The Adequacy of Privacy: The European Union Data Protection Directive and the North American Response

The recently passed European Directive on the Protection of Personal Data aims to harmonize European data protection law at a higher level of protection than exists now. It represents a European consensus on a standard for personal privacy and a model for countries without data protection laws. The protracted process for agreement and ratification, however, has produced a document with many derogations and ambiguities, reflecting the wider moves towards 'subsidiarity' within the European Union. Of concern to North America is the stipulation that transborder data flow may not be permitted unless the receiving country can demonstrate an 'adequate' level of protection. While the process through which this provision will be interpreted and applied is so far found to be complicated and unclear, nevertheless European authorities will be reluctant to tolerate 'data havens,' a fact that should concern North American business that relies on the unimpeded flows of personal data from and to Europe. Neither Canada nor the United States can claim 'adequate' data protection according to the European standard. However, Canadian efforts through the Canadian Standards Association and the Federal Information Highway Advisory Council signal an attempt to fashion a more comprehensive policy framework for privacy than the more incremental and reactive approach of the United States. This divergence is explained by key cultural, economic, and political factors within Canada, which have caused a different reaction to the extraterritorial effects of the European Union's Data Protection Directive.     

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Abstract

We conducted two experiments to assess the effect attentional focus has on learning a complex motor skill and subsequent performance under secondary task loading. Participants in Experiment 1 learnt a golf putting task (300 practice trials) with a single instruction to either focus on their hands (internal focus) or the movement of the putter (external focus). No group differences were evident during learning or retention. Differences between the groups were only apparent under secondary task load; the external group's performance remained robust, while the internal group suffered a drop in performance. Verbal protocols demonstrated that the internal group accumulated significantly more internal knowledge and more task-relevant knowledge in general than the external group. Experiment 2 was designed to establish whether greater internal focus knowledge or greater explicit rule build up in general was responsible for performance breakdown. Two groups were presented with a set of six internal or external rules. Again, no performance differences were found during learning or retention. During the secondary task, both groups experienced performance deterioration. It was concluded that accumulation of explicit rules to guide performance was responsible for the internal group's breakdown in performance under secondary task loading and may be responsible for some of the performance differences reported previously.     

Exit,choice and loyalty: the impact of parental choice on admissions to secondary schools in Edinburgh and Dundee

This paper analyses the effects of parental choice on first‐year admissions to 20 non‐denominational secondary schools in Edinburgh and ten in Dundee. Although Dundee is a more working‐class city than Edinburgh, the take‐up of placing requests in Dundee was somewhat higher than in Edinburgh. There was a substantial increase in the take‐up of placing requests in both cities over the period 1982‐85 (from 13.5% to 21.0% of the S1 intake in Edinburgh and from 14.0% to 23.7% in Dundee). In each city, there was evidence of bandwagon effects ‐ some schools gained an increasing proportion of their S1 intakes through parental choice while others lost an increasing proportion of their intakes for this reason. However, the imposition of intake limits on three of the ‘most popular’ secondary schools in Edinburgh not only decreased the number of requests for those schools but also reduced the outflows from the ‘least popular’ schools. The paper uses logistic regression to calculate the effects of extra travelling distance and a variety of school and catchment area variables on the odds of moving between all possible pairs of schools in the two cities. Distance was the best predictor of movement and few pupils moved to schools which would have entailed much extra travelling; after distance, school attainment measures were most highly correlated with movement. However, stepwise multiple regression indicated that, for schools which were a given distance apart and similar in terms of attainment, moves were towards schools in more working‐class areas. Thus, there was some evidence to suggest that parents were choosing more effective schools. Finally, the paper uses spatial methods to show how placing requests have resulted in large flows out of secondary schools serving the least prosperous local authority housing schemes into adjacent, often previously selective, schools with much more mixed catchment areas, and points to the growth of substantial inequalities among secondary schools which are formally equal in status.     

Der Einfluss von aufmerksamkeitslenkenden Instruktionen auf das Erlernen einer Schlagbewegung im Golf

Among other things instructions serve the purpose of directing the recipient’s attentional focus. Several studies have demonstrated the advantage of an attentional focus away from one’s body (external) and towards the effect of the movement over an attentional focus on the movement itself (internal). In contrast, other studies have shown that the advantage of an external focus cannot be generalized. The present study utilized a golf putting task to investigate the effectiveness of an internal versus an external focus. Furthermore, the present study investigated whether participants complied with the instructions with the respective focus during the learning phase. Moreover, in addition to the performance on the putting task the movement execution was also examined. The results showed that the internal as well as the external group switched between the internal and external focus and additionally modified a neutral focus. There was no correlation between hitting performance and movement variability, but a correlation between the neutral focus and the movement variability was found. The results challenge empirical analysis and the results of research about attentional focus.     

The Distribution of Privacy Risks: Who Needs Protection?

It is commonly accepted that the use of personal information in business and government puts individual privacy at risk. However, little is known about these risks-for instance, whether and how they can be measured, and how they vary across social groups and the sectors in which personal data are used. Unless we can gain a purchase on such issues, our knowledge of the societal effects of information technology and systems will remain deficient, and the ability to make and implement better policies for privacy protection, and perhaps for a more equitable distribution of risk and protection, will remain impaired. The article explores this topic, examining conventional paradigms in data protection, including the one-dimensional view of the 'data subject,' that inhibit better conceptualizations and practices. It looks at some comparative survey evidence that casts light on the question of the distribution of privacy risks and concerns. It examines theoretical issues in the literature on risk, raising questions about the objectivity and perception of the risk of privacy invasion.     

Benefits of an external focus of attention: common coding or conscious processing?

We conducted two experiments to assess the effect attentional focus has on learning a complex motor skill and subsequent performance under secondary task loading. Participants in Experiment 1 learnt a golf putting task (300 practice trials) with a single instruction to either focus on their hands (internal focus) or the movement of the putter (external focus). No group differences were evident during learning or retention. Differences between the groups were only apparent under secondary task load; the external group's performance remained robust, while the internal group suffered a drop in performance. Verbal protocols demonstrated that the internal group accumulated significantly more internal knowledge and more task-relevant knowledge in general than the external group. Experiment 2 was designed to establish whether greater internal focus knowledge or greater explicit rule build up in general was responsible for performance breakdown. Two groups were presented with a set of six internal or external rules. Again, no performance differences were found during learning or retention. During the secondary task, both groups experienced performance deterioration. It was concluded that accumulation of explicit rules to guide performance was responsible for the internal group's breakdown in performance under secondary task loading and may be responsible for some of the performance differences reported previously.     

How should “hot” players in basketball be defended? The use of fast-and-frugal heuristics by basketball coaches and players in response to streakiness

Previous research has shown that changes in shot difficulty may have rendered the hot-hand effect in basketball unobservable and are potentially a result of defensive adjustments. However, it has not been directly analysed whether strategic changes indeed take place in response to streakiness and whether they are effective with respect to winning games. The current work consists of an experimental study with 18 professional coaches and 20 players based on video sequences from National Basketball Association games, where the shown player displayed a streaky performance in half of the sequences. While coaches were asked to devise a defensive strategy after each viewed sequence, players had to assume the role of the shown player and decide whether to shoot or pass the ball. We find that coaches tended to increase the defensive pressure significantly more often on presumably hot players and thus make use of the hot-hand heuristic. Meanwhile, players chose to shoot more frequently in low-pressure and streaky situations but selected “pass” regardless of the previous performance when they faced increased defensive pressure. Assuming that a streaky player’s performance is indeed elevated during hot phases, hot-hand behaviour can be considered adaptive in certain situations as it led hot players to pass instead of shoot.     

Early Child Contingency Learning and Detection: Research Evidence and Implications for Practice

The types of contingency experiences infants and young children are typically exposed to are examined with a focus on the implications for early childhood intervention with young children who have developmental disabilities and delays. Studies of response-contingent child learning, the manner in which contingencies are not under direct child control, and child/caregiver reciprocal contingencies, are reviewed in terms of how they influence child learning and development. Results indicate that the different types of contingencies all positively influence child behavior. Implications for practice are described in terms of contingency-rich everyday child learning activities, child response-contingent learning in the context of those activities, and caregiver contingent responsiveness as an instructional strategy for supporting child contingency learning.