Conservative Churches and Fertility Innovation: A Cultural-Ecological Approach to the Second Demographic Transition Among Nonblacks in the United States

This article investigates whether the prevalence of conservative churches, which has been associated with variation in demographic patterns in Western Europe ( Lesthaeghe and Neels 2002 ), can explain geographic differences in family demographic patterns—specifically fertility—in the U.S. nonblack population. Lesthaeghe and Neels find that a second demographic transition (SDT)—characterized by increasing prevalence of nontraditional family and household structure—is hindered by the presence of strong conservative religious institutions. The high religiosity of the United States compared with Western Europe makes it an interesting test case for the theory. This article analyzes the relationship between nonblack fertility and rates of membership in conservative Protestant and Latter Day Saint churches (conservative churches) among nonblacks in U.S. counties and shows that conservative church membership indeed is an independent factor in geographic differences in family demographic patterns—especially with regard to the timing of parenting, but less so with regard to nonmarital childbearing.     

Perceptions of Clients and Counseling Professionals Regarding Spirituality in Counseling

Although current research indicates that psychotherapeutic change both affects and is affected by spiritual concerns, relatively little is known about the degree to which spirituality is used as an intervention in counseling and how it is perceived by clients and mental health professionals. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of clients and professionals regarding the use of spirituality in counseling. The results suggest that more professionals may be using spirituality in counseling than has previously been reported.     

Age of acquisition,not word frequency,affects object naming,not object recognition

Word frequency is widely believed to affect object naming speed, despite several studies in which it has been reported that frequency effects may be redundant upon age of acquisition. We report, first, a reanalysis of data from the study by Oldfield and Wingfield (1965), which is standardly cited as evidence for a word frequency effect in object naming; then we report two new experiments. The reanalysis of Oldfield and Wingfield shows that age of acquisition is the major determinant of naming speed, and that frequency plays no independent role when its correlation with other variables is taken into account. In Experiment 1, age of acquisition and phoneme length proved to be the primary determinants of object naming speed. Frequency, prototypicality, and imageability had no independent effect. In Experiment 2, subjects classified objects into two semantic categories (natural or man-made). Prototypicality and semantic category were the only variables to have a significant effect on reaction time, with no effect of age of acquisition, frequency, imageability, or word length. We conclude that age of acquisition, not word frequency, affects the retrieval and/or execution of object names, not the process of object recognition. The locus of this effect is discussed, along with the possibility that words learned in early childhood may be more resistant to the effects of brain injury in at least some adult aphasics than words learned somewhat later.     

Processing of identity and position information in normal and disabled readers

Processing of identity and position information was investigated in normal and disabled readers at two grade levels (third/fourth grade and sixth grade). Two partial-report tasks were used. The identity task consisted of visual presentation of a five-letter array, followed by a probe letter. Subjects responded yes for a match and no for a mismatch (identity response). The identity + position task was identical except that an additional response was required on correct yes trials: subjects reported the position of the probe letter in the array (position response). Both grade level and reading ability differences were found on the identity response measure, but not on the position response measure. Results were inconsistent with the hypothesis that disabled readers have difficulties in processing order information. Reader ability differences in identity processing attenuated somewhat with age. Serial position functions for both identity and position responses suggested the presence of a left-to-right scanning operation in both age and ability groups. Reader ability differences in processing letter identities were discussed in the context of current theories of reading acquisition.     

Compact representations of positional knowledge in short and long words for letters and features

Single-letter statistical measures providing values for each letter-position and word-length combination are too unwieldy for use in working letter-recognition models; more compact tables are needed. Compact tables collapsing word length to short or long words and letter positions to first, last, or middle letters are presented for the frequency and versatility of single letters. Letter-position and word-size differences are preserved in this reduced format. To test awareness of these values, subjects rate the commonness of letters in each letter position. Their responses indicate high intersubject agreement and correlate highly with the frequency and versatility measures. A LISP program that translates the letter knowledge for each letter into a corresponding knowledge for each feature in a feature set is described. Distinctiveness values for each feature (see Shimron & Navon, 1981) are computed.     

Treatment of PAT

It has been suggested that the dive reflex (elicited by face immersion in water with breath-hold) may be employed to induce vagally-mediated bradycardia in individuals with paroxysmal atrial tachycardia. However, in several cases the use of this reflex is reported to have led to exacerbation of the cardiac dysfunction. Examination of heartrate and EKG T-wave amplitude changes during the dive in healthy, college-aged individuals indicated that warming the water (10° through 20° C to 40° C) decreased the bradycardia, but did not alter theattenuation (approximately 100 μv) of the T-wave. The latter effect was taken to indicate that sympathetic activity, as indexed by T-wave amplitude, was not reduced by increases in water temperature. On the other hand, a 90° head-up to head-down body tilt produced a bradycardia response of some 30 bpm as well as a T-wave amplitudeincrease (sympathetic withdrawal) in the order of 100 μv. These data suggest that individuals who exhibit symptoms of ventricular sympathetic irritability may be adversely affected by the dive maneuver, regardless of water temperature. The body-tilt induced reflex in such individuals may thus be more appropriate given the large-magnitude bradycardia and absence of T-wave attenuation. At the present, however, the body-tilt preparation has been used only with healthy normal subjects, so this suggestion remains to be directly tested.     

Masking of foveal and parafoveal vision during eye fixations in reading

A window or visual mask as moved across text in synchrony with the reader's eye movements. The size of the window or mask was varied so that either information in foveal or parafoveal vision was masked on each fixation. In another experiment, the onset of the mask was delayed for a certain amount of time following the end of the saccade. The results of the experiments point out the relative importance of foveal and parafoveal vision for reading and further indicate that most of the visual information necessary for reading can be acquired during the first 50 msec that information is available during an eye fixation.     

Reliability assessment of pedometer activity measurements

Pedometers (step counters) are inexpensive devices for obtaining naturalistic activity measurements. The existing reliability literature on pedometers is inconsistent. This article presents reasons for the disparity including (a) distinguishing between instrument reliability (Experiment 1) and clinical repeatability (Experiments 2–4) and (b) discussing methods of evaluating the reliability of activity measuring instruments. Experiment 1 shows that pedometer measurements have an uncertainty of approximately 5% (the test-retest correlational equivalent of .97) under laboratory conditions. Experiment 2 shows that pedometer measurements in college students walking a measured half-mile have approximately the same uncertainty. Experiment 3 shows that pedometer measurements from normal children walking a measured half-mile have an uncertainty of approximately 18% (the correlational equivalent of .91), while measurements from mildly hyperactive children have an uncertainty of approximately 29% (the correlational equivalent of .84). Experiment 4 shows that electronic step counters have an uncertainty of approximately 9% in normal and mildly hyperactive children and about 12% in clinically hyperactive children.     

Counseling in heart surgery

Conclusion In conclusion, a word about the spiritual aspects of the ministry to the heart patient. All members of the hospital bly, the family coming to the hospital team minister in one way or another. The chaplain has a unique place on this team. He, too, can escape from a ministry by use of religious injections. There are times for prayer and sacraments, and only the individual chaplain can finally decide the appropriate if, where, and when.As the chaplain explores the meaning of the hospital experience with the patient—the patient's feelings about life, death, experiences, and goals; giving and understanding where it is needed; aiding in the healing of the whole person—surely this ministry is a reflection of his motivation and is in part an attempt to realize in another the wholeness and fullness of man. It is not the physical therapy of the doctor; it is not the psychotherapy of the psychiatrist. It is the spiritual therapy of the chaplain.