The popular appeal of the near-death experience

In this article I argue that as scientific research provides an ever-more-complete physiological explanation of the near-death experience (NDE), popular interest in NDEs will wane, because the transcendental interpretation, which holds that the NDE provides proof of an immaterial soul, an afterlife, and assorted paranormal phenomena, has always been the magnet that has attracted widespread attention to the subject. Since the transcendental interpretation resonates with our culture's deepest wishes, dreams, and fears, the television and newspapers have tended to focus on that model almost exclusively. This unbalanced presentation of near-death research has reinforced the traditional image of science as a cold, heartless enterprise. I speculate that, in terms of its popular appeal, future near-death research may well have more impact on the field of psychotherapy than that of religion or the paranormal.He has taught at Stanford University and at Villa Maria College.     

Piper’s question and ours: a role for adversity in group-centred views of non-agentive shame

This paper aims to contribute to ‘group-centred views’ of non-agentive shame (victim shame, oppression shame), by linking them to an ‘anepistemic’ model of the experience and impact of human failing. One of the most vexing aspects of those group-centred views remains how susceptivity to such shame ought to be understood. This contribution focuses on how a basic familiarity with adversity, in everyday life, may open individuals up to these forms of shame. If, per group-centred views, non-agentive shame is importantly driven by participation in social practices with others, a better understanding of the impact of adversity on individuals’ lives may offer a way of explaining how embodied experience instils in individuals a need for such participation. The upshot is an understanding of the individual’s susceptivity to non-agentive shame, which affords it the same legitimacy as more conventional notions of shame.

     

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.     

Influencia de la imitación y la comprensión en la adquisición del lenguaje en niños deficientes: dos experimentos basados en un diseño de líneas de base múltiple y control concurrente

RESUMEN

En este trabajo se exponen dos experimentos relacionados con algunos aspectos de la adquisición y desarrollo del pre-lenguaje y primeras etapas del lenguaje funcional, tanto comprensivo como expresivo, con niños deficientes no-verbales. Las autoras parten del programa de Kent “Language Acquisition Program for the Retarded or Multiply Impaired”, y utilizan un diseño experimental de líneas de base múltiples y control concurrente. Los resultados confirman en gran parte la hipótesis según la cual la imitación vocal y el lenguaje comprensivo son dos repertorios básicos para el lenguaje expresivo, concluyendo que el programa adaptado de Kent es un instrumento válido para la enseñanza de diversos aspectos del lenguaje y que la técnica de control concurrente parece ser una buena alternativa en aquellos casos en que el diseño experimental intrasujeto no permite la reversión de las condiciones experimentales.     

What Latina Mothers Think of Evidence-Based Parenting Practices: A Qualitative Study of Treatment Acceptability

Parent training has great potential to alter the developmental trajectories of young Latino children with or at risk for behavior problems. However, traditional parent training programs may seem culturally irrelevant or inappropriate to Latino parents as they promote practices that are based on white, middle class standards. The current study of treatment acceptability used focus group and key informant interviewing methodology to investigate Latina mothers’ views on the causes of young children's misbehavior and the acceptability of evidence-based parenting strategies. The sample consisted of Spanish- and English-speaking Latina mothers of 3- to 6-year-olds recruited from day-care centers and preschools in New York City. Focus groups were conducted with 34 mothers, and key informant interviews with 5 mothers whose children had behavior problems. Results showed that the most commonly viewed causes of child misbehavior were child temperament, fighting in the home, and negative peer influence. Mothers found some evidence-based parenting strategies acceptable (e.g., the use of praise, social rewards) and others objectionable (e.g., selective ignoring in pubic situations, the elimination of spanking). For some strategies, there was little consensus on its acceptability (e.g., time-out). Taken together, results highlight the critical need for aligning parent and clinician goals at the outset of treatment, and of including a strong psychoeducational component in parent training programs because not all of its components are consistent with Latino cultural norms and beliefs.     

Differences in Univariate Values Versus Multivariate Relationships

A recent debate has called to light an important issue for communication researchers and other social scientists: Does the use of student samples jeopardize the validity of research? Importantly, this question has failed to make a critical distinction between estimates of univariate values versus those examining multivariate relationships. Estimates of univariate values provide information on the prevalence of an attitude or belief from the sampled population to the overall population. Estimates of multivariate relationships, however, provide information on the validity of our theories. This distinction is examined in a study of identification with Diana, Princess of Wales. Results show that although the estimates of univariate values differed across three samples, the multivariate relationships between the variables were more stable, and therefore the underlying process appears to hold. We argue that this finding illustrates the distinction between estimates of univariate means versus multivariate relationships and is evidence that nonprobability samples can be important for many reasons, including testing the consistency of processes.     

Attitudinal Balance and Cause‐Related Marketing: An Empirical Application of Balance Theory

We examine the effects of pre‐existing organizational attitudes on consumer response to cause‐related marketing (CRM) alliances, using a Balance Theory framework. Two experiments demonstrate that balanced attitudes (either both positive or both negative) resulted in perceptions of appropriateness, but did not necessarily lead to positive affect. The positive balance scenario led to a synergistic attitudinal boost when both pre‐existing attitudes were positive. Attitudinal contamination was evident when either pre‐existing attitude was negative. Fit operated within the balance scenario to enhance perceptions of the strength of the CRM alliance, leading to more positive responses.     

Twisting space: are rigid and non-rigid mental transformations separate spatial skills?

Cognitive science has primarily studied the mental simulation of spatial transformations with tests that focus on rigid transformations (e.g., mental rotation). However, the events of our world are not limited to rigid body movements. Objects can undergo complex non-rigid discontinuous and continuous changes, such as bending and breaking. We developed a new task to assess mental visualization of non-rigid transformations. The Non-rigid Bending test required participants to visualize a continuous non-rigid transformation applied to an array of objects by asking simple spatial questions about the position of two forms on a bent transparent sheet of plastic. Participants were to judge the relative position of the forms when the sheet was unbent. To study the cognitive skills needed to visualize rigid and non-rigid events, we employed four tests of mental transformations—the Non-rigid Bending test (a test of continuous non-rigid mental transformation), the Paper Folding test and the Mental Brittle Transformation test (two tests of non-rigid mental transformation with local rigid transformations), and the Vandenberg and Kuse (Percept Motor Skills 47:599–604, 1978) Mental Rotation test (a test of rigid mental transformation). Performance on the Mental Brittle Transformation test and the Paper Folding test independently predicted performance on the Non-rigid Bending test and performance on the Mental Rotation test; however, mental rotation performance was not a unique predictor of mental bending performance. Results are consistent with separable skills for rigid and non-rigid mental simulation and illustrate the value of an ecological approach to the analysis of the structure of spatial thinking.