Book reviews

Wertewandel und Religiose Umbruche [Religionen im Gesprach, 4]. Reinhard Kirste, Paul Schwarzenau, Udo Tworuschka (Eds), 1996. Balve, Zimmermann Druck und Verlag 671 pp., ISBN 3 89053 061 3

Jesus and the Other Names: Christian mission and global responsibility. Paul F. Knitter, 1996. Oxford, Oneworld. 193 pp., pb. £14.99, ISBN 1 85168 125 6

Marcion, Muhammad and the Mahatma. Heikki RAis Anen, 1997. London, SCM Press. xi + 293 pp., pb. £14.95, ISBN 0 334 02693

Medieval Christian Perceptions of Islam. John Victor Tolan (Ed.), 1996. New York and London, Garland Publishing. xxi + 414pp., hb., ISBN 0 8153 1426 4

Islamic Legal Interpretation: Muftis and their fatwas. Muhammad K. Masud, Brinkley Messick & David S. Powers (Eds), 1996. Cambridge, M, and London, Harvard University Press. 431 pp., hb. £29.95, ISBN 0 674 46870 8

The Fatimids and their Traditions of Learning. Heinz Halm, 1997. London, I.B. Tauris. xv + 112 pp., hb. £25.00, ISBN 1 85043 920 6.

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. Fatima Mernissi, 1994. Reading, MA, Addison‐Wesley. 242 pp., pb. ISBN 0 201 62649 7

Intellectual Origins of Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Arab World. Ibrahim M. Abu‐Rabi, 1996. Albany, NY, State University of New York Press. 370 pp., pb. $19.95, ISBN 0 7914 2664 5

The Islamic Middle East: an historical anthropology. Charles Lindholm, 1996. Oxford, Blackwell. 324 pp. pb. £14.99, ISBN 1 55786 421 7

Hizb'Allah in Lebanon: the politics of the Western hostage crisis. Magnus Ranstorp, 1997. London, Macmillan. xvi + 257pp., pb. £15.99, ISBN 0 333 68401 X

Hezbollah: born with a vengeance. Hala Jaber, 1997. London, Fourth Estate. xvi + 240pp., hb. £16.99, ISBN 1 85702 381 1.

Lebanon on Hold: implications for Middle East peace. Rosemary Hoixis & Nadim Shehadi (Eds), 1996. London, The Royal Institute of International Affairs. 94 pp. pb, ISBN 1 86203 020 0

African Muslims in Antebellum America: transatlantic stories and spiritual struggles.. Aixan D. Austin, 1997. New York/London, Routledge. 194 pp., pb. £13.99, ISBN 0 415 91270 9

The Crown and the Turban: Muslims and West African pluralism. Lamin Sanneh, 1997. Boulder, CO, Westview Press. 290 pp., pb. np, ISBN 0 8133 3059 9

Legacy of a Divided Nation: India's Muslims since Independence. Mushirul Hasan, 1997. London, C. Hurst. xv+ 383 pp., hb, £35, ISBN 1 85065 234 1; pb. £14.95, ISBN 1 85065 304 6

A Dictionary of Indonesian Islam. Howard M. Federspiel, 1995. Athens, OH, Ohio University. 297 pp. pb. $25.00, ISBN 0 89680 182 9     

Matching and naming objects by shape or function: age and context effects in preschool children

Three experiments tested preschoolers' use of abstract principles to classify and label objects by shape or function. Three- and 4-year-olds were instructed to match objects by shape or function. Four-year-olds readily adopted either rule, but 3-year-olds followed only the shape rule. Without a rule, 4-year-olds tended to match by shape unless object function was shown during matching (Experiment 2). Three-year-olds' ability to use a function rule was tested in several conditions (re-presenting functions; reminders to "use the rule"; repeating rule on every trial). None induced consistent function matching (Experiment 3). Supplemental memory and verbal tasks showed that 3-year-olds have trouble using function as an abstract basis of comparison. Naming data, however, show that preschoolers are learning that object labels are based on function. The results show preschoolers' growing flexibility in adopting abstract generalization rules and growing knowledge of conventions for extending words.     

Moments of empowerment: A qualitative analysis of positively experienced episodes in brief person‐centred counselling

38 positively experienced episodes in brief person‐centred counselling with six clients were analysed. The Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) method was used as the prime research tool. Clients were asked to identify positively experienced moments in the counselling session during a post‐session review interview. Clients and counsellors were invited to report on the feelings, perceptions and intentions they recalled experiencing during these moments. Three analyses were used to categorise the meaning and feeling quality of these moments, and a taxonomy of types of positively experienced episodes was also created. The most frequently reported positive client experiences were associated with empowerment, safety and insight. Other significant themes emerging from the analysis included: freedom in the relationship, shortcomings of the relationship, assurance of the relationship, unfolding of the client's personal meaning, and the importance of the counsellor's presence. Taxonomy of episodes revealed nine categories: four of them focused on the strengthening of the therapeutic relationship, and five focused on the empowerment of the client's self. These findings are discussed, and implications for theory and practice explored.     

Global self-esteem and method effects: Competing factor structures,longitudinal invariance,and response styles in adolescents

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) is a widely used measure for assessing self-esteem, but its factor structure is debated. Our goals were to compare 10 alternative models for the RSES and to quantify and predict the method effects. This sample involves two waves (N =2,513 9th-grade and 2,370 10th-grade students) from five waves of a school-based longitudinal study. The RSES was administered in each wave. The global self-esteem factor with two latent method factors yielded the best fit to the data. The global factor explained a large amount of the common variance (61% and 46%); however, a relatively large proportion of the common variance was attributed to the negative method factor (34 % and 41%), and a small proportion of the common variance was explained by the positive method factor (5% and 13%). We conceptualized the method effect as a response style and found that being a girl and having a higher number of depressive symptoms were associated with both low self-esteem and negative response style, as measured by the negative method factor. Our study supported the one global self-esteem construct and quantified the method effects in adolescents.     

How do trainees choose their first psychotherapy training? The case of training in psychotherapy integration

Future trainees go through difficult decision-making processes when starting their first psychotherapy training. The choice of training in psychotherapy integration is a specific type of this process. In this study, qualitative data were obtained from the motivational letters, in-depth semi-structured interviews and e-mail questionnaires of 26 future trainees to answer the research question, ‘How do trainees choose their first psychotherapy training?’ We primarily employed the grounded theory approach as well as consensual qualitative research to shed light on the central category of Gaining Certainty to enter the training. This category was elaborated into a four-phase model, specifically comprised of the: (1) Critical Comparison, (2) Identification, (3) Self-Confirmation and (4) Waiting phases. The model was then discussed in connection with relevant concepts, such as the degree of complexity and flexibility within the epistemological development of trainees [Vasco, A. B., &; Dryden, W. (1994). The development of psychotherapists’ theoretical orientation and clinical practice. British Journal of Guidance &; Counselling, 22(3), 327–341].     

When and why Conventions cannot Be Social Institutions

Philosophia - The paper focuses on the issue of compatibility of social institution and convention. At first, it introduces the modest account of conventionality building on five distinctive...     

Test-dependent expression of behavioral syndromes: A study of aggressiveness,activity, and stress of chub

Aggressiveness has been one of the behavioral traits most examined with various standard testing methods. We used two distinct methods (the mirror and the real opponent tests) to evaluate individual aggression and relate it to the activity and individual stress of chub (Squalius cephalus L.). Three hypotheses were formulated and tested: (a) there is a significant positive relationship between the aggressiveness of individuals measured with the mirror and the real opponent tests, indicating their convergent validity; (b) the irregularities in response to the aggressiveness and activity tests lead to the context-specific expression of the behavioral syndromes; and (c) there is a significant positive relationship between the stress induced in individuals by both tests of aggressiveness, demonstrating individually consistent stress-coping strategies. The first and the second hypothesis were confirmed, while the third hypothesis was rejected. Our results suggest that particular tests of aggressiveness could act as a situation with high strength, leaving little variation between individual responses. Thus, we propose that for the proper interpretation of various studies using different tests to study identical behavioral traits, it is important to consider the convergent validity of not only the tested behavioral traits but also the individual stress responses. The chub also showed stress relieve through aggressiveness, suggesting the species as a prospective animal model to the study interaction between the stress and the aggressiveness. A detailed aggression ethogram of chub was provided to facilitate the use of this specie in future studies.     

Adjacent and Non-Adjacent Word Contexts Both Predict Age of Acquisition of English Words: A Distributional Corpus Analysis of Child-Directed Speech

Children show a remarkable degree of consistency in learning some words earlier than others. What patterns of word usage predict variations among words in age of acquisition? We use distributional analysis of a naturalistic corpus of child-directed speech to create quantitative features representing natural variability in word contexts. We evaluate two sets of features: One set is generated from the distribution of words into frames defined by the two adjacent words. These features primarily encode syntactic aspects of word usage. The other set is generated from non-adjacent co-occurrences between words. These features encode complementary thematic aspects of word usage. Regression models using these distributional features to predict age of acquisition of 656 early-acquired English words indicate that both types of features improve predictions over simpler models based on frequency and appearance in salient or simple utterance contexts. Syntactic features were stronger predictors of children's production than comprehension, whereas thematic features were stronger predictors of comprehension. Overall, earlier acquisition was predicted by features representing frames that select for nouns and verbs, and by thematic content related to food and face-to-face play topics; later acquisition was predicted by features representing frames that select for pronouns and question words, and by content related to narratives and object play.