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Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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Articles 5431 - 5460 of 5783

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Gun Ownership Trends In The United States, 1973-2000, Jason Michael Ruckert Jan 2004

Gun Ownership Trends In The United States, 1973-2000, Jason Michael Ruckert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the last half century, gun ownership has been one of the most hotly debated topics in the United States. The right to bear arms was written into the U. S. Constitution and into the hearts and minds of its citizens. During the last half century, however, numerous gun control laws have been enacted at Federal, state and local levels, and it can be argued (plausibly or not) that part of the legislative intent has been to decrease the number of gun owning households in the United States. For many decades, this number hovered at one half of all households …

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Population Churn: The Migration Flow Of Florida, Marguerite Cashen Jan 2004

Population Churn: The Migration Flow Of Florida, Marguerite Cashen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent research has focused attention on the concerns of migration in and out of Florida and within the counties themselves. In 1949, Cape Canaveral was established and the boom was on. The character of the state dramatically transformed after 1965, when plans were announced to convert twenty-seven thousand acres of swampland into Walt Disney World. Since then, Orlando's evolution is divided into two eras: before and after Walt Disney World. Orlando has changed from a quiet town whose function was to service the surrounding citrus growing regions in a sparsely populated Orange County to a booming metropolis. Has the growth …

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Explaining Churn: Mass Society, Social Capital, & Community Churn, Delores Edelen Jan 2004

Explaining Churn: Mass Society, Social Capital, & Community Churn, Delores Edelen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Population churn--the population turnover experienced by a community--can have differential effects on a community. Mass society theory suggests that because the churn rate experienced by communities can contribute to their uprooting, fragmentation, and isolation, churn is a potent threat to the stability of our modern day communities. Social capital theory, to the contrary, suggests otherwise. Social capital theory suggests that churn can have positive effects on communities by bringing new migrants with valuable human capital skills and experiences to communities. These migrants bring to their new communities the potential for creating new jobs, spurring economic development, and for initiating housing …

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Aggression In Lesbian And Bisexual Relationships, Jennifer Rae Parham Jan 2004

Aggression In Lesbian And Bisexual Relationships, Jennifer Rae Parham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For years, researchers, clinicians, and those working with victims/survivors of domestic abuse have overlooked the issue of same-sex partner aggression among lesbians and bisexual women. Through in-depth interviews with 19 women who identify themselves as either lesbian or bisexual, information was documented in this study demonstrating the severity of issues of power and control among some same-sex partners, as well as some if the dynamics that are unique to same-sex abusive relationships. Patterns of abuse within same-sex relationships often mirror those that are so commonly associated with partner aggression among heterosexual couples, and therefore demonstrate not only the need for …

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Exposure Matters: Examining The Physical And Psychological Health Impacts Of Toxic Contamination Using Gis And Survey Data, Christine A. Bevc Jan 2004

Exposure Matters: Examining The Physical And Psychological Health Impacts Of Toxic Contamination Using Gis And Survey Data, Christine A. Bevc

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the grassroots environmental movement brought national attention to the issues related to inequities in environmental quality. Previous research addressing these environmental inequities has progressively increased and advanced methodologically. However, the arguments and focus have been primarily limited to examining the socio-demographics in an ongoing debate of race and class. This thesis extends past the methodological stalemate focusing on the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using survey data in an environmental justice case study of a community in south Florida. This approach examines the social, health and environmental impacts of a Superfund site …

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The Lack Of Diversity On The Bench In Florida's State Courts, Verlinda Wells Jan 2004

The Lack Of Diversity On The Bench In Florida's State Courts, Verlinda Wells

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Diversity in the judiciary is essential to ensure impartiality, public confidence, and the perception that all members of society are represented on the bench. Minorities and women are significantly underrepresented as judges in Florida in proportion to their numbers in the general population. Because we live in an increasingly global world, diversity is best described when people of different races, colors, ethnicity and genders work to develop a mutual respect for each other. It was important to use diversity in this research because it required recognition, understanding, and acceptance of the special contribution that each member of a group can …

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George Liska's Realist Alliance Theory, And The Transformation Of Nato, Sergey Kireyev Jan 2004

George Liska's Realist Alliance Theory, And The Transformation Of Nato, Sergey Kireyev

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In many aspects, political theory forms a subjective structure of this abstract science. Perhaps, it is due to the fact that unlike natural sciences or mathematics, social sciences often lack the privilege of testing the theories in absolute and unadulterated conditions. Nonetheless, such nature of the science allows for a certain degree of flexibility, when applying political theories to real-world phenomena. Alliances and coalitions in international relations form the backbone of the theory, concerning IR scholars with two main questions: Why do alliances and coalitions form? And, what keeps alliances and coalitions together? As the core of my research, I …

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Facade Democracy: Democratic Transition In Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan, Robin Nicole Merritt Jan 2004

Facade Democracy: Democratic Transition In Kazakhstan And Uzbekistan, Robin Nicole Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the reasons behind the stagnation in the transition to democracy in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. According to their constitutions, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are democracies. In actuality, however, there is little evidence to support that these are democratic systems. These states' post-Soviet constitutions outline them as democracies - yet they lack a free press; freedom of association is suppressed; religious freedom is limited; and free speech is constrained as well. While these two countries hold popular elections, much of their electoral processes are under the control of the executive branch of government - calling into question whether or not …

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The United Nations Fund For Population Activities: Changing The Direction Of The Total Fertility Rate In Developing Nations, Michaela Fazecas Jan 2004

The United Nations Fund For Population Activities: Changing The Direction Of The Total Fertility Rate In Developing Nations, Michaela Fazecas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis builds on previous United Nations’ research investigating factors affecting the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in six (6) states: Burkina Faso, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, the Philippines, and Uganda. The present research, however, provides a broader assessment of the TFR and the potential causes of its decline by examining countries across nine (9) regions of the world – sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and the former Soviet Socialist Republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The present analyses are also conducted over …

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The New Man And The New Lad: Hegemonic Masculinities In Men's Lifestyle Magazines, Ashley Michelle Elmore Jan 2004

The New Man And The New Lad: Hegemonic Masculinities In Men's Lifestyle Magazines, Ashley Michelle Elmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Men are bombarded with contradictory masculine imagery in the media. The perfect man must be aggressive but not violent, sensitive but not emotional, healthy, active and smart without being an idealist, overachiever or too bookish. Heterocentric male focused lifestyle magazines rival women’s magazines in number and availability. Some men look to these images as a tool by which to gauge their masculinity and learn their social role performance. This inquiry includes a content analysis of four major men's lifestyle magazines over a 12-month period in which four new masculinities: certitude, irony, new sexism and double voicing were critiqued. Elements of …

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A Case Study Of The Libraries In The Vanguard Learning Colleges, Linda G. Swaine Jan 2004

A Case Study Of The Libraries In The Vanguard Learning Colleges, Linda G. Swaine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine the characteristics of a learning-centered library from the perspective of the libraries in the 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges which were participants in the Learning College Project sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College. The 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges were: Cascadia Community College (WA), Community College of Baltimore County (MD), Community College of Denver (CO), Humber College, (Ontario), Kirkwood Community College (IA), Lane Community College, OR), Madison Area Technical College (WI), Moraine Valley Community College (IL), Palomar College (CA), Richland College (TX), Sinclair Community College (OH), and Valencia Community College (FL). Furthermore, …

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Class And Gender Roles In The Company Towns Of Millinocket And East Millinocket, Maine, And Benham And Lynch, Kentucky, 1901-2004: A Comparative History, Betty Duff Jan 2004

Class And Gender Roles In The Company Towns Of Millinocket And East Millinocket, Maine, And Benham And Lynch, Kentucky, 1901-2004: A Comparative History, Betty Duff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Company towns were products of nineteenth and early twentieth century attempts to attract and control the labor force needed for industrial production outside of urban areas. A comparison of the paper mill towns of Millinocket and East Millinocket. Maine, with the coal mining towns of Benham and Lynch, Kentucky, explores different management philosophies and methods of labor control employed in towns constructed by corporations in the early twentieth century. Great Northern Paper built Millinocket and East Millinocket; United States Coal and Coke, a subsidiary of United States Steel built Lynch, and Wisconsin Steel, a subsidiary of International Harvester, built Benham. …

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Tractor-Trailer Simulation And The Assessment Of Training Scenarios For City-Driving: Skill Building In The Area Of Left And Right Turns, James Whitmire Jan 2004

Tractor-Trailer Simulation And The Assessment Of Training Scenarios For City-Driving: Skill Building In The Area Of Left And Right Turns, James Whitmire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A simulated inner-city training scenario was found to increase skills in the area of turning when compared with a simulated off-track training scenario. To answer this question, two groups of ten participants (5 women and 5 men) were tested using three scripted scenarios focusing on left and right turns. The first training scenario (control group) is an off-track training scenario, which consists of a large asphalt lot and the use of orange cones; the second training scenario (experimental group) is an inner-city training scenario without the presence of vehicular traffic; and the third scenario (test scenario) is an inner-city scenario …

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The Internet And The American Political System, Noah David, Gaar Jan 2004

The Internet And The American Political System, Noah David, Gaar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The past eight years have seen a great increase in Internet usage in American culture and politics. It would seem that, in our digital age, the Internet has exercised strong effects on political behavior and even on legislators. This thesis explores the variety and intensity of these effects, finding them to be substantial and growing, although not yet robust. The main influences the net has exerted on American politics take place predominantly within two areas: political campaigns and online political interest groups. Activists are certainly using the Internet for political causes, but this sort of Internet usage is really just …

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Ownership Diversity Within The Media Industry: Trends And Current Conditions, Thomas E. Vizcarrondo Jan 2004

Ownership Diversity Within The Media Industry: Trends And Current Conditions, Thomas E. Vizcarrondo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to determine if media ownership diversity remains at levels widely considered to be competitive and acceptable, despite consolidation within the media industry. The research augments the many studies analyzing programming diversity within the U. S. media industry. Rather than analyzing programming content, this study addresses ownership diversity by examining the diversity of media ownership within the context U. S. model, considered to be more of a decentralized, market-driven media industry when compared to other countries such as the United Kingdom or Canada. To measure diversity, the HerfindahlHirschman Index (HHI)—a measure of economic diversity widely used by economists …

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Explaining Partisan Change Among Catholics In The American Electorate, Christopher Vincent, Muro Jan 2004

Explaining Partisan Change Among Catholics In The American Electorate, Christopher Vincent, Muro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines data from the National Election Studies in order to assess the significant determinants of the political behavior of Catholics in the American electorate. A complex array of variables including religious commitment, generational differences, social status, and policy attitudes account for limited change in partisan alignment among American Catholics. The analyses expose the long-term, durable nature of partisan attachment, as older generation Catholics who register as actively committed to their religion also remain committed Democrats. Therefore, older Catholics have not been part of the broader ideological realignment which has taken place among other religious adherents, namely evangelical and …

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Do You Have A Friend?: The Impact Of Personal Knowledge Of Someone With Aids On Attitudes Towards Aids, Leith Leonce Lombas Jan 2004

Do You Have A Friend?: The Impact Of Personal Knowledge Of Someone With Aids On Attitudes Towards Aids, Leith Leonce Lombas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of attitudes towards those with AIDS is relatively recent. Most studies have examined attitudes concerning health and medical concerns. Little research has focused on attitudes toward social and behavior concerns. The few that have focused on such attitudes have employed relatively small samples collected primarily out of convenience. The studies that have used national samples have primarily addressed public policy issues. Using national data from the 1988 General Social Survey, this paper examines the effects of personal knowledge about the AIDS virus and other attitudinal variables on four dimensions of social and behavioral concern for those with AIDS …

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Social Underdevelopment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Michelle L. Wingo Jan 2004

Social Underdevelopment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Michelle L. Wingo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For the past thirty years Africa has produced a more noticeably inferior reserve of human capital than other developing regions. This is puzzling because at the inception of independence, the future of Africa looked promising. However, during the 1970s both the political and economic situation in Africa began to deteriorate, and since 1980, the aggregate per capita GDP in sub-Saharan Africa has declined at almost one percent per fiscal year. Thirty-two countries are poorer now than they were twenty years ago, and sub-Saharan Africa is now the lowest-income region in the world despite the fact that during the last two …

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The Effects Of Psuedo-Altruistic Behavior On The Likelihood Of Reciprocity And Perceptions Of The Source, Reagan Rule Jan 2004

The Effects Of Psuedo-Altruistic Behavior On The Likelihood Of Reciprocity And Perceptions Of The Source, Reagan Rule

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines the roles of expectancy disconfirmation and pseudo-altruistic behaviors as communication strategies to increase receiver compliance, and their effects on perceptions of the source, including credibility and likeability ratings. While adding to the previous research, this investigation examines the effects on compliance when pseudo-altruistic practices are employed in a sales situation. Additionally, subjects’ compliance responses in the treatment groups are analyzed for relationships between compliance and several possible mediators, including participant’s evaluations of the source, and feelings of obligation and guilt. A focus group was held to discuss the face validity of the scenarios. Additionally, a pilot …

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Determinants Of Financial Condition: A Study Of U.S. Cities, Lynda Dennis Jan 2004

Determinants Of Financial Condition: A Study Of U.S. Cities, Lynda Dennis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How well a local government is able to provide for the needs and preferences of its citizens generally depends on the financial resources available; and, how such resources are allocated, distributed, and managed. Demographics, size of local government, supply and age of infrastructure, financial position of the government, and the local economy represent a few of the factors affecting what public goods and services citizens prefer. Internal systems of accounting and control affect the allocation, distribution, and management of financial resources. As such, these internal systems significantly affect the provision of public goods and services. The research outlined in this …

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An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Racial Identity Developme, Franklyn Williams Jan 2004

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Racial Identity Developme, Franklyn Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between racial identity development and career thoughts for Black seniors at an urban high school. The available population was 557 Black senior students at a high school in Orange County, Florida. With respect to this population, socioeconomic status, influences on career interest, parental level of education, parental occupations, post-secondary intentions, and plans to take the SAT or ACT were some of the specific demographic variables that were analyzed. Results from a variety of simple regression analyses revealed significant positive relationships between Black seniors' perceptions of their racial identity development and …

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Women's Satisfaction With Their Childbirth Experiences: What Influenced Their Satisfaction And What They Wish They Had Been Told, Kara Sylvester Jan 2004

Women's Satisfaction With Their Childbirth Experiences: What Influenced Their Satisfaction And What They Wish They Had Been Told, Kara Sylvester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was done to determine what influences women's satisfaction with their childbirth experiences and if the type of childbirth education class they attended was a factor in satisfaction. Investigation into this question is necessary to provide helpful information to three groups of people. Childbirth educators will benefit from information about how to best prepare women for their childbirth experiences. Labor support people will benefit by learning what aids in creating a satisfactory experience for laboring women. Finally, expecting women will benefit from learning what might make their experience satisfactory or not. Literature about the benefit of childbirth education has …

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Genre And Persona In Activist Websites, Margaret M.F. Boreman Jan 2004

Genre And Persona In Activist Websites, Margaret M.F. Boreman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital texts present significant challenges to technical communicators in terms of genre and persona. Because of the ubiquity of electronic media, we increasingly embrace digital formats over print-based documents. As a result, technical communicators must now devise the means to cue audiences to the purposes of digital documents in any given discourse community. We can only convey meaning to our Internet audiences through the use of appropriate standards and elements recognizable generic forms and rhetorical cues that we designate as conventions in specific digital discourse. Just as we use file and folder office metaphors for information stored on computers, digital …

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Communication Modality And After Action Review Performance In A Distributed Immersive Virtual Environment, Jason P. Kring Jan 2004

Communication Modality And After Action Review Performance In A Distributed Immersive Virtual Environment, Jason P. Kring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technological innovations in data transfer and communication have given rise to the virtual team where geographically separate individuals interact via one or more technologies to combine efforts on a collective activity. In military, business, and spaceflight settings, virtual teams are increasingly used in training and operational activities; however there are important differences between these virtual collaborations and more traditional face-to-face (FTF) interactions. One concern is the absence of FTF contact may alter team communication and cooperation and subsequently affect overall team performance. The present research examined this issue with a specific focus on how communication modality influences team learning and …

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The Combined Effects Of Frequency Of Satisfaction And Domain Equity On Relational Satisfaction, Amanda Dawn Coho Jan 2004

The Combined Effects Of Frequency Of Satisfaction And Domain Equity On Relational Satisfaction, Amanda Dawn Coho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Romantic relationship research has yet to identify the relationship between conflict, an interpersonal variable, and equity, an intrapersonal variable. The current study represents the first attempt to understand these variables’ contribution, separately and interactionally, on individual partner’s feelings of relationship satisfaction. A total of 106 undergraduate and graduate participants completed questionnaires gauging their frequency of conflict and perceptions of equity across each of five relational domains: Love, Status/Power, Money, Services, and Sex, in addition to reporting general levels of relationship satisfaction. Data were interpreted in three separate relationships: conflict and satisfaction, equity and satisfaction, and the interaction of conflict and …

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Critical Digital Infrastructure Protection: An Investigatoin Into The Intergovernmental Activities Of Information Technology Directors In Florida Counties, Joah Nicole Devenny Jan 2004

Critical Digital Infrastructure Protection: An Investigatoin Into The Intergovernmental Activities Of Information Technology Directors In Florida Counties, Joah Nicole Devenny

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As cyber attacks become more sophisticated, the risk to all networked computer systems increases. Whether public or private, whether federal, state, or local, the threat is equally real. Consequently, local governments must respond accordingly to understand the threats, take measures to protect themselves, and determine how to respond in the event of a system breach. Additionally, since cyber criminals do not respect geographic or administrative boundaries, local leaders must be prepared to instantly interact with other governments, agencies, and departments to suppress an attack. Guided by the theory of intergovernmental management (IGM), this exploratory research investigated how Information Technology (IT) …

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Female Sexual Offenders-An Underexamined Population, Creaig Anthony Dunton Jan 2004

Female Sexual Offenders-An Underexamined Population, Creaig Anthony Dunton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sex crimes are considered to be among the most damaging and heinous forms of social deviance in existence. Besides the acts perpetrated by the offenders, the social stigma attached to being victimized is often just as injurious to the victim. Society sees males as the sole perpetrators of acts of sexual abuse, but this is not the case. The extant literature shows that women, while fewer in number, also perpetrate acts of sexual abuse and assault against other adults and children. This thesis is a preliminary typology that classifies female sexual offenders based upon the acts perpetrated, using cases presented …

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Improving Comprehension Of Capital Sentencing Instructions: A Bias Reduction Approach, Charles W. Otto Jan 2004

Improving Comprehension Of Capital Sentencing Instructions: A Bias Reduction Approach, Charles W. Otto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated that judicial instructions on the law are not well understood by jurors tasked with applying the law to the facts of a case. The past research has also shown that jurors are often confused by the instructions used in the sentencing phase of a capital trial. Social scientists have used two different methods to improve juror understanding of legal instructions, psycholinguistic rewrites and bias-reduction techniques. Psycholinguistic rewrites of legal instructions have been shown consistently to improve juror comprehension of general legal instructions and instructions used in the sentencing phase of a capital trial, however, there has …

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A Rhetoric Of Technology: The Discourse In U.S. Army Manuals And Handbooks, Sherry Ann Steward Jan 2004

A Rhetoric Of Technology: The Discourse In U.S. Army Manuals And Handbooks, Sherry Ann Steward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the historical technical publications of the United States Army from 1775-2004. Historical research in Army technical communication reveals the persuasive characteristics of its technical publications. Elements of narrative, storytelling, and anthropomorphism are techniques writers used to help deliver information to readers. Research also reveals the design techniques writers adopted to unite the situated literacies of the troops. Analyses of print, comic, and digital media expose the increasing visualization of information since the eighteenth century. The results of such historical research can be applied to new media designs. Automating processes captured in paper-based technical manuals and adding intelligent …

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Cell Phone Distraction Analysis Of Motor Response In A Simulated Driving Environment, Anusha Ravishankar Jan 2004

Cell Phone Distraction Analysis Of Motor Response In A Simulated Driving Environment, Anusha Ravishankar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Does the use of a cell phone while driving influence the driver's ability to execute a proper turn? Is there difference between genders pertaining to motor skill while driving in a simulated driving environment? To accomplish this task, three groups of ten participants (5 women and 5 men) each were tested using a scripted test scenario focusing on left and right turns. The participants were made to drive through a test scenario to get used to the driving simulator. The scenario for the experimental group was an inner-city training scenario with the presence of vehicular traffic and the main focus …

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