Adult-child discourse: Developmental interaction between information processing and linguistic knowledge

In the present study, the discourse interaction between adult and child was examined in terms of the content of their utterances, and the linguistic and contextual relations between their messages, in order to investigate how children use the information from adults' input sentences to form contingent responses. The analyses described were based on longitudinal data from four children from approximately 21 to 36 months of age. Categories of child discourse, their development and their interactions with aspects of prior adult utterances form the major results of the study. Child utterances were identified as adjacent (immediately preceded by an adult utterance), or as nonadjacent (not immediately preceded by an adult utterance). Adjacent utterances were either contingent (shared the same topic and added new information relative to the topic of the prior utterance), imitative (shared the same topic but did not add new information), or noncontingent (did not share the same topic). From the beginning, the adjacent speech was greater than nonadjacent speech. Contingent speech increased over time; in particular, linguistically contingent speech (speech that expanded the verb relation of the prior adult utterance with added or replaced constituents within a clause) showed the greatest developmental increase. Linguistically contingent speech occurred more often after questions than nonquestions. The results are discussed in terms of how the differential requirements for processing information in antecedent messages is related to language learning.     

An fMRI study on conceptual, grammatical, and morpho-phonological processing

The aim of the present study was to determine whether processing of syntactic word information (lemma) is subserved by the same neural substrate as processing of conceptual or word form information (lexeme). We measured BOLD responses in 14 native speakers of German in three different decision tasks, each focussing specifically on one level of lexical processing (conceptual, syntactic, and morpho-phonological). The test parameters were natural gender, grammatical gender, and word form derivation, respectively. Discrimination between words played backwards and complex sounds served as control task. Complex contrasts revealed a functional fractionation of the left inferior frontal gyrus for each level of lexical processing.     

Mortimer Adler,Paulo Freire,and Teaching Theology in a Democracy

In view of the current attention being given to “practices,” this paper argues that Mortimer Adler and Paulo Freire have developed pedagogical practices that are relevant for the task of teaching theology in a democracy. Emphasizing the connection between education and democratic life, both reject a facile relativism or pragmatism, on the one hand, and an uncritical adherence to either a traditionalist or revolutionary agenda, on the other. Indeed, both present their pedagogies not simply as a means for advocating certain types of religious and ethical practice (whether traditional or revolutionary) but as a means for critically examining those practices in light of the truth and justice – and for believers, the reality of God – they presuppose. This essay examines precisely how they do this and what their relevance might be for the teaching of theology in a democracy where the co-existence of competing religious and ethical claims is a given.     

Examining mental health symptoms in male and female incarcerated juveniles

Varying risk factors for both incarceration and mental health diagnoses have been identified for female juveniles, highlighting the need for gender-specific assessments and treatment protocols. The purpose of this study is to determine how the prevalence rates of mental health symptoms differ in male and female juvenile offenders. It was hypothesized that the prevalence rates would be greater for females than males. This study found significant differences between males and females on several clinical scales. These findings are consistent with past studies that have identified differences in mental health symptoms between genders.     

Perceived unfairness and employee health: a meta-analytic integration

A growing body of research has suggested that the experience of injustice, psychological contract breach, or unfairness can adversely impact an employee's health. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effects of unfairness perceptions on health, examining types of fairness and methodological characteristics as moderators. Results suggested that perceptions of unfairness were associated with indicators of physical and mental health. Furthermore, psychological contract breach contributed to the prediction of strain-related indicators of health above and beyond that accounted for by injustice alone.     

Making sense of surveys and censuses: Issues in religious self-identification

Abstract

Censuses and surveys shape decisions, discourse and debates about people and their lived environments. The outcomes, in the case of a census, inform governments about resource distribution but also shape people's self-understanding about who they are and where they may be going. How people self-identify on censuses and surveys produces certain types of knowledge. This introduction emphasises the impact of those instruments on knowledge production and how numbers can be employed, often anecdotally, to further interests and claims. The way academics use and interpret such instruments has ethical and normative dimensions: numbers are not neutral but shape and are shaped by perceptions and identities. This introduction to a thematic issue of Religion introduces the contributing authors' diverse – historical, qualitative and quantitative – approaches that work together to produce their own kind of multi-disciplinary, academically located knowledge.     

The Protective Effects of Religious Beliefs on Behavioral Health Factors Among Low Income African American Adolescents in Chicago

Religious involvement has long been argued to have protective effects for negative behavioral health outcomes for vulnerable youth. This study builds on the existing resilience literature and need for more studies that examine protective factors associated with behavioral health. A sample of 638 low-income African American adolescents in Chicago to examine within group variations of the influence of religious involvement on delinquency, school engagement, substance use and sexual risk behaviors, and whether such relationships differ by gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. Logistic regression findings documented that greater religious involvement was protective with regards to lower rates of delinquency, drug use, risky sexual behaviors and higher rates of school engagement, and that gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status varied for several of these relationships. Overall findings are discussed with regards to future research.     

The experience of chronic illness: Issues of loss and adjustment

Abstract

The impact of a long-term illness creates a pervasive dilemma for individuals in regard to maintaining both emotional and social well-being. Dealing with the medical ramifications of illness may be only one small part of the challenge. Too often, a number of personal losses are encountered in addition to functional limitations. Chronic illness may affect an individual's sense of self-worth, relationships with family and friends, and future goals and plans. The acceptance of these losses and adaptation to the illness are shaped in part by the meaning the individual ascribes to the event. It is further influenced by societal reactions and interactions with others. Unfortunately, persons with chronic illness often find themselves alone in their struggle to adapt. The purpose of this article is to discuss the issues relevant to such persons and to identify ways in which counseling can facilitate this difficult process.     

Judgments of average magnitude: Analyses in terms of the functional measurement and two-stage models

Subjects made magnitude estimates of the average loudness of pairs of 1,000-Hz tones varying in sound pressure. A test of fit of an averaging model employing an analysis of variance suggested that the judgments were internally consistent. However, estimates of the parameters of a two-stage model based on the assumption that power transformations were imposed in both input and output implied a nonlinear output function, inconsistent with the averaging model. Additional analyses employing a nonmetric scaling solution also suggested that output was nonlinear, indicating that this implication was not an artifact of the strong assumptions of the two-stage model. Large differences were found among the output functions of individual subjects, and it was suggested that these may have inflated the error term in the analysis of variance, reducing its power to detect violations of the additive model. Similar analyses were performed on data from judgments of average grayness collected by Weiss (1972).