The Association of Religiosity and Political Conservatism: The Role of Political Engagement

Some argue that there is an organic connection between being religious and being politically conservative. We evaluate an alternative thesis that the relation between religiosity and political conservatism largely results from engagement with political discourse that indicates that these characteristics go together. In a combined sample of national survey respondents from 1996 to 2008, religiosity was associated with conservative positions on a wide range of attitudes and values among the highly politically engaged, but this association was generally weaker or nonexistent among those less engaged with politics. The specific political characteristics for which this pattern existed varied across ethno‐religious groups. These results suggest that whether religiosity translates into political conservatism depends to an important degree on level of engagement with political discourse.     

Effects of optical pitch on oculomotor control and the perception of target elevation

In two experiments, we used an ISCAN infrared video system to examine the influence of a pitched visual array on gaze elevation and on judgments of visually perceived eye level. In Experiment 1, subjects attempted to direct their gaze to arelaxed or to ahorizontal orientation while they were seated in a room whose walls were pitched at various angles with respect to gravity. Gaze elevation was biased in the direction in which the room was pitched. In Experiment 2, subjects looked into a small box that was pitched at various angles while they attempted simply to direct their gaze alone, or to direct their gaze and place a visual target at their apparent horizon. Both gaze elevation and target settings varied systematically with the pitch orientation of the box. Our results suggest that under these conditions, an optostatic response, of which the subject is unaware, is responsible for the changes in both gaze elevation and judgments of target elevation.     

Some steps towards a general theory of relevance

The classical analysis of relevance in probabilistic terms does not fit legal, moral or conversational relevance, and, though analysis in terms of a psychological model may fit conversational relevance, it certainly does not fit legal, moral or evidential relevance. It is important to notice here that some sentences are ambiguous between conversational and non-conversational relevance. But, if and only ifR is relevant to a questionQ, R is a reason, though not necessarily a complete or conclusive reason, for accepting or rejecting something as an answer toQ. Reasons of this kind are governed by appropriate covering laws or principled probabilities and a number of questions thus arise about the relationship between relevance and certain formal-logical properties.     

Functional magnetic resonance imaging: Overview and methods for psychological research

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows noninvasive imaging of hemodynamic changes related to neural activity. This technique can be used in single-subject designs and can provide millimeter spatial resolution and temporal resolution in the range of 5–10 sec. This paper provides a brief introduction to MRI techniques and their application to functional neuroimaging, focusing on methodological issues that are of particular concern to psychologists, including methods for presenting computerized stimuli to subjects without disrupting the scanner, experimental design issues, and statistical analysis and image processing procedures. To illustrate methodological issues, recent results from a series of studies looking at the topographic organization of visual cortex are presented. General issues concerning limitations in this technique, future directions in its development, its relationship to other neuroimaging techniques, and the role of functional neuroimaging in psychological research are addressed in the Discussion.     

Color,Variation, and the Appeal to Essences: Impasse and Resolution

Many philosophers have been attracted by the view that colors are mind-independent properties of object surfaces. While this view has come in for a fair bit of criticism for failing to do justice to the facts about perceptual variation, Byrne and Hilbert have recently argued that perceptual variation involving color is no more problematic for physicalism about color than representational variation involving temperature is for physicalism about temperature. Unfortunately, the analogy on which this response rests is no less controversial than the disputed view about color, and so the response leads to a standoff rather than a resolution of the debate. However, we can appeal to facts about our inferential treatment of color and other properties as a way of resolving this impasse; doing so gives us defeasible reason for rejecting the Byrne and Hilbert response, and so for rejecting their mind-independent conception of color.     

Mothers' use of personal pronouns when talking with toddlers

The verbal interaction of 2-year-old children (N = 46; 16 girls, 30 boys) and their mothers was audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed for the use of personal pronouns, the total number of utterances, the child's mean length of utterance, and the mother's responsiveness to her child's utterances. Mothers' use of the personal pronoun we was significantly related to their children's performance on the Stanford-Binet at age 5 and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children at age 8. Mothers' use of we in social--vocal interchange, indicating a system for establishing a shared relationship with the child, was closely connected with their verbal responsiveness to their children. The total amount of maternal talking, the number of personal pronouns used by mothers, and their verbal responsiveness to their children were not related to mothers' social class or years of education.