The 'Plain' and the 'Positive': Ritual,Experience and Aesthetics in Quakerism and Charismatic Christianity

This paper argues that sharp distinctions between formal ritual action and everyday practice cannot always be sustained. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among British Quakers and Swedish charismatic Protestants, we seek to show that both groups manifest an experiential aesthetic that constructs and is constructed by engagement in daily life. The Quaker aesthetic we call 'the plain', and the charismatic aesthetic we term 'the positive'. In presenting our argument, we adopt Bourdieu's concept of habitus and extend its meaning to take account of material culture in the establishment of religious commitment.     

An evaluation of the associative strength of a partially reinforced serial CS

Three experiments examined the factors that are responsible for producing a high rate of autoshaped keypecking in pigeons when the conditioned stimulus is followed by varying consequences. In the first experiment, a single group received three serial conditioning schedules presented on different keys. The AB⁺ schedule consisted of trials in which A was followed by B, which, in turn, was followed by food. The CD⁺C° schedule consisted of reinforced CD pairings plus presentations of C alone. The EF^+/0 schedule consisted of a mixture of reinforced and nonreinforced EF pairings. It was found that responding was most rapid during C, slowest during E, and at an intermediate rate during A. In spite of this ordering A was chosen in preference to C, when these stimuli were presented simultaneously. In Experiments 2 and 3 the schedules AB⁺A° and AB^+/0 were presented to separate groups. The rate of responding during A was substantially greater in the former schedule, yet it was found that this stimulus was equally ineffective as a conditioned reinforcer in both groups. We propose that autoshaped keypecking is composed of two types of response, a conditioned response and an orienting response, which are governed by different processes.     

Thirdhand smoke beliefs and behaviors among healthcare professionals

Thirdhand smoke (THS) refers to tobacco smoke contaminants and by-products that remain in the environment after a cigarette is extinguished. The purpose of this study was to assess beliefs and behaviors regarding THS among healthcare professionals, and to examine associations among smoking attitudes/beliefs, provider demographics, and THS beliefs and behaviors. Healthcare professionals (N = 204) at a comprehensive cancer center and affiliated general hospital in a northeastern urban area completed online questionnaires. About one third of the respondents had heard of THS before completing the survey, and more than two thirds of the sample believed that THS issues do not receive enough attention. Being female, likelihood of discussing THS with others, endorsing the belief that smoking affects the quality of parenting, and support for government action towards smoking bans were significantly associated with providers’ belief that THS is harmful. Endorsing the belief that smoking affects the quality of parenting and belief that THS is harmful were significantly associated with the likelihood of discussing THS with others. Findings shed light on THS beliefs and behaviors of healthcare providers (a group of individuals that could be trained to educate and advise patients about THS) and inform recommendations for new tobacco policies and clinical guidelines for best practices in tobacco control and prevention.     

Multidisciplinary assessment and diagnosis of conversion disorder in a patient with foreign accent syndrome

Multiple reports have described patients with disordered articulation and prosody, often following acute aphasia, dysarthria, or apraxia of speech, which results in the perception by listeners of a foreign-like accent. These features led to the term foreign accent syndrome (FAS), a speech disorder with perceptual features that suggest an indistinct, non-native speaking accent. Also correctly known as psuedoforeign accent, the speech does not typically match a specific foreign accent, but is rather a constellation of speech features that result in the perception of a foreign accent by listeners. The primary etiologies of FAS are cerebrovascular accidents or traumatic brain injuries which affect cortical and subcortical regions critical to expressive speech and language production. Far fewer cases of FAS associated with psychiatric conditions have been reported. We will present the clinical history, neurological examination, neuropsychological assessment, cognitive-behavioral and biofeedback assessments, and motor speech examination of a patient with FAS without a known vascular, traumatic, or infectious precipitant. Repeated multidisciplinary examinations of this patient provided convergent evidence in support of FAS secondary to conversion disorder. We discuss these findings and their implications for evaluation and treatment of rare neurological and psychiatric conditions.     

Propensity scoring and the relationship between sexual media and adolescent sexual behavior: comment on Steinberg and Monahan (2011)

Longitudinal research has demonstrated a link between exposure to sexual content in media and subsequent changes in adolescent sexual behavior, including initiation of intercourse and various noncoital sexual activities. Based on a reanalysis of one of the data sets involved, Steinberg and Monahan (2011) have challenged these findings. However, propensity score approaches-especially the version of this method used by Steinberg and Monahan, which lacks covariates-do not necessarily result in more accurate estimates of treatment effects than does the regression with covariates approach employed by prior research. There are also a number of problems with the specific set of analyses presented by Steinberg and Monahan and the conclusion they draw from them. In contrast to Steinberg and Monahan's claim, there is substantial evidence of an association between sexual media exposure and adolescent sexual initiation.     

Team capability beliefs over time: Distinguishing between team potency,team outcome efficacy,and team process efficacy

Teams that have positive beliefs about their capability tend to perform more effectively. However, relatively little is known about the nature and change of different types of team capability beliefs. Team potency and team efficacy are two approaches to understanding team capability beliefs, but few studies have considered these beliefs simultaneously. We investigate their distinctiveness and relative predictive power. Additionally, we propose two types of team efficacy: team outcome efficacy and team process efficacy. In two longitudinal samples of executive MBA study teams (sample 1, N=213 individuals in 41 teams; sample 2, N=360 individuals in 89 teams), we showed that team potency, team outcome efficacy, and team process efficacy are factorially distinct and measure invariant at four time points over 7 months (except for high levels of team outcome efficacy for which factorial invariance emerged). We also show differential predictive validity. Team outcome efficacy was the strongest predictor of objective team performance, whereas team process efficacy was the best predictor of citizenship behaviours. Team potency predicted both outcomes, albeit more weakly. Collectively, the findings show the value of a more fine‐grained approach to teams' capability beliefs, including a new validated measure of team process efficacy.     

Testing for adverse impact when sample size is small

Adverse impact evaluations often call for evidence that the disparity between groups in selection rates is statistically significant, and practitioners must choose which test statistic to apply in this situation. To identify the most effective testing procedure, the authors compared several alternate test statistics in terms of Type I error rates and power, focusing on situations with small samples. Significance testing was found to be of limited value because of low power for all tests. Among the alternate test statistics, the widely-used Z-test on the difference between two proportions performed reasonably well, except when sample size was extremely small. A test suggested by G. J. G. Upton (1982) provided slightly better control of Type I error under some conditions but generally produced results similar to the Z-test. Use of the Fisher Exact Test and Yates's continuity-corrected chi-square test are not recommended because of overly conservative Type I error rates and substantially lower power than the Z-test.     

Sign on the Dotted Line: The Informed Consent Process (ICP) as Induced Compliance1

We investigated the social implications of signing an informed consent form (ICF) on participant behavior. ICF research fails to consider that the decision to participate in research is a process that occurs in a social and cultural context. Understanding the meaning of giving consent in this social context is critical. In separate experiments, we found significantly greater agreement to return to complete a study and persistence at a task in participants who signed the ICF versus those who did not. Signing the ICF may be putting participants at risk of induced compliance with study protocols, rather than empowering them to withhold consent or withdraw. Future research should investigate the psychosocial factors affecting participants' decision making in the informed consent process.     

Effects of exposure to sex-stereotyped video game characters on tolerance of sexual harassment

The violent video game literature has previously not extended to the domain of violence against women. The current investigation tested the effects of exposure to sex-typed video game characters versus images of professional men and women on judgments and attitudes supporting aggression against women. Results showed experimental effects of short-term exposure to stereotypical media content on sexual harassment judgments but not on rape myth acceptance. A significant interaction indicated that men exposed to stereotypical content made judgments that were more tolerant of a real-life instance of sexual harassment compared to controls. Long-term exposure to video game violence was correlated with greater tolerance of sexual harassment and greater rape myth acceptance. This data contributes to our understanding of mass media’s role in socialization that supports violence against women.