Contemporary Thinking on the Role and Ministry of Women in the Orthodox Church

The article is concerned with contemporary Orthodox thinking on the role of women in the Church. This topic is explored in the context of Orthodox theology, tradition and history. The starting point for Orthodox theology as regards the division of humanity into masculine and feminine is fundamental to understanding the Orthodox Church's view on the past, present and future role of women. In particular, the current issues of restoring the female diaconate and ordaining women to the priesthood present a significant challenge to the Orthodox Church in its understanding of the meaning of faithfulness to tradition and its discernment of the work of the Holy Spirit.     

Examining joint attention with the use of humanoid robots-A new approach to study fundamental mechanisms of social cognition

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - This article reviews methods to investigate joint attention and highlights the benefits of new methodological approaches that make use of the most recent...     

Selling points: What cognitive abilities are tapped by casual video games?

The idea that video games or computer-based applications can improve cognitive function has led to a proliferation of programs claiming to “train the brain.” However, there is often little scientific basis in the development of commercial training programs, and many research-based programs yield inconsistent or weak results. In this study, we sought to better understand the nature of cognitive abilities tapped by casual video games and thus reflect on their potential as a training tool. A moderately large sample of participants (n = 209) played 20 web-based casual games and performed a battery of cognitive tasks. We used cognitive task analysis and multivariate statistical techniques to characterize the relationships between performance metrics. We validated the cognitive abilities measured in the task battery, examined a task analysis-based categorization of the casual games, and then characterized the relationship between game and task performance. We found that games categorized to tap working memory and reasoning were robustly related to performance on working memory and fluid intelligence tasks, with fluid intelligence best predicting scores on working memory and reasoning games. We discuss these results in the context of overlap in cognitive processes engaged by the cognitive tasks and casual games, and within the context of assessing near and far transfer. While this is not a training study, these findings provide a methodology to assess the validity of using certain games as training and assessment devices for specific cognitive abilities, and shed light on the mixed transfer results in the computer-based training literature. Moreover, the results can inform design of a more theoretically-driven and methodologically-sound cognitive training program.     

Strengthening socio‐emotional competencies in a school setting: Data from the Pyramid project

Background. Development of socio‐emotional competencies is key to children's successful social interaction at home and at school. Aims. This study examines the efficacy of a UK primary school‐based intervention, the Pyramid project, in strengthening children's socio‐emotional competencies. Sample. Participants were 385 children from seven schools in two UK cities. All children were aged 7–8 years and in school Year 3. Children were screened for socio‐emotional difficulties through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997 ) and a multi‐agency meeting of relevant professionals before being allocated to attend a Pyramid Club intervention (n= 103) or a comparison group (n= 282). Method. A 2 × 2 mixed‐model design was used: group (intervention group vs. comparison group) × 2 time points (pre‐ vs. 12 weeks post‐intervention) with repeated measures on the time factor to investigate the impact of the Pyramid Year 3 intervention. Teachers completed the SDQ‐T4‐16 for all children pre‐ and post‐intervention to measure participants’ socio‐emotional health status. Results. As measured by the two SDQ difficulty sub‐scales of Emotional and Peer problems and the SDQ strength sub‐scale of Prosocial behaviour, post‐intervention improvements in the Pyramid attendee group were of greater magnitude than those of the comparison group. Conclusions. The Pyramid project intervention improves the socio‐emotional health of vulnerable children through promoting positive outcomes as well as reducing socio‐emotional deficits. These findings further support the inclusion of a salutogenic approach in promoting children's socio‐emotional well‐being.     

Minor Studies of Aggression: V. Strength of Frustration-Reaction as a Function of Strength of Drive

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effectiveness of two methods of presenting visualized instruction to Ss and to determine the effectiveness of different types of visuals in facilitating S achievement of different educational objectives. Five hundred twenty Ss participated in the study; each received a pretest, participated in his respective instructional presentation, and received four criterial tests. Analysis indicated that (a) the method of presenting visualized instruction determines the type of visualization most effective in facilitating S achievement of different educational objectives; (b) for facilitating S achievement of certain objectives, color in visuals is an important instructional variable; and (c) not all visuals are equally effective in facilitating S achievement of different educational objectives.     

Exploring own-age biases in deception detection

The present study explored own-age biases in deception detection, investigating whether individuals were more likely to trust those in their own-age group. Younger and older participants were asked to detect deceit from videos of younger and older speakers, rating their confidence in each decision. Older participants showed an own-age bias: they were more likely to think that deceptive speakers of their own age, relative to younger speakers, were telling the truth. Older participants were also more confident in their judgements of own-age, relative to other-age, speakers. There were no own-age biases for younger participants. In a subsequent (apparently unrelated) task, participants were asked to rate the trustworthiness of the speakers. Both age groups of participants trusted younger speakers who had previously told the truth more compared to those who had lied. This effect was not found for older speakers. These findings are considered in relation to the in-group/out-group model of social cognition and common stereotypical beliefs held about younger and older adults.