Adult smoking in the home environment and children's IQ

In a sample of 3- and 5-yr.-old children, smoking in the home was found to be significantly and inversely related to IQ. Children of normal birth weight and without neurological impairment had been enrolled in a longitudinal study of child development. Analyses were conducted with sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educational stimulation in the home, day care, and mother's intelligence controlled. Significant results were obtained for scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised at age three years and on the major Stanford-Binet Fourth Edition scales at ages three and five years. All effects were for the mother, not the father, smoking in the home.     

Nostalgia for America's past can buffer collective guilt

This research examined when, and for whom, American collective nostalgia can relieve feelings of collective guilt. In the Pilot Study, path analyses revealed that national glorification is associated with collective nostalgia, and collective nostalgia is associated with lower collective guilt. Our experimental studies test the role of these variables in determining responses to the elevated salience of past ingroup harm doing. Collective nostalgia was associated with lower collective guilt especially after reminders of America's harm doing in Study 1 . In Study 2 we predicted and showed that reminders of American harm doing would evoke spontaneous collective nostalgia for participants high in national glorification. The remaining studies tested the hypothesis that collective nostalgia serves to buffer collective guilt. Collective guilt was lower after reminders of past harm doing for participants who engaged in collective nostalgia ( Study 3 ), and this was especially pronounced for participants high in national glorification ( Study 4 ).     

Imaginary Worlds in Middle Childhood: A Qualitative Study of Two Pairs of Coordinated Paracosms

Imagining alternatives to actual experiences is an important part of everyday life that can take many forms. One manifestation in middle childhood is the creation of elaborate imaginary worlds, called paracosms. Retrospective reports of adults indicate that having a childhood paracosm is more commonly reported in individuals acknowledged for being highly creative. In this study, we interviewed four children aged 10 to 12 years with interconnected paracosms about the details of their imagined worlds. Our findings indicated that paracosms served as a platform for social activity with friends, a way to explore real world interests (e.g., geography, language), and a vehicle for engaging in creative pursuits (e.g., drawing, storytelling).     

CHURCH UNDER LEVIATHAN

Political philosophers have long disagreed on the issue of whether churches should exercise restraint in the appeal to religious reasons in public discussion and political mobilization. Exclusivists defend the restraint, whereas inclusivists reject it. Both sides, however, assume the existence of a democratic government. In this essay, I discuss whether churches should exercise restraint in a non‐democratic, authoritarian society. I defend inclusivism and believe that churches should not restrain themselves, especially when doing so can promote democracy and prevent severe injustices. First, I argue that two exclusivist arguments which justify the restraint cannot be applied in an authoritarian society. Second, I defend inclusivism because religious reasons are effective in cultivating active citizens that strengthen the democratic movement. Finally, I use the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong as an example to show how inclusivism can enhance democratic movements under authoritarianism.     

A test of the regulatory fit hypothesis in perceptual classification learning

This article builds a bridge between research on regulatory focus in motivation and classification learning. It tests the hypothesis that a fit between the situational regulatory focus and the reward structure of the task leads to greater cognitive flexibility than does a mismatch between situational focus and the reward structure and that the fit between the regulatory-focus-induced processing characteristics and the nature of the environment influences performance. In Experiment 1, we used a classification task for which cognitive flexibility should be advantageous and examined both gains (Experiment 1A) and losses (Experiment 1B) reward structures. In Experiments 2 and 3, we used a classification task for which cognitive flexibility should be disadvantageous. In Experiment 2, we used a gains reward structure, and in Experiment 3, we used a losses reward structure. As was predicted, when cognitive flexibility was advantageous, the participants in a regulatory fit showed faster learning and more quickly shifted toward the optimal response strategy. Also as was predicted, when cognitive flexibility was disadvantageous, the participants in a regulatory mismatch showed faster learning and more quickly shifted toward the optimal response strategy. Implications for current theories of motivation and classification learning are discussed.     

Operant conditioning of goats

A procedure is described for establishing an operant response in goats. The operanda are two lucite panels which can be transilluminated. The goats press the panels with their muzzles and are reinforced with whole oats. All six subjects showed reliable and accurate performance in brightness discrimination, including cessation of responding during time-out periods.