The Orthodox Churches of the Russian tradition in twenty-first-century Japan: negotiating an identity between Tokyo and Moscow?

In this paper I compare the identities of the Japanese Orthodox Church (JOC), which is an autonomous part of the Moscow Patriarchate in Russia, and the Embassy Church (EC) of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in Japan, which is an integral part of the ROC. I argue that, at the moment, the JOC is a more Japanese organisation than the EC in terms of culture, attitude towards Russia, the ROC and the Japanese state. There is, however, evidence that this is slowly changing as a result of the policy of the Moscow Patriarchate towards its structures in Japan, but also as a result of the difficulties the JOC is facing in adapting to the Japanese cultural context.     

Fast similarities: efficiency advantages of similarity-focused comparisons

People constantly have to make efficient use of their limited cognitive resources. Recently, T. Mussweiler and K. Epstude (2009) demonstrated that comparative thinking simplifies information processing and increases the efficiency of judgment. However, there are different types of comparative thinking. While comparing 2 entities, people may focus on either similarities or dissimilarities between target and standard. The authors propose that these 2 comparative thinking styles differ in their efficiency. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that comparisons with a focus on similarities lead to more focused information processing and faster judgments than comparisons with a dissimilarity focus. In line with these hypotheses, the authors demonstrate that participants are indeed faster at judging the similarity of 2 stimuli (Study 1) and that they search for less target information in a comparative judgment task (Study 2) if they focus on similarities rather than dissimilarities. Focusing on similarities thus appears to be the more efficient comparative thinking style.     

Dreaming in the multilevel framework

Biological realism ( [Revonsuo, 2001] and [Revonsuo, 2006] ) states that dreaming is a biological phenomenon and therefore explainable in naturalistic terms, similar to the explanation of other biological phenomena. In the biological sciences, the structure of explanations can be described with the help of a framework called ‘multilevel explanation’. The multilevel model provides a context that assists to clarify what needs to be explained and how, and how to place different theories into the same model. Here, I will argue that the multilevel framework would be useful when we try to construct scientific explanations of dreaming.     

Processes underlying congruent and incongruent facial reactions to emotional facial expressions

The present electromyographic study is a first step toward shedding light on the involvement of affective processes in congruent and incongruent facial reactions to facial expressions. Further, empathy was investigated as a potential mediator underlying the modulation of facial reactions to emotional faces in a competitive, a cooperative, and a neutral setting. Results revealed less congruent reactions to happy expressions and even incongruent reactions to sad and angry expressions in the competition condition, whereas virtually no differences between the neutral and the cooperation condition occurred. Effects on congruent reactions were found to be mediated by cognitive empathy, indicating that the state of empathy plays an important role in the situational modulation of congruent reactions. Further, incongruent reactions to sad and angry faces in a competition setting were mediated by the emotional reaction of joy, supporting the assumption that incongruent facial reactions are mainly based on affective processes. Additionally, strategic processes (specifically, the goal to create and maintain a smooth, harmonious interaction) were found to influence facial reactions while being in a cooperative mindset. Now, further studies are needed to test for the generalizability of these effects.     

Probability estimation in poker: A qualified success for unaided judgment

Poker players make strategic decisions on the basis of imperfect information, which are informed by their assessment of the probability they will hold the best set of cards among all players at the conclusion of the hand. Exact mental calculations of this probability are impossible—therefore, players must use judgment to estimate their chances. In three studies, 69 moderately experienced poker players estimated the probability of obtaining the best cards among all players, based on the limited information that is known in the early stages of a hand. Although several of the conditions typically associated with well‐calibrated judgment did not apply, players' judgments were generally accurate. The correlation between judged and true probabilities was r > .8 for over five‐sixths of the participants, and when judgments were averaged across players and within hands this correlation was .96. Players slightly overestimated their chance of obtaining the best cards, mainly where this probability was low to moderate (<.7). Probability estimates were slightly too strongly related to the strength of the two cards that a player holds (known only to themselves), and insufficiently influenced by the number of opponents. Seemingly, players show somewhat insufficient regard for the cards that other players could be holding and the potential for opponents to acquire a strong hand. The results show that even when judgment heuristics are used to good effect in a complex probability estimation task, predictable errors can still be observed at the margins of performance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Automatic classification of dysfunctional thoughts: a feasibility test.

The identification of dysfunctional thoughts is a central effort in cognitive therapy. This paper describes the first version of a computer module that classifies dysfunctional thoughts automatically. It is part of COGNO, a system we are developing to give automatic feedback on dysfunctional thoughts. The system uses rules that were developed from language markers identified in a sample of 149 dysfunctional thoughts. The system was tested with an independent set of 112 example thoughts. The system detects the majority of dysfunctional thoughts, but works reliably only for some thought categories. Automatic thought classification may be a first step toward developing natural dialogue systems in cognitive therapy.     

Identifying reading strategies using latent semantic analysis: comparing semantic benchmarks.

We explored methods of using latent semantic analysis (LSA) to identify reading strategies in students' self-explanations that are collected as part of a Web-based reading trainer. In this study, college students self-explained scientific texts, one sentence at a time. ISA was used to measure the similarity between the self-explanations and semantic benchmarks (groups of words and sentences that together represent reading strategies). Three types of semantic benchmarks were compared: content words, exemplars, and strategies. Discriminant analyses were used to classify global and specific reading strategies using the LSA cosines. All benchmarks contributed to the classification of general reading strategies, but the exemplars did the best in distinguishing subtle semantic differences between reading strategies. Pragmatic and theoretical concerns of using LSA are discussed.     

Search strategies in decision making: the success of “success”

Examination of search strategies has tended to focus on choices determined by decision makers' personal preferences among relevant cues, and not on learning cue‐criterion relationships. We present an empirical and rational analysis of cue search for environments with objective criteria. In such environments, cues can be evaluated on the basis of three properties: validity (the probability that a cue identifies the correct choice if cue values differ between alternatives); discrimination rate (the proportion of occasions on which a cue has differing values); and success (the expected proportion of correct choices when only that cue can be used). Our experiments show that though there is a high degree of individual variability, success is a key determinant of search. Furthermore, a rational analysis demonstrates why success‐directed search is the most adaptive strategy in many circumstances. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.