External consequences

Plutonium has a much shorter half-life than uranium (24.000 years for Pu-239 6,500 years for Pu-240). Plutonium is most toxic if it is inhaled. The radioactive decay that plutonium undergoes (alpha decay) is of little external consequence, since the alpha particles are blocked by human skin and travel only a few inches. If inhaled, however, the soft tissue of the lungs will suffer an internal dose of radiation. Particles may also enter the blood stream and irradiate other parts of the body. The safest way to handle plutonium is in its plutonium dioxide (PuOj) form because PuOj is virtually insoluble inside the human body, gi eatly reducing the risk of internal contamination. 

Coffin M. F. and Eldholm O. (1994) Large igneous provinces crustal structure, dimension, and external consequences. Rev. Geophys. 32, 1-36. 

At present hardly any of pellet producers pays the cost of 12.5 USD/MWh for wood fuel, but rather 8-10 USD/MWh - if purchased externally. Consequently, the costs of established pellet production is lower than is estimated in Table 1. 

The external consequences are not disastrous. No quick casualties are envisaged and late developing cancers are few (with reference to the natural occurrences) about 0.5 per cent of the natural occurrence in a radius of 80 km from the plant. In this evaluation a reasonable implementation of the existing emergency plan is assumed. 

B. F. Skinner proposed operant conditioning, a process in which the frequency of occurrence of behavior is modified by the consequences of the behavior that is, the consequences of people s actions will determine future actions. The external consequences, referred to as the environment or environmental stimuli, may increase, decrease, or have little effect on behavior. When the likelihood of a response increases following the presentation of an event or stimulus, the process is referred to as positive reinforcement. Praise, recognition, and... 

Estimate external consequences of emergency relief system release. (a) Estimate maximum discharge from emergency relief system to give maximum source term and downwind concentrations. (b) Consider most likely release. 

Note that the reliability-based robustness index does not require the description of external consequences, unlike risk-based robustness indices, which simplifies the calculations. 

Motivational intervention is clearly the most challenging, requiring enough external influence to get the target behavior started without triggering a desire to assert personal freedom. Remember the objective is to motivate a transition from conscious incompetence to a self-directed state of conscious competence. Powerful external consequences might improve behavior only temporarily, as long as the behavioral intervention is in place. Hence the individual is consciously competent, but the excessive outside control makes the behavior entirely other-directed. Excessive control on the outside of people can limit the amount of control or self-direction they develop on the inside. 

Simply put, "intrinsic" does not mean "inside" people, where it cannot be observed, measured, and directly influenced (Horcones, 1987). Rather, intrinsic refers to the nature of the task in which an individual is engaged. Intrinsically motivated tasks, or behaviors, lead naturally to external consequences that support the behavior (rewarding feedback) or give information useful for improving the behavior (corrective feedback). 

Take a look at the fisherman in Figure 11.4. Some psychologists would claim he is motivated from within, or self-motivated. They use the term "intrinsic motivation" to refer to this state (Deci, 1975 Deci and Ryan, 1985). In contrast, the behavioral scientist points to the external consequences naturally motivating the fisherman s behavior. These cause him to focus so completely on the task at hand that he is not aware of his wife s moimting anger— or he is ignoring her. He may also be imaware that his supply of fish is creating a potential hazard. In a similar way, safety can be compromised because of excessive motivation for production. Rewards intrinsic to production can cause this motivation. 

When it comes to safety and health, internal consequences to support the right behavior are terribly important. Remember, external and intrinsic (natural) consequences for safe behaviors are not readily available, and we cannot expect to receive sufficient support (extra consequences) from others to sustain our proactive, safe, and healthy choices. So we need to talk to ourselves with sincere conviction to boost our intentions. We also need to give ourselves genuine self-reinforcement after we do the right thing to keep ourselves going. When we receive special external consequences from others for our efforts, we need to savor these and use them later to bolster our self-reinforcement. 

The bottom line is this. Our behavior is motivated by extrinsic or extra, as well as natural or intrinsic consequences our self-motivation is influenced by how these external consequences (intrinsic and extrinsic) are interpreted. Self-motivation can decrease if a motivational program is seen as an attempt to control behavior. Thus, it is important that praise, recognition, and other rewards are genuine expressions of appreciation. Individuals or groups being recognized must believe they truly earned this consequence through their... 

Relative to the person performing the task, consequences can be considered external or internal. External consequences are observable by others and, thus, can be studied objectively. Internal consequences are subjective and biased by the performer s perceptions. It is difficult to know objectively the exact nature of the internal consequences influencing an individual s performance. However, we know from personal experience that internal consequences and evaluations accompany performance and dramatically influence motivation and subsequent performance. 

For example, if you play a musical instrument, complete a crossword puzzle (see Figure 11.7), plant a garden, or participate in recreational sports, natural and external consequences are immediately available. You have performed well, done a good job, or maybe you are not pleased with the results. Add to this the fact that you might compare your results to past results or the accomplishments of others. This is adding a personal evaluation bias to the natural feedback—internalizing the external consequences. Now you have created internal consequences to accompany your activity. 

Principle 19 Intervention impact is influenced by the amount of response information, participation, and social support, as well as external consequences. 

In Chapter 12,1 discussed ways to maximize the immediate impact of an intervention. Interventions that give specific instructions (response information) and get participants actively involved are likely to influence behavior and attitude change. If the intervention facilitates support from others, such as coworkers or family members, it can have lasting effects. Figure 20.5 shows undesirable external consequences from an activator with misleading information. 

The role of external consequences in intervention design is a bit tricky. Pioneering research by Freedman (1965) demonstrated the need to limit external consequences if we... 

Figure 20.5 Misleading activators can lead to undesirable external consequences.

Principle 20 Extra and external consequences should not overjustify the target behavior. 

This principle offers another reason why people are not likely to follow safe operating procedures in the absence of external controls or behavior-consequence contingencies. As reflected in Principle 11, natural external consequences usually support risk-taking at the expense of safe alternatives which are usually more inconvenient, uncomfortable, or time consuming. 

It is possible the natural external consequences supporting ongoing at-risk behavior cannot be overcome with extra external consequences. In this case, long-term behavior change requires the modification of the natural consequences or the application of techniques discussed in Chapter 16 to alter internal consequences. Throughout this text, I have downplayed the use of negative consequences and the reasons are reflected in the next principle. 

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