Do infants reach for perceived objects? A reply to Stiles-Davis

Stiles-Davis proposes that the infants in our experiments (Hofsten & Spelke, 1985) did not reach for perceived objects in order to manipulate them, but rather touched perceived surfaces in order to explore their boundaries. Her commentary raises questions about infants' perception of the boundaries, the unity, and the manipulability of objects. More deeply, it raises the question of what an object is for an infant. We consider each of these questions in turn, in light of our own findings and those of other studies of object-directed reaching, object perception, and the object concept. We suggest that young infants organize the visual world into entities that are bounded, unitary, and manipulable and that infants endow those entities with the core properties of physical objects.     

Text recall in adulthood: The roles of text imagery and orienting tasks

Summary Three experiments were conducted to investigate dual-code theory and the levels-of-processing approach in discourse processing. Three concrete and three abstract tests were constructed to be equivalent in the degree to which they were perceived as concrete vs. abstract. All experiments presented concrete and abstract texts under three orienting tasks. Results of the first experiment showed main effects for both text concreteness and orienting tasks and an interaction that can be described by the lack of a difference between the recall rates for the concrete and the abstract texts under the intentional-learning condition. In the second experiment, longer texts were used and a second trial was introduced. The interaction was not replicated. There were main effects for concreteness, orienting tasks, and trials. The third experiment replicated Experiment 2 with subjects in their late 40s and over 70. Main effects were obtained as before. Age interacted with both orienting task and concreteness, indicating that older adults gain less than middle-aged adults from intentional-learning instructions and benefit less from highly concrete texts. The discussion focuses on the relation of Materials and Subjects as factors to dual-code theory and levels of processing approach.     

The role of binocular information in ball catching

The role of binocular vision in a ball-catching task involving spatial uncertainty was examined in three experiments. In all three experiments, subjects' catching performance was evaluated during monocular and binocular viewing, in normal room lighting and in complete darkness with a luminescent ball. Subjects' performance was found to be significantly better with binocular than with monocular vision, especially under normal lighting conditions. In the second and third experiments, catching performance was evaluated in the presence of minimal visual frames, consisting of a series of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In Experiment 2, the visual frame consisted of a single plane of LEDs, whereas in Experiment 3, the visual frame consisted of two planes of LEDs. Catching performance was found to be significantly better with the visual frame than in complete darkness, but this was true only for binocular viewing. This result supports the hypothesis that binocular convergence is used to scale perceived space and that this information enables subjects to contact the ball successfully. It was further found that postural sway varied between lighting conditions and that less sway was accompanied by higher performance. There was no effect of binocular viewing in this respect. In general, the results suggest two additive effects of viewing conditions: a direct effect of binocular vision on ball catching and an indirect effect of lighting on postural stability, which, in turn, affects catching performance.     

Conditioned taste and taste-potentiated odor aversions in the Syracuse high- and low-avoidance (SHA/Bru and SLA/Bru) strains of rats (Rattus norvegicus).

Syracuse high- and low-avoidance Long-Evans rats (Rattus norvegicus; SHA/Bru and SLA/Bru) were selectively bred for good and poor active-avoidance learning. However, SLA/Bru animals are superior to SHA/Bru rats in conditioned suppression and passive avoidance learning. In this experiment, saccharin taste and almond odor were the components of a compound conditioned stimulus (flavor) in an illness-induced aversive conditioning paradigm. SLA/Bru rats (n = 17) showed stronger conditioned flavor, taste, and odor aversion than did SHA/Bru animals (n = 18). Unselected Long-Evans rats (n = 18) were intermediate between the selected strains. SLA/Bru and Long-Evans rats showed taste-potentiated odor aversions in this experiment, whereas SHA/Bru animals did not. The results provide evidence that genetic factors, as exemplified by the different strains, are importantly involved in the mechanisms underlying interoceptive and exteroceptive aversive conditioning.     

Book reviews and notes

GENERAL

ISLAM AND HUMAN RIGHTS: TRADITION AND POLITICS. By Ann Elizabeth Mayer. Boulder and San Francisco: Westview Press/London: Pinter Publishers, 1991. xix + 258pp. Hb. £35.00. ISBN 0–8133–8091‐X [U.S.] ISBN 0–86187–091–3 [U.K.].

TOWARD AN ISLAMIC REFORMATION: CIVIL LIBERTIES, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW. By Abdullahi Amhed AN‐NA'IM. Foreword by John Voll. New York: Syracuse Press, 1990. xvi + 253pp. Hb. $29.95. ISBN 0–81656–2484–8.

WAS JEDER VOM ISLAM WISSEN MUSS. Edited by Lutherischen Kirchenamt Der Vereinigten Evangelischen‐Lutherischen Kirche Deutschlands and Kirchenamt der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland. Gutersloh: Gerd Mohn, 1990. 224pp. Pb. np. ISBN 3–579–00786–6.

WER WAR MUHAMMAD? LEBENSGESCHICHTE UND PRO‐PHETISCHER ANSPRUCH. By Adel Theodor Khoury. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1990. 125pp. Pb. DM10.90. ISBN 3–451–08719–7.

DER ISLAM: SEIN GLAUBE — SEINE LEBENSORDNUNG — SEIN ANSPRUCH. By Adel Theodor Khoury. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1988. 238pp. Pb. DM12.90. ISBN 3–451–08602–6.

MOHAMMED UND DER KORAN. By Rudi Paret. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1991. 181pp. Pb. DM20.00. ISBN 3–17–011317–8.

DER ISLAM: RELIGION‐ETHIK‐POLITIK. By Peter Antes et al. Stuttgart, Berlin, Koln: Kohlhammer, 1991.151pp. Pb. DM29.80. ISBN 3–17–011737–8.

INTRODUCING ISLAM FROM WITHIN. By Mona Abul‐Fadl. Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 1991. 135pp. Pb. n.p. ISBN 0–86037–209‐X.

MUSLIMS: THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES: VOLUME 1: THE FORMATIVE PERIOD. By Andrew Rippin. London:. Routledge, 1990. 155pp. Pb. £9.99. ISBN 0–415–04519–3.

MACHT UND EINSAMKEIT GOTTES: DIALOG MIT DEM ISLAMISCHEN RADKAL‐MONOTHEISMUS. By Thomas Mooren. Religionswissenschaftliche Studien, hrsg. von A. Th. Khoury und L. Hagemann; 17. Wurzburg: Echter/Altenberge: Oros, 1991. 408pp. Pb. DM59.80. ISBN 3–429–01411–5 (Echter); ISBN 3–89375–040–1 (Oros).

DER KORAN: ARABISCH‐DEUTSCH: UBERSETZUNG UND WISSENSCHAFTLICHER KOMENTAR. By Adel Theodor Khoury. Band 1: Muhammad. Der Koran Sure 1,1–2,74. Giitersloh: Giitersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, 1990. 367pp. Hb. DM250.00 for subscribers to the whole work: DM195.00 per volume. ISBN 3–579–00336–4. Band 2: Sure 2,75–2,212. Gutersloh: Gutersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, 1991.384pp. Hb. DM250.00. ISBN 3–579–00337–2.

THE ISMAILIS: THEIR HISTORY AND DOCTRINES. By Farhad Daftary. Cambridge: Cambridge Univeristy Press, 1990. 804pp. Hb. £60.00; $79.50. ISBN 0–521–37019–1.

BELIEF AND LAW IN IMAMI SfflTSM. By Etan Kohlberg. Alder‐shot: Variorum, 1991. x + 352pp. Hb. n.p. ISBN 0–86078–292–1.

NAQSHBANDIS: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND PRESENT SITUATION OF A MUSLIM MYSTICAL ORDER: PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVRES ROUND TABLE 2–4 MAY 1985. Edited by Marc Gaborieau, Alexandre Popovic and Thierry Zarcone. Varia TurcicaXVII. Istanbul‐Paris: Editions ISIS, 1990.750pp. HB. n.p. ISBN 2–906053–12–0.

LE LIVRE REUNISSANT LES DEUX SAGESSES. (Kitab‐e Jami al‐Hikmatayri). By Nasir‐e. Khosraw. Translation from the Persian, introduction and notes by Isabelle de Gastines. Paris: Fayard, 1990.345pp. Pb. FF130.00. ISBN 9–782213–026138.

ISLAM AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY. By Asghar Ali Engineer. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1990. 238pp. Hb. RS200.00. ISBN 81–207–1046–0.

ISLAMIC HISTORY: A FRAMEWORK FOR INQUIRY. By R. Stephen Humphreys. London: I.B. Tauris, 1991. Revised edition. 401pp. Pb. £9.95. ISBN 1–85043–360–7.

THE ELEMENTS OF SUFISM. By Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri. Shaftesbury: Element Books Ltd., 1990. 118pp. Pb. £4.99; $7.95. ISBN 1–8523O‐O68‐X.

MELANGES — Volume 20. Edited by Institute Dominicain d'Etudes Orientales du Caire: Louvain‐Paris, Editions Peeters, 1991. 597pp. Hb. n.p. No ISBN number.

DEBATING MUSLIMS: CULTURAL DIALOGUES IN POSTMODER‐NITY AND TRADITION. By Michael M.J. Fischer and Mehdi Abedi. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990. 564pp. Hb. n.p. ISBN 0–299–12430–4.

MUSLIM TRAVELLERS: PILGRIMAGE, MIGRATION AND THE RELIGIOUS IMAGINATION. Edited by Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatori. London: Routledge, 1990. 281pp. Pb. £40.00. ISBN 0–415–05033–2.

PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE. By Mohammed Hashim Kamali. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1991. 417pp. Hb. £25.00. ISBN Hb. 0–946621–23–3; Pb. 0–946621–24–1.

RELIGION, LEARNING AND SCIENCE IN THE ‘ABBASID PERIOD. Edited by M.J.L. Young, J.D. Latham and R.B. Serjeant. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. 587pp. Hb. £60.00; $95.00. ISBN 0–521–32763–6.

THE SOCIAL LAWS OF THE QUR'AN: By Robert Roberts. London: Curzon Press Ltd.,. 1990. First pub. 1925. 125pp. Pb. £3.75. ISBN 0–391–03661–0.

BUSINESS ACCOUNTING AND ETHICS. By TREVOR GAMBLING and Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim. London and New York: Mansell, 1991. 152pp. Hb. n.p. ISBN 0–7201–2074–8.

ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW. Edited by Chibli Mallat and Jane Connors. London and Norwell: Graham and Trotman Ltd, 1990. 358pp + appendix and index. Hb. n.p. ISBN 1–85333–301–8.

THE SAYINGS OF MUHAMMAD. Selected and translated from the Arabic by Neal Robinson. London: Duckworth, 1991 63pp. Pb. £499. ISBN 0–7156–2365–6.

ECONOMIE DU MONDE ARABE ET MUSULMAN. EDITIONS EMAN. Cachan: Editions EMAM, 1990. 240pp. Pb. FF230.00. ISBN 2–9503–484–2–4.

SCHLAGLICHTER UBER DAS SUFITUM: ABU NASR AS‐SARRAGS KITAB AL‐LUMA’. Eingeleitet, iibersetzt und kommentiert von Richard Gramlich. Freiburger Islamstudien, Band XIII. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1990. 676pp. Pb. DM270.00. ISBN 3–515–05199–6.

THE MUSLIM MIND. By Charis Waddy. London: Grosvenor Books, 1990. 3rd Edition. 218pp. Pb. £7.50. ISBN 1–85239–008–5.

DECREE AND DESTINY: THE FREEDOM OF NO CHOICE. By ShaykhFadhlallaHaeri. Shaftesbury: Element Books in association with Sahra Publications, 1991. 147pp. Pb. £7.99. ISBN 1–85230–178–3.

REGIONAL

Africa

RELIGION AND PROPERTY IN NORTHERN NIGERIA. By Lissi Rasmussen. Copenhagen: Academic Press, 1990. 278pp. Pb. DKR228.00. ISBN 87–500–2944–4.

DER GNAWA‐KULT: TRANCESPBELE, GEISTERBESCHWORUNG UND BESESSENHEIT IN MAROKKO. By Frank Maurice Welte. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1990. 379pp. Pb. DM36.00. ISBN 3–631–42273–3.

SUDAN AFTER NIMIERI. Edited by Peter Woodward. London: Routledge, 1991. 223pp. Hb. £35.00. ISBN 0–415–00480–2.

MODERN ALGERIA: A HISTORY FROM 1830 TO THE PRESENT. By Charles‐Robert Ageron. London: Hurst & Co., 1991.166pp. Hb. £16.50; Pb. £9.50. ISBN Hb. 1–85065–027–6; Pb. 1–85065–106‐X.

THE BEDOUIN OF CYRENAICA: STUDIES IN PERSONAL AND CORPORATE POWER. By the late Emrys L. Peters. Edited by Jack Goody and Emanuel Marx. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 310pp. Hb. £32.50, $47.50. ISBN 0–521–38561‐X.

LE TROUPEAU DES SONGS. By Alain Le Pichon and Souleymane Balde. Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1990. 353pp. FF240.00. ISBN 2–7351–0411–7.

Asia

RESISTANCE AND CONTROL IN PAKISTAN. By Akbar S. Ahmed. London: Routledge, 1991. 207pp. Pb. n.p. ISBN 0–415–05797–3.

PAKISTAN: SOCIAL SCIENTISTS’ PERSPECTIVE. Edited by Akbar S. Ahmed. Karachi, Oxford: OUP, 1990. 298pp. £12.95. ISBN 0–19–577388–8.

MUSLIM SEPARATISM: THE MOROS OF SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES AND THE MALAYS OF SOUTHERN THAILAND. By W.K. Che Man. Oxford: OUP, 1990. 240pp. Hb. £22.50. ISBN 0–19–588924‐X.

TURKEY AND THE MIDDLE EAST. By Philip Robins. London: Pinter Publishers, 1991. 130pp. Pb. £7.95. ISBN 0–86187–198–7.

INDIEN AM SCHEIDEWEG ZWISCHEN SAKULARISMUS UND FUNDAMENTALISMUS. By Ernst Pulsfort. Religionswissen‐schaftlich Studien, 18. Wurzburg: Echter Verlag; Altenberge: Oros Verlag, 1991. 97pp. + 14 maps and tables. Pb. DM19.80. ISBN 3–429–01412–3 (Echter); 3–89375–041‐X (Oros Verlag).

FROM ZARATHUSTRA TO KHOMEINI: POPULISM AND DISSENT IN HIAN. By Manochehr Dorraj. London: Lynne Rienner, 1990. 220pp. Hb. £29.95. ISBN 1–55587–181‐X.

Europe

ISLAM IN BRITAIN: PAST, PRESENT AND THE FUTURE. By Mohammad S. Raza. Leicester: Volcano Press Ltd., 1991. 120pp. Pb. n.p. ISBN 0–06–066837–7.

NEW CHALLENGES — OLD STRATEGIES: THEMES OF VARIATION AND CONFLICT AMONG PAKISTAN MUSLIMS IN NORWAY, by Nora Ahlberg. Helsinki: Finnish Anthropological Society, 1990. 295pp. Hb. FIM130.00. ISBN 951–95435–5–4.

THE INTEGRATION OF ISLAM AND HINDUISM IN WESTERN EUROPE. Edited by W.A.R. Shadid and P.S. van Koningsveld. The Hague: Kok Pharos, 1991, 254pp. Pb. n.p. ISBN 90–242–3078–0.

SACRILEGE VERSUS CIVILITY: MUSLIM PERSPECTIVES ON THE SA TANIC VERSES AFFAIR. Edited by M.M. Ahsan and A.R. Kidwai. Leicester: the Islamic Foundation, 1991. 383pp. Pb. £8.50. ISBN 0–86037–210–3.

ISLAM IN EUROPEAN THOUGHT. By ALBERT HOURANI. Cambridge: CUP, 1991. 199pp. Hb. £25.00; $34.50. ISBN 0–521.39213–6.

WERELDGODSDIENSTEN IN NEDERLAND. Edited by JAN SLOMP. Amersfoort/Leuven: De Horstink, 1991. 234pp. Pb. n.p. ISBN 90–6184–361–8.

VEILED HALF TRUTHS: WESTERN TRAVELLERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF MIDDLE EASTERN WOMEN. Selected and introduced by Judy Mabro. London; New York. I.B. Tauris, 1991.275pp. Hb. £19.95. ISBN 1–85043–097–7.

Middle East

NO TRUMPETS, NO DRUMS: A TWO‐STATE SETTLEMENT OF THE ISRAELI‐PALESTINIAN CONFLICT. By Sari Nusseibeh and Mark A. Heller. London: I.B. Tauris, 1991. 183pp. Hb. £12.95. ISBN 1–85043–365–8.

ISTANBUL HOUSEHOLDS: MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND FERTILITY, 1880–1940. By Alan Duben and Cem Behar. Cambridge: CUP, 1991. 276pp. Hb. £30.00, $59.50. ISBN 0–521–38375–7.

CHRISTIAN‐MUSLIM RELATIONS

INDIGENOUS CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN ISLAMIC LANDS: CONVERSION AND CONTINUITY: EIGHTH TO EIGHTHEENTH CENTURIES. Edited by Michael Gervers and Ramzi Jibran Bikhazi. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1990. 559pp. Pb. CNS49.50. ISBN 0–88844–809–0.

PLANNING STRATEGIES FOR WORLD EVANGELIZATION. By Edward R. Dayton and David A. Fraser. Monrovia, California: MARC and Grand Rapids/Michigan: Wm. B‐ Eerdmans, 1990. First edition pub. 1980. 349pp. Pb. US$15.95. ISBN 0–8028–0422–5.

KAISER JOHANNES VI: KANTAKUZENOS UND DER ISLAM: POLTTISCHE REAUTAT UND THEOLOGISCHE POLEMIK IM PALAIOLOGENZEITLICHEN BYZANZ. By Klaus‐Peter Todt. Religjonswissenschaftliche Studien 16. Wiirzberg: Echter and Altenberge: Oros‐Verlag, 1991. lx + 705pp. Pb. DM94.80. ISBN 3–429–01370–4 (Echter); 3–89375–035–5 (Oros‐Verlag).

CHRIST IN ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY. By Neal Robinson. London: Macmillan Press, 1991.235pp. Hb. £40.00. ISBN 0–333–52209–5.

GUIDELINES FOR DIALOGUE BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS. By Maurice Borrmans. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1990 (English Translation). Originally published 1981, in French: 132pp. Pb. US$12.95. ISBN 0–8091–3181–1.

WIE TOLERANT 1ST DER ISLAM? Edited by Walter Kerber. Munich: Kindt Verlag, 1991.. 147pp. Pb. n.p. ISBN 3–925412–11–5.

GEMEINSAM VOR GOTT: RELIGIONENIM GESPRACH. Edited by R. Kirste, P. Schwarzenau and U. Tworuschska. Hamburg E.B.‐Verlag Rissen, 1991. 335pp. Pb. np. ISBN 3–923002–54–8.

‘GOTT 1ST CHRISTUS, DER SOHN DER MARIA’: EINE STUDIE ZUM CHRISTUSBILD IM KORAN. By Günter Risse. Bonn: Borengasser, 1989. 273pp. Hb. DM34.00. ISBN 3–923946–17–1.

JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM: THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THEIR INTERPRETATION. Edited by F.E. Peters. Vols. 1, 2 and 3. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. xxv + 408; xxv + 395; xxv+408pp. Hb. £75.00. Pb. £14.95 (Vol.1); £14.95 (Vol.2); £14.95 (Vol.3). ISBN 0–691–02044–2; 0–691–02054‐X; 0–691–02055–8.

FULNESS OF LIFE (John 10:10): ENCOUNTERING ISLAM, APOSTOLIC VISION. Special issue No.2 of Petit Echo of the’ missionaries of Africa. Rome: Missionaries of Africa, 1991. 172pp. Pb. n.p. No ISBN number.

TRENDS IN MISSION: TOWARD THE 3RD MILLENNIUM. Edited by William Jenkinson and Helene O'Sullivan. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1991. 419pp. Pb. $26.95. ISBN 0–88344–766–5.     

Interpersonal determinants of attitude change following counterattitudinal behavior

In a test of predictions derived from an identity-analytic model of self-presentational behavior, individuals who privately endorsed positive or negative attitudes about sexual behavior were asked to deliver a prosexuality speech while alone, while watched by observers, or while being watched by observers who questioned the morality of the subject’s actions. Subsequent attitude measures indicated that the subjects who initially adopted negative attitudes justified their behavior by expressing more favorable attitudes about sexuality, but only when no audience witnessed their speech. When an audience was present, these individuals emphasized their lack of choice. In contrast, subjects who privately endorsed positive attitudes publicly expressed less favorable attitudes when their morality was challenged by the observers. These findings suggest that attitude change following counterattitudinal behavior (a) stems from private image-maintenance needs as well as public self-presentational concerns, and (b) is sometimes designed to secure an image of morality as well as an image of consistency.