Commentary on the Special Issue: Religion in the Psychology of Personality

The author comments on the special issue on religion in the psychology of personality. She focuses her discussion on the following topics: the historical tripartite theory of cognition-affection-conation; ways that family psychology and theories of language clarify the "problem" of adherence to "false realities"; the multidimensionality of personality and religion and their cultural embeddedness as illuminated in clinical assessment by way of contextual family theory (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Krasner, 1986) and the Kantor and Lehr (1975) systems theory; the role of the investigator's personality in theory and research about personality and religion; the one-sided emphasis on the empirical tradition in the psychology of religion; and the omission of the personalist tradition.     

Author Index Volume 98 2000

Authors Index

Author Index Volume 98 2000     

Memories of uncertain origin: dreamt or real?

The existence of a memory whose origin, real or dreamt, was uncertain was reported by just over half of an undergraduate sample of 358. Each respondent described one such memory if they had one. The memories were typically of mundane events, although 10 respondents described possible crimes. Respondents were often concerned to resolve the origin of these memories. Their plausibility, vividness, and how well the events fitted into one's life were often considered by the respondents, but where resolution occurred it was frequently based on evidence obtained from the physical or social environment. The reported qualities of the event did not correlate with whether the respondent thought it more likely to have been originally a dream or a real event.     

Why Are We Reluctant to Sell Friendship?1

There are a number of indicators that people try to keep money out of social relationships, and a number of reasons why such separation might occur: undermining of intrinsic motivation, contamination of signals of friendship, and the apparently irrational tainting influence of money. Two experiments in which psychology students participated in brief conversations under various payment conditions found little evidence for payment adversely affecting the social interactions. A third study comparing a service group (hairdressers) that has considerable social interaction with its customers and a control group indicated that the former did not suffer any undermining of normal social motivation. Overall, the findings suggest that the separation of money from social relationships may not have a rational foundation.     

Medieval theories of mental representation

Throughout most of the Middle ages, it was generally held that stored mental representations of perceived objects or events preserved the forms or species of such objects. This belief was consistent with a metaphor used by Plato. It was also consistent with the medieval belief that a number of cognitive processes took place in the ventricles of the brain and with the phenomenology of afterimages and imagination itself. In the 14th century, William of Ockham challenged this belief by claiming that mental representations are not stored but instead constructed in the basis of past learned experiences.     

Is Speech Temporally Segmented? Comparison with Temporal Segmentation in Behavior

Phrase durations in spoken German and Korean were examined for temporal segmentation like that in behavior. Lines of poetry, which may be regarded as semantic units equivalent to action units in behavior, were found to be temporally segmented but, unlike behavior, there is a significant effect of language/culture on segment length. The lengths of the pauses made between lines while reading poetry were used to define possible semantic segments in reading prose, retelling a story, free speech, and telephone messages. No temporal segmentation was found, each situation resulting in a different distribution of phrase durations. These results are discussed in terms of a possible evolution of language from the motor system.     

The church's ministry to singles: A family model

The authors provide a theoretical introduction for the church's ministry to singles by reviewing the family therapy literature as it pertains to familial disengagement or enmeshment and interpersonal mutuality or isolation. Belongingness based on consanguinity must eventually be replaced by belongingness rooted in consensuality or commitment. The single person must seek such commitment outside the institution of marriage. The church can offer belongingness through establishing parity, de-emphasizing segregation, promoting inclusion, and practicing community.     

The Interpretation of Crossworld Predication

Philosophical Studies -     

A medieval controversy about odor

Medieval scholars debated whether odor was transmitted through a medium as suggested by Aristotle or by fumes or vapors from the odoriferous object as suggested by Plato. Key evidence believed to support Aristotle's theory was the behavior of birds in detecting carrion from far away. The medieval approach to this essentially secular controversy was, nevertheless, similar to that used in issues thinkers of that time regarded as of more importance.