Response

The Psychologisation of the Church: on Jack Dominian's review of J.G. Sullivan's book 'Journey to Freedom: The Path to Self-Esteem for the Priesthood and Religious Life' (May, pp. 258—9).     

Teaching students to model neural circuits and neural networks using an electronic spreadsheet simulator

An electronic spreadsheet simulator can be used to enable students to conduct simulated microelectrode recording experiments. In addition, it can be used both to let students explore the operation of models of hypothetical neural networks and to let them design and develop their own neural models.     

Satisfaction with intimate exchange: Gender-role differences and the impact of equity,equality, and rewards

The relative effects of equity, equality, and reward level upon assessments of marital satisfaction are investigated. In doing so, the impact of gender-role orientation upon the relationship between the predictor variables and marital satisfaction is specified. The data indicate that reward level is the major variable affecting assessments of satisfaction for both moderns and traditionals. Further, the effect of reward level is more pronounced for those with modern gender-role orientations. Contrary to expectation, the effects of the exchange-related variables, equity and equality, are minimal for both moderns and traditionals. These findings suggest that intimates, regardless of gender-role orientation, tend to avoid the “bookkeeping” involved in global equity and equality comparisons and instead accentuate individual reward levels. It appears, however, that moderns are significantly more demanding than traditionals in their emphasis upon reward levels.     

The use of computer networks in data gathering and data analysis

In our research, the data are gathered in the laboratory on a DEC PDP-11/24 minicomputer. Once the data are gathered, they are analog-to-digital (A/D) converted and sent by the PDP to an IBM 370-3031. The data are submitted to a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on the IBM computer. Once the FFT is completed, the data are accessed by an IBM PC-XT that is equipped with an IRMA system. The PC is used in its emulation mode to access the data in the mainframe. In the mainframe, SPSS or SAS is used to do the initial statistical analyses. When necessary, subsets of the data are transferred to the PC, where other computer programs are used to analyze the data. In many instances, they are returned to the mainframe from the PC, where they are submitted to multivariate statistical analysis. Finally, all of the data are stored on floppy disks, which are prepared on the PC.     

Organism-environment mutuality epistemics,and the concept of an ecological niche

The concept of an ecological niche (econiche) has been used in a variety of ways, some of which are incompatible with a relational or functional interpretation of the term. This essay seeks to standardize usage by limiting the concept to functional relations between organisms and their surroundings, and to revise the concept to include epistemic relations. For most organisms, epistemics are a vital aspect of their functional relationships to their surroundings and, hence, a major determinant of their econiche. Rejecting the traditional dualism of organism and environment, an econiche is defined as the reciprocal (dual) of a functionally specified class of organisms (FSTU). From this perspective, an econiche necessarily implies a certain type of organism, and a class of functionally similar organisms implies a special econiche.The econiche concept is also discussed in relation to other ecological terms that reflect the distributional patterns of organisms, such as habitat, and the concept of an empty niche is criticized.Special thanks are due to Michael Turvery for his part in many stimulating discussions of some of the problems and concepts addressed in this paper. I am also grateful to him and to Claudia Carello, Tim Johnston, Bill Mace, Bernard Patten, Ed Reed, Robert E. Shaw, Bill Warren, and an anonymous reviewer for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Interpersonal attraction,social identification and psychological group formation

Two perspectives on the nature of the social group and psychological group formation are discussed. The traditional social cohesion approach traces group formation to processes of interpersonal attraction, while the social identity approach defines the group in cognitive terms and considers identification, or self-categorization, to be the mechanism of psychological group formation. On the basis of an experiment by Turner, Sachdev and Hogg (1983) it is hypothesized that interpersonal attraction (positive or negative) is related to group formation only in so far as it enhances intergroup distinctiveness. This hypothesis is experimentally tested in a 2 × 3 (interpersonal liking/disliking per se versus no explicit categorization/random categorization/criterial categorization on the basis of affect) factorial design employing the ‘minimal group’ paradigm. People who like each other and were not explicitly categorized formed a group. This effect was enhanced by criterial categorization but disappeared when categorization was random. Although the results do not support the hypothesis, they are not explicable in social cohesion terms. A social identity explanation is furnished—attraction influences group formation by acting, under certain specifiable conditions, as a cognitive criterion for common category membership. This explanation is located in current theorizing and is proposed as part of a reconceptualization of the relationship between interpersonal attraction and group formation.