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Interest Groups And Intra-Party Conflict On Scored Votes
No full textWhile inter-party conflicts and polarization are central for understanding policymaking, salient intra-party conflicts remain. We explore one lens into these conflicts—interest groups scoring votes at odds with party leaders. We examine how often and under what conditions party-aligned interest groups oppose the positions of party leadership and whether this disagreement is associated with heightened intra-party conflict. We find that disagreement is more common for the majority party compared to the minority party and, for both parties, disagreement is associated with reduced voting cohesion. We also identify salient differences between Democrats and Republicans during this time period. Disagreement on scored votes shines a valuable light into the competing pressures on both parties and interest groups, including those to govern and message. Although interest groups and aligned party leaders often agree on policy, both face a complex constellation of incentives and can make different tradeoffs on specific votes
Power By Proxy: Participation As A Resource In Global Governance
No full textMember state participation is essential in global governance, affording international organizations (IOs) legitimacy and translating member state preferences into institutional attention. We contend that institutional leadership positions bolster states’ authority via “proxy representation,” in which states are grouped together and indirectly represented by one leader. We argue that by serving as proxy group leaders, even relatively weak states can obtain greater influence in IOs. We examine these expectations in the context of the IMF’s Executive Board, where wealthy states represent themselves directly while other states belong to multi-member constituencies in which leadership often rotates among members. Focusing on issues related to climate change discussions at the IMF—a key concern for Global South countries and an increasingly important issue in international finance—we examine the extent to which countries’ preferences over climate issues are expressed at IMF Board meetings. Using textual data based on 52,551 internal IMF documents from 1987-2017, we find evidence to support our theoretical expectations; states more effectively advance their preferences when they are proxy leaders — this finding holds robustly even for otherwise weak states. These results suggest that even in IOs with highly asymmetric decision-making, weaker states can gain voice through proxy representation. This has important and positive implications for IO legitimacy, as member state participation is integral to the livelihood of these institutions
How Cultural Input Shapes The Development Of Idealized Biological Prototypes
No full textYoung children in the U.S. tend to hold narrow, idealized prototypes for animal and social categories, focusing on ideas about how categories should be and ignoring category variability. The current studies tested how children’s (N = 281) reliance on idealized prototypes might be shaped by adults’ communication of common essentialist and teleological biases. In Study 1, 7- to 8-year-old U.S. children viewed more average members of novel animal categories as prototypical when they heard a teacher correct a generic statement about a characteristic feature and highlight how varied features serve varied functions. In Study 2, explanations about varied functions alone explained this effect for novel animals, with mixed effects for familiar animals; there was no additive effect of correcting generic language. Children in Study 2 also expected functionally ideal features to be more frequent among category members, suggesting that idealized prototypes reflect mistaken assumptions that category members homogeneously share ideal features. Children in Study 2 did not explicitly disapprove of nonconformity, suggesting that idealized prototypes do not reflect an inability to dissociate how things are from how they should be. Together, these results support the proposal that U.S. children’s idealized prototypes are shaped by common conceptual biases perpetuated by cultural input
Telehealth-Delivered Depression Prevention: Short-term Outcomes From A School-Based Randomized Controlled Trial
No full textObjective: To examine short-term (i.e., postintervention) outcomes from a randomized controlled trial comparing a school-based telehealth-delivered depression prevention program, Interpersonal Psychotherapy–Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST), to services as usual (SAU). We expected IPT-AST would be acceptable and feasible and that IPT-AST adolescents would experience greater reductions in depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and impairment compared with SAU. Method: Adolescents (N = 242; Mage = 14.80 years, SD = 0.70; 65% female; 21% Black; 13% Hispanic/Latinx) with elevated scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977) at screening provided data at baseline, 2-month (midpoint of IPT-AST), and 3-month (postintervention) assessments. They reported depression symptoms on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, anxiety symptoms on the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (Birmaher et al., 1997), and impairment on the Columbia Impairment Scale (Bird et al., 1993). Baseline depression diagnosis was examined as a moderator. Results: Hierarchical linear models showed that adolescents reported significant reductions in depression symptoms and impairment across conditions. IPT-AST adolescents reported significantly greater reductions in anxiety symptoms than SAU adolescents, d = .39, 95% CI [.05, .72], p = .003. Depression diagnosis moderated outcomes (ds = .33–.34, ps ≤ .05), such that IPT-AST adolescents without a diagnosis at baseline showed greater improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms than SAU adolescents. Adolescents in SAU with a depression diagnosis at baseline showed greater improvements in impairment compared with IPT-AST. Attendance and satisfaction data demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of telehealth-delivered IPT-AST. Conclusions: Results support telehealth-delivered IPT-AST as a promising intervention for improving short-term outcomes among adolescents with depression symptoms but without a depression diagnosis
A Conceptual Replication Of An Implicit Test Of Grammatical Gender Effects On Inanimate Concepts
No full textIt has been argued that the incidental and arbitrary use of gender markings for inanimate concepts in language may affect the conceptualization or semantics of those inanimate concepts. The present article sought to replicate the findings of a classic paper that made this argument. Konishi used the potency dimension of the semantic differential method as an implicit measure of perceived gender. He reported that words for inanimate concepts of masculine grammatical gender were rated as higher in potency than words for the same concepts that had feminine grammatical gender. Two preregistered replication studies are reported here. The first was a conceptual replication of Konishi’s study that was conducted with 240 bilingual native speakers of either German or Spanish. Included in the study was a follow-up with 120 monolingual native English speakers. This data was used to test whether the grammatical gender in the native languages of German and Spanish speakers affected their sense of the potency of common inanimate categories when tested in a second language (English) in which they were fluent and the nouns had no grammatical gender. A second version of the study was conducted in the native languages of Spanish and German speakers, as a closer attempt at a replication of Konishi’s original study. The results of both studies provided evidence against the grammatical-gender hypothesis. Bayesian tests of both studies strongly favored the null hypothesis that there were no grammatical gender effects on implicit measures of perceived potency
Large Bias In Matching Small Horizontal And Vertical Extents Separated In Depth In The Real World Is Similar For Upright And Supine Observers
No full textThe apparent sizes of horizontal and vertical lines show an anisotropy known as the horizontal vertical illusion (HVI) wherein vertical lines appear to be longer than their horizontal counterparts. Whereas a typical HVI comparing vertical and horizontal lines in a plane produces a 5–10% illusion, a much larger-scale illusion (15–25%) is often found for large objects in the real world, and this has been related to differential angular exaggerations in perceived elevation (vertical) and azimuthal (horizontal) direction. Recently supine observers in virtual environments were found to show larger exaggerations in perceived azimuth than upright observers. Here, 48 participants were tested in both supine and upright postures in an outdoor environment while matching fairly small physical extents in the real world. They adjusted the magnitude of the horizontal extent to perceptually match fairly small vertical poles (0.7–1.3 m tall) that were either presented at the same viewing distance as the matching extent or in a different depth plane, so that size at a distance had to be compared. Supine observers viewed the scene, as though upright, through a large mirror mounted overhead at 45° that was adjusted to approximate their normal eye height. When the matcher extent was at a different distance than the pole, horizontal extent matches typically exceeded the actual pole height by about 15% or more, whether the viewer was upright or supine. The average overestimation was only about 10% when the matching extent was at the same distance. Despite the similarity in performance across different postures for spatial matching, supine observers gave much higher explicit estimates of azimuthal direction than upright observers. However, although the observation of exaggeration in perceived azimuth for supine observers was replicated in a second study with 24 additional participants using a mirror with a smaller (more normal) aspect ratio, the magnitude of the exaggeration seemed to be greatly reduced when the field of view of the apparatus had a more typical aspect ratio. This suggests that the unusually large exaggeration of azimuth found in a previous report with supine observers may have been caused by the unusually large aspect ratio of the viewing apparatus used
Do Minimum Wage Increases Induce Changes In Work Behavior For People With Disabilities? Evidence From The AbilityOne Program
No full textWe provide the first evidence on the effects of minimum wage increases on labor market outcomes for people with disabilities. We use a novel dataset consisting of quarterly data on employment, earnings, and hours for workers at nonprofit firms that participate in the federal AbilityOne program. The nonprofits in this program are offered advantages in government contracting, though must primarily employ workers with disabilities. Using recent local variation in minimum wage changes, we find that increasing the minimum wage does not affect employment outcomes for workers with disabilities in this specific context, with precisely estimated null effects. However, these nonprofits respond along non-employment related margins after relatively large minimum wage increases
Generating Electricity from theMatchbox Equipment
No full textThe Swarthmore College Matchbox is used by hundreds of students and faculty every day. The energy expended during the activity is dissipated and never transformed into useful energy. The focus of this project will be to retrofit pre-existing gym equipment so that any expended energy can be captured and converted into electrical energy. By using non-intrusive and compact mechanisms to design the model, the project would aim to provide renewable energy sources without drastically changing the workout experience itself. The first phase will be focused on generating enough electricity to power a small device, such as a cellular device, to answer the question of whether it is plausible to get electricity from the machine. The second phase will look at scaling the project to see the effects of extending the mechanism to other equipment, which will focus on powering the Matchbox with an off-grid system. A financial and environmental impact analysis will be conducted to understand how the proposed changes will impact the implementation. By analyzing the potential transformation of the Matchbox into a green gym through capturing energy, Swarthmore College will make progress towards its goal of Zero by Thirty-Five
Design of a Cross-Laminated Timber Press
No full textCross-Laminated Timber (CLT) presses are becoming commercially available within the United States. However, the systems are often expensive and costly to own and operate, requiring large physical footprints, large power draws, and extensive equipment to support the on-and offloading of CLT. CLT presses are critical to facilitate the experimental investigation of novel lumber species and novel panel lay-ups. This experimentation will allow for greater material use and design efficiency. For CLT to advance, local production and increased material efficiency are required, which will be through rapid prototyping of panels. Small-scale CLT presses in academic settings are necessary to help complete this prototyping work. Given the high cost of creating a CLT press, I propose developing a design for a CLT press. This is accomplished by reviewing current press technology and analyzing the benefits of design decisions before developing and creating plans for a press
Building a New System to Advance Vortex-Induced Vibration Energy Harvesting
No full textWhen a cylindrical object is placed in a moving fluid of sufficiently high Reynolds number, vortices will form and be shed in the wake of the object. Vortex-Induced Vibrations (VIV) will occur on the cylinder when the frequency at which vortices are shed approached the natural frequency of the structure. Harvesting energy on a small scale from VIV is a promising new method of generating electricity from fluid motion, but more data is needed to investigate the parameter space for such a system [4]. The goal of this E90 project was to design and implement a robust system that could efficiently collect time versus displacement data and accurately characterize the VIV response of an elastically mounted cylinder. The prototype described in this report successfully gathered data on VIV in Swarthmore College’s open circuit wind tunnel and paves the way for future studies to find the best system properties for electricity generation