Book reviews

Déclarations Communes Islamo‐Chrétiennes 1954–1995: textes originaux et traductions françaises. Choix de textes présentés par: Juliette Nasri Haddad, sous la direction de: Augustin Dupré la Tour et Dr Hisham Nashabé, 1997. Beyrouth, Dar el‐Machreq, Distribution Librairie Orientale, B.P. 1986, Beyrouth, Liban. 376 pp. + 14 large charts, hb. np., ISBN 2 7214 5008 5

Ultimate Visions: reflections on the religions we choose. Martin Forward (Ed.), 1995. Oxford, One World Publications. 208 pp., pb. $14.95, ISBN 1 85168 100 0

Cross and Crescent: responding to the challenge of Islam. Colin Chapman, 1995. Leicester, Inter‐Varsity Press. 364 pp., pb. £9.99, ISBN 0 85110 992 6

Louis Massignon: the crucible of compassion. Mary Louise Gude, 1996. Notre Dame and London, University of Notre Dame Press. 283 pp., hb. np., ISBN 0 268 031308 X

The New Islamic Dynasties: a chronological and genealogical manual. C. E. Bosworth, 1996. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. 389 pp., hb. £49.50, ISBN 0 7486 0684 X

A Short Introduction to Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism. Majid Fakhry, 1997. Oxford, Oneworld. 151 pp., pb. £8.99, $13.95, ISBN 1 85168 134 5

Religion and Politics under the Early ‘Abbasids: the emergence of the proto‐Sunni elite. Muhammad Qasim Zaman, 1997. Leiden, Brill. 232 pp., hb, Nlg 137.00, US$85.75, ISBN 90 04 10678 2

NichtMuslimische Untertanen im Islam: Grundlage, Ideologie und Praxis der Politik frühislamischer Herrscher gegenüber ihren nichtMuslimischen Untertanen mit besonderem Blick auf die Dynastie der Abbasiden (749–1248). (Studies in Oriental Religions, 34). Wolfgang Kallfelz, 1995. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag. 180 pp., pb. np., ISBN 3 447 03720 2

Hierarchy and Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought. Louise Marlow, 1997. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 194 pp., hb. np., ISBN 0 521 56430 1

The Dual Nature of Islamic Fundamentalism. Johannes J. G. Jansen, 1997. Ithaca, Cornell University Press/London, Hurst & Co.. 197 pp., hb. £25.00, ISBN 1 85065 274 0

Islam and Democracy. John Esposito & John Voll, 1996. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 232 pp., pb. £16.99, ISBN 0 19 510816 7

New World Order: Western fundamentalism in action. S. M. KORESHI, 199?. Islamabad, Institute of Policy Studies and Islamabad Publications. 306 pp., hb. Rs.250.00, ISBN 969 448 039 6

Das Eigene als Fremdes: Chancen und Bedingungen des christlich‐islamischen Dialogs. Ralf Geisler, 1997. Hannover, Lutherisches Verlagshaus. 104 pp., hb. DM24.80, ISBN 3 7859 0741 9

Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe. Barbara D. Metcalf (Ed.), 1996. Berkeley and London, University of California Press. xix + 264 pp., hb. $50, £40, ISBN 0 520 20403 4; pb. $20, £15, ISBN 0 520 20404 2

Allah in the West: Islamic movements in America and Europe. GILLES KEPEL, 1997. Oxford, Polity Press. 273 pp., pb. £13.95, ISBN 0 7156 1558 9

An Occasion For War: civil conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860. Leila Tarazi Fawaz, 1994. Berkeley, University of California Press. 302 pp., pb. $17.00, ISBN 0 520 20086 1

Master and Disciple: the cultural foundations of Moroccan authoritarianism. Abdellah Hammoudi, 1997. Chicago & London, Chicago University Press. 195 pp., hb. £30.50, ISBN 0 226 31527 4; pb. £11.92, ISBN 0 226 31528 2

Islam in South‐East Asia: a study for Christians. Robert A. Hunt, 1997. New York, General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church; Petaling Jaya [Malaysia], Methodist Church of Malaysia. vii+ 172 pp., pb. np., ISBN 1 890569 04 6     

Mystical orientation and personality among anglican clergy

A sample of 222 male clergy completed the short form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, together with an index of mystical orientation. The data demonstrate a positive correlation between mystical orientation and extroversion, but no relationship between mystical orientation and either neuroticism or psychoticism.     

Transfer between downshift in reward magnitude and continuous delay of reward

Two separate experiments were conducted to investigate transfer of persistence between delay and a downshift in reward magnitude. In the first experiment, experimental rats were initially downshifted in reward magnitude and later tested for persistence to continuous delay of large reward. It was found that these rats were more persistent to the effects of delay than control rats which did not receive prior experience with a downshift in reward magnitude. In the second experiment, experimental rats were first trained to receive large reward under delayed conditions and then tested for persistence to a downshift in reward magnitude. Compared to control rats which received no prior experience with delay, the experimental rats showed a significantly smaller negative contrast effect. The results were interpreted as supporting Amsel's theory of persistence as well as Capaldi's recent interpretation of contrast effects.     

Simple visual reaction time,personality and strength of the nervous system: A signal-detection theory approach

Eysenck (1967) has reviewed evidence which suggests that introverts have a higher level of arousal than extraverts. Moreover, Gray (1967) has proposed that introverts have weak nervous systems, in the Russian terminology. Studies of simple reaction time such as that of Mangan and Farmer (1967) have posed problems for these views, but it is suggested that this may have been due to criterion differences between introverts and extraverts. In the present study a simple visual reaction-time task and a signal-detection task were conducted side by side. No significant differences between introverts and extraverts were found in measures of strength derived from the former, or measures of criterion derived from the latter. However, high N Ss were found to have a significantly lower value for Nebylitsyn's index of the slope of the reaction time/stimulus intensity function, thus supporting the view that high N Ss have relatively weak nervous systems.     

Recognition hypermnesia: The growth of recognition memory (d') over time with repeated testing

This study sought to determine whether recognition hypermnesia (unforgetting) might be obtained over time with repeated testing of recognition memory. Four types of stimuli were investigated: pictures or words (captions) from configured (funny) or non-configured (non-funny) cartoons. Three recognition tests, each comprising the same stimulus and distractor items, were successively administered after the presentation of a large set of captioned cartoons. Silent think intervals of 5 min were interpolated between recognition tests. Recognition hypermnesia, measured by increasing d' estimates of accessible recognition memory, was obtained with the pictures from configured (funny) cartoons but not with any of the other groups.