The Atheist Surge: Faith in Science,Secularism, and Atheism

This essay examines the recent publication of seven books that attack faith, belief, and religion and affirm atheism; inquires why they are appearing now; explores the meaning of atheism; and examines the history of atheism in the Western tradition. It is suggested that all people have worldviews (whether they are aware of them or not), including the atheists, and that cases can be made for most worldviews, but that no worldview can be proven to anyone who does not already affirm it. Therefore atheists are in the same situation as believers in other worldviews.     

Gender,Interdependent Self-construals,and Collective Self-esteem: Women and Men Are Mostly the Same

Women and men may differ in how they define themselves in reference to their social world. Baumeister and Sommer () suggest that women prefer close relationships whereas men prefer large-group memberships. We examined how this hypothesized gender difference relates to collective self-esteem from three interdependent groups: friends, family, and gender. Study 1 revealed that women and men report equivalent levels of collective self-esteem from both relational and collective groups. Study 2 replicated this finding, and further revealed that the importance of group membership to individuals is more crucial to understanding collective self-esteem than is a gender differences approach. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of contingencies of social self-worth and potential cognitive processes involved in self-construal.     

Culture and Context-sensitive Self: The Amount and Meaning of Context-sensitivity of Phenomenal Self Differ Across Cultures

Self-concepts change from context to context. The experience that one's self is context-sensitive may be universal, however the amount and meaning of context-sensitive self vary across cultures. Cross-cultural differences in the amount and meaning of context-sensitive self were investigated in three Western cultures (Australia, Germany, and UK) and two East Asian cultures (Japan and Korea). The amount of context-sensitivity of self was greater in Japan than in Western cultures and Korea. The meaning of context-sensitive self also varied across cultures. In the Western cultures, a context-invariant self was seen to be clear and true; however, these patterns were not observed in the East Asian cultures. In Korea, a context-invariant self was interpreted to be exhibiting a relational self, which adheres to the ethics of care. In Japan, it was a context-sensitive self that was seen to be true, implying that the true self in Japan may mean to be true to the self-in-context, rather than the transcendental, decontextualized self. The results suggest the importance of differentiating East Asian cultures such as Japan and Korea. The utility of quantitative methods in explicating cultural meaning was highlighted.     

Alternative-based thresholding with application to presurgical fMRI

Functional magnetic reasonance imaging (fMRI) plays an important role in pre-surgical planning for patients with resectable brain lesions such as tumors. With appropriately designed tasks, the results of fMRI studies can guide resection, thereby preserving vital brain tissue. The mass univariate approach to fMRI data analysis consists of performing a statistical test in each voxel, which is used to classify voxels as either active or inactive—that is, related, or not, to the task of interest. In cognitive neuroscience, the focus is on controlling the rate of false positives while accounting for the severe multiple testing problem of searching the brain for activations. However, stringent control of false positives is accompanied by a risk of false negatives, which can be detrimental, particularly in clinical settings where false negatives may lead to surgical resection of vital brain tissue. Consequently, for clinical applications, we argue for a testing procedure with a stronger focus on preventing false negatives. We present a thresholding procedure that incorporates information on false positives and false negatives. We combine two measures of significance for each voxel: a classical p-value, which reflects evidence against the null hypothesis of no activation, and an alternative p-value, which reflects evidence against activation of a prespecified size. This results in a layered statistical map for the brain. One layer marks voxels exhibiting strong evidence against the traditional null hypothesis, while a second layer marks voxels where activation cannot be confidently excluded. The third layer marks voxels where the presence of activation can be rejected.     

Individual differences in spatial configuration learning predict the occurrence of intrusive memories

The dual-representation model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Brewin, Gregory, Lipton, & Burgess, Psychological Review, 117, 210-232 2010) argues that intrusions occur when people fail to construct context-based representations during adverse experiences. The present study tested a specific prediction flowing from this model. In particular, we investigated whether the efficiency of temporal-lobe-based spatial configuration learning would account for individual differences in intrusive experiences and physiological reactivity in the laboratory. Participants (N = 82) completed the contextual cuing paradigm, which assesses spatial configuration learning that is believed to depend on associative encoding in the parahippocampus. They were then shown a trauma film. Afterward, startle responses were quantified during presentation of trauma reminder pictures versus unrelated neutral and emotional pictures. PTSD symptoms were recorded in the week following participation. Better configuration learning performance was associated with fewer perceptual intrusions, r = ?.33, p < .01, but was unrelated to physiological responses to trauma reminder images (ps > .46) and had no direct effect on intrusion-related distress and overall PTSD symptoms, rs > ?.12, ps > .29. However, configuration learning performance tended to be associated with reduced physiological responses to unrelated negative images, r = ?.20, p = .07. Thus, while spatial configuration learning appears to be unrelated to affective responding to trauma reminders, our overall findings support the idea that the context-based memory system helps to reduce intrusions.     

Coping With Losses and Past Trauma In Old Age: The Separation-Individuation Perspective

Abstract

Old age is a stage in life in which numerous changes associated with loss can be expected to occur in major life domains. Deterioration of health; retirement; relocation; occupational and financial loss; loss of social roles, identity, status, and support; and the loss of spouse and significant others (siblings, friends) pose an ongoing threat to everyday functioning, forcing the individual to adapt. Thus, effective functioning in daily life represents a major developmental task for the aging (Bakes & Carstensen, 1996; Marsiske, Lang, Bakes, & Bakes, 1995). There is marked variability in adjustment among the elderly, and despite the numerous losses associated with aging, many elderly people are well adjusted and report experiencing high levels of well-being (George & Clipp, 1991;Wetle, 1990).     

Finding faults: analogical comparison supports spatial concept learning in geoscience

A central issue in education is how to support the spatial thinking involved in learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We investigated whether and how the cognitive process of analogical comparison supports learning of a basic spatial concept in geoscience, fault. Because of the high variability in the appearance of faults, it may be difficult for students to learn the category-relevant spatial structure. There is abundant evidence that comparing analogous examples can help students gain insight into important category-defining features (Gentner in Cogn Sci 34(5):752–775, 2010). Further, comparing high-similarity pairs can be especially effective at revealing key differences (Sagi et al. 2012). Across three experiments, we tested whether comparison of visually similar contrasting examples would help students learn the fault concept. Our main findings were that participants performed better at identifying faults when they (1) compared contrasting (fault/no fault) cases versus viewing each case separately (Experiment 1), (2) compared similar as opposed to dissimilar contrasting cases early in learning (Experiment 2), and (3) viewed a contrasting pair of schematic block diagrams as opposed to a single block diagram of a fault as part of an instructional text (Experiment 3). These results suggest that comparison of visually similar contrasting cases helped distinguish category-relevant from category-irrelevant features for participants. When such comparisons occurred early in learning, participants were more likely to form an accurate conceptual representation. Thus, analogical comparison of images may provide one powerful way to enhance spatial learning in geoscience and other STEM disciplines.     

The effect of performance setting and individual differences on the anxiety-performance relationship for elite cyclists

Fifty-three national level cyclists completed competitive rides under both laboratory and field conditions to investigate the relationship between pre-competition anxiety and performance. A total of 39 males and 14 females participated in the study, ranging in age from 19 to 26. The objectives of the study were to, (a) measure the relationship between state anxiety and performance, (b) investigate differences in the anxiety-performance relationship under laboratory versus field conditions, and (c) examine the effect of trait anxiety on the state anxiety-performance relationship. State anxiety was measured using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2; Martens, Vealey, & Burton, 1990), and trait anxiety with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970). Results indicated that anxiety was strongly correlated with performance on the field test, but that the anxiety-performance relationship was weaker under laboratory conditions. Results also showed that trait anxiety interacted with the relationship, as low and high trait-anxious subjects had differential response patterns to pre-competition anxiety. The findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for both practitioners and researchers.     

Directions for judgment and decision making research based on comparison selection: Reply to Arkes,Johnson, and Kardes

Our target article proposed an alternative perspective for studying consumer judgment and decision making, focusing on the types and weights of comparisons consumers select. In this response we consider the major points made by each of the commentators and examine their implications for future work addressing our comparison-focused approach.     

Beyond test anxiety: Development and validation of the test emotions questionnaire (TEQ)

Measures of test emotions other than test anxiety are lacking. In a series of six studies, we developed a multi-scale questionnaire assessing test-related joy, hope, pride, relief, anger, anxiety, shame, and hopelessness (Test Emotions Questionnaire, TEQ). Consisting of subscales measuring affective, cognitive, physiological, and motivational emotion components, the scales can be used to identify both trait and state test emotions, and are available in German- and English-language versions. Using a rational-empirical strategy of test construction, we first developed theoretical models of the component structures, antecedents, and effects of different test emotions. We then conducted two exploratory, qualitative studies on the occurrence and structures of these emotions. Finally, based on theory and our exploratory data, we constructed, analyzed, and revised the scales of the TEQ in four quantitative studies. Findings of correlational and confirmatory factor analysis indicate that the scales are reliable, structurally valid in terms of representing different test emotions and components within emotions, and externally valid in terms of correlating significantly with personality, learning, academic achievement, and perceived health problems. Many of these correlations proved to be stronger for test emotions other than anxiety, implying that test anxiety is neither the only relevant test emotion, nor necessarily the most important one.