Religious revivalism in nineteenth-century Norway and twentieth-century Egypt: A critique of fundamentalism studies

The aim of this article is to challenge the idea that the current Islamist movements could fruitfully be considered to belong to a global category of fundamentalism. For this purpose it is necessary to criticize the most sophisticated attempts that have been made to argue for the existence of such a general phenomenon, with Islamism as one of its most prominent constituent parts.     

A Match Made in Heaven or Down Under? The Effectiveness of Matching Visual and Verbal Horizons in Advertising

According to construal level theory, consumers’ processing styles become more abstract as psychological distance increases, but they grow more concrete when psychological distance decreases. This study provides evidence that panoramic pictures in which the horizon appears in the lower versus upper part of the frame trigger a different level of construal. As such, this study raises a novel source of construal. In addition, this study shows that when both visual (e.g., horizon height) and verbal (e.g., temporal benefit) advertising elements induce the same level of construal, advertising effectiveness increases. This work differs from previous research in that it focuses on the construal fit evoked by two advertisement features rather than a fit in construal between an external stimulus and the internal mindset of the consumer.     

Emotional reactivity and interoceptive sensitivity: Exploring the role of age

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Interoceptive sensitivity (IS) refers to the ability to accurately perceive visceral afferent information, and several prominent theories of emotions suggest...     

Attitudes related to child sexual abuse: scale construction and explorative study among psychologists

A Child Sexual Abuse Attitude and Belief Scale was constructed and then answered by 242 child psychologists. Four CSA related attitude and belief subscales were identified through confirmatory factor analysis: (1) The Disclosure subscale reflecting favouring a disclosure at any cost; (2) The Pro-Child subscale reflecting unconditional belief in children's reports; (3) The Intuition subscale reflecting favouring an intuitive approach to CSA investigations; and (4) The Anti Criminal Justice System subscale reflecting negative attitudes towards the legal system. Beliefs that were erroneous according to empirical research were analyzed separately. The results suggest that some psychologists hold extreme attitudes and many erroneous beliefs related to CSA. Some misconceptions are common. Female participants tended to have stronger attitudes than male participants. The more training in interviewing children the participants had had, the more erroneous beliefs and stronger attitudes they had. Experience did not affect attitudes and beliefs.     

Processing of facial and non‐facial visual stimuli in 2–5‐year‐old children

The present experiments examined the degree to which analytic and holistic modes of processing play a role in the way 2–5‐year‐old children process facial and non‐facial visual stimuli. Children between 2 and 5 years of age were instructed to categorize faces (in Experiment 1) and non‐facial visual stimuli, such as birds and planes (in Experiment 2), into two categories. The categories were so constructed as to allow the children to categorize the facial and non‐facial stimuli either analytically (by focusing on a single attribute) or holistically (in terms of overall similarity). The results demonstrated that the previous conclusions concerning older children's (from 6 years onwards) holistic mode of facial processing could not be generalized to younger children because most of the 2–5‐year olds processed the faces by taking single facial attributes into account. A similar pattern of results emerged for the processing of objects, showing that the majority of the children focused on single attributes. Thus, for both visual domains, holistic processing was the exception rather than the rule. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of Biologically closed electric circuits (BCEC) on structure and function

The basis of our physical world is electrical. The unified Electromagnetic field can appear to us as particles, i.e., matter, at certain densities of wavelengths. A close interrelation therefore exists between matter and electric energy. This knowledge is extensively utilized in technology. Various tools and instruments are electrically powered, utilizing the exceedingly important principle of closed electric circuits. Corresponding closed electric circuits and functions also exist in biology but are more sophisticated and complex. Unfortunately, these aspects are almost unrecognized. The principle of Biologically Closed Electric Circuits (BCEC) and some of their structural and functional effects are described. The Vascular-Interstitial Closed Circuit (VICC) is one specific BCEC system. It functions as a circulatory system in addition to the mechanical circulation. Its efficiency partly depends on its capacity to provide bidirectional transport of ions. The VICC is an in vivo electrophoretic-dielectrophoretic system that is powered by metabolic energy or injury currents. A VICC activation leads to transports of metabolites, new structuring and healing of an injured tissue. Examples are also presented of the process of healing. An abnormal, e.g., prolonged activation of VICC may also induce pathology. Neoplastic formation of cells and tissue can also be healed by the use of artificially applied electrophoresis or an artificially applied electric field as will be described. Our world once developed from electrical energy. This is probably the reason why the BCEC systems make primary differences between non-biological and biological matter.     

Acquired stuttering as a forerunner of motor-neuron disease

A case of acquired stuttering that included repetitions, blocks, prolongations, fillers, and, later on, also synkinesias is reported. This stutter turned out to be the forerunner of a motor-neuron disease.     

A ten-year prospective study of aggression in a special secure unit for dangerous patients

In a 10-year prospective study inpatient aggression was investigated in a Norwegian special secure unit covering a well-defined catchment area with a population of 240,000. The seven bed special secure unit receives dangerous, psychotic patients for long-term treatment. Only 19 patients were treated during the ten-year study lasting from 1 April 1987 to 1 April 1997. Incidents of aggressive behavior were recorded on the Report Form for Aggressive Episodes by the nursing staff. The study aimed to identify, classify and measure the occurrence of aggressive behavior, as well as the relative frequency of events preceding such behavior. A total of 2021 incidents of aggressive behavior were recorded. Seventy-five per cent of the aggressive acts were verbal or physical threats, while the remaining 25% were physical assaults directed at other persons. Four patients accounted for about 80% of the aggressive encounters. Nursing staff were victims in about 90% of the incidents. Serious physical injury was extremely rare. Situations pertaining to limit-setting and problems of communication accounted for approximately 90% of the precipitants of aggressive behavior. There were no sex differences regarding the occurrence of aggressive behavior.     

Learning categories by touch: On the development of holistic and analytic processing

The development of holistic and analytic processing often studied in the visual domain was investigated in haptics. Children 3 to 9 years of age and adults had to categorize haptic exemplars that varied systematically in four attributes (size, shape, surface texture, and weight). The subjects could learn the categories either analytically--that is, by focusing on a single attribute--or holistically--that is, in terms of overall similarity. The data show that even the youngest children learned the haptic categories far more often in an analytic mode than in a holistic mode. Nevertheless, an age trend was observed, referring to the attributes that the analytic learners used for their categorization. The children preferred substance-related attributes, especially surface texture, whereas the adults preferred structure-related attributes, especially shape. Thus, it appears that analytic and/or holistic processing in category learning develops in a similar manner in the visual and haptic domains.     

Exploring Behavioral Activation and Inhibition Sensitivities Among College Students at Risk for Bipolar Spectrum Symptomatology

We explored cross-sectionally the roles in bipolar spectrum symptomatology of two broad motivational systems that are thought to control levels of responsiveness to cues of threat and reward, the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavioral Activation System (BAS). Undergraduate students (n = 357) completed questionnaires regarding (a) bipolar spectrum disorders [the General Behavior Inventory (GBI), a well-established clinical screening measure], (b) current depression and mania symptoms (the Internal State Scale; ISS), and (c) BIS/BAS sensitivities (the BIS/BAS scales). Validated cutoff scores on the GBI were used to identify individuals at risk for a mood disorder. It was hypothesized that, among at-risk respondents, high BAS and low BIS levels would be associated with high current mania ratings, whereas low BAS and high BIS would be associated with high current depression ratings. Multiple regression analyses indicated that, among at-risk individuals (n = 63), BAS accounted for 27% of current mania symptoms but BIS did not contribute. For these individuals, BAS and BIS were both significant and together accounted for 44% of current depressive symptoms.