When Faith,Race, and Hate Collide: Religious Ecology,Local Hate Cultures,and Church Burnings

This study explores the extent to which the spate of church burnings that occurred throughout the South during the 1990s may have been influenced by local religious ecologies, diverse forms of civic engagement, and broader community support for racial animus that we call local hate cultures (e.g., prior hate crime incidents, hate group presence). We use county-level data from a variety of sources to determine the degree to which church arsons were associated with relevant features of local communities. Various congregational factors measuring county-level religious ecology are significantly associated with the number of church burnings in Southern communities, as are several local hate culture indicators. Our study provides empirical confirmation of the linkages between church arsons, the public role of religious institutions, and local hate cultures. It also suggests a number of theoretical refinements for existing community-level approaches to the study of religion and hate crimes.     

Predictors of Antisocial and Prosocial Behaviour of Bystanders in Workplace Mobbing

When will bystanders of workplace mobbing show antisocial or prosocial behaviour toward the victim? Results of a 2 × 2 vignette study (N = 177) suggest that high perceived responsibility of the victim for the onset of the mobbing evokes anger and consequently antisocial bystander behaviour, whereas low perceived responsibility generates sympathy and consequently prosocial bystander behaviour. The results further indicate that bystanders will show more antisocial behaviour and less prosocial behaviour toward the victim when they anticipate stigma by association. The implications of these results for interventions seeking to influence bystanders' behaviour in the context of workplace mobbing and for further research on this bystander behaviour are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How to stay perfect: the role of memory and behavioural traits in an experienced problem and a similar problem

When animals encounter a task they have solved previously, or the same problem appears in a different apparatus, how does memory, alongside behavioural traits such as persistence, selectivity and flexibility, enhance problem-solving efficiency? We examined this question by first presenting grey squirrels with a puzzle 22 months after their last experience of it (the recall task). Squirrels were then given the same problem presented in a physically different apparatus (the generalisation task) to test whether they would apply the previously learnt tactics to solve the same problem but in a different apparatus. The mean latency to success in the first trial of the recall task was significantly different from the first exposure but not different from the last exposure of the original task, showing retention of the task. A neophobia test in the generalisation task suggested squirrels perceived the different apparatus as a different problem, but they quickly came to apply the same effective tactics as before to solve the task. Greater selectivity (the proportion of effective behaviours) and flexibility (the rate of switching between tactics) both enhanced efficiency in the recall task, but only selectivity enhanced efficiency in the generalisation task. These results support the interaction between memory and behavioural traits in problem-solving, in particular memory of task-specific tactics that could enhance efficiency. Squirrels remembered and emitted task-effective tactics more than ineffective tactics. As a result, they consistently changed from ineffective to effective behaviours after failed attempts at problem-solving.     

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Inhaltsangabe zu Copeland

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Frequency pattern of alpha waves in the early stages of cerebrovascular circulation disorders]

In this study 201 EEG curves are interpreted belonging to patients suffering from incipient disturbances of the cerebral circulation. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to age (group I, 30-40 years; group II, 40-50 years; group III, 50 years and over). In group I there prevailed a rate of 11-12 alpha waves per sec., and a slower rate was hardly ever found; in group III the frequency pattern was quite different. This decreased frequency of the waves could be confirmed by statistics. We believe a direct link can be assumed to exist between a decrease in frequency and the beginning of disturbed cerebral circulation.     

Studies in intuitive personology from an idiothetic point of view: Implications for personality theory

Following Lamiell's (1981) critique of the individual differences approach to the scientific study of personality, questions have arisen concerning (a) the nature of the empirical research to which the “idiotheric” framework he proposed as an alternative has thus far led, and (b) the wider theoretical implications of that research. The present article seeks to address these questions within the medium of research on the nature of the reasoning process by which lay persons formulate and express subjective personality impressions. It is argued that the findings of this research offer strong empirical support for a conception of the intuitive personologist as a dialectician. Among other things, the discussion of these findings focuses on their implications for a humanistic conception of the relation between cognition and behavior, and thus of personality more broadly defined.