Imagined contact and mental illness stigma in an Asian context: Bolstering the effect and examining the impact of factual information

Imagined contact can be effective at reducing social stigma. However, the effect may depend on the strength of the stigma held. We tested the robustness of imagined contact in an Asian setting where stigmatization of mental illness is stronger than in Western countries. In Experiment 1 (n = 167) with five conditions, only an enhanced version of positive imagined contact was able to decrease stigma towards people with schizophrenia through decreasing intergroup anxiety. Given the potential discrepancy between imaginations and reality about experiences with stigmatized groups, in Experiment 2 (n = 121), we tested the hypothesis that after presenting participants with factual information about a mental illness group, imagined contact might backfire, resulting in more negative perceptions. However, enhanced imagined contact alongside factual message about schizophrenia did not increase stigma. The backfiring hypothesis was therefore not supported. Nevertheless, providing realistic information did negate the positive effects of enhanced imagined contact on stigma reduction. In both experiments, we also showed that intergroup anxiety mediated the effect of enhanced imagined contact on various measures of stigma.     

Effects of socially appropriate singing on the vocal stereotypy of children with autism spectrum disorder

This study evaluated the effects of children with autism spectrum disorder engaging in socially acceptable singing on their vocal stereotypy. A multiple‐baseline across four participants with embedded multielement designs was used to assess the effects of the singing intervention upon later occurrence of vocal stereotypy for each participant. Results showed that fewer instances of vocal stereotypy occurred during and after singing intervention sessions. Additionally, two children began to emit appropriate singing after intervention, which suggests that the topography of their vocal stereotypy (e.g., monosyllabic or screeching sounds) was altered to some extent. Overall, results suggest positive implications for teaching appropriate vocal behaviors as functional replacements for vocal stereotypy.     

Action-based and vision-based selection of input: Two sources of control

In the first part of this paper we review evidence suggesting that there exists a mechanism that selects input on the basis of its similarity to the required action. This response-based input selection differs from the more established space- and object-based input selection in that it is not constrained by the structure of the input. Our evidence suggests that the two-choice Stroop effect is caused by this response-based selection mechanism. By contrast, it is known that the flanker effect is determined by the space- and object- based selection mechanisms. We explore whether the conflict resolution of the Stroop and flanker tasks is different as well by embedding these two tasks in a PRP (Psychological Refractory Period) paradigm. We show that the Stroop and the PRP effects are additive whereas the flanker and the PRP effects are underadditive, suggesting that the processes in charge of the conflict resolution in the Stroop and the flanker tasks are indeed different. We discuss possible reasons for this difference, and discuss possible ways in which the response-based mechanism can be implemented in information processing models.     

Win-shift and win-stay learning in the short-beaked echidna (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tachyglossus aculeatus</Emphasis>)

Numerous previous investigators have explained species differences in spatial memory performance in terms of differences in foraging ecology. In three experiments we attempted to extend these findings by examining the extent to which the spatial memory performance of echidnas (or "spiny anteaters") can be understood in terms of the spatio-temporal distribution of their prey (ants and termites). This is a species and a foraging situation that have not been examined in this way before. Echidnas were better able to learn to avoid a previously rewarding location (to "win-shift") than to learn to return to a previously rewarding location (to "win-stay"), at short retention intervals, but were unable to learn either of these strategies at retention intervals of 90 min. The short retention interval results support the ecological hypothesis, but the long retention interval results do not. Electronic Publication     

The role of attitudes and beliefs in differential health care utilisation among Chinese in Singapore

Abstract One hundred and twenty-eight Chinese patients at two Western medical practices and two Chinese medical practices in Singapore completed a questionnaire regarding perceptions of illnesses. Health beliefs and attitudes towards different medical practitioners. Results indicate significant differences between those who consult only allopathic physicians (Western doctors) and those who consult both practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (sinsehs) and Western doctors. Individuals consulting both Western doctors and sinsehs perceived a smaller proportion of "general" illness attributes (those found in both Western and Chinese medicine) to be relevant to specific diseases and showed greater endorsement of Chinese health beliefs than did individuals seeking help only from Western doctors. Also individuals consulting both types of practitioners expressed less satisfaction with the doctor's treatment than did those consulting only Western doctors and also rated sinsehs as more concerned with patient well-being and as listening more to their patients.     

The Factor Structure of the Beavers Interactional Scales

Confirmatory factor analysis and regression analyses of the Beavers Interactional Scales did not appear to support the model offered by its developers, namely, several specified family attributes contributing respectively to two global factors of Family Competence and Family Style. Moreover, regression analysis indicated that only three of 12 items predicted raters' assessments of Global Family Health, and one of seven items predicted Global Family Style. Individuals interested in the family dynamic centripetal/centrifugal might best think of that as a unitary entity and rate it accordingly.     

Plantinga’s Reformed Epistemology: What’s the Question?

Alvin Plantingas Warranted Christian Belief is without questionone of the central texts of the Reformed epistemology movement. Critiques of Plantingas defence have been both multiple and varied. As varied as these responses are, however, it is my contention that many of them amount to the same thing. It is the purpose of this paper to offer an overview of the main lines of attack that have been directed as Plantingas project, and thereafter to show how many, if not most, of these objections can be understood as versions or aspects of the same criticism, what I call the Inadequacy Thesis.     

Bioethics and Christian Theology

The authors of this essay suggest that the field of bioethics and Christian theology have a great deal to offer to each other. The authors first argue that representatives from both fields must first make sure that they fully and correctly represent their respective position. In other words, scientists, ethicists, and theologians alike must make sure that they present their fields and not use their knowledge merely for personal gain at the stake of misguiding people. Once this is established, the authors then proceed to show the intimate relationship between Christianity and medicine that has existed throughout the ages. It is a call for a continuation of such a relationship that the authors suggest between bioethics and theology. Through an integration of bioethics and Christian theology, both scientists/physicians and theologians are able to gain greater insight into the human person—a focus in both fields.     

Concordant Spiritual Orientations as a Factor in Physician--Patient Spiritual Discussions: A Qualitative Study

Objectives: To understand the impact of physicians and patients religious/spiritual orientation on discussions of spiritual issues. Methods: We performed semi-structured interviews of 10 Missouri family physicians and 10 patients of these physicians, selecting subjects nonrandomly to represent a range of demographic factors, practice types, and chronic or terminal illness. We coded and evaluated transcribed interviews for themes. Results: Respondents expressed that similar belief systems facilitate patient–physician spiritual interactions and bring confidence to their relationships. Those holding dissimilar faiths noted limited ability to address spiritual questions directly. They cited significant barriers to spiritual interaction but considered that ecumenism, use of patient-centered care, and negotiation skills lessen these barriers. Conclusions: Our respondents view spirituality similarly to other aspects of the physician–patient relationship involving differing viewpoints. Where discordance exists, cross-cultural, patient-centered, diplomatic approaches facilitate spiritual discussions.     

From <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pintele Yid to Racenjude</Emphasis>: Chaim Zhitlovsky and racial conceptions of Jewishness

The Russian Jewish intellectual, Chaim Zhitlovsky (1865–1943), a leading architect of secular Jewish culture and thought, was a central figure in the progressive Jewish intelligentsia of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In an essay written in 1927, Yidn un Yiddishkayt (Jews and Jewishness), he sought to define the secular essence of what he calls Yiddishkayt. This essay is not the first in Zhitlovskys long publicistic career in which he searches for new, secular definitions of Jewish identity and culture. But this essay differs, since it is marked by Zhitlovskys use of contemporary social scientific notions of race and racial traits to conceptualize what he believes constitutes Jewishness in a non-religious context, along with his adoption of the mystical Jewish concept of the pintele yid, the theory of an innate Jewishness embodied by a Jewish spark. Zhitlovskys desire to craft a truly secular theory of Jewish identity led him ironically to accept models of Jewish identity at odds with his stated larger vision. In turning to contemporary racial theory, as well as long nurtured mystical models of Yiddishkayt, Zhitlovsky reveals the wide range of ideological discourses that led him to innovative and controversial notions of modern Jewish identity.