Joseph P Lavallee - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Joseph P Lavallee

East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, 2020

Review of: Energy Transition in East Asia: A Social Science Perspective, Kuei-Tien Chou (ed.) (20... more Review of: Energy Transition in East Asia: A Social Science Perspective, Kuei-Tien Chou (ed.) (2018) New York: Routledge, 218 pp., ISBN 978-1-31515-948-5, ebk, $44.95

Theory and Society

Recent empirical work has offered strong support for ‘biased pluralism’ and ‘economic elite’ acco... more Recent empirical work has offered strong support for ‘biased pluralism’ and ‘economic elite’ accounts of political power in the United States, according a central role to ‘business interest groups’ as a mechanism through which corporate influence is exerted. Here, we propose an additional channel of influence for corporate interests: the ‘policy-planning network,’ consisting of corporate-dominated foundations, think tanks, and elite policy-discussion groups. To evaluate this assertion, we consider one key policy-discussion group, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). We first briefly review the origins of this organization and then review earlier findings on its influence. We then code CFR policy preferences on 295 foreign policy issues during the 1981–2002 period. In logistic regression analyses, we find that the preferences of more affluent citizens and the CFR were positive, statistically significant predictors of foreign policy outcomes while business interest group preference...

Sustainability

Do existing public opinion surveys provide valid and reliable measures of attitudes towards envir... more Do existing public opinion surveys provide valid and reliable measures of attitudes towards environmental sustainability? This question is critical given the importance of public support for achieving sustainability. Starting with 28 survey items about the environment drawn from the World Values Survey Waves 5 and 6 and the 2010 International Social Survey Program, we assessed reliability by checking for significant correlations between similar or identical items on different surveys. Next, to assess validity, we evaluated correlations between survey items and 22 objective environmental indicators drawn from the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). As the level of economic development is a likely confound, we also performed partial correlation analyses controlling for GDP per capita. From the initial 28 items, we identified 23 sufficiently reliable items, but many of these were found to have low predictive power in the validity analysis. Items about air and water pollution were va...

Cognitive Science, 2014

The Cognitive Reflection Test, Numeracy and Decision-making Tasks: A Study in Taiwan Joseph Laval... more The Cognitive Reflection Test, Numeracy and Decision-making Tasks: A Study in Taiwan Joseph Lavallee Ming Chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan Supin Hung National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan Abstract: Despite its widespread use, disagreement remains about whether the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) measures the ability to inhibit an intuitively appealing but incorrect response to a problem, or simply numeracy skills. We administered Chinese-language versions of the extended seven-item CRT, two widely-used numeracy scales and a set of decision-making tasks (risk preferences, ratio bias and framing) to 186 students at a university in Taiwan. Higher levels of parental education significantly predicted higher CRT scores (p < .001) but not higher numeracy scores; males outperformed females on both, but differences were not significant. In contrast to earlier studies, no pattern of significant relations between CRT, numeracy and risk preferences emerged. Higher numeracy – but not...

The assumption of unidimensionality is central to the interpretation of test score results. The m... more The assumption of unidimensionality is central to the interpretation of test score results. The most common method for assessing unidimensionality may, however, be demanding in terms of resources and expertise in many settings. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the use of a Rasch-based procedure for evaluating unidimensionality and to evaluate it through comparison with an accepted technique. Two procedures were used to assess the unidimensionality of an English listening test given to first year students in a practical English course at a university in Taiwan. The first procedure was the commonly used factor analysis approach. The second procedure was a principal components analysis of the residuals from a Rasch (IRT 1PL) analysis of the test results. Both methods were found to produce similar results. Specifically, both isolated two off-construct dimensions in the data exceeding the level of ”random noise”, and an item-level investigation suggested that they had both isol...

Face the increasing severity of climate change, green education provides a sound adaptation strat... more Face the increasing severity of climate change, green education provides a sound adaptation strategy. Establishing a pro-environmental behaviour is an important manner for environmental sustainability. For many environmental behaviour models, the norm is a dominant variable that affects the pro-environmental behaviour, and religion is one of the crucial variables that affect the norm. With a questionnaire survey, this paper applies statistical tests to analyze the influence of religiosity of Taiwanese college students on pro-environmental behaviour and the reasons for engaging in 11 types of pro-environmental behaviours under the climate change environment. This study reveals that the dominant reasons for college students to engage in "resource recycling" and "turn off the light not in use" are habit and environmental protection. The ANOVA tests and post-hoc Tukey HSD tests represented that religiosity has significant differences in knowledge, performance risks a...

Geoforum

Abstract Mangrove wetlands, which provide critical ecosystem services in tropical and subtropical... more Abstract Mangrove wetlands, which provide critical ecosystem services in tropical and subtropical coastal regions around the world, are increasingly threatened, with total mangrove area declining steeply in recent decades. Focusing on the mangrove wetlands of the Cayman Islands, we use remote sensing and spatial analysis to document past and project future trends of mangrove clearance, and 57 interviews with key business and political figures and members of environmental NGOs to shed light on the social forces driving these trends. The analysis shows a loss of approximately 27.9% of mangrove wetlands present in 1965 as of 2013 (7072.7 ha versus 9809.8 ha) on Grand Cayman. At this rate of loss, the island’s mangroves, excluding the 1668.9 ha of mangrove wetlands currently protected, could be lost by 2108. Analysis of the satellite and aerial images and the interview results suggest that the destruction of mangrove forests is attributable in part to consumption generated by Grand Cayman’s financial sector. The demand for real estate by international investors initially attracted by the island’s financial services, along with that of the professionals employed to provide these services, has been one of the key drivers of mangrove wetland clearance. Interview results suggest the hypothesis that these dynamics have persisted due to the alignment of political forces that has emerged in their defense: a state structurally-dependent on development fees for revenues and dependent for political support on landowners and the development and real estate industries.

Atmosphere

Climate change poses a dire threat to the Mekong River Delta, an important supplier of shrimp and... more Climate change poses a dire threat to the Mekong River Delta, an important supplier of shrimp and rice to global markets. The southernmost province, Ca Mau, is threatened by sea level rise and land subsidence. Little is known of the expected combined impact of these processes, or of the perceptions of farmers towards these threats. This study first projected the combined effects using the most accurate extant elevation data. Next, to assess perceptions, we interviewed 53 farmers from six communes within the province. We found that 43% of the province could be at risk of submersion by 2030, and 75% by 2050. The interviews revealed that the farmers were largely unaware of the imminence of submersion and did not fully comprehend the nature and magnitude of the underlying processes. Constrained by the requirements of their developmental trajectory, they were focused on short term threats to their livelihood (weather, salinization, pollution). Consequently, far from adapting to the large...

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

PLOS ONE

East Asia emits more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than any other region, yet little is kn... more East Asia emits more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than any other region, yet little is known about attitudes towards climate change in this region. A cross-sectional survey investigating climate change knowledge, concern and behavior change was administered to 1118 university students at nine universities across Taiwan in June 2016. Knowledge was assessed with a 15-item quiz while concern and behavioral change were self-reported on 5-point Likert scales. The relationship of these three variables with various socio-demographic variables was investigated through Kruskal-Wallis tests and ordinal logistic regressions. Knowledge was homogeneous by region but differed sharply by socioeconomic position. Concern appears high by international standards, with 65% reporting being "somewhat concerned" and 28% being "very concerned," while climate change denial was negligible. Students expressing greater concern were more likely to be from eastern and southern Taiwan, regions more vulnerable to extreme weather events. However, these high concern levels did not translate into action, as only 38% of respondents reported "some" and 11% reported "very much" behavioral change in response to climate change. Higher levels of behavioral change were reported by students expressing greater concern and students with lower levels of climate change knowledge. In contrast with studies of Western societies, our findings suggest an East Asian model in which the conflict between economic growth and the environment is playing out in different ways, such that the crucial need is for policy leadership and not more education.

Frontiers in psychology, 2015

Getting a joke' always requires resolving an apparent incongruity, but the particular cognitive o... more Getting a joke' always requires resolving an apparent incongruity, but the particular cognitive operations called upon vary depending on the nature of the joke itself. Previous research has identified the primary neural correlates of the cognitive and affective processes called upon to respond to humor generally, but little work has been done on the substrates underlying the distinct cognitive operations required to comprehend particular joke types. This study explored the neural correlates of the cognitive processes required to successfully comprehend three joke types: bridging-inference jokes (BJs), exaggeration jokes (EJs), and ambiguity jokes (AJs). For all joke types, the left dlPFC appeared to support common cognitive mechanisms, such as script-shifting, while the vACC was associated with affective appreciation. The temporo-parietal lobe (TPJ and MTG) was associated with BJs, suggesting involvement of these regions with 'theory of mind' processing. The fronto-parietal lobe (IPL and IFG) was associated with both EJs and AJs, suggesting that it supports executive control processes such as retrieval from episodic memory, self-awareness, and language-based decoding. The social-affective appreciation of verbal jokes was associated with activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, and parahippocampal gyrus. These results allow a more precise account of the neural processes required to support the particular cognitive operations required for the understanding of different types of humor.

NeuroImage, 2013

The present study builds on our previous study within the framework of Wyer and Collin&am... more The present study builds on our previous study within the framework of Wyer and Collin&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s comprehension-elaboration theory of humor processing. In this study, an attempt is made to segregate the neural substrates of incongruity detection and incongruity resolution during the comprehension of verbal jokes. Although a number of fMRI studies have investigated the incongruity-resolution process, the differential neurological substrates of comprehension are still not fully understood. The present study utilized an event-related fMRI design incorporating three conditions (unfunny, nonsensical and funny) to examine distinct brain regions associated with the detection and resolution of incongruities. Stimuli in the unfunny condition contained no incongruities; stimuli in the nonsensical condition contained irresolvable incongruities; and stimuli in the funny condition contained resolvable incongruities. The results showed that the detection of incongruities was associated with greater activation in the right middle temporal gyrus and right medial frontal gyrus, and the resolution of incongruities with greater activation in the left superior frontal gyrus and left inferior parietal lobule. Further analysis based on participants&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; rating scores provided converging results. Our findings suggest a three-stage neural circuit model of verbal humor processing: incongruity detection and incongruity resolution during humor comprehension and inducement of the feeling of amusement during humor elaboration.

Humor, 2000

A number of studies have found that humor has a positive short-term effect in terms of enhancing ... more A number of studies have found that humor has a positive short-term effect in terms of enhancing creativity, but few have examined its long-term effects, and few have considered different personality traits when exploring this connection. The present study seeks to address this gap by examining the relationship between creativity and dispositions towards ridicule and being laughed at. We conceptualized humor-induced mirth as a positive emotion within the framework of broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson 1998), with the potential to foster an individual's disposition towards creative behavior. We hypothesized that this potential would depend on different dispositions towards ridicule and being laughed at. Path analysis was then used to explore the impact of gelotophobia, gelotophilia and katagelasticism on creative performance, with creative disposition as a mediating variable. Gelotophobia, the fear of being laughed at, was found to correlate negatively with creative dispositio...

Neural regeneration research, Jan 15, 2013

Embodied semantics theory asserts that the meaning of action-related words is neurally represente... more Embodied semantics theory asserts that the meaning of action-related words is neurally represented through networks that overlap with or are identical to networks involved in sory-motor processing. While some studies supporting this theory have focused on Chinese characters, less attention has been paid to their semantic radicals. Indeed, there is still disagreement about whether these radicals are processed independently. The present study investigated whether radicals are processed separately and, if so, whether this processing occurs in sensory-motor gions. Materials consisted of 72 high-frequency Chinese characters, with 18 in each of four ries: hand-action verbs with and without hand-radicals, and verbs not related to hand actions, with and without hand-radicals. Twenty-eight participants underwent functional MRI scans while reading the characters. Compared to characters without hand-radicals, reading characters with hand-radicals activated the right medial frontal gyrus. Verbs...