Islamophobia? Religion,Contact with Muslims,and the Respect for Islam

In the midst of growing reservations about Muslims in America, this study seeks to explore the factors accounting for Islamophobia by utilizing nationally representative data. The findings suggest that religious affiliations have differential effects on the degree to which one respects Islam, with Christians more likely to have low regard for Islam. The image of a God who punishes his followers for their sins has a positive association with the odds of Islam being least respected among all religions. While higher frequency of contact with Muslims predicts an overall improved opinion for Islam, evangelical and black Protestants present the opposite picture. Their increased exposure to Muslims leads to lower respect for Islam. I discuss the implications of these findings for theories of intergroup contact and subcultural identity.     

Breaking through the attentional window: Capture by abrupt onsets versus color singletons

Theeuwes (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 11:65?C70, 2004) proposed that stimulus-driven capture occurs primarily for salient stimuli that fall within the observer??s attentional window, such as when performing a parallel search. This proposal, which is supported by some studies, can explain many seemingly discrepant results in the literature. The present study tested this proposal using a modified precuing paradigm. Search mode was manipulated via target?Cdistractor similarity in color space. In the parallel search condition, the orange target ??popped out?? from a set of distantly colored distractors (blue and green). In the serial search condition, the orange target was more difficult to find amongst a set of similarly colored distractors (yellow and red). In Experiments 1 and 2, cue validity effects for irrelevant-color singleton cues were greater under parallel than under serial search, at least partially replicating previous studies favoring the attentional-window account (e.g., Belopolsky, Zwaan, Theeuwes, & Kramer, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14:934?C938, 2007). We found the opposite pattern, however, for capture by abrupt onsets (Experiments 3 and 4), in which case capture effects were actually greater under serial search. In sum, parallel search appears to facilitate capture by color singletons, yet to inhibit capture by abrupt onsets.     

History,Current Status,and Future Prospects of Counseling in South Korea

Although the counseling profession was introduced to South Korea in the 1950s by American delegates of education, counseling has been only lately recognized as a specialized field that requires distinctive knowledge and skills. In this article, the authors describe the history and the current status of counseling in South Korea and then discuss challenges and future prospects.     

为分析性辩护

自从蒯因在著名的《经验论的两个教条》等一系列文章中对分析性做出批评以后,分析传统内已经很少有哲学家再对分析性概念持肯定态度了;随之受到威胁的是意义以及逻辑必然性的概念。     

青少年负性情绪信息记忆偏向的情绪弹性和性别效应

为了探讨情绪弹性和性别变量对青少年再认记忆负性情绪信息的影响,该实验采用再认记忆测验范式,以49名青少年为被试,以负性情绪图片为实验材料,考察了不同情绪弹性和性别的青少年再认负性情绪图片时的错误率差异。结果发现,情绪弹性对再认记忆负性情绪图片的主效应显著,统计效力明显。性别对再认记忆负性情绪图片的主效应显著,统计效力明显。情绪弹性与性别在再认记忆上的交互作用不显著。这说明青少年负性情绪信息加工过程中产生的记忆偏向效应受情绪弹性和性别因素的影响。     

Social,Religious and Spiritual Capital and Physical/Emotional Functioning in a National Sample of African Americans

Spiritual and religious capital are forms of the broader construct of social capital. The present study, using probability‐based sampling methods, surveyed a national sample of African American adults to examine the relative contributions of spiritual and religious capital to their physical and emotional functioning. Analyses were conducted to determine if these constructs made a unique contribution above and beyond general social capital. African American men and women (N = 803) were interviewed by telephone. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that, across the full sample, although social capital was a positive predictor of physical and emotional functioning (p < .05 and p < .001), neither religious nor spiritual capital made an additional contribution to these outcomes. However, the relationships among these variables differed for men and women. Among men, social capital predicted positive emotional functioning (p < .001) but not physical functioning; spiritual and religious capital made no additional contribution to either outcome variable. Among women, social capital predicted positive emotional functioning (p < .01) but not physical functioning. However, religious capital did make a significant additional contribution to the prediction of emotional functioning (ΔR², p < .01). Dividing the sample into different age groups did not produce any different findings from those found with the sample as a whole. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for church‐ and faith‐based health promotion interventions aimed at health disparities reduction. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

GSK-3β activity in the hippocampus is required for memory retrieval

Several molecules were recently found to be important for the memory retrieval process in the hippocampus; however, the mechanisms underlying the memory retrieval remain poorly understood. GSK-3β has been implicated in the control of synaptic plasticity and memory formation. Here, we investigated the relationship between hippocampal GSK-3β activity and memory retrieval using behavioral and Western blotting methods. We found that GSK-3β was activated in the hippocampus after a retention session in the passive avoidance task. An intrahippocampal injection of the GSK-3β inhibitor, SB 216763, before the retention session blocked memory retrieval (but not reconsolidation) without affecting locomotor activity. These results suggest that GSK-3β activation would be essential for memory retrieval in the hippocampus.     

Validation of Social Connectedness in Mainstream Society and the Ethnic Community Scales

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Social Connectedness in Mainstream Society (SCMN) and the Social Connectedness in the Ethnic Community (SCETH) Scales in two groups of ethnic minorities. We especially examined their theoretical/conceptual and empirical viability in relation to other established constructs of general social connectedness, acculturation, and enculturation. Analyses of two sets of survey data from 200 Mexican American students in California and 134 Asian international students in Minnesota supported (a) construct validity of the SCMN and the SCETH as related but distinct structures, (b) convergent and discriminant validity in relation to acculturation and enculturation, and (c) high reliability. The examination of incremental validity in predicting subjective well-being further supported their distinctive utility in addition to other established constructs of general social connectedness, acculturation, enculturation, ethnic identity, and other group orientation. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.