I don't believe but I pray: spirituality,instrumentality, or paranormal belief?

These three studies are among the first to systematically compare five Chinese religious groups on intrinsic (spiritual) and extrinsic (instrumental and paranormal) orientation. In Study 1, a Chinese version of the Index of Core Spiritual Experiences was developed. In Studies 2 and 3, spirituality and religious involvement was found to be greatest among Christians, followed in order by Buddhists, Taoists, traditional nones, and other nones. An instrumental purpose for religious activities and paranormal belief was found to be highest among Taoists, followed in order by Buddhists, traditional nones, other nones, and Christians. The results are consistent with the conclusion that Christianity offers the least support for an extrinsic religious orientation and the most support for an intrinsic religious orientation.     

The Tempo of Verbal Interaction in an Open Therapy Group Conducted in Rotation by Three Different Therapists

This article examines the experience of new members joining an ongoing psychotherapy group. The group's stage of development and the new member's personality development are suggested to be important variables in this significant event. The experience of joining is found to share some things in common with the beginning phase of group for the group as a whole, but also noted are some unique elements. The process of joining is viewed as a highly anxious event for the new member, with antecedents in the individual's life experience. The new member is compromised by not knowing the group members, nor their shared history, norms, and dynamics. Concurrently, the group may experience a range of fears, wishes, and anxieties about the new member. Developmental considerations for the new member and the stage of group help to inform intervention strategies.     

Sources of acute stress in american and australian basketball referees

Abstract

Team building (TB) research in sport psychology can be those forms of investigation that systematically examine the effectiveness of interventions developed to (a) influence, expectations and attitudes, and (d) reduce or eliminate group properties that detract or hinder the group's development toward effective teamwork. The objective of TB research is to identify controlled targetted approaches to interventions to produce valid, reliable, and cost-effective results. While these goals are desirable, caution must be taken to avoid the multiple problems and Criticisms levelled at TB research and practice in nonsport settings (DeMeusc &; Liebowitz 1981). Before problems occur in sport research, investigators need to recognize and learn from past errors. The objective of this paper is to summarize characteristic research problems, give examples of research on TB in sport that have made a new beginning, and suggest types of research conducted by both the scientist and the practitioner. Practitioners need to evaluate TB program effectiveness in order to distinguish between team building of different types, indifferent situations, and of differing levels of quality. While the TB research definition for sport psychology emphasizes the scientific process, this requirement does not restrict the scientist-practitioner. The entire spectrum of intra to interteam behavior can be addressed from the controlled experiment or single group design to program development or evaluation research. Examples of other factors such as various TB models, design issues, and the coach as the agent of change are discussed to reflect the potential opportunities for improving TB research and TB program evaluation in sport.     

Smoking on School Property as a Risk Factor for Substance Use Among Adolescent Smokers

The purpose of the current study was to determine if smoking on high-school property was associated with increased risk for other substance use among U.S. adolescents. Secondary analyses were carried out with data from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS, N = 15,503). Only adolescents who reported smoking at least one cigarette in the last 30 days were selected for analyses (n = 2531, 44% female). Alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use was assessed among participants. Binary logistic regression analysis was carried out to examine the relationship between smoking on school property (yes versus no) with each of the substance use variables. Adolescent smokers who reported smoking on school property were significantly more likely to report substance use across all substances examined compared to smokers who did not smoke on campus. For example, campus smokers were 3.91 times more likely to use marijuana in their lifetime and 3.85 times more likely to have used crack or cocaine in their lifetime compared to smokers who did not smoke on campus. Health care providers who provide services to adolescents should screen for smoking on school property to help identify adolescents at increased risk for substance use.     

Examining Cognitive Functioning Following TASER Exposure: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Individuals who experience electrical injury suffer significant, sometimes long‐term deficits in neuropsychological functioning. The TASER, an electrical device used by thousands of police departments, generates a high‐voltage (up to 50 000 V), low‐amperage (2.1 mA) current of electricity that is designed to disable a resistive criminal suspect. Questions have emerged regarding the potential for TASER exposure to cause impairment in cognitive functioning. In the current study, healthy human volunteers were randomly assigned to four groups, two of which received a TASER exposure. Participants completed a battery of cognitive tests before and after receiving their assigned treatment. Participants who received a TASER exposure experienced statistically meaningful declines in measures of verbal learning and memory, although deficits lasted less than 1 hour. After TASER exposure, participants also self‐reported significant difficulties with concentration, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed. Other dimensions of cognitive functioning were not affected. Our findings show that the effects of TASER exposure on brain functioning are not well understood. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stability in the metamemory realism of eyewitness confidence judgments

The stability of eyewitness confidence judgments over time in regard to their reported memory and accuracy of these judgments is of interest in forensic contexts because witnesses are often interviewed many times. The present study investigated the stability of the confidence judgments of memory reports of a witnessed event and of the accuracy of these judgments over three occasions, each separated by 1 week. Three age groups were studied: younger children (8–9 years), older children (10–11 years), and adults (19–31 years). A total of 93 participants viewed a short film clip and were asked to answer directed two-alternative forced-choice questions about the film clip and to confidence judge each answer. Different questions about details in the film clip were used on each of the three test occasions. Confidence as such did not exhibit stability over time on an individual basis. However, the difference between confidence and proportion correct did exhibit stability across time, in terms of both over/underconfidence and calibration. With respect to age, the adults and older children exhibited more stability than the younger children for calibration. Furthermore, some support for instability was found with respect to the difference between the average confidence level for correct and incorrect answers (slope). Unexpectedly, however, the younger children’s slope was found to be more stable than the adults. Compared to the previous research, the present study’s use of more advanced statistical methods provides a more nuanced understanding of the stability of confidence judgments in the eyewitness reports of children and adults.     

Subtle cognitive deficits in severe alcohol addicts – Do they show a specific profile?

Although alcohol dependency is a burden to society, data on cognitive performance in therapy‐resistant patients after multiple withdrawals are poor. In this study, 22 patients without reported cognitive deficits and 20 control subjects performed extensive cognitive testing and a motor task assessing short‐term memory. Patients displayed subtle deficits (mainly in executive function), while memory functions were relatively unimpaired. Our results suggest that subtle frontal‐executive deficits may contribute to a poor prognosis, but could be missed by routine clinical tests.