Teaching with Spiritual Impact: An Analysis of Student Comments Regarding High‐ and Low‐Rated Spiritually Inspiring Religion Classes

We analyzed 2,621 written student comments to better understand themes which most contribute to religion classes being rated high or low in terms of the spiritual benefit students received from the class. From 2,448 religion classes taught from September of 2010 through April of 2014, comments from the top 61 (2.5 percent) and bottom 51 (2.1 percent) rated classes in terms of being “spiritually inspiring” were compared for emerging themes. The most frequent themes in higher‐ranked spiritually inspiring courses were (1) intellectually enlightening and (2) applied religion to life. In lower‐ranked spiritually inspiring courses the themes (1) class time was ineffective and (2) poor assessments were prevalent. We explore the practical implications from these and other findings.     

How older adults use cognition in sentence-final word recognition

This study examined the effects of executive control and working memory on older adults’ sentence-final word recognition. The question we addressed was the importance of executive functions to this process and how it is modulated by the predictability of the speech material. To this end, we tested 173 neurologically intact adult native English speakers aged 55–84 years. Participants were given a sentence-final word recognition test in which sentential context was manipulated and sentences were presented in different levels of babble, and multiple tests of executive functioning assessing inhibition, shifting, and efficient access to long-term memory, as well as working memory. Using a generalized linear mixed model, we found that better inhibition was associated with higher accuracy in word recognition, while increased age and greater hearing loss were associated with poorer performance. Findings are discussed in the framework of semantic control and are interpreted as supporting a theoretical view of executive control which emphasizes functional diversity among executive components.     

The Measurement of Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Are We Assuming Too Much?

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is assessed by measuring how frequently employees display extra-role and discretionary behaviors. One hundred forty-four managerial employees responded to an OCB scale and indicated the number of behaviors on the scale they believed to be formally evaluated. None of the behaviors were believed to be unevaluated by all employees. Data suggest that a typical OCB scale is not measuring citizenship behaviors for everybody, and that OCB measurement needs refinement. Best prediction of other organizational variables was obtained when both the OCB and an index of "unevaluated" behaviors were used as predictors. Supervisor fairness interacted with OCB when predicting organizational commitment, and this interaction was contingent on the extent OCBs were believed to be unevaluated.     

Homosexuality,Heterosexuality, and Cross-Dressing: Perceptions of Gender Discordant Behavior

This study examined attitudes of heterosexual and homosexual males toward heterosexual and homosexual cross-dressers. It was hypothesized that heterosexual males would be equally intolerant of homosexual cross-dressers, heterosexual cross-dressers, and homosexuals who did not cross-dress, but that homosexuals would be more tolerant of noncross-dressing homosexuals than of the other two groups. It was also hypothesized that homosexual subjects, but not the heterosexual subjects, would rate the homosexual noncross-dressers as more masculine than the cross-dressers. Forty-five heterosexual and 45 homosexual male college students read stories about a character who was described as a heterosexual cross-dresser, a homosexual cross-dresser, or a plain homosexual. 83 subjects were Caucasian, 2 were Asian, and 5 were African American; about 60% of the subjects were middle class; 30% were from lower class families and 10% were upper class. Heterosexuals were much less tolerant of all three vignette characters than homosexuals, but neither group rated the characters much differently when they were labeled differently. Homosexuals, but not heterosexuals, rated the plain homosexual as more masculine than the cross-dressing characters. Results also showed that gay males with highly nontraditional attitudes toward women had higher self-esteem.     

Caregivers of adults with cancer: Multidimensional correlates of psychological distress

The relationship between psychological distress and intrapersonal, family, and socioecological variables was examined in 77 caregivers of adults actively receiving cancer treatment. Results indicated that a sizable minority (29%) of caregivers was experiencing clinically significant psychological distress. Furthermore, family disturbances and maladaptive coping strategies were most predictive of psychological distress in this sample. The clinical implications of these findings in relation to the assessment and treatment of both patients and caregivers are discussed.     

On the Piliavin & Piliavin Model of Helping Behavior: Costs Are in the Eye of the Beholder

Two field experiments tested the Piliavin and Piliavin cost-reward model of helping. The model predicts that the most helping should occur when the costs for helping are low and when the costs for not helping are high. The results of Experiment 1 provided partial support for this prediction, and the results of Experiment 2 were completely consistent with the model.     

Modification of an impulsive cognitive tempo in emotionally disturbed boys

In order to determine the relative effectiveness of verbal self-instructions and training to delay before responding in modifying an impulsive cognitive style, 15 impulsive emotionally disturbed boys were assigned to one of three groups. The cognitive-training group was given practice in verbal self-instructions, the delay-training group received practice in delaying before responding, and the control group received no training. Posttreatment scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test showed a significant increase in latencies for both the cognitive and delay-training groups. However, only the cognitive-training group, which had recieved practice in verbal self-instructions, made fewer errors following training. Implications for future research and potential treatment strategies for verbal self-instructions are discussed.