Do novel associative word stem completion and cued recall share the same memory retrieval processes?

The aim of this study was to determine whether word stem completion for novel associations between cue and target words was mediated by automatic unconscious memory processes or effortful memory processes under conscious control. This was done by applying full and divided attention conditions at test to stem completion, cued recall, and recognition, and by administering a questionnaire that probed the memory strategies used by subjects during the completion test. Divided attention had no effect on stem completion performance, but did reduce associative cued recall. Recognition performance was weakened overall by divided attention, but the associative effect was similar under both attention conditions. This suggested that novel associative word stem completion was mediated by automatic retrieval processes. However, the results of the questionnaire indicated that only subjects who attempted to remember the words from the study phase during the completion task showed any novel associative effect. It is concluded that novel association word stem completion and cued recall share automatic retrieval processes, which nevertheless give rise to the experience of remembering.     

Top‐star’ priests and the catholic response to the ‘explosion’ of evangelical protestantism in brazil: The beginning of the end of the ‘walkout'?

Brazil's ‘new’ style of Catholicism, essentially the creation of a group of young, charismatic clergy—'pop‐star priests’ or ‘stars of the altar’, as they have become known—appears to have set in train a reversal, in that Latin American country at least, of the ‘walkout’ to evangelical Protestantism that David Martin analysed in Tongues of Fire: The Explosion of Pentecostalism in Latin America (1990). In that volume Martin described the rapid development of Protestantism in Latin America in the twentieth century and particularly from the 1960s as “... an explosion of conservative evangelical religion, a shift toward Pentecostalism, a rejection of ecumenism, and the manifestation among many of those involved of the evangelical capacity to unite modern technology with political conservatism”; (Martin, 1990: 54). During the past year millions of lapsed Catholics, and former Catholics some of whom were part of that ‘explosion’, have become involved in the ‘new’ Catholicism whose emergence illustrates the indispensable role of the media in religious reform and conversion in contemporary society. The article examines the superstructural elements of the ‘new’ Catholicism and compares its positive ‘cosmology’ and worldview with the emphasis on demonization in the teaching and ritual of the controversial, but highly successful evangelical Protestant Church, the Igreja Universal do Reino de Dens (the Universal Church of the Reign of God). This presentation also considers the various responses to the ‘new’ Catholicism which, although responsible for the return to worship of millions of Catholics, has been strongly criticised by both Liberation Theology and the more theologically and liturgically conservative wing within the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil.     

Computer use in psychology instruction

This paper presents the ways in which psychology departments are using microcomputers for instruction, the types of facilities that they are using, and the varieties of hardware that they employ. These data are related to other data reported over the past 10 years. In addition, a summary of the types of software currently available in all areas of psychology is presented, and areas in which there is a need for further software development are identified. The information reviewed in this paper was compiled from the current software listings available through COMPSYCH, as well as the results of a survey distributed to registered users of COMPSYCH who hold academic positions.     

Work, Competences and Learning Scenarios for the Future

Il arrive que les occasions d'apprentissage et d'acquisition des compétences et des aptitudes soient tiées aux opportunités professionnelles et ainsi, indirectement, au développement de l'économie. L auteur illustre, avec cinq scénarios, comment l'apprentissage peut être conditionné par des choix macro-économiques et macro-sociaux.
Opportunities for learning and the acquisition of competences or skills happen to be linked to work opportunities and thence indirectly to the development of the economy. The author sketches five scenarios indicating how learning may be conditioned by macroeconomic and macro-social choices.     

The elderly and high technology medicine: A case for individualized,autonomous allocation

The issues involved in decision making about the aggressiveness of future medical care for older persons are explored. They are related to population trends, the heterogeneity of older persons and a variety of factors involved in individual preferences. Case studies are presented to illustrate these points, as well as a review of pertinent literature. The argument is offered that, considering these many factors, a system of flexible, individualized care by informed patient preference, is more rational than the rationing of technological services by age.