Letter to my children about sex and the catholic church

This essay is directed to a younger generation. It summarizes the conflicting traditions in the Catholic community today: official Church teaching (represented by “Humanae Vitae” and “Veritatis Splendor”), liberal theologians like Charles Curran (who occasioned this letter), and ordinary Catholics struggling in an imperfect world. The paper attempts to integrate values from three traditions, those associated with respect for new life, a loving relationship, and playfulness. The resulting synthesis offers a spiritually and psychologically viable option worth considering, the author believes. His four children range in age from 18 to 26.     

Tie my hands, tie my eyes

Previous studies have demonstrated that motor abilities allow us not only to execute our own actions and to predict their consequences, but also to predict others' actions and their consequences. But just how deeply are motor abilities implicated in action observation? If an observer is prevented from acting while witnessing others' actions, will this impact on their making sense of others' behavior? We recorded proactive eye movements while participants observed an actor grasping objects. The participants' hands were either freely resting on the table or tied behind their back. Proactivity of gaze behavior was dramatically impaired when participants observed others' actions with their hands tied. Since we don't literally perceive actions with our hands, the effect may be explained by the hypothesis that effective observation of action depends not only on motor abilities but on being in a position to exercise them. This suggests, for the first time, that actions are observed best when we are actually in the position to perform them.     

迷途知返

我那中西合璧的三层小楼主体工程刚显出一点眉目,九九重阳节这天,二三十人在脚手架上攀援,他们都十分认真地工作着,可是山涧骤然刮过来一阵强     

Differences in personality between American and English children

One thousand and ninety-one children between the ages of 9 and 15 yr from three Tennessee schools completed the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and an Impulsiveness Inventory. The American children scored significantly higher on the N, P, E and Imp scales and lower on the L scale. Common trends were noted on age and sex between the American personality norms and the English norms. The results were discussed in terms of the differences in crime rate and lifestyle between the two countries. Both questionnaires were seen as useful measures of personality for children in the U.S.     

Social motives among Anglo American and Mexican American children: Experimental and projective measures

The measurement approaches to social motives, cooperation-competition games and projective tests, have revealed apparently similar findings: Anglo American children are more competitive and higher in n Achievement compared to Mexican American children, who are more cooperative and higher in n Affiliation. The present experiment tested the extent to which (1) competitiveness is related to n Achievement, (2) cooperativeness is related to n Affiliation, and (3) the cultural differences in cooperation-competition are related to those in n Affiliation and n Achievement. Results indicate that social motives inferred from a cooperation-competition game have a meaningful relation to those inferred from a projective test, but that the cultural differences in cooperation-competition are larger and are not explained by cultural differences in n Affiliation and n Achievement. Social motives inferred from each measurement methodology, while somewhat related, are distinct.     

Touching my face with my supernumerary hand: a cheeky illusion

A self-touch paradigm elicits a surprising illusion. With the participant's eyes closed, the examiner guides the participant's right index finger to administer strokes and taps to the right side of the participant's face. At the same time, the examiner strokes and taps the corresponding location on the left side of the participant's face. Although the participant administered touch to only the right side of the face, this paradigm elicited the illusion of self-touch to both sides of the face, and the illusion often implicated a third, disconnected or disembodied, hand. We propose an explanation, and draw parallels with the phenomenon of supernumerary phantom limb.     

Implicit theories of shyness in American and Chinese children

This study examined whether implicit theories of shyness differed between American and Chinese children and how this difference helped explain cultural variations in stereotypical views about shy children and relationship with shy peers. We found that regardless of cultural group, children's implicit theories of shyness were not related to their own shyness, but were associated with stereotypical views about shy children (positively) and relationship with shy peers (negatively). American children reported stronger entity theories of shyness, i.e., they were more likely to view shyness as a stable and immutable trait than Chinese children, which partly explained why they had worse relationships with shy peers. These findings highlight the important roles implicit theories may play in understanding cultural similarities and differences in interpersonal perception and relationship.     

Assessment of the value-attitude orientations of American Indian children

The project was carried out in cooperation with two Sioux Indian reservations and a neighboring Indian boarding school in the American Midwest. An instrument was developed for assessment of the attitude-value orientations of elementary age Indian children. Subscales represent value dimensions upon which Indian and Anglo children can be hypothesized to differ. Heavy participation of Indian people was present at every stage of development of the scales. Factor analysis and analysis of variance data which address construct validity are presented. Rationales are offered in support of the need for development of assessment techniques which are oriented toward, and emerge from, the minority group point of view.     

Trajectories of cognitive development among American Indian young children

Children who begin kindergarten with stronger skills learn faster than do those who enter with lower skills. Minority children tend to enter kindergarten already at a disadvantage, and the gap widens across time. However, little is known about cognitive development among American Indian young children. In this study, 110 American Indian infants from one Northern Plains reservation community were assessed four times between ages 6 months and 36 months, with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. At 6 months of age, scores were near the national norms; a drop occurred between 6 months and 15 months. Scores then tended to level off below the norms through 36 months. In each domain, we observed a crucial decline over the 1st year of life and relatively little change in the 2nd and 3rd years of life, highlighting the importance of developing culturally syntonic interventions to facilitate cognitive development during the 1st year of life.