Choice reaction and unequal stimulus frequencies in an absolute judgment situation

Previous investigators have reported discrepant results for Ss in a choice reaction time (CRT) situation when stimuli are not equi-probable. Sixty Ss participated in an absolute judgment CRT task under three conditions of equi-probable stimuli and three of unequally probable stimuli. The results indicate that previous findings may be determined by a threshold dependent upon the effect of unequal stimulus frequencies and the utilities of different response strategies.     

Philosophy of medicine in the United Kingdom

This report explores the relationship between philosophy and medicine in the U.K. We note that medical training involves very little formal instruction in philosophy and ethics, and that, with few exceptions, philosophers in the U.K. do not contribute to the instruction of physicians or the philosophy of medicine. However, reviewing the problems arising out of recent developments within scientific medicine we find a pressing need for future philosophical analysis in the following areas: psychiatry, organ transplantation, abortion, euthanasia, experiments on living subjects, consent, confidentiality, the relationship between medicine and political authority, and the provisions for social justice in medicine.     

Is attentional selection to different levels of hierarchical structure based on spatial frequency?

Target identification is faster when the target level (global or local) is the same as that on the previous trial, presumably because attention is directed to the appropriate level. L. C. Robertson (1996) found that eliminating low spatial frequencies by contrast balancing eliminated this level repetition effect and concluded that attentional selection between different levels of structure is based on spatial frequency. In contrast, M. R. Lamb and E. W. Yund (1996a) found no effect of contrast balancing on the level repetition effect and thus concluded that attentional selection is not based on spatial frequency. In this study, the authors identified the procedural difference between the 2 studies responsible for this difference in results and replicated both findings. The data show that spatial frequency is not a necessary basis for attentional selection between global and local forms. Although it remains possible that spatial frequency is the basis of attentional selection under some circumstances, the data supporting this proposition are not yet compelling.     

Book reviews

Religion in Prison: ‘Equal Rites’ in a Multi‐Faith Society James A. Beckford & Sophie Gilliat, 1998 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press xiv + 232 pp., £35.00, US$54.95 ISBN 0–521–62246–8

The Dynamics of Emerging Ethnicities: Immigrant and Indigenous Ethnogenesis in Confrontation Johan Leman, ed., 1998 Frankfurt a. M: Peter Lang 179 pp., DM 32.50 (pb) ISBN 3–631–33107‐X, US ISBN 0–8204–3572–4

Testing the Global Ethic: Voices from Religious Traditions on Moral Values? Peggy Morgan & Marcus Braybrooke, eds., 1998 Oxford: The World Congress of Faiths/Ada, MI: CoNexus Press 172 pp., £11.99, US$19.95 UK ISBN 0–95–24140–1–5, US ISBN 0–9637897–6–7

Embodying Charisma: Modernity, Locality and the Performance of Emotion in Sufi Cults Pnina Werbner & Helene Basu, eds., 1998 London: Routledge 243 pp., £18.99 ISBN 0–415–15100–7

Appropriating Gender: Women's Activism and Politicized Religion in South Asia Patricia Jeffery & Amrita Basu, eds., 1998 New York, London: Routledge 276 + xi pp., £42.50 (hb), £12.99 (pb) ISBN 0–415–91865–0 (hb), ISBN 0–415–91866–9 (pb)

Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds Mary Evelyn Tucker & Duncan Ryuken Williams, eds., 1997 Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions xlii + 467 pp., £19.95 (hb), £13.50 (pb) ISBN 0–945454–13–9 (hb), 0–945454–14–7 (pb)

The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions Andrew Rawlinson, 1997 Chicago & La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing xix + 650 pp, £23.95 (pb) ISBN 0–8126–9310–8

American Buddhism: Methods and Findings of Recent Scholarship Duncan Ryuken Williams & Christopher S. Queen, eds., 1999 Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press 329 pp., £40.00 ISBN 0–7007–1081–7

China's Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society Richard Madsen, 1998 Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press 183 pp., £19.95 ISBN 0–520–21326–2

Anti‐Catholicism in Ireland, 1600–1998: The Mote and the Beam John D. Brewer with Gareth I. Higgins, 1998 London: Macmillan 248 pp., £47.50 (hb), £16.99 (pb) ISBN 0–333–74634–1 (hb), ISBN 0–333–74635‐X (pb)

Mary and Human Liberation: The Story and the Text Fr. Tissa Balasuriya, 1997 London: Mowbray 262 pp., £14.99 ISBN 0–264–67459–6

Beyond the Darkness: A Biography of Bede Griffiths Shirley Du Boulay, 1998 London: Rider 308 pp., £20.00 ISBN 0–7126–7429–2

Honest to Goddess: Russia, Sophia and the Celtic Soul Geraint Ap Iorwerth, 1998 Foreword by Caitlin Matthews Southampton: Crescent Books 136 pp., £12.99 ISBN 1–844086–001–4

Freud and Jung on Religion Michael Palmer, 1997 London: Routledge 238 pp., £45.00 (hb), £13.99 (pb) ISBN 0–415–14746–8 (hb), ISBN 0–415–14747–6 (pb)

Science Meets Faith: Theology and Science in Conversation Fraser Watts, ed., 1998 London: SPCK 166 pp., £12.99 ISBN 0–281–05112–1     

The effects of divorce and custody arrangements on children's behaviour, development and adjustment

A group of experts from developmental and clinical psychology, sociology,social welfare, and law met at a conference centre in Middleburg, Virginiaon December 1-4, 1994, under the sponsorship of the U.S. National Instituteof Child Health and Human Development. The group's mandate was to evaluateexisting knowledge regarding the ways in which children are affected bydivorce and the varying custody arrangements that follow it. Many of thediscussions also addressed the ways in which the adverse effects of divorcemight be ameliorated by changes in policy or practice. This documentrepresents a statement co-signed by most of the participants summarizingareas of agreement regarding the current status of knowledge in this areaand outlining topics in need of further research. The report is designed toguide various legislatures, the judiciary, the bar, and the various mentalhealth professionals who are involved in counselling or educating familiesexperiencing separation or divorce, as well as those who mediate oradjudicate the disputes regarding the custody of minor children. Thepreliminary draft of this consensus document was prepared by Michael E. Lamband Kathleen J. Sternberg following the three-day conference, withadditional redrafting by Ross A. Thompson. The draft was reviewed andrevised by the other participants over the ensuing months. This report,revised in accordance with the participants' comments, is a product of this process.     

A comparison of mental and physical context reinstatement in forensic interviews with alleged victims of sexual abuse

Forensic interviews with 142 alleged victims of sexual abuse, ranging from 4.0 to 13.5 years of age, were conducted under three different interviewing conditions: at the scene of the incidents (Physical Context Reinstatement; PCR group), in the investigator's office with mental context reinstating instructions (MCR group), and in the office without contextual cueing (Control group). Children in the PCR, MCR, and Control groups did not differ significantly with respect to the total number of informative details reported. Children in the MCR condition provided more detailed responses to the main invitation and in their first narrative than did children in the PCR condition, however. They also provided proportionally more detailed responses to open‐ended invitations and fewer details in response to directive prompts than did children in the two other conditions. The MCR procedures were thus associated with greater improvements in the quality of information retrieval than were the PCR procedures. In all interviewing conditions, children aged 7 to 13 years provided significantly more details than 4‐ to‐6‐year‐old children did. The youngest children provided fewer details in response to invitations and directive utterances, and proportionally more details in response to option‐posing and suggestive utterances. No significant interactions between age and interviewing condition were apparent. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.