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The qualitative study described in this article investigated perceptions about environmental factors influencing physical activity (PA) among children from underserved neighborhoods known as colonias in the U.S.-Mexico border. Ten focus groups were conducted with 67 Mexican-American colonia children ages 8 to 13 living in one of the poorest border counties in the U.S. Analyses indicated that PA among children was influenced by neighborhood characteristics, including litter, speeding cars, unleashed dogs, and dark streets. The children also underlined intrapersonal and social environmental factors. Findings may inform policy makers and public health professionals about ways to promote PA among underserved children through urban planning and programs focusing on PA-supportive infrastructure, neighborhood safety, and family- and home-based physical activities., Introduction Physical activity (PA) is associated with optimal metabolic function, improved motor skills, increased fitness levels, and beneficial changes in body composition in young children (Barbeau, 2007; Hills, King, & [...]

ABSTRACT The Accra Kumasi road, one of Ghana's most important trunk roads, traverses numerous towns and settlements whose residents at times engage intimately with the road on their doorstep. In [...]

This research note looks at the territoriality of the Honduran gangs called maras. It contributes to the existing scholarship on territory, space, and gangs. Territoriality is understood as a geographic strategy of power that can influence, affect, and control social relations, persons, and objects in a specific area. Focusing on the case of imprisoned gang members of the Eighteenth Street Gang, this research note shows that gang members develop territorial strategies that defy the existing territorial order of the jail, and moreover, that the gang's territorial strategies produce a social space known as the barrio. This barrio emerges as a total institution within another total institution, the prison. Territoriality of imprisoned gang members indicates the ability of gangs to react and develop responses to different situations, including the repressive security policies of the Honduran state. Furthermore, it is an indicator of the high levels of violence and exclusion of marginal youths. Esta nota estudia la territorialidad de las maras en Honduras contribuyendo asi a los estudios y debates existentes sobre territorio, espacio y pandillas. La territorialidad se percibe segun la nocion de Robert Sack (1986) definida como estrategias geografi'cas de poder con las cuales se pueden influenciar, afectar y controlar relaciones sociales, personas u objetos dentro de un area delimitada. Centrandose en el caso de miembros encarcelados de la Dieciocho en Honduras, este trabajo demuestra que las maras desarrollan estrategias territoriales que desafian el orden territorial de la carcel y, por otro lado, producen un nuevo espacio social llamado el barrio el cual surge como un centro de reclusion dentro de otro centro de reclusion. La territorialidad de las maras encarceladas indica la habilidad de desarrollar reacciones y respuestas en distintas situaciones, incluso las politicas represivas de seguridad del estado hondureno; asimismo, es indicador de los altos niveles de violencia y exclusion que viven estos jovenes marginados., Estudios sobre las pandillas en Centroamerica, particularmente las maras, como localmente se les conoce, son recientes. Estos surgieron en los noventa queriendo entender esencialmente la rapida expansion y proliferacion de [...]

Abstract This article uses qualitative methodology to explore women's fear of crime in intimate relations, an area until now uncharted. The rich scholarship on fear of crime has exclusively dealt [...]

ABSTRACT Despite its manifest, if largely undocumented, histories of menacing violence and perilous politics, the thrust of popular memory in the former apartheid bantustan of KaNgwane insists that it was [...]

In the post-war years, Americans migrated en masse into suburbs punctuated by shopping centers that served as social and recreational hubs. Concerned about the civic wellbeing of shopping-centered suburbanites, a group called the Agora Coalition formed in the 1990s to enhance malls' civic functioning through a combination of design and programming strategies. This paper presents an adversarial alternative to such an approach. Rather than working 'with' the mall as its prodding civic conscience, the paper recommends strategizing 'against' it on behalf of civic life. The paper reveals four vulnerabilities in malls that such thinking can exploit: mall users may not find malls ego-enhancing places in which to socialize; the current economic recession has pointed up that many mall goods are frivolous nonessentials; malls are less likely to engender topophilia than are local public landscapes; and, as successful retail institutions in a competitive capitalist environment, malls employ successful strategies for gaining customers that designers of civic spaces can emulate. Indeed, the adversarial, zero-sum approach recommended here exemplifies the use of market-honed, 'mall' strategizing. To nurture such thinking, I refer to Sun-Tzu's classic treatise The Art of War. The 2,400-year old text is required reading in MBA programs nationwide and presumably informs the thinking of many who build and manage malls. What would these people do if they were now competing against their creations on behalf of civic life?, Introduction THE DECADES FOLLOWING World War II witnessed the radical redistribution of the American population as (disproportionately white, middle-class) urbanites migrated into new, mass-produced suburbs. The dispersal aroused keen geographical [...]

The City of Atlanta experienced its highest rate of residential burglaries in 2008, up twenty-four and one-half percent from the previous year. In the same year, thefts from motor vehicles also peaked--at nearly twenty-eight percent above the preceding year. The purpose of this study was to determine not only where clusters of offenses were occurring, but temporal frequencies of the crimes and what, if any, environmental factors were influencing increased criminal activity. To accomplish this, the research analyzed hot and cold spots of residential burglaries in three police beats comprising two distinct locations of the city, urban and suburban. It then compared thefts from motor vehicles in those same areas. The results indicated a marked difference in the socioeconomic status of the inhabitants, and the frequency of the crimes between the two areas; each having a comparable population density and beat size. The research also revealed environmental issues that were contributing elements on crime. The study concluded that each area experienced different rates of property crime for the selected categories, and that in this specific case, neighborhood design was an important consideration; and although the urban beats were subjected to higher crime rates per capita than the suburban beat, both selected areas shared a similarity in temporal occurrences of property crime incidents., Introduction IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED amongst crime researchers that with prosperity comes higher rates of property crime. At the same time, researchers have also said that high rates of unemployment [...]

Although spatial language and spatial cognition covary over development and across languages, determining the causal direction of this relationship presents a challenge. Here we show that mature human spatial cognition depends on the acquisition of specific aspects of spatial language. We tested two cohorts of deaf signers who acquired an emerging sign language in Nicaragua at the same age but during different time periods: the first cohort of signers acquired the language in its infancy, and 10 y later the second cohort of signers acquired the language in a more complex form. We found that the second-cohort signers, now in their 20s, used more consistent spatial language than the first-cohort signers, now in their 30s. Correspondingly, they outperformed the first cohort in spatially guided searches, both when they were disoriented and when an array was rotated. Consistent linguistic marking of left-right relations correlated with search performance under disorientation, whereas consistent marking of ground information correlated with search in rotated arrays. Human spatial cognition therefore is modulated by the acquisition of a rich language. spatial language | language and thought | Nicaraguan Sign Language doi/10.1073/pnas.0914044107

According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is clear that the buildings sector presents the biggest potential for deep and fast [CO.sup.2] emission reductions on a cost-effective basis. Interestingly, this assessment was premised exclusively on technical (engineering) measures, but ignored completely the behavioural and lifestyle dimensions of energy consumption in the buildings sector. Behavioural change in buildings, however, can deliver even faster and zero-cost improvements in energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (ghg) emission reductions. With this in mind, designers are beginning to shift their attention to how they can widen the range of opportunities available in a building to provide comfort for the occupants, both in new-build and retrofit contexts. This in turn has re-awakened an interest in the role of natural ventilation in the provision of comfort. This discussion about adaptive comfort raises several questions, including the following: How can we shift occupants' comfort expectations away from the static indoor climates of the past towards the more variable thermal regimes found in naturally ventilated buildings? Are building occupants 'addicted' to static environments, i.e. air-conditioning (AC)? If so, how tolerant or compliant will they be when the thermally constant conditions provided by AC are replaced by the thermally variable conditions that characterize naturally ventilated spaces? Does the frequency of prior exposure to AC bias building occupants' thermal expectations and, if so, what are the implications of this bias for their acceptance of naturally ventilated indoor climates? Does prior exposure to AC lead building occupants to actually prefer AC over natural ventilation? This article addresses these questions in the context of a large field study of building occupants in a hot and humid climate zone in Brazil (Maceio). The temperature preferences registered on 975 questionnaires in naturally ventilated buildings are statistically analysed in relation to occupants' prior exposure to AC in their workplaces. Keywords: Air conditioning; energy conservation; hot-humid climate; natural ventilation; thermal comfort; thermal history, INTRODUCTION The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) highlighted the potential of the buildings sector to achieve greenhouse gas (ghg) emission reductions, above other [...]

The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine the effect of match location on soccer playing tactics by assessing opponent interaction. The sample included 203 goals and 1688 random team possessions ('controls'). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed significant differences in the odds ratio for goal scoring in the interaction between playing tactics and match locations. For the variable 'team possession type' ([chi square]=5.05, P=0. 025), counter attack (24.5%) and elaborate attack (21.8%) produced goals in higher percentages of attempts at home than away (19.8% and 20.5%), with counter attack being more effective than elaborate attack when playing against an imbalanced defence at home, but not away. Assessment of opponent interaction is critical to evaluate the effectiveness of playing tactics on the probability for scoring goals according to match location., That sports teams in balanced competitions achieve better results when playing at home than away from home, is a consistent finding (Carron, Loughhead, & Bray, 2005; Nevill & Holder, 1999). [...]

The differences between spatial and verbal tasks and insight and non-insight tasks in problem solving are examined. Findings revealed strong relationships between verbal versus spatial factor and verbalization conditions. The 'business as usual' view and the 'special process view' of solving problems are also discussed.

The study presents that consumers in spatially confined stores and areas make more varied and unique selections. Details on spatial confinement's impact on variety-seeking behavior and consumers with high reactance are discussed.

This article focuses on the architectural characteristics of a household compound in Cardonal, an early agricultural village located in the southern Cajon Valley (Catamarca, north-western Argentina) dated to the first centuries AD. When architecture, as landscape, is understood as the result of the daily tasks of living, the research carried out in Cardonal gives substance to the ways in which the materiality of everyday life forged the building of this prehistoric village. Cardonal is an example of how houses and architecture are not static but fluidly changing with the contingencies of life. Keywords Architecture; household; agrarian villages; north-western Argentina; Southern Andes; Formative period.

In this study, the author uses ethnographic and interview data from Pussy Palace, a lesbian/queer bathhouse in Toronto, Canada, to examine the ways in which the bathhouse space impacted participants' sexuality, behaviors, and notions of self. The Toronto Women's Bathhouse Committee (TWBC), an explicitly feminist and queer organization, is responsible for putting on Pussy Palace events and in creating an atmosphere that is simultaneously sexual and safe. Findings indicate elements of both spatial praxis and sexual agency, wherein individuals expressed being able to 'take risks,' 'find their sexuality,' and 'discover who they are' in a safe space, where nonnormative bodies and sexualities are to be celebrated. Although participants expressed feeling 'liberated,' many also described feeling anxious, awkward, and insecure. Within a sexual space where bodies are exposed and highly salient, these anxieties worked to inhibit and curtail bodily expression. The author concludes by discussing the significance of spaces like Pussy Palace for lesbian/queer individuals when it comes to sexual expression and the need for further research when it comes to examining lesbian/queer sexualities and public sexual cultures. KEYWORDS bathhouse, lesbian/queer, sexual agency, queer, safe space, feminist, Pussy Palace

This article offers an analysis of lived experiences of transnational mobility for gay-identified expatriates who reside in Manila, the Philippines. Drawing from in-depth interviewing and discourse analysis of eight cases, the author argues that homonormative mobility organizes gay men's travel, even as gay expatriates work to reimagine themselves through their travel and face destabilizing experiences in transnational spaces. The author offers a theorization of homonormative mobility to explain discourses of normative gender, race-nation, and desire in gay travel Specifically, she argues that expatriates describe their mobility as (1) an escape from the heteronormative controls they face at home, (2) masculine access to freeing places in 'foreign' playgrounds, (3) an act of homo-orientalist desire of Filipino men and spaces, (4) a desirable experience that builds their own self-confidence, and (5) troubling for their self-perceptions. Keywords: homonormativity; gay tourism; transnational feminism; sexuality; Philippines

A team of Beijing-based urban planning specialists is joined by a noted American geographer to present the results and analyze their 2008 survey of migrant settlements in China's capital city. The paper examines the living and work conditions as well as housing consumption behavior of migrants in Chinese cities, focusing on chengzhongcun or urban villages rural settlements that have been transformed into poor living spaces for migrant workers. It finds that although migrant workers are willing to pay the same or higher rent per unit of space, they consume much smaller dwelling spaces than local residents. Estimations of the Mincerian wage equation and of a housing demand equation show that migrants' small space consumption is a function not only of low income but also of a reluctance to spend their earnings in the city. The findings reinforce the notion that migrant workers consider the city as a place to work rather than a home in which to live. Classification Numbers: J610, OI50, R210, R230. 14 figures, 5 tables, 34 references, 1 appendix. Key words: China, Beijing, urban villages, chengzhongcun, rural-urban migration, urbanization, housing, rent, rural settlements.

The current study analyzed figure size modification in different types of spatial context (C. Lange-Kuttner, 1997, 2004) for sequence and practice effects. Children of 7, 9, and 11 years of age, as well as 17-year-olds, drew figures in a series of ready-made spatial axes systems, which (a) logically increased in dimensional complexity as in child development, (b) were randomized in sequence, or (c) were absent, as a control condition for figure size reduction through practice. Already 7-year-olds could subtly adapt figure size in the logical sequence, but the amount of size reduction stayed within the same size range as in the other two conditions. Only at 9 years of age did children show sensitivity to spatial constraints, with smaller figures in both the logical and random sequence than in the control condition. At 11 years of age, the spatial scale of figure size was maximized, particularly so in children who could change perspective and construct a bird's-eye view, whereas this effect was attenuated in the 17-year-olds. Implications of the results for domain-specific conceptual development are discussed. Keywords: pictorial space, size modification in axes systems, spatial constraints and possibilities, conceptual development, developmental transitions

Theory suggests that having enough space is a fundamental human need and so research on how environments can be modified to increase perceived spaciousness is important. Two experiments, covering 109 participants and 30 stimuli, investigated possible effects of horizontal area and aspect ratios of recesses on judged spaciousness of streets. One experiment simulated the streets with dynamic virtual reality models in which participants could move around. The other experiment simulated the streets with three static colored images. Both simulation protocols generated the same conclusions. The most important factor in judged spaciousness was horizontal area. Larger areas were judged as being more spacious. Streets with setbacks that were shallower but longer were judged as being more spacious than streets with setbacks that were deeper but shorter. The results suggest that even if the actual size of a space is fixed, it is possible to increase perceived spaciousness by modifying the shape of the space. Keywords: affective responses; spatial geometry; evolutionary theory; safety; environmental cognition

New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse region in the world. Over 1,000 languages are found there. Unsurprisingly, controversy exists concerning the degree to which this diversity has been shaped by migration or interaction. At the centre of this controversy is the putative origin and migration path of Austronesian speakers. The advent of Lapita ceramic ware in Melanesia around 3,000 years ago is seen by some as important evidence for their arrival; nevertheless the validity of using Lapita as a marker for Austronesian populations remains in question. The Upper Sepik is one of New Guinea's most linguistically heterogeneous regions. Because it is not marked by far-reaching exchange systems the region's language and material culture distributions provide potential for exploring such issues. This paper discusses these in the context of an analysis of important ethnographic collections from the region. It is shown that when material culture is assessed technologically and stylistically it is easier to determine an effect for important variables such as language and distance. Additionally, it is demonstrated that as men and women often have different levels of mobility and sociality, classes of material culture belonging to each may differentially reflect important socio-historical processes. Key words: Lapita, Upper Sepik, Central New Guinea, language, material culture, geographic distance, gender, marriage, mobility, arrows, string bags., LAPITA AND THE EXPLORATION OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN MELANESIA One of the most important and enduring debates associated with the prehistory of Melanesia has concerned the migration [...]

Brazilian immigration to the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon that gained momentum in the 1980s in unprecedented numbers. Today an estimated 1.2 million Brazilians live in the United [...]

Three experiments examined the time course of layout priming with photographic scenes varying in complexity (number of objects). Primes were presented for varying durations (800-50 ms) before a target scene with 2 spatial probes; observers indicated whether the left or right probe was closer to viewpoint. Reaction time was the main measure. Scene primes provided maximum benefits with 200 ms or less prime duration, indicating that scene priming is rapid enough to influence everyday distance perception. The time course of prime processing was similar for simple and complex scene primes and for upright and inverted primes, suggesting that the prime representation was intermediate level in nature. Keywords: priming, layout, scene perception, intermediate-level processing, spatial processing

In the Simon effect, participants make a left or right keypress in response to a nonspatial attribute (e.g., color) that is presented on the left or right. Reaction times CRTs) increase when the response activated by the irrelevant stimulus location and the response retrieved by instruction are in conflict. The authors measured RTs and movement parameters CMPs) of pointing responses in a typical Simon task. Their results show that the trajectories veer toward the imperative stimulus. This bias decreased as RTs increased. The authors suggest that the time course of trajectory deviations reflects the resolution of the response conflict over time Further, time pressure did not affect the size of the Simon effect in MPs or its time course, but strongly reduced the Simon effect in RTs. In contrast, response selection before the onset of a go signal on the left or right did not affect the Simon effect in RTs, but reduced the Simon effect in MPs and reversed the time course. The authors speculate about independent Simon effects associated with response selection and programming. Keywords: Simon effect, pointing movements, stimulus--response compatibility, stimulus--response congruency, distractor interference

To make sense out of a continuously changing visual world, people need to integrate features across space and time. Despite more than a century of research, the mechanisms of features integration are still a matter of debate. To examine how temporal and spatial integration interact, the authors measured the amount of temporal fusion (a measure of temporal integration) for different spatial layouts. They found that spatial grouping by proximity and similarity can completely block temporal integration. Computer simulations with a simple neural network capture these findings very well, suggesting that the proposed spatial grouping operations may occur already at an early stage of visual information processing. Keywords: temporal integration, feature fusion, spatial grouping, Gestalt laws, modeling

Questions centring on the significance, occupation and renovation of subterranean features have remained largely unasked and unanswered by archaeologists. This is cause for great concern considering the importance of 'underground' elements in archaeological landscapes of diverse periods. This paper examines how insights derived from ethnographic and ethnohistoric study among the Chagga of Mount Kilimanjaro, Northern Tanzania, who extensively utilized underground fastnesses in precolonial times, might be used to inform cave archaeologies. These features were used to shelter people and provisions during episodes of conflict between rival chiefdoms and patrilineages and were also ritually significant. Today these features have fallen into disuse but they retain significance in local traditions. It is posited that cave archaeologies should explicitly consider the meaningfulness of the 'cave experience' in their reconstructions of the past and also take advantage of such reconstructions to challenge the primacy too often afforded the ocular. Keywords Cave; Chagga; experience; Kilimanjaro; memory; underground.

It is likely that ritual activity existed (and even played an important role) in the life of Upper Palaeolithic groups. However, rites are among the aspects of human behaviour most elusive to archaeological research. In this paper, we will analyse the evidence from several Magdalenian cave sites where the existence of 'sanctuaries' or other kinds of ritual activity has been claimed. The available methods for the evaluation of this kind of area will be discussed, and a preliminary assessment of some recently documented sites will be proposed. Keywords Symbols: sanctuaries. Upper Palaeolithic; south-west Europe; hunter-gatherers; Palaeolithic structures.

Deposits in caves and rock-shelters typically occur in the form of low-resolution palimpsests or timeaveraged deposits, resulting from the superimposition of repeated and variable episodes of occupation, low rates of sedimentation and mixing by natural and anthropogenic processes. Despite the development of an impressive array of analytical techniques to disentangle these palimpsests into their constituent episodes of occupation, high resolution chronologies and detailed snapshots of activity areas and spatial organization have proved elusive. Here we suggest that, rather than seeing palimpsests as a problem, we take them as they are, as mixtures of materials that may have been actively recognized as such by the prehistoric occupants and deliberately enhanced, providing both physical resources that could be recycled for subsequent use and material cues for a sense of time and place. We illustrate this approach through a comparison of the spatial and material structure of four Upper Palaeolithic cave deposits in Southeast Europe, focusing on hearths and hearth-related distributions of material as clues to the active role of palimpsests in determining the use histories of different places. Keywords Caves; memory; palimpsest; rock-shelters; time-averaging; Upper Palaeolithic.

Research on the enabling factors of innovation has focused on either the social component of organizations or on the spatial dimensions involved in the innovation process. But no one has examined the aggregate consequences of the link from spatial layout, to social networks, to innovation. This project enriches our understanding of how innovation works especially in highly innovative organizations by exploring the social dimensions of innovation as they are embedded in a specific spatial milieu. Workspace layout generates spatial boundaries that divide and reunite built space. These boundaries create relations of accessibility and visibility that integrate or segregate behaviors, activities, and people. As built space structures patterns of circulation, copresence, coawareness, and encounter in an organization, these interrelationships become fundamental to the development of social networks, especially those networks critical to the innovation process. This article presents a review of the knowledge bases of social network and spatial layout theories, and reports on a preliminary study of the effects of spatial layout on the formation and maintenance of social network structure and the support of innovation. Keywords: office design; network analysis; space syntax; productivity

The authors investigated the impact of perceived danger on judged likelihood of restoration. Participants imagined that they were in a state of directed attention fatigue and then that they were taking a walk in a potentially restorative setting. The authors varied two properties of the setting in a factorial design. The setting was either a nature trail or a busy urban street, and it contained either no obvious source of danger or an ominous stalker. Measures of perceived danger and of judged likelihood of restoration were obtained. For both types of measures, in the low-danger condition the two setting categories differed, with the natural setting seen as less dangerous and more likely to be restorative. In the high-danger condition, the difference between the setting categories was eliminated. The authors conclude that the presence of a serious and potentially uncontrollable source of danger can damage the perceived restorative potential of a setting. Keywords: restoration; danger; mental fatigue; nature; reflection

The process by which students decide whether and where to attend college has been based most commonly on a college-choice model that is independent of the students' geographic context. However, the ability to attend college close to home is often among the most important factors that U.S. high school students, especially minorities and the socioeconomically disadvantaged, consider. The study presented here mapped the place of residence of a national sample of high school seniors, as well as the location of all colleges within commuting distance of each student, and showed that seniors have a wide range of colleges in proximity. Furthermore, after taking account of important student and zip code-level factors, the study found that each additional college in proximity is associated with a small but significant increase in the odds of applying to college, especially a four-year college. These findings suggest that researchers should stop treating the college-choice process as though it were independent of location and start situating this process within the geographic context in which it Occurs.

A study was conducted to demonstrate how segregation measures may be used to analyze residential-workplace separation. A new index that incorporates spatial interaction concepts from location-based accessibility models is designed. It is concluded that the development of an analytical framework bridges unblended literatures in segregation indices.

The 'mental map' and 'practical mastery' theories of human spatial orientation complement each other. Humans rely on mental maps and memorize visual landmarks while navigating.

According to closed-loop accounts of motor control, movement errors are detected by comparing sensory feedback to an acquired reference state. Differences between the reference state and the movement-produced feedback results in an error signal which serves as a basis for a correction. The current study assessed whether error detection is less accurate when feedback from both hands must be analyzed compared to one hand and if error detection is more accurate in longer movements compared to shorter movements. 36 college-age participants (26 women and 10 men) performed a rapid aiming movement of varying distances with one hand or both hands simultaneously. Participants verbally estimated the distance moved on all trials before knowledge of results was given. Error detection was measured by the correlation and the mean absolute difference between the actual and estimated distance. Error detection was not more accurate for the longer movements, and participants underestimated errors in all conditions. Strong positive correlations were shown for both unimanual and bimanual aiming tasks, suggesting that two streams of sensory information can be processed concurrently.

Starting from the premise that mobility is a fundamental social issue, this article addresses the impact of mobility and place on identity. Three major schools of thought addressing this issue are examined: the socio-historical approach of Giddens (1991) and Bauman (1997, 2001) that describes a shift over the last century from place-based (prescribed) identities to mobile (achieved) identities; recent theories in sociology that see identity as mobile, dynamic, hybrid, and relational; and recent theories in geography that consider the relationship between place and identity. With reference to my own research into the migration experiences of a group of young adults in Australia, I argue that both mobility and place are essential components of identity construction and discuss the complex inter-relationships between mobility, place, and identity. Key Words: Mobility, place, identity, migration, post-modern society

Increasing stockpiles of electronic waste (e-waste) combined with low recycling rates are threatening human and environmental health because of the hazardous materials in electronic products. To date, however, little is known about household preferences for e-waste recycling alternatives. This study starts filling this gap. Our 2004 mail survey indicates that California households prefer 'drop-off recycling at regional centers,' with 'curbside recycling' a close second. A contingent ranking (CR) analysis shows that households are willing to pay approximately $0.13 per equivalent mile per month to increase e-waste recycling convenience. Our results show that ignoring environmental attitudes and beliefs leads to biased estimates of the trade-offs households are making between cost and recycling convenience. A good understanding of these trade-offs is necessary for a successful recycling program. Finally, this article illustrates some of the strengths and weaknesses of CR, an underused technique for analyzing preference rankings. Keywords: electronic waste; recycling; environmental attitudes and beliefs; contingent ranking; stated preferences; rank-ordered logit

This research project aims at revealing the variety of critical spatial factors in an individual's mental map that influence daily activity travel behavior. A qualitative travel survey and in-depth interviews are used to identify spatial factors that appear in respondents' travel mode decisions when discussing their daily activity space. Recorded interviews are processed through ATLAS.ti. First, representative If--Then (--Else) heuristics used by respondents are identified and framed within the daily activity travel decision process and classified in a script network view. In addition, the spatial elements occurring are indicated. To conclude, this article suggests a new 'script' approach to grasp the behavioral mechanisms present in daily activity travel decisions and argues that further research along this line would contribute to the understanding of the impact of travel demand measures and its assessment in activity-based travel demand models by means of an agent-based computational process model. Keywords: activity-based modeling; spatial cognition; mental map; choice heuristics

The ability to locate objects in the environment is adaptively important for mobile organisms. Research on location coding reveals that even toddlers have considerable spatial skill. Important information has been obtained using a disorientation task in which children watch a target object being hidden and are then blindfolded and rotated so they cannot track their changing relation to the target. Even toddlers under two years of age search successfully for the hidden object, which shows that they can use geometric features of the spatial environment to determine object location. It has been claimed that these results show innate geometric abilities, but there is evidence that these early spatial skills are not simply geometric. The article presents an overview of experimental findings that provide the basis for a different interpretation of spatial development. Keywords: spatial representation, spatial memory, egocentric versus allocentric representation

Based on mental model theory, we expect individuals to construct a mental representation of the system they interact with which tends to be a strong reduction of reality and is tailored to the specific situation and task at hand. Such reductions may be particularly significant in complex decision situations involved in local spatial choice behavior. In this article, we develop a method to model and measure mental representations of decision problems involving individual spatio-temporal choice behavior in different situations. The so-called CNET method consists of an interview protocol to elicit the structures at the individual level as a causal network. We test the proposed method in a case study involving 180 respondents and an experimental shopping-trip planning task. The results indicate that the method is an adequate way of eliciting mental representations. We show how the networks revealed can be used to model and simulate reasoning and decision-making processes. Keywords: spatial choice behavior; mental models; cognitive mapping; Bayesian belief and decision networks; interview protocol

Background. Studies comparing the effects of spatial and nonspatial secondary tasks on balance have produced conflicting results. However, in most of these studies the difficulty levels of the secondary tasks have not been matched. In this study, we compared the effects of carefully matched visuospatial (VS) and nonspatial (NS) secondary tasks on choice stepping reaction time (CSRT). Methods. Forty-one older people (mean age 78.8 years) completed a CSRT test under five conditions: (i) no secondary task; (ii) an easy NS counting backward task; (iii) a difficult NS counting back task; (iv) an easy VS memory task; and (v) a difficult VS memory task. Response times and secondary task errors were measured for each condition. Participants also gave difficulty ratings for each secondary task. Results. The difficult tasks were rated significantly more difficult than the easy tasks in both VS and NS conditions, and cognitive task errors were moderately correlated with perceived difficulty. A repeated-measure analysis of variance with planned contrasts revealed a significant effect of task type, with the VS condition slowing CSRT more than the NS condition. There was also a significant task difficulty effect with the more difficult tasks increasing CSRT. Conclusions. The findings suggest that VS cognitive tasks affect CSRT more so than do NS tasks. The visuospatial sketchpad appears to be specifically utilized for carrying out motor tasks necessary for preserving balance. Practical implications are that tasks that require visuospatial attention and memory may adversely influence balance control in older people. Key Words: Stepping--Reaction time--Attention--Balance control--Aged.