Cognitive Sciences Research: More Than Thinking About Drug Abuse

On May 23, 1997, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the American Psychological Society co-sponsored a conference titled "Cognitive Sciences Research: More Than Thinking About Drug Abuse." The conference highlighted important lines of research, both within and outside of drug abuse, that may elucidate the relationships between substance abuse and cognitive processes. This Special Section of Psychological Science presents a compilation of articles from that conference by scientists who are working in the forefront of this exciting new research area. The research questions posed by these articles take the following forms: What are the cognitive and developmental effects (i.e., the consequences) of substance abuse? What are the antecedents or precursors of drug use that render persons vulnerable to taking drugs? How do the effects of drugs, in turn, become antecedents for changes in perception, behavior, and cognition that further enhance vulnerability to drugs?     

Book reviews

Christianity. Brian Wilson, 1999. Religions of the World. London, Routledge. 128 pp., pb. £6.99, ISBN 0 415 21161; hb. £25.00, ISBN 0 415 21342 8

Islam. Jamal J. Elias, 1999. Religions of the World. London, Routledge. 128pp., pb. £6.99, ISBN 0 415 21165 4; hb. £25.00, ISBN 0 415 21344 4

Islam. Jan Slomp, 1999. Kampen, Uitgeverij Kok. 142 pp., pb.NLf 19,90, ISBN 90 242 9372 3

Windows on the House of Islam: Muslim sources on spirituality and religious life. John Renard (Ed.), 1998. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, University of California Press. xx + 431pp., pb. £15.95, ISBN 0 520 21086 7

Shattering the Myth: Islam beyond violence. Bruce B. Lawrence, 1998. Princeton, Princeton University Press. xix + 237 pp., hb. $17.95, ISBN 0 691 05769 9

Islam and Other Faiths. Ismail Raji al‐Faruqi, ed. Ataullah Siddiqui, 1998. Leicester, the Islamic Foundation and The International Institute of Islamic Thought. 370 pp., pb. n.p., ISBN 0 86037 276 6

Christian‐Muslim Dialogue: theological and practical issues. Roland E. Miller & Hance A.O. Mwakabana (Eds), 1998. LWF Studies 3/1998. Geneva, Department for Theology & Studies—The Lutheran World Federation. 391pp., pb., n.p., ISBN 3 906706 63 X

Islam and the West: conflict, co‐existence or conversion?. Colin Chapman, 1998. Carlisle, Paternoster. 198 pp. pb. £12.99, ISBN 0 85364 781 X

The Rights of Women in Islam: an authentic approach. HaifaaJawad, 1998. London, Macmillan Press. 150pp., pb, £15.99, ISBN 0 333 73458 0; hb. £42.50, ISBN 0 333 65086 7

Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: the Graeco‐Arabic translation movement in Baghdad and early Abbasid society (2nd‐4th/8th‐10th centuries). D. Gutas, 1998. London, Routledge. 256pp., hb. £45.00, ISBN 0 415 06123 6; pb. £14.99, ISBN 0 415 061334

Ibn ‘Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition: the making of a polemical image in medieval Islam. Alexander D. Knysh, 1999. Albany, NY, State University of New York Press. xvi + 449 pp., pb. $27.95, ISBN 0 7914 3968 2; hb. $81.50, ISBN 0 7914 3967 4

Love, Religion and Politics in Fifteenth‐century Spain. Ian Macpherson & Angus MacKay, 1998. Medieval Iberian Peninsula Texts and Studies 13. Leiden, Boston & Cologne, Brill. 286 pp., hb. Nig. 165.00/US$ 97.25, ISBN 90 04 10810 6

Shi'i Scholars of Nineteenth‐century Iraq: the Ulama of Najaf and Kerbala. MeirLitvak, 1998. Cambridge Middle East Studies. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 264pp., hb. £35.00, ISBN 0521623561

Islam and Postcolonial Narrative. John Erickson, 1998. Cambridge, University Press. 243 pp., hb. £35.00, ISBN 0 521 59423 5

Imperialism and Orientalism. Barbara Harlow & Mia Carter (Eds), 1998. Oxford, Blackwell. 416 pp., hb. £65.00, ISBN 1 55786 710 0; pb. £16.99, ISBN 1 55786 711 9

Islam et Occident face a face: regards de I'histoire des religions. Jacques Waardenburg, 1998. Geneva, Labor et Fides. 144 pp., pb. n.p., ISBN 2 8309 0786 8

Against Islamic Extremism: the writings of Muhammad Sa'Id al‐'Ashmawy. Carolyn Fluehr‐Lobban (Ed.), 1998. Florida, University Press of Florida. 131 pp., hb. £39.95, ISBN 0 8130 1546 4

Spokesmen for the Despised: fundamentalist leaders of the Middle East. R. Scott Appleby (Ed.), 1997. Chicago, Chicago University Press. 438 pp., pb. £15.95, ISBN 0 226 02125 4; hb. n.p., ISBN 0 226 02124 6. Muslim European Youth: reproducing ethnicity, religion, culture. Steven Vertovec & Alisdair Rogers (Eds), 1998. Aldershot, Ashgate

215 pp., hb. £35.00, ISBN 1 84014 341 X

Islam in Germany and France. Muslime in Deutschland: Nebeneinander oder Miteinander. Ursula Spuler‐Stegemann, 1998 Freiburg, Herder. 352 pp; hb. DM 24,80, ISBN 3 451 04419 6

Musulmans de France: diversite, mutations et perspectives de l'islam francais,. Gilles Couvreur, 1998. Paris, Les editions de Fatelier. 112pp., pb. FF 65, ISBN 2 7082 3384 X

Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor 1919–1922. Michael Llewellyn Smith, 1998. London, Hurst. xxi + 401 pp., hb. £40.00, ISBN 185065 413 1; pb. £14.95, ISBN 1 85065 368 2

The History of Saudi Arabia. Alexei Vassiuev, 1998. London, Saqi Books. 576 pp., hb. £45.00, ISBN 0863569358

City of Stone: the hidden history of Jerusalem. Meron Benvenisti, 1998. Berkeley, University of California Press. viii + 274 pp., pb. $16.95/£10.95, ISBN 0 520 20768 8

The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform: Jadidism in Central Asia. Adeeb Khalid, 1998. Berkeley, University of California Press. xxiii + 335 pp., hb. $55.00, ISBN 0 520 21355 6; pb. $22.00, ISBN 0 520 21356 4

Ethnicity, Law and Human Rights: the English experience. Sebastian Poulter, 1998. Oxford, Clarendon Press. xxxvii +418pp., hb. £45.00, ISBN 0 19 825773 2

Muslim Family Law. David Pearl & Werner Menski, 1998. 3rd edn. London, Sweet & Maxwell. xii + 551pp., pb. £55.00, ISBN 0421 52980 6

Religion in Prison: equal rites in a multi‐faith society. James A. Beckford & Sophie Gilliat. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. xiv + 232 pp., hb. £35.00, ISBN 0 521 62246 8

Educating Muslim Girls: shifting discourses. Kaye Haw, 1998. Buckingham/Philadelphia, Open University Press. xii +203pp., pb. £15.99, ISBN 0 335 19773 6; hb. £50.00, ISBN 0 335 19774 4     

The cross-cultural applications of the KAIT: case studies with three differentially acculturated women

The Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT), introduced in 1993, is a relatively new measure for the assessment of intelligence. Because of the test's theoretical foundation, standardization procedure, test items, and score interpretations, it is assumed to be a culturally sensitive measure. However, there is little supporting clinical or empirical evidence. The present case study examined cross-cultural applications of the KAIT using 3 volunteers from diverse cultural backgrounds with differential levels of American acculturation. In addition to test scores, the participants' impressions of the testing process were measured with the Subjective Units of Distress Scale. Preliminary evidence suggests that the KAIT, like its predecessor, the K-ABC, may be useful when working with culturally diverse people.     

Changing explanatory frameworks in the U.S. government’s attempt to define research misconduct

Nearly two decades of debate have not settled the definition of research misconduct. The literature provides four explanatory frameworks for misconduct. The paper examines these frameworks and maps them onto efforts by the U.S. Public Health Service to define research misconduct and subsequent responses to these efforts by the scientific community. The changing frameworks suggest that closure will not be achieved without an authoritative effort, which may occur through the Research Integrity Panel’s recent attempt to create a government-wide definition.     

Economic practices of Jesus movement groups

This paper examines in detail the multitude of ways used by Jesus Movement organizations to raise money to fund their many activities. The research was provoked by sharp differences between fund‐raising methods used by the two largest and well known JM organizations—the Children of God (now called The Family) and Christ Communal Organization (a pseudonym for a group called Shiloh). The COG mainly relied on various forms of public solicitation, while Shiloh depended on working for others and themselves in an effort to become self‐supporting. Seven other JM groups were examined to find out what patterns of support were most prevalent, and to examine possible relationships between sustenance activities and theological developments within the groups. A large number of experimental approaches were taken by JM groups trying to sustain themselves during their sometimes tumultuous histories, leading to a number of general conclusions.     

Culture and self: An empirical assessment of Markus and Kitayama's theory of independent and interdependent self-construals

In this paper, I critically evaluate the logic underlying Markus and Kitayama's (1991) theory of independent and interdependent self-construals, and examine the evidence that directly tests its major assumptions. On the basis of my review of the studies they cite, and literature from three other sources, I conclude that the evidence severely challenges the validity of their theoretical framework for explaining observed national differences in psychological phenomena. I offer some ideas about alternative methodologies for research in this important area of psychology that may aid in developing and testing theories of culture and self in the future.     

Faulty Judgment,Expert Opinion,and Decision-Making Capacity

An assessment of decision-making capacity is the accepted procedure for determining when a person is not competent. An inferential gap exists between the criteria for capacity specific abilities and the legal requirements to understand relevant information and appreciate the consequences of a decision. This gap extends to causal influences on a person'scapacity to decide. Using a published case of depression, we illustrate that assessors' uses of diagnostic information is frequently not up to the task of bridging this inferential gap in a justifiable way. We then describe cases of faulty judgement which challenge the understanding of diagnostic causal influences. These cases help to clarify the nature of the expertise required for capacity assessments. In practice, the requirements of decision-making capacity are often abandoned to other considerations due to a lack of requisite expertise. The legal policy supporting decision-making capacity as a means to protective intervention is justified only if the requisite expertise is developed. We propose the requisite expertise to be developed in the long term as a distinct multidisciplinary endeavour.     

Sex Biases in Subject Selection: A Survey of Articles Published in American Medical Journals

This study discusses the results of a survey of 1,800 articles published in American medical journals from 1985--1996. The study finds 9% of these articles reported research that uses only male subjects to examine medical conditions that affect both sexes; the ratio of research on female to male conditions among these articles was greater than 5:1; but 76.5% of the articles reported research that includes both male and female subjects. The study also discusses evidence that sex biases against women (and men) are decreasing. This study also offers some possible psychological, institutional, medical, and economic explanations of the sex biases in medical research published in American journals, and discusses some policy implications of sex biases in medical research. The study concludes by urging others to conduct more empirical research on sex biases in medical research.