Content Analyses of the Beliefs of Academic Procrastinators

Although relevant nomothetically-based personality literature has made great advances in recent years correlating traits to measures of procrastination, little is known about the specific irrational beliefs of procrastinators, especially when they are actively avoiding tasks or situations. Based on theories from Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), it was hypothesized that compared to non-procrastinators, college student academic procrastinators would show greater self depreciation, greater other depreciation, greater life condition depreciation, and a lower frustration tolerance. Academic procrastination was operationally defined by quartile distributions on two self- report measures and three classroom-based assignments. Procrastinators and non-procrastinating students were given instructions to write approximately 500 words about their thoughts and feelings while they were in the process of actively putting off a specific, real event. While actually procrastinating, students logged on to a web site and made text entries describing what was going through their minds. Data were analyzed with the Psychiatric Content and Diagnosis Program Version 3 (PCAD 3; Gottschalk and Bechtel in Psychiatric content and diagnosis: the PCAD 3. GB Software, Brighton, MI, 2007). Procrastinators and non-procrastinators differed on relevant PCAD scales, supporting the hypotheses derived from REBT theory. Treatment implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

The effects of acute stress and pubertal development on metabolic hormones in the rat

A dramatic change in stress responsiveness occurs during pubertal development such that stress-induced corticosterone secretion in prepubertal animals takes 45-60 min longer to return to baseline compared to adults. Though corticosterone is known to influence energy mobilization, it is presently unknown whether stressors affect other hormones important in energy utilization and metabolism differentially in animals before and after pubertal development. Therefore, we exposed prepubertal (28 days of age) and adult (77 days of age) male rats to a single 30 min session of restraint stress in either the light or dark phase of the animals' light-dark (LD) cycle and measured plasma glucose, insulin and thyroid hormones (thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3)). We found similar stress-induced increases in plasma glucose levels in prepubertal and adult animals in the LD phase of the LD cycle. We also found that prepubertal animals have lower circulating insulin and total and free T4 levels, but higher total and free T3 levels compared to adults in both the light and dark phases (LD). Interestingly, insulin and thyroid hormone levels were unaffected by acute stress at either age or time of day. These data indicate that, despite prepubertal animals showing an extended glucocorticoid stress response after a single acute exposure to stress, glucose levels are similarly affected by acute stress in prepubertal and adult animals. Furthermore, though stage of development significantly affects the levels of peripheral metabolic hormones such as insulin, T4 and T3, acute stress does not appreciably influence their secretion before or after puberty.     

Brain Science and the Biology of Belief: A Theological Response

Exploration of brain pathways involved in religious experience has been the focus of research by Andrew Newberg and colleagues. Although the import of this work sheds new light on the human capacity to experience divine reality, the theological implications drawn from this research are vague and lack an appropriate methodology to provide critical distinctions. This paper offers a theological response to Newberg's work by highlighting several aspects of this research including the relationship between theological judgments and empirical observations, the uniqueness of human transcendence, and the appropriateness of measuring mystical experience.