On the robustness of the group reference effect

Extending the self‐reference effect to the level of group identities, previous research has shown that participants' encoding of trait adjectives with reference to ingroups facilitates recall relative to a control condition in which judgments are made about adjectives' meanings. We contend that this experimental comparison may have exaggerated the extent of the group reference effect. Two studies are reported that examine this contention. In Study 1 participants encoded adjectives with reference to an ingroup, an outgroup or to its semantic properties. Study 2 was nearly identical but required that adjectives be encoded with reference to an ingroup, the personal self or a specific person other than the self. Notwithstanding the use of more stringent controls, both studies provided evidence for the group reference effect. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neural reuse: a fundamental organizational principle of the brain

An emerging class of theories concerning the functional structure of the brain takes the reuse of neural circuitry for various cognitive purposes to be a central organizational principle. According to these theories, it is quite common for neural circuits established for one purpose to be exapted (exploited, recycled, redeployed) during evolution or normal development, and be put to different uses, often without losing their original functions. Neural reuse theories thus differ from the usual understanding of the role of neural plasticity (which is, after all, a kind of reuse) in brain organization along the following lines: According to neural reuse, circuits can continue to acquire new uses after an initial or original function is established; the acquisition of new uses need not involve unusual circumstances such as injury or loss of established function; and the acquisition of a new use need not involve (much) local change to circuit structure (e.g., it might involve only the establishment of functional connections to new neural partners). Thus, neural reuse theories offer a distinct perspective on several topics of general interest, such as: the evolution and development of the brain, including (for instance) the evolutionary-developmental pathway supporting primate tool use and human language; the degree of modularity in brain organization; the degree of localization of cognitive function; and the cortical parcellation problem and the prospects (and proper methods to employ) for function to structure mapping. The idea also has some practical implications in the areas of rehabilitative medicine and machine interface design.     

The Fortieth Anniversary of Women's Ordination in the Lutheran Church

Abstract : This article offers a perspective on the present and future roles of women in the ELCA. It gives some analysis of women's roles in the trend of declining traditional congregations and rising megachurches while imagining the role of clergywomen in the church's next forty years as new models of ministry emerge.     

Relationship Between Job Characteristics and Attitudes: A Study of Temporary Employees

We examine the relationship between job characteristics and employee attitudes in the context of temporary employees who are assigned to work at the client organizations but are formally employed by a temporary agency. Based on the rationale provided by social exchange and social identity theories, we hypothesized that job characteristics would be related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention in regard to both the client organization and the temporary agency. Results based on data collected from a large temporary agency supported all hypothesized relationships in regard to the client organization, and most hypothesized relationships in regard to the temporary agency. We discuss implications of these findings for research and the practice of managing temporary employee attitudes.     

Religious Dissenters, J.S. Mill, and the Importance of Starting Points for Apologetics

Book reviewed:
Mill on God: The Pervasiveness and Elusiveness of Mill's Religious Thought , Alan P.F. Sell, Ashgate Studies in the History of Philosophical Theology, Ashgate 2004 (0-7546-1666-5), pp. viii + 202, Pb £15.99
Philosophy, Dissent and Nonconformity 1689–1920 , Alan P.F. Sell, James Clarke & Co 2004 (0-227-67977-6), pp. 296, Hb £50     

Ethnicity, Acculturation, and Religiosity as Predictors of Female College Students' Role Expectations

The present study was designed to examine ethnicity, acculturation, and religiosity as predictors of European American and Korean American evangelical female college students' role expectations. Fifty-seven European American and 37 Korean American single women, who ranged in age from 17 to 24 years, completed a demographic questionnaire, a role expectation measure, three religiosity measures, and an acculturation measure. The results indicated a significant negative correlation between fundamentalism and role-sharing expectations for European American women and a significant positive correlation between level of acculturation and role-sharing expectations for Korean American women. The results suggest that fundamentalism is a stronger predictor of role expectations than religious commitment in European American women and that acculturation is a more accurate predictor of role expectations than generation in the United States among Korean American women.