The use of a sequenced questioning paradigm to facilitate associative fluency in preschoolers

The intent of the study was to investigate the extent to which free play vs. sequenced questioning conditions facilitated preschoolers' associative fluency. Twenty-four children (12 boys and 12 girls, $\text{x}$ age of 50.7 months) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: free play, questions, control, in the first two conditions, children interacted with randomly chosen conventional objects. Children in all conditions were asked for novel uses for the conventional objects. Children in the sequenced questioning condition generated significantly more novel responses than children in the other two conditions (p < .002). No significant difference was observed between the play and control conditions. Implications for pedagogy are discussed. Teachers should pose the sequence of questions so as to enable children to explore their hypotheses.     

Book Reviews

The Advancement of Science: Science Without Legend, Objectivity Without Illusions Philip Kitcher, 1993 Oxford University Press pp. ix + 421, £30.00, ISBN 019 504628 5

Mind, Brain, Behavior. The Mind‐Body Problem and the Philosophy of Psychology Martin Carrier & JÜrgen Mittelstrass, 1991 Berlin, Walter de Gruyter pp. 314, £51.82, ISBN 3 11012876 4

Rewriting the History of Madness: Studies in Foucault's Histoire de la Folie Arthur Still & Irving Velody (Eds), 1992 Routledge pp. x + 225, £45, ISBN 0 415 06654 9

Economics and the Philosophy of Science Deborah Redman, 1993 Oxford, Oxford University Press pp. xiv + 252, £10.95 (paperback), ISBN 019 508274 5

The Disorder of Things John Dupré, 1993 Cambridge, MA/London, UK, Harvard University Press pp. viii+ 308, £27.95, ISBN 0 674 21260 6

The Philosophy of Vacuum Simon Saunders & Harvey R. Brown (Eds), 1991 Oxford, Oxford University Press pp. 291, £37.50, ISBN 0 19 824449 5

The Laboratory of the Mind James R. Brown, 1991 London, Routledge pp. xi+ 175, £11.99 (paperback), ISBN 0 415 095794

The Revision Theory of Truth A. Gupta & N. D. Belnap, 1993 Cambridge, MA, MIT Press pp. xii + 299, £31.50, ISBN 0 262 07144 4     

Gender role conflict: The interaction of gender,gender role,and occupation

One hundred forty-nine middle class individuals (69 males and 80 females), approximately 80% of whom were Caucasian, participated in the present study. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that individuals whose gender role and occupation did not match (i.e., feminine individuals in predominantly male occupations or masculine individuals in predominantly female occupations) would experience more gender role conflict than individuals whose gender role and occupation matched. The hypothesis was supported. A feminine gender role predicted higher gender role conflict in predominantly male occupations, and lower gender role conflict in predominantly female occupations than a masculine gender role. A masculine gender role predicted the lowest gender role conflict scores in predominantly male occupations, and the highest in predominantly female occupations. Furthermore, higher masculinity scores were related to greater gender role conflict for females than males in more predominantly male occupations.     

Women's Understanding of Their Risk of Developing Breast/Ovarian Cancer Before and After Genetic Counseling

Many studies have reported that individuals frequently over- or underestimate their risk of developing cancer both before and after they attend genetic counseling for breast and/or ovarian cancer. Using a combination of interviews and written questionnaires, we investigated counselees' understanding of their risk of developing cancer before and after genetic counseling. We demonstrate that although 76% of the sample thought that their risk was elevated relative to women in general, only a small proportion (17%) were willing or able to provide a numerical estimate of their risk of developing cancer before they attended the clinic. Following the consultation, 43% indicated that their risk of developing cancer was lower than they had anticipated. Twenty-two percent described their risk in absolute rather than relative terms, i.e., that they would definitely (not) develop cancer in the future. The implications of these findings for further research are discussed.     

Prediction of facial displays from knowledge of norms of emotional expressiveness

A study was conducted to examine the accuracy of prediction of facial expressiveness from knowledge of the norms of expressiveness in same-sex and mixed-sex social interactions. Men and women subjects were videotaped while they viewed emotionally loaded stimulus slides and rated their responses to them. The edited videotapes were shown to judges who attempted to identify the emotion reported by each viewer for each slide. A separate group of subjects was asked to rate how acceptable or appropriate it is for a man or a woman to express each target emotion under the conditions of the slide-viewing study. The accuracy of emotion identification data correlated highly with acceptability ratings across emotions and sex pairings, although examined more closely, the data show this predictability only for same-sex pairings. Alternative explanations for these results in terms of display rules and the social demands of interactions are discussed.The authors wish to thank Alan Fridlund for helpful comments on a previous version of this paper.     

Issues of knowledge in the policy of self-determination for aboriginal Australian communities

Since 1972, the direction of policy concerning development of Aboriginal Australian communities has been towards adoption of the notion of self-determination. This paper presents a case study of how one particular Aboriginal community has combined local knowledge with non-Aboriginal knowledge to develop an alternative mathematics curriculum that will promote community development and authentic self-determination.     

Personally relevant intrusions outside the laboratory: Long-term suppression increases intrusion

It has been suggested that the suppression of unwanted thoughts may increase their frequency and that this effect may contribute to some psychological problems. Previous studies have examined this over a period of minutes, in an artificial setting. Suppression over a four day period was evaluated in the present study. Each S was asked to identify a negative intrusive thought which he or she experienced and to record each occurrence of it in conditions designed to maximise the similarity to those experienced by obsessional patients. Ss were randomly allocated to one of three groups. One group was asked to suppress their thoughts whenever they occurred, another group was asked to think about their thoughts whenever they occurred and the third group just recorded the thoughts whenever they occurred. This design allowed experimental control of both attention to and manipulation of the target thoughts in contrast to attention and active suppression. It was found that Ss who suppressed their thoughts experienced more thoughts and found them more uncomfortable than Ss in the other two groups. This is consistent with the theory that suppression increases thought frequency and may be important in the development and maintenance of some disorders.     

Reincarnation belief in Britain: New age orientation or mainstream option?

This paper offers some observations on the prevalence and nature of belief in reincarnation within the UK. Based on a small‐scale interview study, it examines some of the influences on reincarnation belief, in particular the significance of transient, personal experiences. It also considers whether people who believe in reincarnation, but do not belong to groups which teach it, can be understood entirely within the loose category of New Age religion.     

Book reviews

Religion in Prison: ‘Equal Rites’ in a Multi‐Faith Society James A. Beckford & Sophie Gilliat, 1998 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press xiv + 232 pp., £35.00, US$54.95 ISBN 0–521–62246–8

The Dynamics of Emerging Ethnicities: Immigrant and Indigenous Ethnogenesis in Confrontation Johan Leman, ed., 1998 Frankfurt a. M: Peter Lang 179 pp., DM 32.50 (pb) ISBN 3–631–33107‐X, US ISBN 0–8204–3572–4

Testing the Global Ethic: Voices from Religious Traditions on Moral Values? Peggy Morgan & Marcus Braybrooke, eds., 1998 Oxford: The World Congress of Faiths/Ada, MI: CoNexus Press 172 pp., £11.99, US$19.95 UK ISBN 0–95–24140–1–5, US ISBN 0–9637897–6–7

Embodying Charisma: Modernity, Locality and the Performance of Emotion in Sufi Cults Pnina Werbner & Helene Basu, eds., 1998 London: Routledge 243 pp., £18.99 ISBN 0–415–15100–7

Appropriating Gender: Women's Activism and Politicized Religion in South Asia Patricia Jeffery & Amrita Basu, eds., 1998 New York, London: Routledge 276 + xi pp., £42.50 (hb), £12.99 (pb) ISBN 0–415–91865–0 (hb), ISBN 0–415–91866–9 (pb)

Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds Mary Evelyn Tucker & Duncan Ryuken Williams, eds., 1997 Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions xlii + 467 pp., £19.95 (hb), £13.50 (pb) ISBN 0–945454–13–9 (hb), 0–945454–14–7 (pb)

The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions Andrew Rawlinson, 1997 Chicago & La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing xix + 650 pp, £23.95 (pb) ISBN 0–8126–9310–8

American Buddhism: Methods and Findings of Recent Scholarship Duncan Ryuken Williams & Christopher S. Queen, eds., 1999 Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press 329 pp., £40.00 ISBN 0–7007–1081–7

China's Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society Richard Madsen, 1998 Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press 183 pp., £19.95 ISBN 0–520–21326–2

Anti‐Catholicism in Ireland, 1600–1998: The Mote and the Beam John D. Brewer with Gareth I. Higgins, 1998 London: Macmillan 248 pp., £47.50 (hb), £16.99 (pb) ISBN 0–333–74634–1 (hb), ISBN 0–333–74635‐X (pb)

Mary and Human Liberation: The Story and the Text Fr. Tissa Balasuriya, 1997 London: Mowbray 262 pp., £14.99 ISBN 0–264–67459–6

Beyond the Darkness: A Biography of Bede Griffiths Shirley Du Boulay, 1998 London: Rider 308 pp., £20.00 ISBN 0–7126–7429–2

Honest to Goddess: Russia, Sophia and the Celtic Soul Geraint Ap Iorwerth, 1998 Foreword by Caitlin Matthews Southampton: Crescent Books 136 pp., £12.99 ISBN 1–844086–001–4

Freud and Jung on Religion Michael Palmer, 1997 London: Routledge 238 pp., £45.00 (hb), £13.99 (pb) ISBN 0–415–14746–8 (hb), ISBN 0–415–14747–6 (pb)

Science Meets Faith: Theology and Science in Conversation Fraser Watts, ed., 1998 London: SPCK 166 pp., £12.99 ISBN 0–281–05112–1