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The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is planning to build the Second Target Station (STS) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). STS will host a suite of novel instruments that complement the First Target Station’s beamline capabilities by offering an increased flux for cold neutrons and a broader wavelength bandwidth. A novel neutron imaging beamline, named the Complex, Unique, and Powerful Imaging Instrument for Dynamics (CUPI2D), is among the first eight instruments that will be commissioned at STS as part of the construction project. CUPI2D is designed for a broad range of neutron imaging scientific applications, such as energy storage and conversion (batteries and fuel cells), materials science and engineering (additive manufacturing, superalloys, and archaeometry), nuclear materials (novel cladding materials, nuclear fuel, and moderators), cementitious materials, biology/medical/dental applications (regenerative medicine and cancer), and life sciences (plant–soil interactions and nutrient dynamics). The innovation of this instrument lies in the utilization of a high flux of wavelength-separated cold neutrons to perform real time in situ neutron grating interferometry and Bragg edge imaging—with a wavelength resolution of δλ/λ ≈ 0.3%—simultaneously when required, across a broad range of length and time scales. This manuscript briefly describes the science enabled at CUPI2D based on its unique capabilities. The preliminary beamline performance, a design concept, and future development requirements are also presented.

Although regular physical activity is associated with numerous health benefits, many people are not sufficiently active. Interventions that aim to increase physical activity rely mainly on concrete, “subordinate” goals. Based on a goal-theoretical perspective, we argue that combining goals at different levels of abstraction may foster successful goal pursuit, particularly in the long run. In the present study, all participants committed to the subordinate goal of exercising three times per week for three weeks. We used a 2 × 2 between-subjects design to assign participants to an additional superordinate goal, concrete action steps, or both; a control group focused solely on the subordinate goal. The main outcome was exercise frequency, which was measured (a) in the short term, i.e., during the three-week intervention period, using self-reports and electronic data; and (b) in the long term, i.e., during a six-month follow-up period, using electronic data. For the self-reported frequency in the short term, the results show an interaction between a superordinate goal and action steps: In the absence of action steps, a superordinate goal had a negative effect, but this negative effect dissolved when action steps were present. Similarly, action steps exerted a positive effect in the presence of a superordinate goal, but this effect dissolved in the absence of a superordinate goal. Goal manipulation had no significant influence either in the short or long term for electronically measured exercise frequency. Possible explanations for the observed effects and the differences between self-reported and electronically measured exercise frequencies are discussed.

A positive and reciprocal relationship between subjective wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) has been observed across a range of countries worldwide. There is good reason however to think that the nature of the PEB-wellbeing link might vary between individuals and cross-culturally. We use data obtained in Brazil, China, Denmark, India, Poland, South Africa and the UK (total n = 6969) to test a series of hypotheses using pre-registered regression models. First, we assess the relationship between PEB and wellbeing across countries, and test the ‘privilege’ hypothesis that this varies according to personal income and a country's level of development. Second, we consider the role of individual values and motivations in relation to PEB and wellbeing. To this end, we test the ‘enhancement’ hypothesis, in which the PEB-wellbeing link is strengthened by people holding particular values and motivations. Third, we consider the role of cultural differences for the nature of the PEB-wellbeing link. We test the ‘social green’ hypothesis that public sphere behaviours (e.g. addressing environmental issues with other people) are more closely linked to wellbeing than are private sphere behaviours (e.g. product purchasing) in collectivistic cultures; in tandem, we assess whether private sphere behaviours are more closely linked to wellbeing in individualistic cultures. We obtain strong evidence for a PEB-wellbeing link across nations. There is partial evidence across countries to support the ‘social green’ hypothesis, but little evidence for the ‘privilege’ or ‘enhancement’ hypotheses. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the relationship between PEB and wellbeing, and consider how its promotion might feature in environmental and public health policy.

The proportion of the world’s population exposed to above-average monthly temperatures has been rising consistently in recent decades and will continue to grow. This and similar trends make it more likely that people will personally experience extreme weather events and seasonal changes related to climate change. A question that follows from this is to what extent experiences may influence climate-related beliefs, attitudes, and the willingness to act. Although research is being done to examine the effects of such experiences, many of these studies have two important shortcomings. First, they propose effects of experiences but remain unclear on the psychological processes that underlie those effects. Second, if they do make assumptions about psychological processes, they do not typically corroborate them with empirical evidence. In other words, a considerable body of research in this field rests on relatively unfounded intuitions. To advance the theoretical understanding of how experiences of climate change could affect the motivation to act on climate change, we introduce a conceptual framework that organizes insights from psychology along three clusters of processes: 1) noticing and remembering, 2) mental representations, and 3) risk processing and decision-making. Within each of these steps, we identify and explicate psychological processes that could occur when people personally experience climate change, and we formulate theory-based, testable hypotheses. By making assumptions explicit and tying them to findings from basic and applied research from psychology, this paper provides a solid basis for future research and for advancing theory.

Quantification of the mechanical properties of suspension bridge main cables during fire hazards is a vital part of holistic safety assessment of infrastructure. While some researchers hav...

Abstract. Conformity – people’s propensity to comply with the norms and expectations of others – is an important driver of behavior. In this research, we develop a measure of people’s level of conformity which is grounded in an innovative paradigm from attitude research. By relying on relatively easy-to-answer questions about past activities, the new scale addresses some of the conceptual and methodical shortcomings of existing conformity measures. Using a sample of 1,398 people, we calibrated individuals’ claims about how they have conformed with norms, conventions, and the expectations of others in the past. Even though some conformity items seem somewhat gender sensitive, all 33 of them nevertheless form a fairly reliable Rasch scale (rel = .67). Convergent and discriminant validity were corroborated with substantial overlaps with traditional conformity, social desirability, and conscientiousness measures, and with a moderate negative correspondence with people’s desire for uniqueness. Incremental and explanatory validity was provided in a quasi-experiment ( n = 152) on evaluations of commercials.

Tailoring climate change messages to a particular spatial scale (e.g. a specific country or region) is often seen as an effective way to frame communication about climate change. Yet the empirical evidence for the effectiveness of this strategy is scarce, and little is known about how recipients react to spatially-framed climate change messages. To learn more about the effects and usefulness of different spatial frames as a communication and engagement tool, we conducted a study in which we presented members of the general public with either a national or a global framing of climate change. In contrast to previous spatial-framing studies, the present research used semi-structured interviews - rather than survey questions - to obtain rich, in-depth information about participants' views of climate change. Irrespective of the framing, participants revealed associations that were located at various spatial scales. Moreover, when participants talked about climate change, they repeatedly switched between different spatial scales, revealing patterns that were consistent with seeking to preserve existing beliefs and preferences. These findings improve our understanding of how the public represents climate change, and provide a novel explanation as to why simple spatial framing often fails to achieve the anticipated effects.

Background New Year's Eve is a time when people make resolutions, but, more often than not, fail to achieve them. Previous research highlighted the positive effect of subordinate goals in goal pursuit. We argue that combining superordinate and subordinate goals contributes to successful goal pursuit, especially in the long run. We test whether a simultaneous focus on both goal types helps people to keep their resolutions. Methods Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, participants (N = 256) formulated a resolution from which they derived either a superordinate (yes/no) or a subordinate goal (yes/no). The control group focused exclusively on a self-set resolution. Main outcome measures were effort in goal pursuit and intentions to further pursue the goal after 3 months. Results Focusing on superordinate and subordinate goals increased the amount of effort invested in goal pursuit. A group difference was found only between the group focusing on both goal types and the group focusing on a superordinate goal. No statement could be made about intentions for further goal pursuit and processes by which goal type affects goal pursuit. Conclusion The study provides preliminary insights into how combining superordinate and subordinate goals may be a helpful strategy to pursue long-term goals.

BackgroundNew Year’s Eve is a time when people make resolutions, but, more often than not, fail to achieve them. Previous research highlighted the positive effect of subordinate goals in goal pursuit. We argue that combining superordinate and subordinate goals contributes to successful goal pursuit, especially in the long run. We test whether a simultaneous focus on both goal types helps people to keep their resolutions.MethodsUsing a 2x2 between-subjects design, participants (N = 256) formulated a resolution from which they derived either a superordinate (yes/no) or a subordinate goal (yes/no). The control group focused exclusively on a self-set resolution. Main outcome measures were effort in goal pursuit and intentions to further pursue the goal after three months.ResultsFocusing on superordinate and subordinate goals increased the amount of effort invested in goal pursuit. A group difference was found only between the group focusing on both goal types and the group focusing on a superordinate goal. No statement could be made about intentions for further goal pursuit and processes by which goal type affects goal pursuit.ConclusionThe study provides preliminary insights into how combining superordinate and subordinate goals may be a helpful strategy to pursue long-term goals.

We present a comprehensive study of the effects of internal boundaries on the accuracy of residual stress values obtained from the eigenstrain method. In the experimental part of this effort, a composite specimen, consisting of an aluminum cylinder sandwiched between steel cylinders of the same diameter, was uniformly heated under axial displacement constraint. During the experiment, the sample temperature and the reaction stresses in the load frame in response to changes in sample temperature were monitored. In addition, the local (elastic) lattice strain distribution within the specimen was measured using neutron diffraction. The eigenstrain method, utilizing finite element modeling, was then used to predict the stress field existing within the sample in response to the constraint imposed by the load frame against axial thermal expansion. Our comparison of the computed and measured stress distributions showed that, while the eigenstrain method predicted acceptable stress values away from the cylinder interfaces, its predictions did not match experimentally measured values near them. These observations indicate that the eigenstrain method is not valid for sample geometries with this type of internal boundaries.

Suspension-bridge cables are constructed from strands of galvanized steel wire. They are failure-critical structural members, so a fundamental understanding of their mechanics is imminently important in quantifying suspension bridge safety. The load-carrying capabilities of such strands after local wire failures have been the subject of many theoretical studies utilizing analytical equations and finite-element analysis. Little experimental data, however, exists to validate these models.Over the past five years we have developed a methodology for measuring stress/strain transfer within parallel wire strands of suspension bridge cables using neutron diffraction [1,2]. In this paper we describe the design and verification of parallel cable strands used in our studies. We describe the neutron diffraction strain measurements performed on standard 7-wire and expanded 19-wire models in various configurations at both the Los Alamos National Laboratory Spectrometer for Materials Research at Temperature and Stress (LANL SMARTS) and at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory VULCAN Engineering Materials Diffractometer (ORNL VULCAN). Particular attention is placed on the challenges of aligning and measuring multibody systems with high strain gradients at body-to-body contact points.

We report the first direct measurements of clamping strains within individual wires of a 19 parallel wire strand constrained by a clamshell clamp. In these measurements neutron diffraction was used to determine the elastic strains along three orthogonal axes for all of the individual wires across the strand cross section underneath the clamp for various clamping loads. We observed that, while, for all clamping loads, the clamping strains within individual wires were heterogeneously distributed, increasing the clamping force significantly decreased the strain heterogeneity. In contrast, no strain heterogeneity was observed in a rigorous companion finite-element model of the strand unless dimensional variations in the wire diameters were introduced. Our results are in agreement with the hypothesis by Gjelsvik, which states that, within a parallel wire bridge cable, local variations in wire diameter due to manufacturing tolerances can lead to large variations in clamping constraint.

The performance of suspension bridges exposed to fire hazards is severely under-studied – so much so that no experimental data exists to quantify the safety of a suspension bridge during or after a major fire event. Bridge performance and safety rely on the integrity of the main cable and its constituent high-strength steel wires. Due to the current lack of experimental high temperature data for wires, the theoretical models use properties and coefficients from data for other types of structural steel. No other structural steel undergoes the amount of cold-working that bridge wire does, and plastic strains from cold-working can be relieved at high temperature, drastically weakening the steel. As such, this work determines the elastic modulus, ultimate strength, and general thermo-mechanical profile of the high-strength steel wires in a range of elevated temperature environments. Specifically, these tests are conducted on a bundle of 61-wires (transient), and at the single wire level (steady-state) at a temperature range of approximately 20-700°C. The test results show an alarmingly high reduction in the elastic modulus and ultimate strength with increased temperature. The degradation shown by experiments is higher than predicted by current theoretical models, indicating that use of high-temperature properties of other types of steel is not sufficient. The test results also show scaling agreement between the single wire and the 61-wire bundle, implying that a full material work up at the single- wire level will accurately inform the failure characterization of the full cable.

One of the greatest challenges of this century is climate change. Unfortunately, it is still unclear how to motivate people to engage in environmentally friendly behaviour. To be effective, education and communication strategies must take into account people’s perceptions and beliefs. A root difficulty is that the general public tends to perceive climate change as a psychologically distant phenomenon —something that, if at all, happens not here, not now, and not to oneself. In this study, we explored perceptions of psychological distance to climate change with a highly relevant but so far overlooked population —adolescents. Swiss adolescents (N = 587) perceived climate change to be a certain and present risk. However, they perceived climate change to affect other places and other people more than themselves. Regression analysis revealed a significant inverse relationship between distance and concern: respondents who felt psychologically closer to the phenomenon expressed greater concern. The findings contribute to the understanding of how young people perceive climate change, which should assist in designing education strategies to make it more salient for individual behaviour.

Reducing the psychological distance of climate change has repeatedly been proposed as one strategy to increase individuals' motivation to respond to climate change. From the perspective of construal level theory, decreasing psychological distance should not itself influence people's willingness to act but change the processes that underlie individual decision-making. We conducted two experiments in which we manipulated the psychological distance of climate change. We found that participants with a distant focus relied more on scepticism to represent risks and make decisions about supporting climate change, whereas participants with a proximal perspective relied more on fear when making such judgements. However, the predicted Fear × Distance interaction was only found when self-reported fear rather than experimentally manipulated fear was used as a moderator. Our results suggest that simply proximising won't increase engagement and call for a more differentiated perspective on the effects of psychological distance in the context of climate change.

A frequent suggestion to increase individuals' willingness to take action on climate change and to support relevant policies is to highlight its proximal consequences, that is, those that are close in space and time. But previous studies that have tested this proximizing approach have not revealed the expected positive effects on individual action and support for addressing climate change. We present three lines of psychological reasoning that provide compelling arguments as to why highlighting proximal impacts of climate change might not be as effective a way to increase individual mitigation and adaptation efforts as is often assumed. Our contextualization of the proximizing approach within established psychological research suggests that, depending on the particular theoretical perspective one takes on this issue, and on specific individual characteristics suggested by these perspectives, proximizing can bring about the intended positive effects, can have no (visible) effect or can even backfire. Thus, the effects of proximizing are much more complex than is commonly assumed. Revealing this complexity contributes to a refined theoretical understanding of the role that psychological distance plays in the context of climate change and opens up further avenues for future research and for interventions.

Many perceive climate change to be more relevant to distant places, future times, and other people than to the here and now and oneself. This perception has sparked interest in construal level theory (CLT) as a framework to understand how the public sees climate change, and how the subjective psychological distance at which people mentally represent objects affects their decisions and actions. Although at first CLT may appear to be the ideal lens through which to investigate psychological distance, I argue that applications of the theory in explaining and predicting climate change (in)action are limited. Researchers have sometimes used CLT in ways inconsistent with its original articulation; namely, (1) when claiming that psychological distant events are less personally relevant than close events; (2) when treating psychological distance as a stable individual belief; and (3) when speculating about what happens when such beliefs change. This article identifies places where research diverges from the scope of CLT, and suggests alternative perspectives that are theoretically better suited to investigating some important and common questions. As a constructive plea for theoretically rigorous research projects and practical work, this article outlines directions for future research that should help advance the field's understanding of psychological distance in the context of climate change and make interventions more effective.

International Journal of Public Health, 54 (6), ISSN:1661-8556, ISSN:1661-8564

Introduction Attitude toward nature and attitude toward environmental protection are two separate but correlated attitudes. Little is known about the two attitudes’ stability/volatility over time, despite the practical value of such knowledge. Objectives & method Using longitudinal survey data from 251 adults in a cross-lagged structural equation model, we assessed the degree of spontaneous (i.e., unprompted) change in the two attitudes. We also considered whether such change could provide evidence regarding causal direction; causation could go in either of two directions between the two attitudes, or it could even be bi-directional. Results We corroborated the substantive connection between attitude toward nature and attitude toward environmental protection; however, the absence of change in the attitudes despite the passage of two years disallows reliable statements about causal direction. Conclusion It is possible to protect the environment by encouraging appreciation of nature, but change in attitude toward nature and attitude toward environmental protection may be difficult to achieve with mature individuals.

In der Naturbewusstseinsstudie 2011 „werden unter Naturbewusstsein subjektive Auffassungen von Natur und Einstellungen zur Natur gefasst“ (Kleinhückelkotten/Neitzke 2012: 6). Diese von der Person ausgehende individuelle Perspektive entspricht dem Einstellungskonzept der Psychologie. Doch was sind Einstellungen genau? Wie kann man sie messen? Und warum sind sie interessant für den Natur- und Umweltschutz?1 Genau diese Fragen werden wir in diesem Kapitel aus psychologischer Perspektive beantworten. Ausgehend von einer Darstellung des allgemeinen Einstellungskonzepts der Psychologie, stellen wir Erkenntnisse speziell zur Natureinstellung zusammen. Im darauf folgenden und zentralen Teil unseres Beitrags konzentrieren wir uns auf die Messung der Natureinstellung. Schließlich belegen wir anhand empirischer Befunde, welchen Nutzen die Förderung von Natureinstellung für den Umweltschutz haben kann. Zu Beginn möchten wir Sie aber gerne im folgenden Exkurs bei der weitverbreiteten klassischen Einstellungsmessung, die auf verbalen Meinungsäußerungen beruht und mit der die meisten Praktiker gut vertraut sind, abholen.

We report results from neutron diffraction experiments where partitioning of applied tensile load between the inner and outer wires of seven-wire parallel and quasi-parallel wire strands were measured while 1-all wires were undergoing elastic deformation, 2-where one wire within the bundle was undergoing plastic flow and, 3-when one or more wires fractured under load. The results indicate that mechanical interference and friction mechanisms have similar contributions to the load transferred to fractured wires, and both mechanisms should be included in analytical or numerical formulations of strain partitioning in quasi-parallel wire cables.

In environmental psychology, many researchers have apparently placed appreciation of nature and appreciation of environmental protection in the same attitudinal category. In this article, the authors argue that this involves a misconception. The authors used survey data from 1,336 Swiss adults to compare competing attitudinal models: the currently accepted one-dimensional model against a two-dimensional model that distinguishes appreciation of nature from appreciation of environmental protection. A Rasch-type measurement model was implemented to test the theoretically anticipated item-factor structure. The model that treated appreciation of nature and appreciation of environmental protection as distinct attitudes was statistically superior to the one-dimensional model. The gains in reliability and model accuracy were modest, but the authors see substantial theoretical and practical value in treating appreciation of nature and appreciation of environmental protection as separate attitudes. For example, if the intention is to promote more environmental engagement, then appreciation of nature might be the more malleable target and thus the critical factor for change.

Pleasurable experiences in nature are suspected to promote a personal connection with nature, and subsequently, nature conservation in individuals. Using an Internet-based survey employing a convenience sample of the general population (N = 1,309), we developed a connection-with-nature instrument that relies on only simple self-reflection. That is, connection with nature is indirectly derived from inspecting reports of past bonding activities and responses to evaluative statements reflecting an appreciation of nature. As such, our instrument is intellectually easy and not particularly taxing to respond to. Although conceptualized as an attitude, our new Disposition to Connect with Nature scale converged with other connection-with-nature measures – with only one exception – and, simultaneously, turned out to be technically superior with regard to accuracy and validity.

The elastic strains induced in the constituent wires of parallel wire strands under tensile loading were measured using neutron diffraction. The elastic strains carried by the individual wires depended very strongly on the boundary conditions at the grips and on radial clamping forces. The friction forces between the wires were quite significant and should not be neglected in analytical or numerical formulations of strain partitioning in parallel wire cables.

This article introduces an approach to tailoring behavior-change campaigns to target populations using the example of solid waste reduction in Santiago de Cuba. Tailoring is performed in the following steps: (1) Psychological constructs are selected to detect problems in performing the target behavior, and data are gathered on these constructs. (2) Cluster analyses are performed on these data to identify different psychological types and their distribution in the population. (3) Intervention techniques are assigned according to the spatial and quantitative distribution and the characteristics of these types. Results of the cluster analyses are presented for three different behaviors that can reduce the amount of deposited solid waste (recycling, composting, reuse) on the basis of the four psychological constructs of instrumental and affective attitude, difficulty, and social pressure. The tailoring of interventions could be used to design environmental campaigns more efficiently.

This paper presents an experimental study of different algorithms for the health monitoring of frame structures subjected to base excitation (e.g. earthquake ground motion). These algorithms use only the acceleration time histories of the input and of the response output and are tested for the identification of the dynamic characteristics of the structure (natural frequencies and damping ratios) and for detecting and quantifying any possible structural damage that occurs in the frame. Three algorithms were considered: (1) a frequency domain decomposition algorithm, (2) a time domain Eigensystem Realization Algorithm together with Observer Kalman Identification algorithm, and (3) a subsequent physical parameter identification algorithm (MLK). Through extensive experimental testing of a four-story steel frame model on a uniaxial shake table, the performance of the various methods as well as the inherent complications of physical instrumentation and testing are explored.

Doing something moral gives one a license to do something immoral. This form of moral compen-sation is called “moral self-licensing”. Interestingly, the moral behavior can take place in another domain than the subsequent immoral behavior. For example, buying eco-friendly products gives one a license to steal. This article is based on the idea that a healthy diet has a moral dimension. As a consequence, consuming a healthy product should give one a license for immoral behavior. This research supports this hypothesis on a playful study. This study shows that drinking sauerkraut juice contributes to a stronger support of Nazi-esque right wing ideology than drinking either nothing or a less-healthy beverage (Nestea).

This research investigated how an individual’s endorsements of mitigation and adaptation relate to each other, and how well each of these can be accounted for by relevant social psychological factors. Based on survey data from two European convenience samples (N = 616 / 309) we found that public endorsements of mitigation and adaptation are strongly associated: Someone who is willing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) is also willing to prepare for climate change impacts (adaptation). Moreover, people endorsed the two response strategies for similar reasons: People who believe that climate change is real and dangerous, who have positive attitudes about protecting the environment and the climate, and who perceive climate change as a risk, are willing to respond to climate change. Furthermore, distinguishing between (spatially) proximal and distant risk perceptions suggested that the idea of portraying climate change as a proximal (i.e., local) threat might indeed be effective in promoting personal actions. However, to gain endorsement of broader societal initiatives such as policy support, it seems advisable to turn to the distant risks of climate change. The notion that “localising” climate change might not be the panacea for engaging people in this domain is discussed in regard to previous theory and research.