The not-so-crypto crypto-Jews of New Mexico: update on a decades-old debate

For over two decades an academic debate has raged over a possible crypto-Jewish presence in New Mexico. On one side are scholars who advance two claims: first, that many of New Mexico’s early colonists were crypto-Jews and second, that practices associated with some Hispano families in modern New Mexico reflect crypto-Jewish traditions originating in the colonial period. On the other side are scholars who question the evidentiary basis of both claims. This article provides an update on this debate by (1) reviewing scholarly reviews of two key monographs published since the debate first erupted in the mid-1990s and (2) by presenting new data relevant to the possibility that modern claims of ‘crypto-Judaism’ derive from Adventist proselytizing. The article concludes with an assessment of the many reasons why the original hypothesis has been, and will likely continue to be, popular despite the doubts that many scholars have raised.     

Stress management and exercise training in chronic stable angina pectoris

Abstract

Patients suffering from chronic stable angina pectoris were allocated to one of four conditions: stress management training, exercise training, combined stress management and exercise, or waiting list control. Patients undertook an exercise tolerance test before and after intervention, and at follow-up assessment eight weeks later. They also kept a daily diary of the frequency, duration and intensity of all angina episodes, and recorded the amount of medication taken, for the week preceding and the week following intervention, as well as for the eighth week of follow-up. Patients who undertook the combined stress management and exercise programme faired best. They showed sustained gains in achieved workload on the exercise tolerance test at no cost in terms of ischaemia, as measured by ST-segment depression. They also registered less frequent angina attacks following intervention than the exercise only and waiting list control patients, and reported reduced reliance on medication; the latter benefit was sustained at follow-up. These clinical dividends invite further study of combined stress management and exercise training in angina pectoris.     

Blood and organ donation: health impact,prevalence, correlates,and interventions

Abstract

Objective: Without a supply of blood, health services could not meet their clinical needs. Similarly, organs for transplantation save and transform lives. Donations are acts of generosity that are traditionally seen as altruistic, and accordingly, interventions to recruit and retain blood and organ donors have focused on altruism. We review the predictors, prevalence and correlates of these two behaviours, how effective interventions have been, and draw common themes.

Design: Narrative review.

Results: We highlight that both recipients and donors benefit, and as such neither blood nor organ donation is purely altruistic. We also highlight health problems associated with both types of donation. In evaluating interventions, we highlight that a move to an opt-out policy for organ donation may not be the simple fix it is believed to be, and propose interventions to enhance the effectiveness of an opt-in policy (e.g. social media updates). We show that incentives, text messaging, feedback and a focus on prosocial emotions (e.g. ‘warm-glow’, ‘gratitude’) may be effective interventions for both blood and organ donation. Interventions designed to reduce fainting (e.g. water pre-loading) are also effective for blood donation.

Conclusions: We conclude that affect is key to understanding both types of donation and in designing effective interventions.     

Marital Estrangement,Positive Affect,and Locus of Control Among Spouses of Workaholics and Spouses of Nonworkaholics: A National Study

This study compared a sample of spouses of workaholics and spouses of nonworkaholics on ratings of marital estrangement, positive feelings toward husband, and locus of control. A random national sample of 326 participants drawn from the membership list of the American Counseling Association was surveyed. Spouses of workaholics reported greater marital estrangement and less positive affect towards husbands and higher external locus of control than spouses of nonworkaholics. These findings were the first empirical results to corroborate clinical and case study reports. Clinical implications of these findings are also presented.     

Accuracy of and confidence in mock jailhouse informants' recall of criminal accounts

While much research has explored how well earwitnesses can identify perpetrators' voices, little published research has examined how well they can recall criminal admissions. This exploratory study examined the effects of two variables relevant to criminal investigations—rehearsal and length of retention interval between witnessing and reporting an event—on the recall of details and strength of the accuracy–confidence (AC) relationship for such details from a perpetrator's criminal admission. Results suggest that confidence can be a reasonable predictor of accuracy, depending on whether the admission is rehearsed, the length of retention interval, and the centrality of details to the crime recounted. Substantial variance was found in how the above factors affected recall accuracy and confidence of individual details as well. While much research is still needed, our findings provide preliminary support for practical suggestions that may assist in credibility assessments of earwitnesses to criminal accounts, such as jailhouse informants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.