Gustav Jahoda:The art and science of constructive skepticism

In this essay, we consider Gustav Jahoda's contributions to empirical research and conceptual reflection in the fields of cross-cultural and social psychology. The first section draws attention to what we see as salient characteristics of his empirical research. The second section describes Jahoda's critiques of some iconic theoretical concepts and distinctions. The third section describes his historical interest in the development of the two fields, with cultural context as a focus. In the conclusion section, we mention why Jahoda's contributions need to be taken into account by current researchers and those to come.</p

Does having children increase environmental concern? Testing parenthood effects with longitudinal data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study

Having children is a transformative experience and may change the way people think about the future. Parents invest time, energy and resources to ensure the survival and reproductive success of offspring. Having children may also induce environmental concerns and investments in actions aimed at guaranteeing the quality of natural resources available to offspring. However, there is limited empirical support for this parenthood effect, and little is known about how environmental attitudes and behaviour change over time following the birth of a child. This pre-registered study uses data from the first seven waves (2009-2015) of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study-a longitudinal national probability study of social attitudes, personality, and health outcomes-with multilevel interrupted time series analysis. Respondents' belief in the reality and causes of climate change, sacrifices to standard of living to protect the environment, and changes in daily routine to protect the environment did not change significantly following the birth of a child; and nor were there changes in the underlying trends of attitudes or pre-birth anticipation effects. The study further found no gender differences in the attitudinal effects of childbirth. Additional exploratory analyses suggest that becoming a parent for the first time may increase beliefs in the reality of climate change but does not appear to change other environmental attitudes. Overall, our findings provide little empirical evidence for parenthood effects on environmentalism

Antibubbles enable tunable payload release with low-intensity ultrasound

The benefits of ultrasound are its ease-of-use and its ability to precisely deliver energy in opaque and complex media. However, most materials responsive to ultrasound show a weak response, requiring the use of high powers, which are associated with undesirable streaming, cavitation, or temperature rise. These effects hinder response control and may even cause damage to the medium where the ultrasound is applied. Moreover, materials that are currently in use rely on all-or-nothing effects, limiting the ability to fine-tune the response of the material on the fly. For these reasons, there is a need for materials that can respond to low intensity ultrasound with programmable responses. Here it is demonstrated that antibubbles are a low-intensity-ultrasound-responsive material system that can controllably release a payload using acoustic pressures in the kPa range. Varying their size and composition tunes the release pressure, and the response can be switched between a single release and stepwise release across multiple ultrasound pulses. Observations using confocal and high-speed microscopy revealed different ways that can lead to release. These findings lay the groundwork to design antibubbles that controllably respond to low-intensity ultrasound, opening a wide range of applications ranging from ultrasound-responsive material systems to carriers for targeted delivery.Comment: Main Text: 14 pages, 4 figures. Embedded SI: 4 pages, 5 figure

A Self-calibrating Runoff and Streamflow Remote Sensing Model for Ungauged Basins Using Open-access Earth Observation Data

Due to increasing pressures on water resources, there is a need to monitor regional water resource availability in a spatially and temporally explicit manner. However, for many parts of the world, there is insufficient data to quantify stream flow or ground water infiltration rates. We present the results of a pixel-based water balance formulation to partition rainfall into evapotranspiration, surface water runoff and potential ground water infiltration. The method leverages remote sensing derived estimates of precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, Leaf Area Index, and a single F coefficient to distinguish between runoff and storage changes. The study produced significant correlations between the remote sensing method and field based measurements of river flow in two Vietnamese river basins. For the Ca basin, we found R2 values ranging from 0.88–0.97 and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values varying between 0.44–0.88. The R2 for the Red River varied between 0.87–0.93 and NSE values between 0.61 and 0.79. Based on these findings, we conclude that the method allows for a fast and cost-effective way to map water resource availability in basins with no gauges or monitoring infrastructure, without the need for application of sophisticated hydrological models or resource-intensive data

Short-term health and social impacts of energy-efficiency investments in low-income communities: a controlled field study

Background During 2012–15, £45 million was invested to improve the energy-efficiency of 4800 houses in low-income areas across Wales. Houses received measures such as external wall insulation, new windows and doors, upgrades to the heating system, and connection to the gas network. This study aimed to establish the short-term health and social impacts of these investments. Methods A quasi-experimental field study with a controlled, before and after design was conducted (364 individuals in improved houses [intervention], 418 in houses with no improvements [control]). Any adult living in 24 selected intervention areas and matched control areas (n=23) was eligible for inclusion. Self-completed questionnaires, administered via a drop-off-and-collect method, were collected in the winter months (December to February) before and after installation of the energy efficiency measures. Health outcomes were mental health composite scale (MCS) and physical health composite scale (PCS) scores of the SF-12v2, SF-6D utility scores derived from the SF-12v2, self-reported respiratory symptoms, and subjective wellbeing. Social outcomes were financial difficulties and stress, food security, thermal comfort, housing conditions, and social isolation. The study used measures validated in previous research. Linear, ordered multinomial, and logistic multilevel models were constructed with measurement occasions nested within individuals. Findings After controlling for sex, age, housing benefit, household income, and smoking status, we found that investments were not associated with improvements in MCS (B=0·00, 95% CI −1·60 to 1·60) or PCS (0·98, −0·34 to 2·28) scores, SF-6D utilities (−0·01, −0·04 to 0·02), or self-reported respiratory symptoms (−0·14, −0·54 to 0·26). However, people who received energy-efficiency measures reported improved subjective wellbeing compared with controls (B=0·38, 95% CI 0·12 to 0·65), and fewer financial difficulties (−0·15, −0·25 to −0·05); they reported higher thermal comfort (odds ratio 3·83, 95% CI 2·40 to 5·90), higher satisfaction with the improvement of their homes (3·87, 2·51 to 5·96), and less reluctance to invite friends or family to their homes (0·32, 0·13 to 0·77). Interpretation Although there is no evidence that energy-efficiency investments provide physical health benefits in the short term, they improve social and economic conditions that are conducive to better health. Longer term studies are needed to establish the health impacts of energy-efficiency investments

Associations between daily sitting time and the combinations of lifestyle risk factors in men

Background: Understanding the reciprocal role that multiple problematic behaviours play in men's health is important for intervention delivery and for reducing the healthcare burden. Data regarding the concurrence of problematic health behaviours is currently limited but offers insights into risk profiles, and should now include total time spent sitting/day. Methods: Self-reported data on lifestyle health behaviours was collected from 232 men aged ≥18 years who engaged in a men's health promotion programme delivered by 16 English Premier League Clubs. Results: Men at risk due to high sitting display multiple concurrent lifestyle risk factors, 88.6% displayed at least two ancillary risk factors and were three times more likely to report ≥2 lifestyle risk factors (OR. =3.13, 95% confidence interval (CI). =1.52-6.42) than those with low sitting risk. Significant differences in the mean number of risk factors reported between those participants in the higher risk (2.43. ±. 0.90) and lower risk (2.13. ±. 0.96) sitting categories were also found (P=0.015). Conclusions: Hard-to-reach men displayed multiple problematic concurrent behaviours, strongly linked to total sitting time. © 2012 WPMH GmbH