In order to prevent the genetic discrimination, it is necessary to work on both information providing and raising awareness about the genetic privacy and the genetic discrimination problem, but also on promotion of the social justice and development of sensibility for bioethical challenges brought by the new age.

  9. Normative influence and desired family size among young people in rural Egypt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harbour, Catherine

    2011-06-01

    Research has identified the lack of acceptance of a two-child-family norm as the biggest obstacle to achieving replacement-level fertility in Egypt. This analysis examines norms about desired family size for 1,366 males and 1,367 females aged 15-24 in 2004 in rural Minya governorate. Two-level random-effects multivariate logistic regression models, stratified by sex and grouped by neighborhood, are used to assess normative influence at the household and neighborhood levels, controlling for individual- and household-level covariates. In the final model, young males in neighborhoods where more people desire a small family are 33 percent more likely to desire a small family than are young males in other neighborhoods. Young females in households with one or more adults preferring a small family are 78 percent more likely to desire a small family, and young females in households with one or more young people who prefer a small family are 37 percent more likely to desire a small family themselves, compared with those living with adults or with young people, respectively, who do not prefer a small family. Programs aiming to reduce fertility should be aware of gender differences in the sources of normative influence on desired family size.

  10. Untimed Design Fluency in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease: Psychometrics and Normative Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sunderaraman, Preeti; Sokolov, Elisaveta; Cines, Sarah; Sullo, Elizabeth; Orly, Aidan; Lerer, Bianca; Karlawish, Jason; Huey, Edward; Cosentino, Stephanie

    2015-01-01

    Design fluency tests, commonly used in both clinical and research contexts to evaluate nonverbal concept generation, have the potential to offer useful information in the differentiation of healthy versus pathological aging. Although normative data for older adults (OAs) are available for multiple timed versions of this test, similar data have been unavailable for a previously published untimed test, the Graphic Pattern Generation Test (GPG). Time constraints common to almost all of the available design fluency tests may cloud interpretation of higher-level executive abilities-for example, in individuals with slow processing speed. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the GPG and presents normative data in a sample of 167 healthy OAs and 110 individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results suggest that a brief version of the GPG can be administered reliably and that this short form has high test-retest and interrater reliability. Number of perseverations was higher in individuals with AD as compared with OAs. A cutoff score of 4 or more perseverations showed a moderate degree of sensitivity (76%) and specificity (37%) in distinguishing individuals with AD and OAs. Finally, perseverations were associated with nonmemory indexes, thereby underscoring the nonverbal nature of this error in OAs and individuals with AD.

  11. Reliability and normative data for the comprehensive assessment of prospective memory (CAPM).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chau, Lien T; Lee, Jessica B; Fleming, Jennifer; Roche, Nadine; Shum, David

    2007-12-01

    The Comprehensive Assessment of Prospective Memory (CAPM) is a questionnaire designed to evaluate frequency of prospective memory (PM) failures in people with brain injury. The aims of this study were to investigate the psychometric properties of the CAPM, including test-retest reliability and internal consistency, and to establish normative data by comparing CAPM scores between groups on the basis of sex, age, and education. Data were collected on 95 people aged 15-60 years living in the community, with no history of brain injury, using the CAPM. The results showed that the test-retest reliability and internal consistency for the CAPM were within acceptable ranges, indicating that the CAPM provides a stable and homogenous measure of an individual's self-report of PM failures. Normative data are presented in two age groups based on the significant difference found between the age groups 15-30 years and 31-60 years. These established norms can be used to describe perceived or observed behaviours indicative of PM failure in patients with brain injury by comparing CAPM ratings from significant others with the norms. The CAPM questionnaire provides researchers or clinicians with a stable and reliable assessment option that specifically focuses on PM for individuals with brain injury.

  12. The construction of a normative instrument for the measurement of moral reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. C. White

    2001-09-01

    Full Text Available The main aim of this study was to construct a normative instrument for the measurement of different levels of moral reasoning.The sample comprised 426 undergraduate students in Industrial Psychology and Personnel Management from two Afrikaans speaking universities. A questionnaire was developed to measure different levels of moral reasoning on a normative scale. A factor analysis on 90 items yielded two factors.These factors were interpreted as principled moral reasoning and prescriptive moral reasoning.The two scales were subjected to an item analysis and yielded reliability coeficients of 0,936 and 0,937.The implications of these findings are discussed. Opsomming Die hoofdoel van die studie was om’n normatiewe meetinstrument te konstrueer vir die meting van verskillende vlakke van morele redenering. Die steekproef het uit 426 voorgraadse students in Bedryfsielkunde en Personeelbestuur aan twee Afrikaanstalige universiteite bestaan. ’n Normatiewe skaal is ontwikkel om verskillende vlakke van morele redenering temeet.’n Faktorontleding van die 90 items in die skaal het twee faktore tot gevolg gehad, naamlik principiele morele redenering en voorskriftelikemorele redenering. Die skale is vervolgens aan’n itemontleding onderwerp en het betroubaarhede van 0,936 en 0,947, onderskeidelik, opgelewer. Die implikasies van die bevindinge word bespreek.

  13. Establishing Normative Values for the Barnett Balance Assessment Tool: A Preliminary Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica L. Cercone MSOTS

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to establish normative data for the Barnett Balance Assessment (BBA for individuals ages 18-70+ years. The BBA is a newly developed assessment tool that may address limitations present in other assessments currently used to detect balance deficits. The BBA was administered to 141 participants who had no history of medical issues that could impact balance. A review of the normative data collected indicated little variation in total assessment scores in the age categories of 18-29, 30-39, and 40-49, due to the presence of a ceiling effect. Variations existed in scores among participants in the remaining age categories (50-59, 60-69, and 70+. These findings may imply that the BBA has its greatest discriminative power in assessing individuals with impaired balance, and/or that the BBA is not sensitive enough to detect differences in individuals with mild balance impairments. The researchers suggest future studies be conducted with the BBA to establish norms with populations with known orthopedic or neurological conditions that may impair balance. Results of these studies could then be compared with the baseline data gathered in this study to determine the BBA’s usefulness in detecting balance impairments with clinical populations.

  14. Morphing the feature-based multi-blocks of normative/healthy vertebral geometries to scoliosis vertebral geometries: development of personalized finite element models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadagali, Prasannaah; Peters, James R; Balasubramanian, Sriram

    2018-03-12

    Personalized Finite Element (FE) models and hexahedral elements are preferred for biomechanical investigations. Feature-based multi-block methods are used to develop anatomically accurate personalized FE models with hexahedral mesh. It is tedious to manually construct multi-blocks for large number of geometries on an individual basis to develop personalized FE models. Mesh-morphing method mitigates the aforementioned tediousness in meshing personalized geometries every time, but leads to element warping and loss of geometrical data. Such issues increase in magnitude when normative spine FE model is morphed to scoliosis-affected spinal geometry. The only way to bypass the issue of hex-mesh distortion or loss of geometry as a result of morphing is to rely on manually constructing the multi-blocks for scoliosis-affected spine geometry of each individual, which is time intensive. A method to semi-automate the construction of multi-blocks on the geometry of scoliosis vertebrae from the existing multi-blocks of normative vertebrae is demonstrated in this paper. High-quality hexahedral elements were generated on the scoliosis vertebrae from the morphed multi-blocks of normative vertebrae. Time taken was 3 months to construct the multi-blocks for normative spine and less than a day for scoliosis. Efforts taken to construct multi-blocks on personalized scoliosis spinal geometries are significantly reduced by morphing existing multi-blocks.

  15. From moral to legal judgment : the influence of normative context in lawyers and other academics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schleim, Stephan; Spranger, Tade M.; Erk, Susanne; Walter, Henrik

    Various kinds of normative judgments are an integral part of everyday life. We extended the scrutiny of social cognitive neuroscience into the domain of legal decisions, investigating two groups, lawyers and other academics, during moral and legal decision-making. While we found activation of brain

  16. Multivariate normative comparison, a novel method for more reliably detecting cognitive impairment in HIV infection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Su, Tanja; Schouten, Judith; Geurtsen, Gert J.; Wit, Ferdinand W.; Stolte, Ineke G.; Prins, Maria; Portegies, Peter; Caan, Matthan W. A.; Reiss, Peter; Majoie, Charles B.; Schmand, Ben A.

    2015-01-01

    The objective of this study is to assess whether multivariate normative comparison (MNC) improves detection of HIV-1-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) as compared with Frascati and Gisslén criteria. One-hundred and three HIV-1-infected men with suppressed viremia on combination

  17. The Sense of Confidence during Probabilistic Learning: A Normative Account.

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    Florent Meyniel

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Learning in a stochastic environment consists of estimating a model from a limited amount of noisy data, and is therefore inherently uncertain. However, many classical models reduce the learning process to the updating of parameter estimates and neglect the fact that learning is also frequently accompanied by a variable "feeling of knowing" or confidence. The characteristics and the origin of these subjective confidence estimates thus remain largely unknown. Here we investigate whether, during learning, humans not only infer a model of their environment, but also derive an accurate sense of confidence from their inferences. In our experiment, humans estimated the transition probabilities between two visual or auditory stimuli in a changing environment, and reported their mean estimate and their confidence in this report. To formalize the link between both kinds of estimate and assess their accuracy in comparison to a normative reference, we derive the optimal inference strategy for our task. Our results indicate that subjects accurately track the likelihood that their inferences are correct. Learning and estimating confidence in what has been learned appear to be two intimately related abilities, suggesting that they arise from a single inference process. We show that human performance matches several properties of the optimal probabilistic inference. In particular, subjective confidence is impacted by environmental uncertainty, both at the first level (uncertainty in stimulus occurrence given the inferred stochastic characteristics and at the second level (uncertainty due to unexpected changes in these stochastic characteristics. Confidence also increases appropriately with the number of observations within stable periods. Our results support the idea that humans possess a quantitative sense of confidence in their inferences about abstract non-sensory parameters of the environment. This ability cannot be reduced to simple heuristics, it seems

  18. IDENTITATEA EUROPEANĂ. FUNDAMENTE FILOSOFICE, ASPECTE NORMATIVE SI PROIECŢII POLITICE

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    Prof. univ. dr. Cristian BOCANCEA

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available A new European construction makes sense when the utopiabecomes factual reality. The philosophical bases of the Europenism areuseful to the extent to which they clarify the effort of theoretical construction,without which the prime nucleus and then the extension of the United Europewould not have had the same chances of success. The normative aspectscontained in the treaties , laws and documents become substantial onlythrough this long preparation, with an aspect which is mainly intelectual, butrelevant, as the European construction is a process starting from the top ofthe pyramid and not from its basis: the citizen.

  19. Impact of a school-based peer sexual health intervention on normative beliefs, risk perceptions, and sexual behavior of Zambian adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agha, Sohail; Van Rossem, Ronan

    2004-05-01

    To determine whether adolescents' normative beliefs about abstinence and condoms, their personal risk perception, and safer sex practices changed after the implementation of a peer sexual health education intervention implemented in Zambian secondary schools. The peer intervention was implemented during the first week of September 2000 in Lusaka, Zambia. A quasi-experimental, longitudinal panel design was used to evaluate its impact. Three schools were randomly assigned to the intervention condition and two to the control condition. Three rounds of data from male and female adolescents in grades 10 and 11 were collected at baseline in July 2000, at first follow-up in the second half of September 2000, and at second follow-up in early April 2001. A total of 416 respondents aged 14-23 (at baseline) were interviewed in all three survey rounds. A mixed-effects logistic regression growth curve analysis was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios to compare intervention and control groups on the outcome variables. Student self-reports showed positive changes in normative beliefs about abstinence immediately after the intervention, and these improvements were largely sustained until 6 months after the intervention. Students became more likely to approve of condom use and to intend using condoms immediately after the intervention, but these positive outcomes could not be sustained during the 6 months that followed the intervention. Normative beliefs regarding condom use took longer to develop: these were only observed at 6 months follow-up. Students reported reductions in multiple regular partnerships. There was no change in condom use. A single session school-based peer sexual health intervention resulted in the development of normative beliefs about abstinence that were sustained over a 6-month period. Normative beliefs about condoms took longer to develop. More regular efforts may be required to sustain the approval of, and the intention to use, condoms. The intervention

  20. Normative and systems integration in human resource management in Japanese multinational companies

    OpenAIRE

    Furusawa, Masayuki; Brewster, Chris; Takashina, Toshinori

    2016-01-01

    Purpose\\ud This paper aims to conceptualise a framework of “transnational human resource management” (HRM) and to demonstrate the validity of the model.\\ud \\ud Design/methodology/approach\\ud Evidence is drawn from survey of 93 large Japanese multinational companies (MNCs). Data are analysed through descriptive statistics, hierarchical multiple regression analyses and mediation effect analyses.\\ud \\ud Findings\\ud The analysis reveals that the practices for normative and systems integration are...

  1. Normative Regulation of Anti-Corruption in the System of Local Self-Government

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    Darya F. Kupcha

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available In the present work authors attempt to analyze normative acts aimed at regulating relations in the sphere of counteracting corruption at the level of local self-government. In the conclusion authors summarize that despite criticism, in the Russian Federation, a system of regulatory regulation to counteract corruption (including at the local level is formed. Further improvements of this system should be made in the legal regulation at the local level.

  2. CNEN, IAEA and ISO normative requirements for measurement management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kibrit, Eduardo

    2009-01-01

    International standard ISO 10012:2003 establishes requirements for measurement management systems, including requirements for measurement processes and measuring equipment. ISO 9001:2008 presents requirements for quality management systems, including requirements for the control of monitoring and measuring equipment. ISO 17025:2005 presents general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. In the nuclear field the requirements for measurement management are established by standards published by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and in Brazil, by the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN). The present paper presents and discusses the normative requirements for measurement management, considering requirements established by National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). (author)

  3. MPEG-21 : une base normative pour le e-procurement des TICE

    OpenAIRE

    Preteux, Francoise; Vaucelle, Alain; Ben Henda, Mokhtar; Hudrisier, Henri

    2008-01-01

    28 pages; Facing the challenges of ICT in education as well as the various standardization initiatives specifically by ISO / IEC JTC1 SC36, the authors attempt, within a global and comprehensive description framework to analyze how the MPEG-4, 7 and 21 standards, could provide a normative basis for metadata associated with the ICT in education.; Face aux enjeux des TICE ainsi qu'aux différentes initiatives de normalisation, en particulier par l'ISO/IEC JTC1 SC36, les auteurs, dans un contexte...

  4. Formation of normative-methodical maintenance of quality and safety of campsites

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    Cherepanov Daniil A.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Organization of campsites construction for auto tourists in Russia is an effective means of ensuring their rest and sleep during travel. Formation of normative and methodological support of campsites fire safety should take into account not only security, but also meet consumers' motivation to visit them. The authors examine conditions and requirements for the infrastructure of campsites and their localization, as well as methods of fire risk assessment in camping. They propose camping localization techniques and expert evaluation of fire risk in them.

  5. Gender Equality in Death? The Normative Dimension of Roman Catholic Ossuaries

    OpenAIRE

    Höpflinger, Anna-Katharina

    2015-01-01

    Gender seems to be so important for social orientation that it does not end with death, but forms practices and ideas around death. In Roman Catholic regions across Europe we find charnel houses and ossuaries, where the bones of the deceased have been collected. The exposed mortal remains reminded the living of death and warned them to live a ‘good’ life. To explain the interrelation between such normative demands and the material representation of death, a gender-based perspective is useful:...

  6. A Critical Examination of Chinese Language Media’s Normative Goals and News Decisions

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    Xiaoping Li

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Ethnic media are an integral part of a multicultural communication infrastructure benefiting all Canadians, as they provide services pivotal to immigrants’ settlement, integration, and participation in Canadian society, yet numerous studies of ethnic media reveal deficiencies in their performance. This analysis informed by interview data examines Chinese language media’s normative goals in relation to news decision-making. Outlet news workers convey commendable goals, and those who stress citizen building dedicate themselves to journalistic roles despite unfavourable circumstances. Meanwhile, Chinese language media outlets operate according to norms of social responsibility divergent from mainstream media. Narrow definitions of social responsibility, audience tastes, and perceived community needs influence content and boundaries in and for Chinese language reportage on Canada. Market competition and profit concerns also shape reporting quality, with normative goals trumped by commercial aims. New Canadians with language barriers require informational help if they are to truly become part of Canadian society, exercise their rights, and live up to their responsibilities as citizens. Improvements include professional training for ethnic media workers, inclusion of minority narratives into mainstream media, and publically funded multilingual communications.

  7. Normative cultural values and the experiences of Mexican-American mothers in the neonatal intensive care unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cleveland, Lisa M; Horner, Sharon D

    2012-04-01

    To explore the experiences of Mexican-American mothers who have had infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A convenience sample of 15 English-speaking, Mexican-American women was interviewed. The study used an exploratory qualitative approach. Data collection was conducted through audiotaped, transcribed, semistructured, individual interviews and field notes. The 5 normative cultural values for Latino families-(1) simpatia, (2) personalismo, (3) respeto, (4) familismo, and (5) fatalismo-were used as a sensitizing framework to guide data interpretation. The women's discussions of their NICU experiences clearly reflect the 5 normative Latino cultural values. Positive and negative exemplars of these values are provided as evidence. These findings can be used to inform nursing care provided for Mexican-American mothers and their infants by assisting nurses to customize care to meet the cultural needs of this population.

  8. Mothers' Cognitions about Relational Aggression: Associations with Discipline Responses, Children's Normative Beliefs, and Peer Competence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werner, Nicole E.; Grant, Samantha

    2009-01-01

    Prior research has shown that parental social cognitions are associated with child outcomes such as aggression. The goal of this study was to examine mothers' cognitions about relational aggression, and to explore linkages between mothers' attributions and normative beliefs about aggression and children's competence with peers. Participants…

  9. A Pilot Study of the Normative Range of Overnight Urinary Free Cortisol Corrected for Creatinine in Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolthers, Ole D; Mersmann, Sabine; Dissanayake, Sanjeeva

    2018-04-01

    For more than a decade, urinary free cortisol corrected for creatinine (OUFCC) has been used to assess the systemic bioactivity of inhaled corticosteroids in children with asthma. Paediatric normative ranges, however, have not been established. The aim of the present study was to define a preliminary range for OUFCC in Tanner stage 1 children. A post hoc analysis was performed of 26 Tanner stage one children (aged 5-11 years) with mild asthma only requiring prn (pro re nata) treatment with short-acting β 2 -agonists, who participated in a 3-way cross-over knemometry study. The study comprised a run-in, two washout periods and three treatment periods (2 weeks each). Urine was collected at the end of each period. A normative range was derived using the 95% prediction interval for the geometric mean OUFCC, calculated from run-in and washout periods. Twenty-six children contributed 41 OUFCC values. The geometric mean OUFCC was 9.0 nmol/mmol (95% PI: 3.6, 22.7 nmol/mmol). The OUFCC preliminary normative range was 3.6 to 22.7 nmol/mmol in Tanner stage one children. A larger study in healthy children is warranted to confirm these findings and to assess potential differences in OUFCC across developmental stages and age groups, and by gender and race. 2013-004719-32, CLINICALTRIALS. NCT02063139.

  10. Normative Ideals, “Alternative” Realities: Perceptions of Interracial Dating among Professional Latinas and Black Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rocio Garcia

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Family types continue to expand in the U.S., yet normative patterns of endogamy and the privileging of nuclear families persist. To understand how professional women of color navigate endogamy and family ideals, I draw on 40 in-depth interviews of professional Black women and Latinas to ask how they construct partner preferences. I find that professional Latinas and Black women prefer same-race, similarly educated partners but report significant barriers to satisfying these desires. Respondents’ experiences with racism, the rejection of ethno-racial and cultural assimilation, gendered racism from men of color, and the college gender gap emerge as mechanisms for endogamous preferences. These preferences resist and support hegemonic family formation, an ideological and behavioral process that privileges, white, middle class, endogamous, heteronormative ideals for families comprising courtship, marriage, and biological childbearing. By challenging the racial devaluation of people of color while preferring the normativity that endogamy offers, the women in this study underscore the fluidity embedded in endogamy.

  11. Normative data for Farsi-speaking Iranians in the United States on measures of executive functioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avila, Justina F; Verney, Steven P; Kauzor, Kaitlyn; Flowers, Amina; Mehradfar, Maryam; Razani, Jill

    2018-01-09

    As the Farsi-speaking Iranian population continues to grow in the United States, examination of their cognitive performance is an imperative first step to providing this group with culturally competent services. Thirty-six healthy primarily Farsi-speaking Iranian adults completed Farsi-translated and adapted versions of three frequently used measures of executive/subcortical functioning: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trail Making Test (TMT), and Color Trails Test (CTT). Participants' performance on each measure was compared to published normative data resulting in 0-85% of cognitively and medically healthy individuals being classified as impaired depending on the executive/subcortical test score examined, with the highest impairment rates for specific WCST outcome scores. These findings raise questions for the use of published norms with Farsi-speaking Iranians residing in the US. The present study provided normative data from this group of Farsi-speaking Iranians on the Farsi-translated and adapted versions of the WCST, TMT, and CTT.

  12. Social influence in child care centers: a test of the theory of normative social behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lapinski, Maria Knight; Anderson, Jenn; Shugart, Alicia; Todd, Ewen

    2014-01-01

    Child care centers are a unique context for studying communication about the social and personal expectations about health behaviors. The theory of normative social behavior (TNSB; Rimal & Real, 2005 ) provides a framework for testing the role of social and psychological influences on handwashing behaviors among child care workers. A cross-sectional survey of child care workers in 21 centers indicates that outcome expectations and group identity increase the strength of the relationship between descriptive norms and handwashing behavior. Injunctive norms also moderate the effect of descriptive norms on handwashing behavior such that when strong injunctive norms are reported, descriptive norms are positively related to handwashing, but when weak injunctive norms are reported, descriptive norms are negatively related to handwashing. The findings suggest that communication interventions in child care centers can focus on strengthening injunctive norms in order to increase handwashing behaviors in child care centers. The findings also suggest that the theory of normative social behavior can be useful in organizational contexts.

  13. Vertical Jump and Leg Power Normative Data for Colombian Schoolchildren Aged 9-17.9 Years: The FUPRECOL Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramírez-Vélez, Robinson; Correa-Bautista, Jorge E; Lobelo, Felipe; Cadore, Eduardo L; Alonso-Martinez, Alicia M; Izquierdo, Mikel

    2017-04-01

    Ramírez-Vélez, R, Correa-Bautista, JE, Lobelo, F, Cadore, EL, Alonso-Martinez, AM, and Izquierdo, M. Vertical jump and leg power normative data for Colombian schoolchildren aged 9-17.9 years: the FUPRECOL study. J Strength Cond Res 31(4): 990-998, 2017-The aims of the present study were to generate normative vertical jump height and predicted peak power (Ppeak) data for 9- to 17.9-year-olds and to investigate between-sex and age group differences in these measures. This was a cross-sectional study of 7,614 healthy schoolchildren (boys n = 3,258 and girls n = 4,356, mean [SD] age 12.8 [2.3] years). Each participant performed 2 countermovement jumps; jump height was calculated using a Takei 5414 Jump-DF Digital Vertical (Takei Scientific Instruments Co., Ltd.). The highest jump was used for analysis and in the calculation of predicted Ppeak. Centile smoothed curves, percentiles, and tables for the 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 97th percentiles were calculated using Cole's LMS (L [curve Box-Cox], M [curve median], and S [curve coefficient of variation]) method. The 2-way analysis of variance tests showed that maximum jump height (in centimeters) and predicted Ppeak (in watts) were higher in boys than in girls (p jump height and Ppeak in all ages. In boys, the maximum jump height and predicted Ppeak 50th percentile ranged from 24.0 to 38.0 cm and from 845.5 to 3061.6 W, respectively. In girls, the 50th percentile for jump height ranged from 22.3 to 27.0 cm, and the predicted Ppeak was 710.1-2036.4 W. For girls, jump height increased yearly from 9 to 17.9 years old. Our results provide, for the first time, sex- and age-specific vertical jump height and predicted Ppeak reference standards for Colombian schoolchildren aged 9-17.9 years.

  14. Learning and memory performance in a cohort of clinically referred breast cancer survivors: the role of attention versus forgetting in patient-reported memory complaints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Root, James C; Ryan, Elizabeth; Barnett, Gregory; Andreotti, Charissa; Bolutayo, Kemi; Ahles, Tim

    2015-05-01

    While forgetfulness is widely reported by breast cancer survivors, studies documenting objective memory performance yield mixed, largely inconsistent, results. Failure to find consistent, objective memory issues may be due to the possibility that cancer survivors misattribute their experience of forgetfulness to primary memory issues rather than to difficulties in attention at the time of learning. To clarify potential attention issues, factor scores for Attention Span, Learning Efficiency, Delayed Memory, and Inaccurate Memory were analyzed for the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II) in 64 clinically referred breast cancer survivors with self-reported cognitive complaints; item analysis was conducted to clarify specific contributors to observed effects, and contrasts between learning and recall trials were compared with normative data. Performance on broader cognitive domains is also reported. The Attention Span factor, but not Learning Efficiency, Delayed Memory, or Inaccurate Memory factors, was significantly affected in this clinical sample. Contrasts between trials were consistent with normative data and did not indicate greater loss of information over time than in the normative sample. Results of this analysis suggest that attentional dysfunction may contribute to subjective and objective memory complaints in breast cancer survivors. These results are discussed in the context of broader cognitive effects following treatment for clinicians who may see cancer survivors for assessment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. Crowdsourcing a normative natural language dataset: a comparison of Amazon Mechanical Turk and in-lab data collection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saunders, Daniel R; Bex, Peter J; Woods, Russell L

    2013-05-20

    Crowdsourcing has become a valuable method for collecting medical research data. This approach, recruiting through open calls on the Web, is particularly useful for assembling large normative datasets. However, it is not known how natural language datasets collected over the Web differ from those collected under controlled laboratory conditions. To compare the natural language responses obtained from a crowdsourced sample of participants with responses collected in a conventional laboratory setting from participants recruited according to specific age and gender criteria. We collected natural language descriptions of 200 half-minute movie clips, from Amazon Mechanical Turk workers (crowdsourced) and 60 participants recruited from the community (lab-sourced). Crowdsourced participants responded to as many clips as they wanted and typed their responses, whereas lab-sourced participants gave spoken responses to 40 clips, and their responses were transcribed. The content of the responses was evaluated using a take-one-out procedure, which compared responses to other responses to the same clip and to other clips, with a comparison of the average number of shared words. In contrast to the 13 months of recruiting that was required to collect normative data from 60 lab-sourced participants (with specific demographic characteristics), only 34 days were needed to collect normative data from 99 crowdsourced participants (contributing a median of 22 responses). The majority of crowdsourced workers were female, and the median age was 35 years, lower than the lab-sourced median of 62 years but similar to the median age of the US population. The responses contributed by the crowdsourced participants were longer on average, that is, 33 words compared to 28 words (Pcrowdsourced participants had more shared words (P=.004 and .01 respectively), whereas younger participants had higher numbers of shared words in the lab-sourced population (P=.01). Crowdsourcing is an effective approach

  16. The Role of Peer Attachment and Normative Beliefs about Aggression on Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burton, K. Alex; Florell, Dan; Wygant, Dustin B.

    2013-01-01

    This study examined the effects of normative beliefs about aggression and peer attachment on traditional bullying, cyberbullying, and both types of victimization. Cyberbullying departs from traditional forms of bullying in that it is through forms of technology, such as the Internet, which increases situational anonymity. Eight hundred fifty…

  17. Health Behaviors, Knowledge, Life Satisfaction, and Wellbeing in People with Mental Illness across Four Countries and Comparisons with Normative Sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parletta, Natalie; Aljeesh, Yousef; Baune, Bernhard T

    2016-01-01

    People with chronic mental illness have poorer physical health and higher mortality than the general population. We investigated lifestyle factors in people with mental illness across four countries and compared with a normative sample. Data were collected from N = 672 people (Germany, n = 375; Palestine, n = 192; London, n = 63; Australia, n = 42) with substance abuse disorder (n = 224), schizophrenia (n = 158), mood disorders (n = 227), and somatoform disorders (n = 63). The General Health Behaviour Questionnaire measured behaviors and knowledge related to nutrition, physical activity, alcohol, smoking, sleep, life satisfaction, and wellbeing. The normative samples were derived from a German population (N = 1,019). Data were analyzed using ANOVAs and t-tests. The Palestine sample did not differ from the Western samples on reported life satisfaction and wellbeing. However, they reported unhealthier diets, less physical activity, and lower knowledge about the impact of diet, physical activity, smoking, and sleep on health than the Western samples. Comparing the Western and normative samples, people with mental illness reported lower intake of healthy foods/drinks, higher intake of unhealthy foods, higher exercise, higher alcohol consumption, less cigarettes, less sleep, and more sleep problems. Their knowledge was lower for nutrition, physical activity, and smoking. All participants reported lower life satisfaction and wellbeing than the normative sample (P-values health-related lifestyle factors present important targets for primary care, quality of life and prevention of illness in people with mental illness. Further research will clarify specific predictors of health behaviors in each country.

  18. The purpose of United Nations Security Council practice: Contesting competence claims in the normative context created by the Responsibility to Protect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ralph, Jason; Gifkins, Jess

    2017-09-01

    Practice theory provides important insights into the workings of the Security Council. The contribution is currently limited, however, by the conjecture that practice theory operates on 'a different analytical plane' to norm/normative theory. Building on existing critiques, we argue that analysing practices separately from normative positions risks misappropriating competence and reifying practice that is not fit for purpose. This risk is realized in Adler-Nissen and Pouliot's practice-based account of the Libya crisis. By returning the normative context created by the Responsibility to Protect to the analytical foreground, and by drawing on a pragmatic conception of 'ethical competence', we find that pre-reflexive practices uncritically accepted as markers of competence - for example, 'penholding' - can contribute to the Council's failure to act collectively in the face of mass atrocity. Drawing on extensive interview material, we offer an alternative account of the Libya intervention, finding that the practices of the permanent three (France, the UK and the US) did not cultivate the kind of collective consciousness that is required to implement the Responsibility to Protect. This is further illustrated by an account of the Security Council's failure in Syria, where the permanent three's insistence on regime change instrumentalized the Council at the expense of Responsibility to Protect-appropriate practice. This changed when elected members became 'penholders'. Practice theory can facilitate learning processes that help the Council meet its responsibilities, but only through an approach that combines its insights with those of norm/normative theory.

  19. Echocardiographic reference ranges in older children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majonga, Edith D; Rehman, Andrea M; McHugh, Grace; Mujuru, Hilda A; Nathoo, Kusum; Patel, Mohammad S; Munyati, Shungu; Odland, Jon O; Kranzer, Katharina; Kaski, Juan P; Ferrand, Rashida A

    2017-12-01

    Echocardiographic reference ranges are important to identify abnormalities of cardiac dimensions. Reference ranges for children in sub-Saharan Africa have not been established. The aim of this study was to establish echocardiographic z-score references for Black children in sub-Saharan Africa. 282 healthy subjects aged 6-16years (143 [51%] males) with no known history of cardiac disease were enrolled in the study in Harare, Zimbabwe between 2014 and 2016. Standard M-mode echocardiography was performed and nine cardiac chamber dimensions were obtained. Two non-linear statistical models (gamma weighted model and cubic polynomial model) were tested on the data and the best fitting model was used to calculate z-scores of these cardiac chamber measures. The reference ranges are presented on scatter plots against BSA. Normative data for the following cardiac measures were obtained and z-scores calculated: right ventricular diameter at end diastole (RVEDD); left ventricular diameter at end diastole (LVEDD) and systole (LVESD); interventricular septal wall thickness at end diastole (IVSd) and systole (IVSs); left ventricular posterior wall thickness at end diastole (LVPWd) and systole (LVPWs); left atrium diameter at end systole (LA) and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE). Girls had higher values for BMI and heart rate than boys (p=0.048 and p=0.001, respectively). Mean interventricular septal and left ventricular posterior walls thickness was higher than published normal values in predominantly Caucasian populations. These are the first echocardiographic reference ranges for children from sub Saharan Africa and will allow accurate assessment of cardiac dimensions in clinical practice. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. An evidence-based approach to the creation of normative data: base rates of impaired scores within a brief neuropsychological battery argue for age corrections, but against corrections for medical conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connell, Megan E; Tuokko, Holly; Voll, Stacey; Simard, Martine; Griffith, Lauren E; Taler, Vanessa; Wolfson, Christina; Kirkland, Susan; Raina, Parminder

    We detail a new approach to the creation of normative data for neuropsychological tests. The traditional approach to normative data creation is to make demographic adjustments based on observations of correlations between single neuropsychological tests and selected demographic variables. We argue, however, that this does not describe the implications for clinical practice, such as increased likelihood of misclassification of cognitive impairment, nor does it elucidate the impact on decision-making with a neuropsychological battery. We propose base rate analyses; specifically, differential base rates of impaired scores between theoretical and actual base rates as the basis for decisions to create demographic adjustments within normative data. Differential base rates empirically describe the potential clinical implications of failing to create an appropriate normative group. We demonstrate this approach with data from a short telephone-administered neuropsychological battery given to a large, neurologically healthy sample aged 45-85 years old. We explored whether adjustments for age and medical conditions were warranted based on differential base rates of spuriously impaired scores. Theoretical base rates underestimated the frequency of impaired scores in older adults and overestimated the frequency of impaired scores in younger adults, providing an evidence base for the creation of age-corrected normative data. In contrast, the number of medical conditions (numerous cardiovascular, hormonal, and metabolic conditions) was not related to differential base rates of impaired scores. Despite a small correlation between number of medical conditions and each neuropsychological variable, normative adjustments for number of medical conditions does not appear warranted. Implications for creation of normative data are discussed.

  1. Odorant Normative Data for Use in Olfactory Memory Experiments: Dimension Selection and Analysis of Individual Differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moss, Andrew G; Miles, Christopher; Elsley, Jane V; Johnson, Andrew J

    2016-01-01

    The present study reports normative ratings for 200 food and non-food odors. One hundred participants rated odors across measures of verbalisability, perceived descriptive ability, context availability, pleasantness, irritability, intensity, familiarity, frequency, age of acquisition, and complexity. Analysis of the agreement between raters revealed that four dimensions, those of familiarity, intensity, pleasantness, and irritability, have the strongest utility as normative data. The ratings for the remaining dimensions exhibited reduced discriminability across the odor set and should therefore be used with caution. Indeed, these dimensions showed a larger difference between individuals in the ratings of the odors. Familiarity was shown to be related to pleasantness, and a non-linear relationship between pleasantness and intensity was observed which reflects greater intensity for odors that elicit a strong hedonic response. The suitability of these data for use in future olfactory study is considered, and effective implementation of the data for controlling stimuli is discussed.

  2. Individual and peer group normative beliefs about relational aggression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werner, Nicole E; Hill, Laura G

    2010-01-01

    Studies show that children who use relational aggression process social information in unique ways; however, findings have been inconsistent and limited by methodological weaknesses. This short-term longitudinal study examined developmental changes in 245 (49% female; ages 8-13) 3rd through 8th graders' normative beliefs about relational aggression and tested the hypothesis that individual and classroom-level norms predict relational aggression 1 year later. Results showed that the transition to middle school was marked by increased approval of relational aggression, and individual norms predicted future relational aggression. Importantly, a contextual model showed that students in peer groups highly supportive of relational aggression became increasingly aggressive. Findings extend social information processing theories of relational aggression to focus on the role of peer group cognitions.

  3. Psychometric Properties and Normative Data of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire in a Psychiatric Outpatient Sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez Ortega, Yolanda; Gomà-I-Freixanet, Montserrat; Valero, Sergi

    2017-01-01

    The Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ; Zuckerman, Kuhlman, Joireman, Teta, & Kraft, 1993 ) was designed for the assessment of personality. The goal of this work was to determine the psychometric properties of the ZKPQ, as well as to establish normative data by gender and age in an outpatient sample attending primary mental health care services. We administered the questionnaire to 314 participants (34.7% males) 18 to 81 years old. The most prevalent primary diagnoses were mood (37.9%) and adjustment disorders (35.0%). Concerning the psychometric properties of the ZKPQ, the pattern of internal consistencies was similar to that previously found among general population, student, or clinical samples. Regarding gender differences, a general pattern was found, with women scoring higher on neuroticism and sociability, and lower on aggression-hostility. As for age, in general, scores declined with age. Norm-based decision making has the potential for significant and long-lasting consequences, and the quality of decisions based on score comparisons can be improved when scores are compared to norms fitted to the group of reference. The availability of the ZKPQ norms by gender and age in mental health care will benefit the accuracy of assessment and therapeutic decision making, providing more effective treatment planning overall.

  4. When and How Does Psychological Voice Climate Influence Individual Change Readiness? The Mediating Role of Normative Commitment and the Moderating Role of Work Engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Chun-Hsien; Wang, Mei-Ling; Liu, Min-Shi

    2017-01-01

    This research explores the linking mechanisms and conditional processes underlying the relationship between psychological voice climate and individual change readiness. In accordance with the social identity theory, we argued that normative commitment would mediate the relationship between psychological voice climate and individual change readiness; furthermore, work engagement would moderate the proposed indirect effect. Two-wave survey data were collected from 187 full-time employees in a government-owned institute of research and development and were adopted for moderated mediation analysis. The results showed that normative commitment mediates the relationship between psychological voice climate and individual change readiness. Furthermore, work engagement strengthens the effect of psychological voice climate on individual change readiness in an indirect manner via normative commitment. Based on the findings, the theoretical implications and practical suggestions were discussed. PMID:29062294

  5. When and How Does Psychological Voice Climate Influence Individual Change Readiness? The Mediating Role of Normative Commitment and the Moderating Role of Work Engagement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chun-Hsien Lee

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This research explores the linking mechanisms and conditional processes underlying the relationship between psychological voice climate and individual change readiness. In accordance with the social identity theory, we argued that normative commitment would mediate the relationship between psychological voice climate and individual change readiness; furthermore, work engagement would moderate the proposed indirect effect. Two-wave survey data were collected from 187 full-time employees in a government-owned institute of research and development and were adopted for moderated mediation analysis. The results showed that normative commitment mediates the relationship between psychological voice climate and individual change readiness. Furthermore, work engagement strengthens the effect of psychological voice climate on individual change readiness in an indirect manner via normative commitment. Based on the findings, the theoretical implications and practical suggestions were discussed.

  6. Motor coordination, working memory, and academic achievement in a normative adolescent sample: testing a mediation model

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rigoli, D; Piek, J.P.; Kane, R; Oosterlaan, J.

    2012-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to examine whether the relationship between motor coordination and academic achievement is mediated by working memory (WM) in a normative adolescent sample. Participants included 93 adolescents aged 12-16. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 provided three

  7. To Be or Not to Be an Entrepreneur: Applying a Normative Model to Career Decisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callanan, Gerard A.; Zimmerman, Monica

    2016-01-01

    Reflecting the need for a better and broader understanding of the factors influencing the choices to enter into or exit an entrepreneurial career, this article applies a structured, normative model of career management to the career decision-making of entrepreneurs. The application of a structured model can assist career counselors, college career…

  8. Differences from somewhere: the normativity of whiteness in bioethics in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myser, Catherine

    2003-01-01

    I argue that there has been inadequate attention to and questioning of the dominance and normativity of whiteness in the cultural construction of bioethics in the United States. Therefore we risk reproducing white privilege and white supremacy in its theory, method, and practices. To make my argument, I define whiteness and trace its broader social and legal history in the United States. I then begin to mark whiteness in U.S. bioethics, recasting Renee Fox's sociological marking of its American-ness as an important initial marking of its whiteness/WASP ethos. Furthermore, I consider the attempts of social scientists to highlight sociocultural diversity as a corrective in U.S. bioethics. I argue that because they fail to problematize white dominance and normativity and the white-other dualism when they describe the standpoints of African-American, Asian-American, and Native-American others, their work merely inoculates difference and creates or maintains minoritized spaces. Accordingly, the dominant white center of mainstream U.S. bioethics must be problematized and displaced for diversity research to make a difference. In conclusion, I give several examples of how we might advance the recommended endeavor of exploring our own ethnicity, class, and other social positioning and norms operating in U.S. bioethics, briefly highlighting "white talk" as one challenge.

  9. Importance of quality aspects of GP care among ethnic minorities: role of cultural attitudes, language and healthcare system of reference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamkaddem, Majda; Spreeuwenberg, Peter M; Devillé, Walter L; Foets, Marleen M; Groenewegen, Peter P

    2012-02-01

    This study examines the mechanisms responsible for ethnic differences in perceived quality of care in The Netherlands. The specific role of cultural attitudes, language proficiency, and the health system in the country of origin was examined, taking socio-demographic characteristics into account. Interview data of 1339 respondents of Moroccan, Turkish, Surinamese and Antillean origin were combined with interview data of Dutch respondents (n = 405) and of Western immigrants (n = 102) in The Netherlands and of a random sample of Dutch privately or publicly insured persons (n = 9675). Data collection took place within the Second Dutch National Survey of General Practice (DNSGP-2, 2001). Items from the QUality Of care Through the patient's Eyes (QUOTE) questionnaire were used to measure expectations, as well as items from the QUOTE-Mi (adapted version for migrant groups). Items on normative orientations were used to measure cultural attitudes. In contrast to our hypothesis, respondents with more egalitarian/modern attitudes attached less importance to quality aspects related to access and quality. Tests on the role of the health system of reference were generally conclusive, showing that respondents accustomed to (parts of) another system have different expectations regarding several aspects of general practitioner healthcare quality, e.g. access to specialist care. Besides socio-demographic characteristics, culture influences patients' expectations regarding general practitioner care quality. However, the role of culture can be more clearly ascribed to the characteristics of the health system which is held as the reference than to the general attitudes on normative orientations.

  10. Identifying and changing the normative beliefs about aggression which lead young Muslim adults to join extremist anti-Semitic groups in Pakistan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amjad, Naumana; Wood, Alex M

    2009-01-01

    Two studies investigated the role of beliefs about the acceptability of aggression ("normative beliefs") against Jews in determining who would join an extremist group. In Study 1, students in a university in Pakistan (N=144) completed self-report attitude measures, and were subsequently approached by a confederate who asked whether they wanted to join an extremist anti-Semitic organization. Normative beliefs about aggression against Jews were very strong predictors of whether participants agreed to join. In Study 2, participants (N=92) were experimentally assigned to either a brief educational intervention, designed to improve inter-group relations, or to a control group. They also filled in self-report attitude measures pre and post intervention. Participants in the intervention group were much less likely to agree to join the extremist group, and this effect of the intervention on joining was mediated by changes in normative beliefs about aggression against Jews. The results have implications for theories of inter-group aggression and interventions to prevent people from being recruited into extremist groups.

  11. ‘EU differentiation’ as a case of ‘Normative Power Europe’ (NPE) in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Persson, Anders

    2018-01-01

    strategy has worked in the sense that it has created a normative, legal and in a few cases economic separation in the EU’s dealings with the internationally-recognised Israel and the non-recognised settlements, it has with some very minor, insignificant exceptions, not changed the realities on the ground......Opposition to Israel’s occupation and in particular its settlement enterprise on what the European Union (EU) perceives to be Palestinian/Syrian territories has been a consistent EC/EU policy since 1977 when what was then called the European Community (EC) issued its first declaration against...... the settlements. While there has been a long historical precedent for EU differentiation in the conflict, the ‘differentiation strategy’ was inofficially operationalized first in 2013. Using the theory of ‘Normative Power Europe’ (NPE) as a framework of analysis, this article argues that while the differentiation...

  12. International note: Prediction of mathematics work ethic and performance from behavioral, normative, and control beliefs among Qatari adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Areepattamannil, Shaljan; Abdelfattah, Faisal; Mahasneh, Randa Ali; Khine, Myint Swe; Welch, Anita G; Melkonian, Michael; Al Nuaimi, Samira Ahmed

    2016-01-01

    Over half-a-million adolescents take part in each cycle of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Yet often, researchers and policy makers across the globe tend to focus their attention primarily on the academic trajectories of adolescents hailing from highly successful education systems. Hence, a vast majority of the adolescent population who regionally and globally constitute the 'long tail of underachievement' often remain unnoticed and underrepresented in the growing literature on adolescents' academic trajectories. The present study, therefore, explored the relations of dispositions toward mathematics, subjective norms in mathematics, and perceived control of success in mathematics to mathematics work ethic as well as mathematics performance; and the mediational role of mathematics work ethic in the association between dispositional, normative, and control beliefs and mathematics performance among adolescents in one of the lowest performing education systems, Qatar. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that Qatari adolescents' dispositional, normative, and control beliefs about mathematics were significantly associated with their mathematics work ethic and mathematics performance, and mathematics work ethic significantly mediated the relationship between dispositional, normative, and control beliefs about mathematics and mathematics performance. However, multi-group SEM analyses indicated that these relationships were not invariant across the gender and the SES groups. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) normative elevation rates: comparisons with epidemiological prevalence rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarescavage, Anthony M; Marek, Ryan J; Finn, Jacob A; Hicks, Adam; Rapier, Jessica L; Ben-Porath, Yossef S

    2013-01-01

    Odland, Berthelson, Sharma, Martin, and Mittenberg ( 2013 ) caution that clinically elevated scale scores produced by members of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008 /2011) normative sample raise concerns about the potential for false positive findings of psychopathology. However, the MMPI-2-RF normative sample is intended to represent the general population of the United States, 26.2% of which met criteria for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (APA, 1994 ) disorder in a 12-month period (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, & Walters, 2005 ). In the current study we compare scale elevation rates in the MMPI-2-RF normative sample to prevalence rates of mental disorders primarily drawn from the National Comorbidity Study Replication (Kessler et al., 2005 ). Our objective was to evaluate MMPI-2-RF elevation rates in an epidemiological context. Results indicate that MMPI-2-RF scale elevation rates were generally consistent with epidemiological data when examined in the context of standard interpretation guidelines for the inventory. We also reiterate Ben-Porath and Tellegen's (2008/2011) caution that MMPI-2-RF scale elevations alone are not sufficient to indicate the presence of psychiatric disorder. Rather they are best viewed as indications of the need to evaluate the individual for possible disorder(s). Implications of these results, limitations of this study, and future directions in research are discussed.

  14. An Examination of the Relationship between Consequence-Specific Normative Belief Patterns and Alcohol-Related Consequences among College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reavy, Racheal; Cleveland, Michael J.; Mallett, Kimberly A.; Scaglione, Nichole M.; Sell, Nichole M.; Turrisi, Rob

    2016-01-01

    Background Research has previously identified a high-risk subgroup of college students who experience high levels of multiple and repeated alcohol-related consequences (MRC group). The purpose of this study was to examine the association between consequence-specific normative influences and experiencing multiple and repeated drinking-related consequences using a person-centered approach. Normative subgroups were identified using latent profile analysis (LPA), which were then used to predict MRC group status at 6-month follow-up. Methods First-year college student drinkers (N=2024) at a large northeastern university completed online surveys during the fall and spring semesters of their freshman year. Retention was high with 92% of invited participants completing T2, of which the MRC group accounted for 27%. Results Three student profiles were identified from LPA on T1 data: Non Permissive Parents (77%), Positive Peer and Parent Norms (20%), and Permissive Parents (3%). Logistic regression revealed that both the Positive Peer and Parent Norms and Permissive Parents profiles had significantly higher odds of MRC group membership at follow-up (1.81 and 2.78 times greater, respectively). Conclusions The results suggest value in prevention efforts that include normative beliefs about alcohol-related consequences. Further, parental norms in particular have the potential to enhance interventions, especially through direct communication of disapproval for experiencing consequences. PMID:27805274

  15. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Scale (AUDIT) normative scores for a multiracial sample of Rhodes University residence students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Charles; Mayson, Tamara

    2010-06-01

    The objective of this research is to obtain accurate drinking norms for students living in the university residences in preparation for future social norms interventions that would allow individual students to compare their drinking to an appropriate reference group. Random cluster sampling was used to obtain data from 318 residence students who completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), a brief, reliable and valid screening measure designed by the World Health Organisation (Babor et al. 2001). The Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.83 reported for this multicultural sample is high, suggesting that the AUDIT may be reliably used in this and similar contexts. Normative scores are reported in the form of percentiles. Comparisons between the portions of students drinking safely and hazardously according to race and gender indicate that while male students are drinking no more hazardously than female students, white students drink far more hazardously than black students. These differences suggest that both race- and gender-specific norms would be essential for an effective social norms intervention in this multicultural South African context. Finally, the racialised drinking patterns might reflect an informal segregation of social space at Rhodes University.

  16. The Effect of Normative and Behavioral Persuasion on Help Seeking in Thai and American College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christopher, Michael S.; Skillman, Gemma D.; Kirkhart, Matthew W.; D'Souza, June B.

    2006-01-01

    On the basis of previous research on self-construals, the theory of reasoned action, and persuasive communication, the authors hypothesized that individual, behavioral-focused information would be more effective in increasing help-seeking intention among college students in the United States, whereas relational, normative-focused information would…

  17. The Independent School Experience: Aspects of the Normative Environments of Single-Sex and Coed Secondary Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trickett, Edison J.; And Others

    1982-01-01

    The normative environments of single-sex independent schools were found to be more academic, with greater task and competition orientation, than coeducational independent schools. Representative independent schools were compared to each other and to public schools with a discussion of learning involvement, function, purpose, and student and…

  18. Il lavoro delle donne: avanzamenti e contraddittorietà delle normative e della loro applicazione

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentina Manna

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Il contributo propone un‟illustrazione dell‟attuale condizione delle donne nel mercato del lavoro, testimoniando la persistenza della disparità di genere in ambito lavorativo, seppur in vesti nuove da quelle che avevano alimentato il modello del glass ceiling per descrivere la diversa condizione di uomini e donne nel contesto produttivo. Ripercor-rendo le metafore utilizzate in letteratura per simboleggiare tale realtà, e i recenti contri-buti di ricerca sul tema, ci si interroga sugli aspetti di avanzamento e contraddittorietà delle recenti normative europee in tema di pari opportunità e sulle condizioni di effica-cia ed efficienza degli organismi a tutela della parità di genere. Alla luce anche dei di-versi effetti prodotti dall‟attuale condizione di crisi economica sugli uomini e sulle don-ne, si costruisce, pertanto, un modello interpretativo che evidenzia aspetti paradossali ed evidenti gap tra dimensioni normative e fattuali, sottolineando come l‟esperienza della maternità e l‟alimentarsi di nuovi stereotipi di genere connessi all‟immagine della donna lavoratrice producano un tessuto culturale ancora fortemente discriminante, in una cor-nice di labirintica precarietà lavorativa femminile.

  19. Physical fitness reference standards in European children: the IDEFICS study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Miguel-Etayo, P; Gracia-Marco, L; Ortega, F B; Intemann, T; Foraita, R; Lissner, L; Oja, L; Barba, G; Michels, N; Tornaritis, M; Molnár, D; Pitsiladis, Y; Ahrens, W; Moreno, L A

    2014-09-01

    A low fitness status during childhood and adolescence is associated with important health-related outcomes, such as increased future risk for obesity and cardiovascular diseases, impaired skeletal health, reduced quality of life and poor mental health. Fitness reference values for adolescents from different countries have been published, but there is a scarcity of reference values for pre-pubertal children in Europe, using harmonised measures of fitness in the literature. The IDEFICS study offers a good opportunity to establish normative values of a large set of fitness components from eight European countries using common and well-standardised methods in a large sample of children. Therefore, the aim of this study is to report sex- and age-specific fitness reference standards in European children. Children (10,302) aged 6-10.9 years (50.7% girls) were examined. The test battery included: the flamingo balance test, back-saver sit-and-reach test (flexibility), handgrip strength test, standing long jump test (lower-limb explosive strength) and 40-m sprint test (speed). Moreover, cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by a 20-m shuttle run test. Percentile curves for the 1st, 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 97th and 99th percentiles were calculated using the General Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). Our results show that boys performed better than girls in speed, lower- and upper-limb strength and cardiorespiratory fitness, and girls performed better in balance and flexibility. Older children performed better than younger children, except for cardiorespiratory fitness in boys and flexibility in girls. Our results provide for the first time sex- and age-specific physical fitness reference standards in European children aged 6-10.9 years.

  20. Normative Trimester-Specific Thyroid Function Data from India: The State of the Nation

    OpenAIRE

    Subramanian Kannan; Sanjay Kalra

    2018-01-01

    Background: International guidelines recommend using local trimester-specific normative data for TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). However, there are no unified Indian data for the same. Material and Methods: This review collates recently published data from various Indian centres and discusses the state of trimester-specific TSH ranges in the country. Results: The authors describe the strengths and limitations of available data, and support the need for pan-India data. Conclusion: To ensure...