Effects of enactment by professional actors at encoding and retrieval

This experiment investigated memory benefits similar to those found with subject-performed tasks (SPTs) but under widely differing circumstances. Almost all SPT research has shown that as long as enactment takes place at encoding, mode of recall (enactment vs. verbal recall) is immaterial. Using professional actors, the experimenters had previously shown (Noice & Noice, 1999) that movement that was not semantically congruent with the accompanying material produced enhanced recall at retrieval compared to a non-moving condition, a result that did not appear to be due to the fact that retrieval conditions closely resembled encoding conditions. Experiment 1 of the present study replicated and extended this finding, demonstrating that the effect can be found after a delay of five months with actors of varying age and experience, and that the enhancement is not dependent on physical context. Experiment 2 demonstrated that, even with purely verbal retrieval of material that had been equated for memorability, dialogue originally performed when the participants had been engaged in movement from place to place was better recalled than dialogue originally performed when the participants had remained in one location. Taken together, these results indicate that movement at retrieval is not necessary for the nonliteral enactment effect to occur, but that such movement can aid recall compared to a purely verbal mode of report.     

Analyzing the multiple functions of stereotypical behavior for students with autism: implications for assessment and treatment

We studied behavioral functions associated with stereotypical responses for students with autism. In Study 1, analogue functional analyses (attention, demand, no-attention, and recreation conditions) were conducted for 5 students. Results suggested that stereotypy was multiply determined or occurred across all assessment conditions. For 2 students, stereotypy was associated with positive and negative reinforcement and the absence of environmental stimulation. For 2 other students, stereotypy occurred at high levels across all experimental conditions. For the 5th student, stereotypy was associated with negative reinforcement and the absence of environmental stimulation. In Study 2, the stereotypy of 1 student was further analyzed on a function-by-function basis. Within a concurrent-schedules procedure, alternative responses were taught to the student using functional communication training. The results of Study 2 showed that similar topographies of stereotypy, based on qualitatively different reinforcers, were reduced only when differential reinforcement contingencies for alternative forms of communication were implemented for specific response-reinforcer relations. Our results suggest that the causes of stereotypy for students with autism are complex and that the presumed association between response topography and behavioral function may be less important than previously realized.     

Book reviews

Déclarations Communes Islamo‐Chrétiennes 1954–1995: textes originaux et traductions françaises. Choix de textes présentés par: Juliette Nasri Haddad, sous la direction de: Augustin Dupré la Tour et Dr Hisham Nashabé, 1997. Beyrouth, Dar el‐Machreq, Distribution Librairie Orientale, B.P. 1986, Beyrouth, Liban. 376 pp. + 14 large charts, hb. np., ISBN 2 7214 5008 5

Ultimate Visions: reflections on the religions we choose. Martin Forward (Ed.), 1995. Oxford, One World Publications. 208 pp., pb. $14.95, ISBN 1 85168 100 0

Cross and Crescent: responding to the challenge of Islam. Colin Chapman, 1995. Leicester, Inter‐Varsity Press. 364 pp., pb. £9.99, ISBN 0 85110 992 6

Louis Massignon: the crucible of compassion. Mary Louise Gude, 1996. Notre Dame and London, University of Notre Dame Press. 283 pp., hb. np., ISBN 0 268 031308 X

The New Islamic Dynasties: a chronological and genealogical manual. C. E. Bosworth, 1996. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. 389 pp., hb. £49.50, ISBN 0 7486 0684 X

A Short Introduction to Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism. Majid Fakhry, 1997. Oxford, Oneworld. 151 pp., pb. £8.99, $13.95, ISBN 1 85168 134 5

Religion and Politics under the Early ‘Abbasids: the emergence of the proto‐Sunni elite. Muhammad Qasim Zaman, 1997. Leiden, Brill. 232 pp., hb, Nlg 137.00, US$85.75, ISBN 90 04 10678 2

NichtMuslimische Untertanen im Islam: Grundlage, Ideologie und Praxis der Politik frühislamischer Herrscher gegenüber ihren nichtMuslimischen Untertanen mit besonderem Blick auf die Dynastie der Abbasiden (749–1248). (Studies in Oriental Religions, 34). Wolfgang Kallfelz, 1995. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag. 180 pp., pb. np., ISBN 3 447 03720 2

Hierarchy and Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought. Louise Marlow, 1997. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 194 pp., hb. np., ISBN 0 521 56430 1

The Dual Nature of Islamic Fundamentalism. Johannes J. G. Jansen, 1997. Ithaca, Cornell University Press/London, Hurst & Co.. 197 pp., hb. £25.00, ISBN 1 85065 274 0

Islam and Democracy. John Esposito & John Voll, 1996. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 232 pp., pb. £16.99, ISBN 0 19 510816 7

New World Order: Western fundamentalism in action. S. M. KORESHI, 199?. Islamabad, Institute of Policy Studies and Islamabad Publications. 306 pp., hb. Rs.250.00, ISBN 969 448 039 6

Das Eigene als Fremdes: Chancen und Bedingungen des christlich‐islamischen Dialogs. Ralf Geisler, 1997. Hannover, Lutherisches Verlagshaus. 104 pp., hb. DM24.80, ISBN 3 7859 0741 9

Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe. Barbara D. Metcalf (Ed.), 1996. Berkeley and London, University of California Press. xix + 264 pp., hb. $50, £40, ISBN 0 520 20403 4; pb. $20, £15, ISBN 0 520 20404 2

Allah in the West: Islamic movements in America and Europe. GILLES KEPEL, 1997. Oxford, Polity Press. 273 pp., pb. £13.95, ISBN 0 7156 1558 9

An Occasion For War: civil conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860. Leila Tarazi Fawaz, 1994. Berkeley, University of California Press. 302 pp., pb. $17.00, ISBN 0 520 20086 1

Master and Disciple: the cultural foundations of Moroccan authoritarianism. Abdellah Hammoudi, 1997. Chicago & London, Chicago University Press. 195 pp., hb. £30.50, ISBN 0 226 31527 4; pb. £11.92, ISBN 0 226 31528 2

Islam in South‐East Asia: a study for Christians. Robert A. Hunt, 1997. New York, General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church; Petaling Jaya [Malaysia], Methodist Church of Malaysia. vii+ 172 pp., pb. np., ISBN 1 890569 04 6     

An investigation of young infants' perceptual representations of speech sounds

The present study examined the ability of newborns and 2-month-olds to detect phonetic differences between syllables. By relying on the modified high-amplitude sucking procedure, which did not permit the infants to use a simple same-different response, the present experiments tapped the perceptual representations of the speech sounds. Infants as young as a few days old displayed some capacity to represent differences in a set of syllables varying in their phonetic composition, although there was no convincing evidence that their representations were structured in terms of phonetic segments. Finally, evidence of developmental changes in speech processing were noted for the first time with infants in this age range. The change noted was a tendency from global toward more specific representations on the part of the older infants.     

College students' relationships with grandparents

Literature on the role and attitudes of grandparents is increasing, even as is the number of grandparents. However, data on the attitudes of grandchildren toward their grandparents are spare. This article reports attitudes of 574 college students toward their grandparents. Their geographic closeness to at least one grandparent, and their patterns and motivations for contacting their grandparents are included.     

Specialist counsellors in primary care: The experience and preferences of general practitioners

This paper reports the results of a postal questionnaire, pre-coded by practice, which was sent to all 484 Leicestershire general practitioners. Practitioners who could and who could not refer to an in-house counsellor were compared in terms of their views about counselling provision, both within the practice and by agencies outside, such as mental health teams and specialist counselling services. General practitioners having access to a counsellor belonged to practices which were larger and had fundholding status. No signijicant dafference was found between rural and urban practices in their employment of an in-house counsellor, although those doctors working in rural areas were less likely to see this service as having a high priority. General practitioners without in-house counsellors estimated a referral rate (for counselling) in excess of twice that of the actual rate reported by those with practice counsellors. Those having an in-house counsellor were more likely to agree with statements that emphasized the benefits of this form of provision as against that offered by either mental health teams or specialist counselling services.     

Which way is upright and normal? Haptic perception of letters above head level

In three experiments, the perception of the apparent orientation of block letters shown in various orientations above the subject’s head in the horizontal plane was examined. A block letter F with its front facing down toward the observer has two crossbars on its right side; the top is the part with the long crossbar, and the base has no bar. The experiments involved changing the locations of these parts with respect to the observer. In Experiment 1, the subjects using touch most often identified a letter as having its left and right sides in a normal orientation if the front of the block letter faced upwards away from the observer, with the bar on the right and the top of the letter farther from the subject than the letter’s base. In Experiment 2, the subjects judging visualuprightness favored positions in which the bars were on the right, the top of the block letter was near them, and the letter’s front faced downwards toward the observer. In Experiment 3, the subjects using touch most often assessed letters as being upright if the top of the letter was the farthest part and the bar was on the right. The results suggest that, when assessing orientation, subjects using touch favored positions that would be reached by a letter moving vertically upwards from table height, but subjects relying on vision favored positions reached by a letter moving in an arc centered on the subject’s head (on the eyes, in particular).     

The Effects of Cooperation and Competition on Ingroup-Outgroup Bias1

A matrix game format was employed in a 2 × 2 design to study the effects of within group cooperation and competition under conditions of success and failure on subjects' subsequent treatment of own group and outgroup persons. Subjects in two-person groups either succeeded or failed at a cooperative or competitive game and then awarded points (worth money) to themselves, their partner, and two other people. A review of the relevant literature suggested that ingroup-outgroup bias would be greater after successful competition than after unsuccessful competition. The results supported this hypothesis. It was also found that subjects in the Cooperation-Failure condition displayed greater ingroup-outgroup bias than subjects in the Cooperation-Success condition. A qualification of the previous research supporting a positive relationship between group cohesiveness and ingroup-outgroup bias was suggested on the basis of the results.