Cognitive Science of Religion: Looking Back,Looking Forward

The cognitive science of religion (CSR) arose out of attempts to “science up” religious studies and the anthropology of religion without eliminating interpretive approaches. While maintaining this historical orientation, CSR holds promise to help bridge to other areas within the scientific study of religion. Particularly fruitful areas of future collaboration and complementary study are evolutionary studies of religion, psychology of religion, sociology of religion, and archeology of religion. In response to an invitation to explore the potential of CSR for the 50th anniversary of this journal, I briefly summarize CSR's history and current state and then offer exemplary future directions that might bring CSR into fruitful connection with other areas in the greater scientific study of religion.     

Screening for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adult inpatients with psychiatric disorders

The purpose was to assess the effectiveness of the adult ADHD Module from the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scales: Screening Version DSM-IV ADHD Symptoms Total Scale (CAARS-S:SV) in screening for attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder in patients hospitalized for other psychiatric disorders. Assessment measures were administered to 55 (50%) female and 55 (50%) male adult (>18 yr. old) inpatients. Only six (5%) of the 110 inpatients had been diagnosed with comorbid ADHD according to medical charts. In contrast, 55 (50%) patients met criteria for ADHD according to the MINI, and 39 (36%) patients met criteria on the CAARS-S:SV. The higher rates of prevalence for the MINI and the CAARS-S:SV were attributable to symptom criteria for ADHD being similar to those shared with comorbid disorders.     

Masculinised brain and romantic jealousy: Examining the association between digit ratio (2D:4D) and between- and within-sex differences

We examined the relationship between second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), a correlate of prenatal testosterone exposure, and distress at sexual versus emotional infidelity in hypothetical scenarios of relationship threat. As predicted, a significant negative association was found between 2D:4D and greater distress at sexual infidelity for the whole sample (N = 179, females = 101). While this novel finding supports the view of romantic jealousy as a sexually-dimorphic adaptation, we explore reasons for the relatively weak association and discuss how underlying differences in brain structure could have influenced sex-specific behavioural capacities in romantic jealousy. We suggest a useful direction for future research will be to develop novel methods that facilitate the investigation of implicit emotional, rather than explicit cognitive, processes in response to pair-bond threat.     

Emotion and narrative fiction: Interactive influences before, during, and after reading

Emotions are central to the experience of literary narrative fiction. Affect and mood can influence what book people choose, based partly on whether their goal is to change or maintain their current emotional state. Once having chosen a book, the narrative itself acts to evoke and transform emotions, both directly through the events and characters depicted and through the cueing of emotionally valenced memories. Once evoked by the story, these emotions can in turn influence a person's experience of the narrative. Lastly, emotions experienced during reading may have consequences after closing the covers of a book. This article reviews the current state of empirical research for each of these stages, providing a snapshot of what is known about the interaction between emotions and literary narrative fiction. With this, we can begin to sketch the outlines of what remains to be discovered.     

Domain interplay in mice and men: New possibilities for the “natural kinds” theory of emotion

The recent challenge to the long-held assumption that emotions are natural kinds (i.e., discreet naturally-distinguishable phenomena) has raised the necessity for a closer look into the nature of affective research. If emotions are not natural kinds, there will be widespread consequences for the theoretical foundations of behavioral neuroscience and grave implications for the validity of animal models of emotion and affective disorders. This paper presents the evidence against the hypothesis of emotions as natural kinds, and offers the “domain-interplay” concept as a novel and effective experimental method for establishing the theoretical rationale of non-human animal research in the neurosciences.     

Why Do Parents Seek Help When Their Children’s Behavior Is Within Normative Levels?

The purpose of this study was to address the following question: Why do parents first seek help with parenting when they report their child’s disruptive behaviors are within normative levels? Two groups were selected for study from a sample of 91 parents of 3- to 6-year-olds who sought help with parenting: Parents reporting disruptive behavior problems in the normative range (n?=?22) or above a clinical cutoff (n?=?19). Logistic regression was used to examine two competing hypotheses about family variables which may account for why parents seek help when reporting normative levels of disruptive behaviors: Alternative family stress (i.e., high levels of family stress other than child disruptive behavior) and parent enhancement and validation (i.e., enhance and validate parenting although child behavior is in normal range). No support emerged for the alternative family stress hypothesis whereas multiple indicators (better use of disciplinary strategies, seeking services for a first born child, and being more highly educated) provided support for the parent enhancement and validation hypothesis.     

The Presence of Self-Stigma,Perceived Stress,and Suicidal Ideation among Selected LGBT Filipinos

Minority group members experience what is known as “minority stress,” by which individuals suffer stress because of their membership in stigmatized social categories. In turn, minority stress may lead to self-stigmatization. This occurs when minority group members experience a sense of shame created by the view of the majority culture and then incorporate the majority opinion into their self-image. Because it is cumulative with the stress an individual is already experiencing, self-stigmatization may become a significant stressor itself, possibly contributing to the development of suicidal ideation. A total of 609 self-identified LGBT individuals were asked to answer a battery of psychological tests to assess the interrelationships between self-stigma, perceived stress, and suicidal ideation. As expected, perceived stress predicted suicidal ideation, whereas self-stigmatization predicted both perceived stress and suicidal ideation. Structural equation modeling confirms the predictive value of self-stigma together with perceived stress in determining the suicidal ideation present among LGBT Filipinos. Self-stigma exerted a direct effect upon suicidal ideation not accounted for by perceived stress.     

The Possibility of a Fair Play Account of Legitimacy

The philosophical literature on state legitimacy has recently seen a significant conceptual revision. Several philosophers have argued that the state's right to rule is better characterized not as a claim right to obedience, but as a power right. There have been few attempts to show that traditional justifications for the claim right might also be used to justify a power right, and there have been no such attempts involving the principle of fair play, which is widely regarded as the most promising basis for a claim right to obedience. William Edmundson argues that the principle of fair play cannot generate power rights, and so any attempt at a fair play account of legitimacy must fail. I explain how fair play could generate a power right, owing to its stipulation that the rules of a cooperative scheme specify the form of participants' repayment. 1     

Assessing U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Patterns: How Criminology and Conservation Science Can Guide Strategies to Reduce the Illegal Wildlife Trade

Illegal wildlife trade is among the most profitable transnational crimes in the world. In the U.S. fewer than 330 agents from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services are tasked with inspecting 72 air and seaports to intercept illicit wildlife products. This paper suggests a risk assessment strategy that utilizes analytical techniques from criminology to wildlife contraband entering the U.S. Using the LEMIS database, 40,113 incidents of seized wildlife products from 2003 to 2012 were identified. Results suggest a disproportionate share of export countries, ports of entry, times and genera account for a majority of incidents. Resource allocation should be prioritized accordingly.     

Family Transitions in Cohabiting Families: a Longitudinal Investigation of the Role of Parent Depressive Symptoms in Youth Problem Behaviors

Cohabiting family structures are becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States but are less stable than married family unions. In this longitudinal study we examine the change in psychosocial adjustment of adolescents when a non-biologically related male cohabiting partner (MCP) transitions out of the family home. Of particular interest, the role of maternal and MCP depressive symptoms was examined as a moderator. At wave 1, the sample was comprised of 111 low-income urban Black families, consisting of an adolescent (42.3 % male; Mage = 13), a biological mother, and a non-biologically-related male cohabiting partner (MCP). Wave 2 and 3 assessments occurred over the course of the subsequent 29 months, with 38 % of MCPs transitioning out of the home. We used latent growth curve modeling to characterize trajectories of youth internalizing and externalizing symptom change across the 3 waves. Both maternal and MCP depressive symptoms interacted with whether a transition occurred, consistent with the notion that adolescent problem behaviors are shaped by the dynamic interplay of individual- and family-characteristics.