Prize-Based Contingency Management: A Vehicle Miles of Travel Reduction Intervention

During the past 50 years, air pollution has become a growing problem throughout the Intermountain West because of increases in personal vehicle ownership and usage. Scientists continue to design interventions to improve air quality by encouraging people to reduce their personal vehicle miles of travel (VMT). However, results of these interventions have only seen modest reductions in VMT because of some methodological and measurement issues. To address these limitations, a 14-week driving reduction intervention was conducted in Cache County, Utah. This intervention employed a prizebased contingency management system within a single-subject, A-B-A withdrawal research design that rewarded participants with prizes if they were able to reduce their VMT below their baseline mean. The VMT was measured each day with an in-car GPS electronic tracking device. Results of this intervention indicate both short- and long-term reductions in VMT as a result of the treatment. Specifically, 6 of the 10 participants showed a statistically significant reduction from the baseline to the intervention stage and maintenance of this reduction during the return-to-baseline stage. The other four participants exhibited a similar pattern but their change in vehicle miles of travel was not statistically significant. Interaction effects were not found between the quo;Choose Clean Airquo; social marketing campaign, gas prices, temperature, and PM 2.5 levels. Despite some problems with the transmission and recording of VMT data, this intervention provides further evidence for the application of prize-based contingency management systems to the reduction of a problematic behavior or encouragement of proenvironmental or pro-social behaviors. The in-car GPS devices improved VMT data collection and quality of the data but hardware and software improvements are still needed to prevent data loss. Further replication is necessary to determine the efficacy of driving reduction intervention that employs prize-based contingency management systems at the community or group level. Future research should also test the possible demographic differences between those that respond favorably to this type of intervention and those that do not, and the differences between prize delivery systems (immediate versus delayed) and prize magnitude (low- versus high-dollar amounts) on driving behaviors

The twilight of the Liberal Social Contract? On the Reception of Rawlsian Political Liberalism

This chapter discusses the Rawlsian project of public reason, or public justification-based 'political' liberalism, and its reception. After a brief philosophical rather than philological reconstruction of the project, the chapter revolves around a distinction between idealist and realist responses to it. Focusing on political liberalism’s critical reception illuminates an overarching question: was Rawls’s revival of a contractualist approach to liberal legitimacy a fruitful move for liberalism and/or the social contract tradition? The last section contains a largely negative answer to that question. Nonetheless the chapter's conclusion shows that the research programme of political liberalism provided and continues to provide illuminating insights into the limitations of liberal contractualism, especially under conditions of persistent and radical diversity. The programme is, however, less receptive to challenges to do with the relative decline of the power of modern states

Constitutivism

A brief explanation and overview of constitutivism

Philosophy of action

The philosophical study of human action begins with Plato and Aristotle. Their influence in late antiquity and the Middle Ages yielded sophisticated theories of action and motivation, notably in the works of Augustine and Aquinas.1 But the ideas that were dominant in 1945 have their roots in the early modern period, when advances in physics and mathematics reshaped philosophy

Threat Perception as a Determinant of Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Public Involvement in Air Pollution Abatement in Cache Valley, Utah

Threat perception related to environmental issues such as air pollution may be a determinant of pro-environmental behaviors. Among the potential threats of air pollution, include the perceived impacts on the psychological, social, and economic wellbeing of a community. Because of rapid increases in population growth, urbanization, and the mountainous landscapes, the American West is extremely susceptible to the adverse impacts of air pollution. A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the Air Quality Perception Survey conducted in Cache County, Utah. The survey focused on the public perception of air pollution in Cache County and perceived impact on personal and community life. From a sample of 289 returned surveys, the data were examined to determine the possible link between threat perception and the decision to engage in specific pro-environmental and avoidance behaviors. The analysis found that threat perception predicted some pro-environmental and avoidance behaviors

Designing a test of neutrinos as dark matter candidates

One of the biggest mysteries of the universe deals with questions of dark matter. There are several experiments and models being designed all over the world to try and determine what would make good dark matter candidates. And with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland, some of these experiments may be ready for testing