Introduction to the special issue “embodied cognition and education”

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - This special issue focuses on the theoretical, empirical and practical integrations between embodied cognition theory (EC) and educational science. The...     

Reading the Document on Mission of the Holy and Great Council from a Missiological Point of View

Promulgation of the document on mission by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in June 2016 ensures an enduring place for mission in the future shape of Orthodoxy. After discussion of the methodological limitations of the document, this article explores the process by which it was prepared, the range of reactions to it, some problems of language, and changes in the final, approved version, offering some assessments of its meaning and import.     

Supporting immigrant cultural rights: The roles of deprovincialization and identity continuity

This research examines the role of deprovincialization, conceptualized in terms of a nuanced perspective on one’s in-group culture, for majority members’ support for immigrants’ cultural practices and expressive rights. In three studies using data from samples drawn from nationally representative panels in the Netherlands (additionally analyzed in an internal meta-analysis of N = 1,791), it was found that deprovincialization is a unique and robust predictor of support for immigrant rights, above and beyond prejudicial feelings, political orientation, level of education, gender, age, and religious affiliation. Furthermore, deprovincialization was found to be independent of national identification, which in previous research has been used as a proxy for deprovincialization. Additionally and in trying to conceptually replicate the pattern of findings (Studies 2 and 3), two different measures of perceived concern about the continuity of the in-group culture and identity were found to weaken the deprovincialization-support association. The findings go beyond existing research by focusing on the cultural openness understanding of deprovincialization and demonstrating the robust importance of how majority members understand their in-group for their support of immigrants’ practices and rights.     

Rumination is characterized by valence-specific impairments in switching of attention

The ability to flexibly switch attention between emotional and non-emotional information in working memory is considered important in stress-resilience and is impaired in mood disorders. A recent theory claims that this component of attention is specifically related to ruminative thought. To further investigate this claim we report two new experiments using the internal shift task (IST). In Experiment 1 (N = 27) we examined the stability of switching ability measured using the IST through examination of internal consistency (stability within the task) and test–retest-reliability (stability over time) over two weeks. Results indicate relatively high stability of switching ability measured with the IST. In Experiment 2 the IST was administered to a pre-selected undergraduate sample of high (N = 20) and low ruminators (N = 20). The main findings were that rumination was related to attentional switching impairments, specifically in the context of emotional information. The switching impairments were most pronounced when negative information was held in working memory. The attentional switching impairments were most strongly related to the depressive brooding component of rumination. The results of this study lend further support to the proposed link between rumination and switching abilities.     

Depressive symptoms and cognitive control in a mixed antisaccade task: specific effects of depressive rumination

Growing empirical evidence suggests that cognitive and affective problems in depression may be a reflection of cognitive control impairments. However, to date, the nature of such impairments is still poorly understood and further investigation of this topic is required to advance current knowledge on the underlying vulnerability factors for depression. Using a mixed antisaccade paradigm, the present study examined if depressive symptoms in general, and more specifically rumination, are related to impairments in cognitive control functions such as inhibition and switching. The results on antisaccade latency and error rates indicated that depressive symptoms in general were not related to impairments in inhibition and switching. However, rumination was associated with impaired inhibition such that high, compared to low, ruminators had slower antisaccade latencies. No group differences were observed on antisaccade error rates. Implications for understanding the underlying vulnerability factors for the development of depressive symptoms are discussed.