The Risk of Obedience: A Consideration of Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling

This paper argues that Kierkegaard's defence of Abraham is in the first instance a polemic against the notion that the demands of faith are co-terminous with the best insights of practical reason. It is further argued that while no justification of Abraham's action at Mount Moriah may be offered, he is nevertheless to be admired for trusting in God beyond the limits of his understanding. Such trust is admirable, however, only in the context of a long life of obedience and love.     

New applications of lithium therapy

Several placebo-controlled double-blind studies have indicated that lithium sometimes augments antidepressants, converting nonresponding patients to responders. Lithium therapy has also benefitted some schizoaffective patients and some alcoholics. Side effects are minimal. Mechanisms involved in lithium's effectiveness have not yet been discovered.     

Development of reference and working spatial memory in preschool children

Three groups of preschool children (aged 18 to 28, 33 to 42, and 47 to 58 months) were given a radial search test similar to the radial arm maze used with nonhuman subjects. The children searched for chocolate sweets among 10 labeled locations in a room, 5 of which were baited with a sweet. Older children outperformed the intermediate group, who in turn outperformed the youngest group in requiring fewer choices to retrieve all of the sweets. Working memory and reference memory aspects of performance were then separated: Reference memory (restriction of choices to the baited subset) in older children was superior to that in the youngest group but not to that in the intermediate group. In terms of working memory (avoidance of repeat responses to already visited locations), the older group made fewer errors than the intermediate group, who, in turn, made fewer errors than the youngest group. We concluded that working and reference components of spatial memory in children may share common elements, perhaps the ability to recognize places as familiar, although reference memory may develop earlier than working memory.     

Patterns of self-initiated smoking cessation among young adults

Prochaska and DiClemente's (1984) cyclic-stage model of self-initiated smoking cessation divides the cessation process into five stages. This model was applied to a young adult population to determine the cross-sectional distribution of stages and the frequency and pattern of changes among stages over time. Compared to older adults, the distribution of the stages differed substantially: There were twice as many relapsers and only half as many maintainers among young adults. One-year changes in stages were examined using a static model, which did not take into account the cyclic nature of the change process, and a more realistic dynamic model, which did. Both models, especially the dynamic model, suggested substantially more movement among stages in younger than in older adults.     

Psychophysiological aspects of nightmares, night terrors, and sleepwalking

Monitoring sleep through electroencephalography and electroculography has identified the different sleep stages in which nightmares, night terrors, and sleepwalking occur. Questionnaire surveys have supplemented the findings of case studies of these sleep disorders. Neurotransmitters operative during these sleep disorders have enlarged the knowledge of the psychophysiological dimensions especially of nightmares.     

Psychology and rural America. Current status and future directions

Rural people constitute about one fourth of the U.S. population, and their special mental health needs have been largely neglected. For a variety of reasons psychologists have focused little attention on this group. Recent economic developments affecting agriculture, farm families, and rural communities have increased awareness of problems facing rural areas. Psychologists can respond to the unique challenges created by rural mental health needs through research on stress, psychopathology, and community well-being. Training programs should be encouraged to recognize rural concerns. Psychologists are needed to practice in rural areas and to help develop effective rural service models. They can also support the development of state and federal policies that address rural needs.     

Sex differences in smiling as measured in a picture taking task

Previous research suggests females smile more than males in a picture taking task (Mills, 1984; Morse, 1982; Ragan, 1982). Experiment 1 sought to replicate this effect and, in addition, investigate if the gender of the photographer or instructions to smile would influence smiling in females and males. Subjects were told that their picture would be used in a subsequent facial perception study. Results showed that subjects instructed to smile smiled more than subjects given no instructions. There were no main effects for subject's or photographer's gender and no interactions. In Experiment 2, graduating students from the University of New Brunswick, Saint John, completed a questionnaire which assessed how much subjects wanted to smile for their yearbook picture, whether subjects selected a picture of themselves smiling for their yearbook, and how much the photographer encouraged them to smile. Experiment 2 showed that females wished to smile significantly more than males, and females selected a picture of themselves smiling significantly more than males. Males and females did not differ in the reported degree to which the photographer encouraged them to smile. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 suggest that sex differences in smiling as measured in a picture taking task depend critically on the situation in which the picture is taken.     

The corroboration requirement in child sex abuse cases

The sharp rise in reports of child abuse has led to efforts to protect children in family courts in child protective proceedings. Hearsay evidence of a child's prior statements may be admitted in child protective proceedings, but such evidence is legally insufficient to support an adjudication of abuse without corroborative evidence. Courts have admitted expert psychological, psychiatric or social work testimony about the child sex abuse syndrome as sufficient corroborative evidence. The testimony is called “validation” testimony. The scientific basis for such validation testimony in the absence of a disclosure by the child is very weak. Courts have also tended to accept the most minimal evidence as corroboration of the child's out-of-court statements, including other hearsay evidence. The socially valuable policy of protecting children by admitting weak evidence, such as validation testimony, or other hearsay, should be reviewed to ensure the evidence meets criteria of reliability in order to minimize erroneous determinations.     

Effects of Thinking About Reasons and Actions on Intentions to Perform Health Behaviors

This study examined the effects of directed thinking on intention to perform disease-detection and health-promotion behaviors. It was hypothesized that when participants thought about reasons for performing the behavior, they would have stronger intentions to perform health-promotion behaviors than disease-detection behaviors. Alternatively, when participants thought about actions, the difference in intention to perform health-promotion and disease-detection behaviors should not be found. This hypothesis was tested by directing some participants to think of reasons why either a disease-detection or a health-promotion behavior would be beneficial. Other participants were directed to think of as many actions as possible that would make either a health-promotion or disease-detection behavior enjoyable. The results supported the hypothesis.