Controllable and Uncontrollable Poles and Zeros of nD Systems

 We use the behavioural approach to define and characterize controllable and uncontrollable poles and zeros of multidimensional (nD) linear systems. We show a strong relationship between controllable poles and zeros and properties of the transfer function matrix, and we give characterizations of uncontrollable poles and zeros, in particular demonstrating that these have an input decoupling property. Date received: December 13, 1999. Date revised: October 9, 2000.     

Adult Attachment and Help-Seeking Intent: The Mediating Roles of Psychological Distress and Perceived Social Support.

This study examined the mediating roles of perceived social support and psychological distress on the relationship between adult attachment and help-seeking intentions. Participants were 355 college students at a large Midwestern university. The structural equation model results indicated that attachment anxiety in individuals was positively related to acknowledging distress and to seeking help. Conversely, individuals with attachment avoidance denied their distress and were reluctant to seek help. However, both individuals with attachment anxiety and individuals with avoidance also perceived less social support, which negatively contributed to their experience of distress, and their distress then positively contributed to their help-seeking intention. Furthermore, attachment anxiety and avoidance, social support, and distress explained 17% of the variance in intent to seek help. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does geographical origin affect lateralization and male mating success in Rhyzopertha dominica beetles?

The lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae), is an important pest of stored grains globally. In this study, the impact of geographical origin on male mating success and lateralization in three strains of R. dominica (i.e., a Greek strain, a Romanian strain and a Turkish strain) was investigated. Concerning the Greek strain, even though most males showed a left-biased approach, males performing right-biased copulation attempts achieved the highest proportion of successful copulations. Males of the Romanian and Turkish strains exhibited right-biased approaches and copulation attempts, resulting in higher mating success over the males that approached and performed copulation attempts from the left or backside of females. Copula was significantly longer than mate recognition and precopula phases. Furthermore, copula duration was significantly longer in the Turkish strain over the Romanian strain, while copula duration differences between Greek and Romanian individuals, as well as between Greek and Turkish individuals, were not significant. Unsuccessful sexual interactions were characterized by a longer precopula in Greek and Romanian strains, but not in the Turkish strain. Our results add basic knowledge to the mating behaviour of R. dominica, with emphasis on impact of the geographical origin and laterality on male mating success, which may be helpful for optimizing mass-rearing techniques of stored-product pests needed for large-scale laboratory or semi-field experiments, as well as to contribute to the development of behaviour-based control tools.     

An experimental approach to measuring consumer preferences for water charges

Regulators acting on behalf of the public need to understand the interests of the people they represent. This paper describes a collaboration with the OECD and Scotland's water industry to deploy randomised behavioural experiments to investigate preferences for water charges. In a study conducted online (n = 500) and face-to-face (n = 100), participants rated price trajectories for acceptability, where the temporal pattern, presentation, magnitude of increase and provision of aggregated information were experimentally manipulated across presentations and participants. Results showed that households dislike putting off impending price increases. The study demonstrates how behavioural experiments can support more empirically informed regulation.     

A framework for mobile SNS advertising effectiveness: user perceptions and behaviour perspective

This study develops and empirically tests a framework for mobile social network service (SNS) advertising effectiveness. The study sets the advertising value, attitude towards advertising, and behavioural intentions as the key variables for the assessment of advertising effectiveness. Regarding antecedents of advertising effectiveness, the study identifies the salient attributes of mobile SNS advertising as social, mobile convenience, and active control; the main sub-values of mobile SNS advertising as informativeness, entertainment, and irritation.     

Long-term effects of implementation intentions on prevention of smoking uptake among adolescents: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To test the efficacy of implementation intentions in reducing smoking uptake in a sample of adolescents. Design: Classes of adolescents (aged 11–12 years) were randomly allocated to one of four conditions: implementation intention, self-efficacy, two control conditions. An implementation intention or a self-efficacy manipulation (both formed in relation to how to refuse offers of cigarettes) was completed by intervention condition participants at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 months. Main Outcome Measures: Long-term smoking behavior (self-report and objective) was assessed at 48 months post-baseline. Results: There were no differences between the two control conditions and the self-efficacy condition. Controlling for baseline smoking, sex, attitudes to smoking, friends and family smoking, and the multilevel nature of the data, intention-to-treat analyses indicated the implementation intention manipulation significantly reduced self-reported smoking compared to the other three conditions combined. Analyses on objectively assessed smoking (carbon monoxide breath measure) in a random subsample of participants also indicated that the implementation intention manipulation compared to the other three conditions significantly reduced smoking. Conclusion: Implementation intentions can reduce smoking in adolescent samples. Implications for using implementation intentions to reduce smoking in adolescents are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Night-time naturally ventilated offices: Statistical simulations of window-use patterns from field monitoring

This paper investigates occupant behaviour of window-use in night-time naturally ventilated offices on the basis of a pilot field study, conducted during the summers of 2006 and 2007 in Cambridge, UK, and then demonstrates the effects of employing night-time ventilation on indoor thermal conditions using predictive models of occupant window-use. A longitudinal field study shows that occupants make good use of night-time natural ventilation strategies when provided with openings that allow secure ventilation, and that there is a noticeable time of day effect in window-use patterns (i.e. increased probability of action on arrival and departure). We develop logistic models of window-use for night-time naturally ventilated offices, which are subsequently applied to a behaviour algorithm, including Markov chains and Monte Carlo methods. The simulations using the behaviour algorithm demonstrate a good agreement with the observational data of window-use, and reveal how building design and occupant behaviour collectively affect the thermal performance of offices. They illustrate that the provision of secure ventilation leads to more frequent use of the window, and thus contributes significantly to the achievement of a comfortable indoor environment during the daytime occupied period. For example, the maximum temperature for a night-time ventilated office is found to be 3 °C below the predicted value for a daytime-only ventilated office.     

Anti-nuclear behavioral intentions: The role of perceived knowledge,information processing,and risk perception

This study explored the key factors underlying people's anti-nuclear behavioral intentions. The protective action decision model and the heuristic–systematic model were integrated and adapted from a risk information perspective to construct a hypothetical model. A questionnaire study was conducted on a sample of residents near the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant, which is under construction in Shandong Province, China (N=487). Results show that, as expected, perceived knowledge is vital in predicting people's information insufficiency, information seeking, systematic processing, and risk perception. Moreover, the inverted U relationship between perceived knowledge and anti-nuclear behavioral intentions is indicated in the study. Information insufficiency and information seeking also significantly predict systematic processing. Furthermore, people's behavioral intentions are motivated by risk perception but fail to be stimulated by systematic processing. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

The effect of conformity tendency on pedestrians’ road-crossing intentions in China: An application of the theory of planned behavior

This paper presents a survey investigating the effects of age, gender and conformity tendency on Chinese pedestrians’ intention to cross the road in potentially dangerous situations. A sample of 426 respondents completed a demographic questionnaire, a scale measuring their tendency towards social conformity, and a questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). This questionnaire measured people's intentions to cross the road in two different road crossing situations, their attitude towards the behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, anticipated affect, moral norms, and perceived risk. The two scenarios depicted (i) a situation where the crossing was consistent with other pedestrians’ behavior (Conformity scenario) and (ii) a situation where the road crossing was inconsistent with other pedestrians (Non-Conformity scenario). Pedestrians reported greater likelihood in crossing the road when other pedestrians were crossing the road. People who showed greater tendencies towards social conformity also had stronger road crossing intentions than low conformity people for both scenarios. The predictive model explained 36% and 48% of the variance in the Non-Conformity and Conformity scenarios, respectively. Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and perceived risk emerged as the common predictors for both situations. The results have a number of theoretical and practical implications. In particular, interventions should focus on perceptions of risk that inform road users that crossing with other pedestrians against the signal is also unsafe and prohibited, and may lead to negative outcomes.