Near-death encounters with and without near-death experiences: Comparative NDE scale profiles

In a retrospective study contrasting the near-death encounters of 183 persons who reported near-death experiences and 63 persons who reported no near-death experience, the two groups did not differ in age, gender, or time elapsed since the near-death encounter. Near-death experiencers reported all 16 items of the NDE Scale significantly more often than did nonexperiencers.     

CONVERGING METHODS FOR INVESTIGATING LEXICAL ACCESS

Abstract— In our discussion of the articles in this Special Section, we ask how well the various methods employed in these investigations can be made to converge on a common issue. We review how current evidence from positron emission tomography, studies of event-related potentials, cognitive methods, lesion studies, and network models relates to the mental processing of an ambiguous word. While many puzzles remain, we are impressed by the promising possibility of bringing these different methods together to deal with an issue central to cognition.     

Interrelationships among students' study activities,self-concept of academic ability,and achievement as a function of characteristics of high-school biology courses

This investigation focused on the interrelationships among students' study activities, students' self-concept of academic ability ratings, students' academic achievement, and instructional practices in 12 high school biology courses. Using a framework derived from a previous investigation, course features were classified into those that appear to (a) place demands on, (b) support, or (c) compensate for student engagement in particular study activities. Students' study activities, self-concept of academic ability ratings, and achievement were measured with experimenter-developed instruments. Results are reported for (a) characteristics of instruments and course features, (b) relationships between central factors of the investigation, and (c) multi-level relationships between course features and student variables. Results at the student level indicated that self-concept of academic ability and, to a lesser extent, students' study activities were positively associated with student achievement. Students' self-concept of academic ability ratings were also linked to students' engagement in generative, proactive study activities. At the course level the supportive practices of providing challenging homework assignments and extensive feedback on student coursework were associated with student engagement in effortful, generative, proactive study activities. The provision of extensive feedback was also associated with high student achievement. Multi-level relationships were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) analyses. These analyses revealed, for example, that in courses in which little or no feedback is given on homework assignments, the relationship between achievement and student engagement in diligent effort management activities was enhanced. Other HLM analyses were conducted to examine the mediating role of course features on the relationship between students' self-concept of academic ability and their study activities and achievement. For example, the presence of challenging course demands was associated with an enhancement of the relationship between self-concept of academic ability and achievement whereas the presence of instructor provisions (supports and compensations) designed to reduce course demands was associated with a reduction in this relationship.     

Spatial context affects the Poggendorff illusion

The Poggendorffillusion has often been explainedas purely an interactionbetween the parallels and the transversals. The present study demonstrates that additional spatial context exerts an influence on this illusion. In Experiment 1, we examined the effects of a surrounding tilted frame (complete and degraded versions) on collinearity adjustments iatheuprightandrotatedPoggendorfffigures. The frame’s orientation was always oblique. Relative to the no-frame condition, frames decreased error in collinearity adjustments in the upright-Poggendorff figure, and increased error in the rotated Poggendorfffigure. In Experiment 2, a circumscribing circle did not cause an orientation-inhibition effect (Ebenholtz & Utrie, 1982, 1983), suggestingthat the effect ofthe frame on the Poggendorif illusion may not be closely related to the rod-and-frame effect. In Experiment 3, orientation of a central texture modulated the magnitude ofthe illusion. The results do not serve to explain the mechanisms behind the Poggendorffillusion, but they do demonstrate the importance of visual reference frames in understanding perceived misalignment.     

Ethnicity of Defendants and Jurors as Influences on Jury Decisions1

To assess the influence of ethnicity on jury decisions, 480 subjects viewed a videotaped trial of an Anglo or Hispanic defendant. Anglo or Hispanic majority 6-person juries deliberated until a unanimous verdict was reached. The juries that convicted the defendant were asked to determine sentence length and to provide a probation/ parole recommendation. Anglo majority juries convicted the defendant significantly more (M= 79%) than did the Hispanic majority juries (M= 52%), x²= 5.45, p < 0.02. No main effect of defendant ethnicity was obtained, but there was an interaction between the defendant and the jury's ethnicity, x²= 5.41, p < 0.02. Anglo majority juries were more lenient with the Anglo defendant, but the Hispanic majority juries did not differ in their conviction rates. No significant effects were obtained for sentence length. Differences in probation/parole recommendations were a function of jury ethnicity, F(l, 15) = 4.74, p < 0.05. Anglos were more likely to recommend that the defendant serve the full term of the sentence. These results are interpreted in terms of stereotyping and are discussed regarding their implications for a defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial.     

Teenage suicide in Zimbabwe

The teenage suicide rate in Zimbabwe did not change much during the 1970s, though the rate rose for female teenagers. Female teenagers used poison as a method of suicide more often than did adults, and self-immolation had increased in frequency among young women by the mid-1980s.