New measures of political attitudes in Northern Ireland: a social identity perspective

Twenty‐eight measures of political attitudes were validated on a sample of 388 undergraduate students from Northern Ireland. Confirmatory factor analysis showed the scales to be unidimensional, discriminantly valid, with generally excellent reliabilities. The pattern of intergroup differentiation between Catholics and Protestants conformed to Social Identity Theory, with maximum differentiation on important issues, Catholics adopting a social change ideology and Protestants defending the status quo. Catholics and Protestants resolved their respective group associations with violence by condemning both it and terrorism, and also reported interdenominational friendships. The utility of these new measures of political attitudes in terms of measuring changes due to political initiatives, cross‐community reconciliation programmes and in assessing changes in attitudes as a result of integrated or segregated denominational schooling within the Province is outlined. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

久远的文明：以往的现实，当今的挑战

在其关于当今世界的教科书（1963年初版,1987年在作者去世后以《文明史纲》为书名再版）的开篇,费尔南·布罗代尔提醒我们说,civilisation（文明）一词具有多种含义,其用法在不同语言之间并不相互对应,因而经常造成翻译上的困难。这个词出现在18世纪中叶的法国,当时与“野蛮状态”形成了对照。“高贵的野蛮人”就被贬为后一范畴,尽管启蒙思想家因其生活方式的纯正性而将他们理想化。     

Parent‐selected interventions for infants at‐risk for autism spectrum disorders and their affected siblings

Infants with older siblings having Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are at genetically increased risk for showing characteristics of ASD in the first 2 years of life. Parents, who already have at least one child with ASD, may closely monitor their later born children and implement interventions as soon as the children begin to show what the parents believe is aberrant behavior or development that may be early stages of ASD. To date, no study has examined the number and types of services and interventions these parents access for their at‐risk infants. Using a Service and Intervention Questionnaire developed for this study, we interviewed 23 parents involved in a larger prospective study of genetically at‐risk infants who reported developmental and/or behavior problems in their at‐risk infants. Parents reported utilizing a mean of 1.83 and 7.26 services and/or interventions for their at‐risk infants and older children with ASD, respectively. Two‐thirds of the interventions received by the infants were also given to their older affected siblings. The interventions included empirically validated approaches (e.g., early intensive behavioral intervention), professional services (speech–language therapy, occupational therapy), and non‐validated treatments (e.g., diet and vitamin therapies). Overall, 81 non‐validated and 18 validated interventions were used. On a Likert‐type rating scale, parents reported being involved and satisfied with what they generally thought were effective services. They felt more involved and satisfied with ABA, and felt it was more effective than non‐validated interventions. The findings suggest that parents with infants at‐risk for ASD and an older affected child will access a variety of autism services for both children, but the parents will implement primarily non‐validated interventions. Parent education is recommended to help parents make informed treatment decisions for their children. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determinants of Citation in Epidemiological Studies on Phthalates: A Citation Analysis

Science and Engineering Ethics - Citing of previous publications is an important factor in knowledge development. Because of the great amount of publications available, only a selection of studies...     

Intuition, Affect, and Peculiar Beliefs

Research with college students has found that intuitive thinking (e.g., using hunches to ascribe meaning to experiences) and positive affect interactively predict ideas of reference and odd/magical beliefs. We investigated whether these results would generalize to a diverse community sample of adults that included individuals with elevated levels of peculiar perceptions and beliefs. We measured positive and negative affect and intuitive thinking through questionnaires, and peculiar beliefs (i.e., ideas of reference and odd/magical beliefs) through structured clinical interviews. We found that peculiar beliefs were associated with intuitive thinking and negative affect, but not positive affect. Furthermore, in no instance did the interaction of affect and intuitive thinking predict peculiar beliefs. These results suggest that there are important differences in the factors that contribute to peculiar beliefs between college students and clinically meaningful samples.     

Inconsistent parenting and anxiety in the child

Abstract

This study has examined children's estimates of dental anxiety and pain before and after a standard dental treatment session consisting of a local analgesic and drilling procedures. A method of assessing intensity of pain while receiving dental treatment was devised, and measures of the child's uncooperativeness and the dentist's supportive behaviour including treatment time was collected. Results showed that there was an immediate reduction in dental anxiety following exposure to dental procedures for those children referred because of their previous uncooperativeness. The reduction in anxiety was not attributed to supportive behaviour of the dentist. Children referred as unco-operative recorded higher pain intensity to comparison children.     

Jonathan Martin: Prophet and incendiary

Jonathan Martin was a fundamentalist itinerant Christian preacher. Outraged by the laxity of Church of England clergy and inspired by prophetic dreams, he set fire to York Minster in 1829. At his trial for this capital offence, medical expert witnesses argued that Jonathan Martin was suffering from monomania and he was incarcerated for the rest of his life in Bethlem Hospital. This paper reviews the medico-legal use of the insanity defence in cases of religious motives for grave offences from the early 19th Century, and describes the millenarian climate of the period as well as the phenomenon of biblical exegesis and prophecy. Finally, the case of a contemporary bible-inspired arsonist is reviewed and his medical mitigation and 'disposal' is compared with that of Jonathan Martin.