Educational level, socioeconomic status and aphasia research: a comment on Connor et al. (2001)--effect of socioeconomic status on aphasia severity and recovery

Is there a relation between socioeconomic factors and aphasia severity and recovery? describe correlations between the educational level and socioeconomic status of aphasic subjects with aphasia severity and subsequent recovery. As stated in the introduction by, studies of the influence of educational level and literacy (or illiteracy) on aphasia severity have yielded conflicting results, while no significant link between socioeconomic status and aphasia severity and recovery has been established. In this brief note, we will comment on their findings and conclusions, beginning first with a brief review of literacy and aphasia research, and complexities encountered in these fields of investigation. This serves as a general background to our specific comments on, which will be focusing on methodological issues and the importance of taking normative values in consideration when subjects with different socio-cultural or socio-economic backgrounds are assessed.     

The place of Buddhism in Santayana's moral philosophy

Within the moral philosophy of the Spanish‐American philosopher George San‐tayana (1863–1952), reference to Buddhism becomes an essential feature in his formulation of the notion of post‐rational morality, which is that ‘phase’ of morality which involves an effort to subordinate all precepts to one that points to some single eventual good. Post‐rational morality is synonymous with the spiritual life, an essential feature of which is detachment; and this is why the Buddhists can be said to be the ‘true masters’ of the subject. Santayana's claim that Buddhism “suffers from a fundamental contradiction” can also be seen as an opportunity for us to deepen our own understanding of that philosophy.     

THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONS TO A DEPRESSANT DRUG

F rankenhaeuser , M., and B eckman , M. The susceptibility of intellectual functions to a depressant drug. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1961, 2 , 93–99.—The performance of 32 subjects in tests on four intellectual factors (verbal, numerical, inductive and spatial) during the inhalation of nitrous oxide (30 per cent N₂O and 70 per cent O₂) and a control mixture (30 per cent N₂ and 70 per cent O₂) were compared . The drug caused a highly significant deterioration in the performance of all four tests. Both speed and accuracy of performance were impaired. The problem of a possible differential susceptibility to the drug of the various intellectual functions wag attacked by a statistical analysis of the differences between the tests with regard to changes in performance during drug inhalation. No reliable differences in extent of impairment between the four tests could be demonstrated.     

Book reviews

Religion and Gender Ursula King, ed., 1995 Oxford, UK & Cambridge, USA: Blackwell 324 pp., £13.99/US$21.95 (pb); £40.00/US$54.95 (hb) ISBN 0–631–19377–4 (pb); 0–631–19376–7 (hb)

Zur Erleuchtung unterwegs. Neo‐Sannyasin in Deutschland und ihre Religion Joachim Süss, 1994 Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag 321 pp., DM 48.00 ISBN 3–496–02531‐X

The Odyssey of a New Religion: The Holy Order of MANS from New Age to Orthodoxy Phillip Charles Lucas, 1995 Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press; Ballmoor, Buckingham: Open University Press 312 pp., £35.00 (hb) ISBN 0–253–33612–0

The Church, Medicine and the New Age James Watt, ed., 1995 London: The Churches’ Council for Health and Healing 148 pp., £9.95 ISBN 9–780950–699028

Visions of Creation Eileen Conn & James Stewart, 1995 Alresford: Godfield Press 160 pp., £9.99 ISBN 1–899434–60–7

Ultimate Vision: Reflections on the Religions We Choose Martin Forward, ed., 1995 Oxford: Oneworld Publications £9.95, 288 pp. ISBN 1–85168–100–0

True to this Earth: Global Challenges and Transforming Faith Alan Race & Roger Williamson, 1995 Oxford: Oneworld Publications 204pp., UK £9.95 US$ 14.95 Can. $ 19.99 (pb) ISBN 1–85168–099–3

The Universe Within: An Exploration of the Human Spirit Anjam Khursheed, 1995 Oxford: Oneworld Publications 192 pp., £7.95, US$ 11.95 ISBN 1–85168–075–6

Ecology & Liberation: A New Paradigm Leonardo Boff, 1995 Maryknoll: Orbis Books 187 pp., US$ 14.95 ISBN 0–88344–978–1

Promised Land: Base Christian Communities and the Struggle for the Amazon Madeleine Cousineau Adriance, 1995 Albany: State University of New York 202 pp., US$ 19.95 ISBN 0–7914–2650–5 (pb)

The Sense of God: Sociological, Psychological and Anthropological Approaches to the Origin of the Sense of God John Bowker, 1995 Oxford: Oneworld 237 pp. (including index), £9.95 (pb) ISBN 1–85168–093–4

Le Dieu Distribué: une anthropologie compareé des monothéismes Jean Lambert, 1995 Paris: Les Editions du Cerf 405 pp., FF 240 ISBN 2–204–04950–6

The Rise and Fall of Catholic Religious Orders: A Social Movement Perspective Patricia Wittberg, 1994 New York: The State University of New York Press xii + 423 pp., £54.50 (hb), £18.25 (pb) ISBN 0–7914–2229–1 (hb); ISBN 0–7914–2230–5 (pb)

Beyond Death: Theological and Philosophical Reflections on Life after Death Dan Cohn‐Sherbok & Christopher Lewis, eds., 1995 Basingstoke: Macmillan 219 pp., £14.99 ISBN 0–333–63074–2

Mahdism in West Africa. The Ijebu Mahdiyya Movement Peter B. Clarke, 1995 London: Luzoc Oriental 225 pp., £30.00 ISBN 1–898942–06–4

African American Islam Aminah Beverly McCloud, 1995 New York: Routledge viii + 213 pp., £37.30 (hb); £12.99 (pb) ISBN 0–415–90785–3 (hb)

Religious Freedom and the Position of Islam in Western Europe: Opportunities and Obstacles in the Acquisition of Equal Rights (with an Extensive Bibliography) W. A. R. Shadid & P. S. van Koningsveld, 1995 Kampen: Kok Pharos Publishing House 229 pp., Dfl. 64,90 ISBN 90–393–0065–4

Religious Liberty: Principles for Judicial Interpretation of the Religious Clauses Jesse H. Choper, 1995 Chicago: University of Chicago Press xiii +198 pp., £19.95 ISBN 0–226–10445102

Schools of Reconciliation: Issues in Joint Roman Catholic‐Anglican Education Priscilla Chadwick, 1994 London: Cassell 229 pp., £35.00 (hb); £14.99 (pb) ISBN 0–304–33142–2     

Modeling and Testing Differential Item Functioning in Unidimensional Binary Item Response Models with a Single Continuous Covariate: A Functional Data Analysis Approach

Differential item functioning (DIF), referring to between-group variation in item characteristics above and beyond the group-level disparity in the latent variable of interest, has long been regarded as an important item-level diagnostic. The presence of DIF impairs the fit of the single-group item response model being used, and calls for either model modification or item deletion in practice, depending on the mode of analysis. Methods for testing DIF with continuous covariates, rather than categorical grouping variables, have been developed; however, they are restrictive in parametric forms, and thus are not sufficiently flexible to describe complex interaction among latent variables and covariates. In the current study, we formulate the probability of endorsing each test item as a general bivariate function of a unidimensional latent trait and a single covariate, which is then approximated by a two-dimensional smoothing spline. The accuracy and precision of the proposed procedure is evaluated via Monte Carlo simulations. If anchor items are available, we proposed an extended model that simultaneously estimates item characteristic functions (ICFs) for anchor items, ICFs conditional on the covariate for non-anchor items, and the latent variable density conditional on the covariate—all using regression splines. A permutation DIF test is developed, and its performance is compared to the conventional parametric approach in a simulation study. We also illustrate the proposed semiparametric DIF testing procedure with an empirical example.     

Observe: A multimedia course on the observational analysis of behavior

OBSERVE is a preliminary release of a multimedia course for teaching undergraduate and graduate students how and why to study behavior by direct observation. The instructional text and commentary and the self-test and examination materials are built around a series of exercises in which the student observes and categorizes film clips of the behavior of several different species in several different ways. Incorporation of elements from The Observer software for computer recording and video analysis implements fully computerized continuous recording. At present, the text, together with check sheets that the program generates, enables a comparison between one-zero, instantaneous, and continuous sampling of the same behavioral excerpts. Matrices are printed out for an exercise in calculating interobserver reliability. Another section supports carrying out and writing up a small observational project on human behavior in the field. Plans for the future development of OBSERVE are briefly described.     

Discovering hidden time patterns in behavior: T-patterns and their detection

This article deals with the definition and detection of particular kinds of temporal patterns in behavior, which are sometimes obvious or well known, but other times difficult to detect, either directly or with standard statistical methods. Characteristics of well-known behavior patterns were abstracted and combined in order to define a scale-independent, hierarchical time pattern type, called aT-pattern. A corresponding detection algorithm was developed and implemented in a computer program, called Theme. The proposed pattern typology and detection algorithm are based on the definition and detection of a particular relationship between pairs of events in a time series, called acritical interval relation. The proposed bottom-up, level-by-level (or breadth-first) search algorithm is based on a binary tree of such relations. The algorithm first detects simpler patterns. Then, more complex and complete patterns evolve through the connection of simpler ones, pattern completeness competition, and pattern selection. Interindividual T-patterns in a quarter-hour interaction between two children are presented, showing that complex hidden T-patterns may be found by Theme in such behavioral streams. Finally, implications for studies of complexity, self-organization, and dynamic patterns are discussed.     

How are employees at different levels affected by privatization? A longitudinal study of two Swedish hospitals

Despite the amount of privatizations around the world in recent decades, only limited research attention has been paid to how privatization affects the employees. The effects are likely to vary depending on the individual's position in the organization. The aim of this study was to investigate how employees' work‐related attitudes and strain changed after privatization of a Swedish acute care hospital, and to analyze whether the effects of privatization differed between employees at various hierarchic levels. Questionnaire data collected at a hospital 1 year before and 2 years after privatization, as well as at a hospital which remained a public administration unit, suggest only limited effects of privatization on a general level, but that employees at various hierarchic levels may be affected differently. While employees at a high level (physicians) and low level (assistant nurses) reported only marginal differences over time in work attitudes and strain, also in comparison with their colleagues at the comparison hospital, work attitudes of employees at the intermediate level (registered nurses) decreased after privatization. These results emphasize the importance of taking hierarchic level into account when a privatization is implemented and analyzed.     

What matters most to prejudice: Big Five personality,Social Dominance Orientation,or Right‐Wing Authoritarianism?

Whereas previous research has studied the relation of either (i) personality with prejudice, (ii) personality with social dominance orientation (SDO) and right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), or (iii) SDO and RWA with prejudice, the present research integrates all approaches within the same model. In our study (N = 183), various causal models of the relationships among the Big Five, SDO, RWA, and Generalized Prejudice are proposed and tested. Generalized Prejudice scores were obtained from a factor analysis of the scores on various prejudice instruments (racism, sexism, prejudice toward homosexuals, and mentally disabled people), which yielded a one‐factor solution. The best‐fitting causal model, which was our suggested hypothetical model, showed that Big Five personality had no direct effect on Generalized Prejudice but an indirect effect transmitted through RWA and SDO, where RWA seems to capture personality aspects to a greater extent than SDO. Specifically, Generalized Prejudice was affected indirectly by Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness through RWA, and by Agreeableness through SDO, whereas Neuroticism had no effect at all. The results are discussed against the background of previous research and the personality and social psychology approaches to the study of prejudice. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Look to Norway: Serving new families and infants in a multiethnic population

Despite recognition that immigrant women face significant health challenges, addressing the healthcare needs of immigrants is a source of debate in the United States. Lack of adequate healthcare for immigrants is recognized as a social justice issue, and other countries have incorporated immigrants into their healthcare services. Oslo, the fastest growing capital in Europe, is rapidly shifting to a heterogeneous society prompting organizational action and change. The New Families Program serves first-time mothers and their infants in an Oslo district serving 53% minorities from 142 countries. Anchored in salutogenic theory, the program aims to support the parent–child relationship, children's development and social adaptation, and to prevent stress-related outcomes. Formative research has informed the successful program development and implementation within the existing maternal and child healthcare service. Implications for addressing maternal and child health needs of an immigrant population are presented.