Triune Grace

Grace is the favor of God, both the giver and the gift at the same time. In trinitarian understandings of grace, the Father is the ungifted giver; the Son and the Spirit are in different ways the gift. The Son is the external act of grace in humanity; and the Spirit is the internal gift. Both are infused. Although this is essential to Lutheran theology, it is here offered as ecumenical theology.     

Multidimensional latent-construct analysis of children's social information processing patterns: correlations with aggressive behavior problems

Social information processing (SIP) patterns were conceptualized in orthogonal domains of process and context and measured through responses to hypothetical vignettes in a stratified sample of 387 children (50% boys; 49% minority) from 4 geographical sites followed from kindergarten through 3rd grade. Multidimensional, latent-construct, confirmatory factor analyses supported the within-construct internal consistency, cross-construct discrimination, and multidimensionality of SIP patterns. Contrasts among nested structural equation models indicated that SIP constructs significantly predicted children's aggressive behavior problems as measured by later teacher reports. The findings support the multidimensional construct validity of children's social cognitive patterns and the relevance of SIP patterns in children's aggressive behavior problems.     

The structure of language abilities at 4 years: a twin study

Normal language development was studied in 310 pairs of 4-year-old twins born in the United Kingdom in 1994. Twins were assessed individually in their homes on a diverse battery of language and nonverbal measures. Rotated factor analyses indicated the presence of a general Language factor (L) as well as a general Nonverbal (NV) factor. Moderate genetic influence was found for both L and NV abilities. Bivariate genetic analysis estimated a genetic correlation of .63 between L and NV abilities, implying that over half of the genetic influence on L overlaps with genetic influence on NV. These results suggest that at age 4, genetic influences on individual differences in language overlap substantially with genetic influences on individual differences in other cognitive abilities, although perhaps less so than later in development.     

Prenatal experience and postnatal perceptual preferences: evidence for attentional-bias in bobwhite quail embryos (Colinus virginianus)

Previous studies have indicated that concurrent multimodal sensory stimulation can interfere with prenatal perceptual learning. This study further examined this issue by exposing 3 groups of bobwhite quail embryos (Colinus virginianus) to (a) no supplemental stimulation, (b) a bobwhite maternal call, or (c) a maternal call paired with a pulsating light in the period prior to hatching. Experiments differed in terms of the types of stimuli presented during postnatal preference tests. Embryos receiving no supplemental stimulation showed no preference between stimulus events in all testing conditions. Embryos receiving exposure to the unimodal maternal call preferred the familiar call over an unfamiliar call regardless of the presence or absence of pulsating light during testing. Embryos exposed to the call-light compound preferred the familiar call only when it was paired with the light during testing. These results suggest that concurrent multimodal stimulation does not interfere with prenatal perceptual learning by overwhelming the young organism's limited attentional capacities. Rather, multimodal stimulation biases what information is attended to during exposure and subsequent testing.     

UFO和声称的绑架事件调查(二)——真相与误导

上世纪50年代,UFO目击者和加入这个事件的渲染者使事件急剧升温。1950年,弗朗克·斯库利(Frank Scully)发表了一本引起轰动的书,叫《追踪飞碟》。书中声称,一个飞碟坠毁在新墨西哥的阿兹特克东部的偏僻的高原沙漠上,飞碟的直径为99英尺,里面有16个外星人的尸体。斯库利自己并没有看见这个场景,仅仅是听别人说的。2年以后,发现这个故事是个骗局。关于飞碟坠毁的另一个故事也是发生在新墨西哥,地点是位于罗斯威尔西北部的75英里一处空军基地。据猜测,这次坠毁发生在1947年的7月,由此引发了一系列的事件和争论,并延续至今。坠毁是不容争论的,…     

The feature-positive effect in allocations of responsibility for collaborative tasks

People commonly believe they have contributed more to collaborative tasks than others give them credit for. We distinguish between two types of contributions – additions (such as adding words to a co-authored paper) and deletions (such as removing extraneous words) – and show that individuals are especially prone to receive less credit from others than they believe they deserve when their contributions consist of taking something away rather than adding something. Participants who shortened some writing believed they improved it just as much as did participants who lengthened some, but were seen by others as having contributed less. Although one can hardly fail to notice one's own deletions, these contributions – like any contributions that, by their very nature, leave little trace of themselves – are easy for others to overlook.     

Perfectionism,over commitment to work,and burnout in employees seeking workplace counselling

Perfectionism is linked to a range of psychological disorders. Burnout is an important construct in the working population and has been found to overlap with related constructs such as depression. There has been limited research conducted between perfectionism and burnout. This study aimed to examine the link between perfectionism and burnout and if procrastination and over commitment to work were mediators of the relationship. There were 69 participants recruited who were seeking counselling from a counselling firm, providing employee assistance services. The results indicated that procrastination was not a significant mediator of the relationship between concern over mistakes (CM) perfectionism and burnout. There was a significant mediating relationship found, where overcommitment to work mediated the relationship between CM perfectionism leading to burnout. The implications of the study in terms of interventions for employees suffering burnout, and directions for future research in regards to the relationship between perfectionism and burnout are considered.     

Non‐standard work schedules and retention in the entry‐level hourly workforce

Non‐standard work schedules involve work outside the Monday–Friday daytime hours. Although research has heavily studied the health and family effects of such schedules, few studies have investigated their relationship to retention. We draw from Maertz and Campion's discussion of motivational forces that influence turnover to propose that employees on non‐standard schedules are more likely to quit their employer because of general job dissatisfaction and because of normative pressures from family and/or friends. Specifically, we hypothesized that employees on day shifts or weekday only schedules would remain with their employer longer than those who work on nonday shifts or on the weekends. We also hypothesized that perceived employment mobility would moderate the effects of non‐standard schedules on retention length. Hypotheses were tested among 3,178 retail employees who worked five different distinct shift arrangements and different weekday/weekend schedules. Cox regression analyses indicated that, as hypothesized, employees working nonday shifts or schedules including weekends remained with their employer for a shorter duration of time than employees not on such schedules. Perceived mobility moderated the schedule–turnover relationship, though not in the hypothesized manner. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for work schedule assignment and retention strategies.