The Heritability of Human Behavior: Results of Aggregating Meta-Analyses

The heritability of human behavior can be estimated through studies comparing MZ and DZ twins and through adoption studies. Meta-analyses have estimated the heritability of intelligence, mental chronometric performance, language ability, anxiety disorders, major depression, antisocial behavior, problem drinking, and smoking. This article presents the aggregation and analysis of these meta-analyses, which included a total of over four hundred samples. The results of the aggregation suggest that about 41% of human behavior is genetically influenced, a percentage that may have evolutionary value. Some significant moderators were found in more than one meta-analysis, including greater heritability (a) in more disordered levels of a behavior for performance on a language-ability test, antisocial behavior, and smoking and (b) in females for antisocial behavior and smoking initiation. The moderator findings raise questions about what might explain the identified differences in level of heritability.     

Imitation of causally opaque versus causally transparent tool use by 3- and 5-year-old children

We investigated whether the tendency to imitate or emulate is influenced by the availability of causal information, and the amount of information available in a display. Three and 5-year-old children were shown by either a live or video model how to obtain a reward from either a clear or an opaque puzzle box. Some of the actions in the sequence were causally relevant to retrieving the reward, whereas others were irrelevant. The clear box made the causally irrelevant actions visible, whereas the opaque box prevented them from being seen. Results indicated that both 3- and 5-year-old children imitated the irrelevant actions regardless of the availability of causal information following a live demonstration. In contrast, the 3-year-olds employed an emulative approach, omitting irrelevant actions, when the information available was degraded in a video demonstration. However, the 5-year-olds were unaffected by the degraded information and employed an imitative approach. We suggest that imitation develops to be such an adaptive human strategy that it may often be employed at the expense of task efficiency.     

Klinisch-psychologische Interventionen mit Mobilmedien

The internet gained popularity in the mid-nineties; its integration into psycho-social health care structures has been established in the meantime. The mobile communication boom followed in the early years of the second millennium. Within a very short time, the cellular phone has become a personal multi-purpose tool. Against this background it seems obvious to investigate to what extent mobile media, beside the internet, can meaningfully support clinical practice. This article gives an overview of the current research and development status of clinical-psychological intervention with the aid of computer-based mobile media (Mobile Therapy, abbr. M-Therapy). Contrary to a desktop with internet access, where its use is limited to certain areas, wireless mobile media have the ability to instantly collect clinically relevant data, complete training units or organize contacts to therapists. Pilot projects and first evaluation studies show that, for example, cellular phones, game consoles and handhelds are productive in psychological diagnostics, counseling, rehabilitation and therapeutic support. They are widely accepted and increase the effectiveness of therapy. We will discuss the media-specific opportunities and limitations of M-Therapy as well as its implications for clinical practice.     

Reduced specificity of autobiographical memory and depression: the role of executive control

It has been widely established that depressed mood states and clinical depression, as well as a range of other psychiatric disorders, are associated with a relative difficulty in accessing specific autobiographical information in response to emotion-related cue words on an Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; J. M. G. Williams & K. Broadbent, 1986). In 8 studies the authors examined the extent to which this relationship is a function of impaired executive control associated with these mood states and clinical disorders. Studies 1-4 demonstrated that performance on the AMT is associated with performance on measures of executive control, independent of depressed mood. Furthermore, Study 1 showed that executive control (as measured by verbal fluency) mediated the relationship between both depressed mood and a clinical diagnosis of eating disorder and AMT performance. Using a stratified sample in Study 5, the authors confirmed the positive association between depressed mood and impaired performance on the AMT. Studies 6-8 involved experimental manipulations of the parameters of the AMT designed to further indicate that reduced executive control is to a significant extent driving the relationship between depressed mood and AMT performance. The potential role of executive control in accounting for other aspects of the AMT literature is discussed.     

Children's differentiation between beliefs about matters of fact and matters of opinion

Two experiments investigated children's implicit and explicit differentiation between beliefs about matters of fact and matters of opinion. In Experiment 1, 8- to 9-year-olds' (n = 88) explicit understanding of the subjectivity of opinions was found to be limited, but their conformity to others' judgments on a matter of opinion was considerably lower than their conformity to others' views regarding an ambiguous fact. In Experiment 2, children aged 6, 8, or 10 years (n = 81) were asked to make judgments either about ambiguous matters of fact or about matters of opinion and then heard an opposing judgment from an expert. All age groups conformed to the opposing judgments on factual matters more than they did to the experts' views on matters of opinion. However, only the oldest children explicitly recognized that opinions are subjective and cannot be "wrong." Implications of these results for models of children's reasoning about epistemic states are discussed.     

An Evaluation of a Parenting Class Curriculum for Parents of Young Children: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Parenting the Strong-Willed Child</Emphasis>

Young children with high levels of acting out behaviors present a challenge for families, caregivers, and the childcare system. The Parenting the Strong-Willed Child (PSWC) parenting class curriculum program is a 6-week, group based parent education program designed for parents of children with noncompliance problems (ages 2–8). The PSWC program was offered at no cost to parents enrolled in 8 Head Start centers, and parents were invited to participate in a program evaluation study. Seventy-one families enrolled in the study and completed at least one PSWC session. From pre- to post-test, parents reported significant improvements in both the frequency and intensity of child behavior problems. Parents also reported significant reductions in parenting stress, as well as improvements in their parenting behaviors, including a reduction in the use of lax discipline techniques and emotional reactivity in the context of discipline encounters. All improvements were sustained six months later. These preliminary results are encouraging, and point to the need for a more rigorous, controlled evaluation of the PSWC parenting class curriculum.     

New Testament Scholarship and the “Jesus Seminar”

This classroom exercise developed out of an effort to make the methodology and practical techniques of our field come alive for students of New Testament at a variety of undergraduate levels. Adapting the controversial “voting” technique of the Westar Institute's “Jesus Seminar,” students vote with colored beads on the authenticity of Jesus' sayings in Matthew's Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3–12). The point of the exercise is not to judge or dismiss Biblical text, but to work actively and thoughtfully with the critical tools and methods of New Testament scholarship, to ponder the implications of academic assessments of “authenticity” when it comes to Biblical text, and to stimulate discussion concerning how we, as professional scholars of the Bible, approach the Gospels.     

Some Patterns and Processes of Women's Faith Development

Drawing on Fowler's faith development theory and feminist theological and psychological studies of women's faith, as well as feminist research principles, open-ended interviews were used to explore the faith lives of 30 Christian or post-Christian women. Findings are presented in terms of two main categories. First, six processes of faithing are identified: these are strategies by which the women discerned and embodied shape, pattern and meaning in their life experience. Second, three major generative themes are identified which, it is suggested, represent key patterns in the women's faith. The three themes of paralysis, awakenings and relationality are described and discussed. The findings challenge Fowler's claim to provide a normative account of faith development, and reveal aspects of women's experience which require fuller attention in future research.     

Delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and young children: influence of reward type and visibility

Animal Cognition - Self-control underlies cognitive abilities such as decision making and future planning. Delay of gratification is a measure of self-control and involves obtaining a more valuable...