Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs of Arab-American Women Regarding Inherited Cancer Risk

The increasing incidence of breast cancer in the Arab world, coupled with a relatively early age of onset, raises concern for the presence of hereditary risk factors in this population. However, due to potential structural and cultural barriers, Arab Americans make up the smallest percentage of individuals tested for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome in the United States. The objectives of this qualitative pilot focus group of 13 Arab-American women were to explore attitudes, knowledge and beliefs regarding hereditary breast cancer in the Arab-American community in metropolitan Detroit, identify barriers that would prevent women from seeking hereditary cancer screening/testing and determine who women would talk to about inherited cancer. Results indicated that cultural beliefs and personal experiences with cancer influenced the women’s perspectives on hereditary cancer risk. A high level of secrecy about cancer within Arab-American families was present, which may prevent accurate risk assessment and referral for genetic services. Other identified barriers that may influence hereditary risk assessment included stigma, fears and misconceptions of cancer. While these barriers were present, participants also expressed a strong need for education and tailored cancer risk information for their community.     

Supposition and representation in human reasoning

We report the results of three experiments designed to assess the role of suppositions in human reasoning. Theories of reasoning based on formal rules propose that the ability to make suppositions is central to deductive reasoning. Our first experiment compared two types of problem that could be solved by a suppositional strategy. Our results showed no difference in difficulty between problems requiring affirmative or negative suppositions and very low logical solution rates throughout. Further analysis of the error data showed a pattern of responses, which suggested that participants reason from a superficial representation of the premises in these arguments and this drives their choice of conclusion. Our second experiment employed a different set of suppositional problems but with extremely similar proofs in terms of the rules applied and number of inferential steps required. As predicted by our interpretation of reasoning strategies employed in Experiment 1, logical performance was very much higher on these problems. Our third experiment showed that problems that could be solved by constructing an initial representation of the premises were easier than problems in which this representation was not sufficient. This effect was independent of the suppositional structure of the problems. We discuss the implications of this research for theories of reasoning based on mental models and inference rules.     

Chronometric Analysis of the Posturo-Kinetic Programming of Voluntary Movement

Posturo-kinetic programming was investigated in a simple reaction time paradigm. Standing subjects performed voluntary upper limb elevations under three conditions differing by the importance of their destabilizing effect on the initial balance. Three indexes were considered: the reaction time (RT) corresponding to delay between the response signal (RS) and the onset of the upper limb acceleration at wrist level (Aw); the motor latency (ML) corresponding to delay between RS and onset of the earlier of the two accelerations at shank level (As) which was previously shown to indicate the onset of postural adjustments; and the postural anticipation (PA) corresponding to the delay between the onset of the earliest As and the onset of Aw. The results showed that the RT varied in relation to parameters of the forthcoming movement. RT variations were essentially due to differences in the PA. It appeared that the ML depended on cognitive factors while the PA depended on biomechanical ones. It is concluded that ML corresponds to the “true” reaction time while PA covers the earliest part of the motor response.     

Performance of the Duke Religion Index and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale in Online Samples of Men Who Have Sex with Men

Religiosity is associated with behaviors that reduce the risk of HIV/STI infection among general-population and heterosexual-specific samples. Whether this association is similar to homosexual persons is unknown. Measures of religiosity have not been evaluated psychometrically among men who have sex with men (MSM), a population who, because of stigma, experience religiosity differently than heterosexual persons. We assessed the duke religion index and the spiritual well-being in two samples of MSM. Neither instrument produced adequate model fit. To study the association between religiosity and HIV/STI risk behaviors among MSM, scales are needed that measure the religious and spiritual experiences of MSM.     

Factors that Precipitate and Mitigate Crises in Ministry

Using a modified Delphi technique, this study reports mixed-method data for factors identified as leading to crises in ministry. Data were collected from a random stratified sample of Uniting Church clergy based in southern Australia. Three phases (Phase 1?N?=?85, Phase 2?N?=?95, Phase 3?N?=?75) identified precipitants to crises in ministry and strategies to mitigate these crises. Strategies included a need for ongoing mandatory professional development, professional supervision, peer support, and formal ethics training. Results are discussed in the light of job demands, job control and job support, and the self-determination needs of competence, relatedness, and autonomy.     

Bereavement and Traumatic Bereavement: Working with the Two-Track Model of Bereavement

Bereavement following loss through death is a universal human experience, but how it is experienced and understood is mediated by many variables. In this article, we stress the importance of a bifocal approach to understanding, assessing and intervening following the loss of significant persons using the framework of the Two-Track Model of Bereavement. This model examines both biopsychosocial functioning as well as the nature of the ongoing relationship with the deceased and the death story in working with the bereaved. It is particularly suited to identify adaptive and maladaptive responses to loss and to optimally focus interventions where needed. Two case vignettes are presented to orient the discussion. Traumatic bereavements, a term indicating the interface between trauma and loss, increase the likelihood of complications following loss and these are considered. Bereavements that occur under external traumatic circumstances increase the risk for dysfunction, symptomatic difficulties and complicated grief. In addition, there are forms of traumatic bereavement that arise due to subjective elements related to aspects of the psychological relationship to the deceased and the relational bond with him or her. Clinically, there is a need to identify and understand the various aspects of the traumas of bereavement and to intervene appropriately. Interventions based on the Two-Track Model of Bereavement will be described.     

Offline consolidation of memory varies with time in slow wave sleep and can be accelerated by cuing memory reactivations

Memory representations are reactivated during slow-wave sleep (SWS) after learning, and these reactivations cause a beneficial effect of sleep for memory consolidation. Memory reactivations can also be externally triggered during sleep by associated cues which enhance the sleep-dependent memory consolidation process. Here, we compared in humans the influence of sleep periods (i) of 40min and (ii) of 90min without externally triggered reactivations and (iii) of externally triggered reactivations by an associated odor cue during a 40-min sleep period on the consolidation of previously learned hippocampus-dependent visuo-spatial memories. We show that external reactivation by an odor cue during the 40-min sleep period enhanced memory stability to the same extent as 90min of sleep without odor reactivation. In contrast, 40min of sleep without external reactivations were not sufficient to benefit memory. In the 90-min sleep condition, memory enhancements were associated with time spent in SWS and were independent of the presence or absence of REM sleep. These results suggest that the efficacy of hippocampus-dependent memory consolidation depends on the duration of sleep and particularly SWS. External reactivation cues can accelerate the consolidation process even during shorter sleep episodes.     

Book notes

Sacred Place JEAN HOLM, ed. with JOHN BOWKER, 1994 London: Pinter Press 206 pp., £9.99 ISBN 1–85567–105–0

Guide to Libraries in London Compiled by VALERIE MCBURNEY, with the assistance of TONY ANTONIOU & PAUL WILSON, 1995 London: The British Library, Science Reference & Information Service (SRIS) 358 pp., £46.00 ISBN 0–7123–0821–0

Human Rights and the World's Religions LEROY S. ROUNER, ed. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press 220 pp., US$10.95 ISBN 0–268–01107–9

Civil Religion and Political Theology LEROY S. ROUNER, ed. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press 228 pp., US$10.95 ISBN 0–268–00806‐X

Transcendence and the Sacred ALAN M. OLSEN, LEROY S. ROUNER, eds. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press 230 pp., US$10.95 ISBN 0–268–01888‐X

Dispatches from the Front: Theological Engagements with the Secular STANLEY HAUERWAS, 1995 Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press 235 pp., £13.95 ISBN 0–8223–1716–8

Studies in Early Mysticism in the Near and Middle East MARGARET SMITH, 1995 Oxford: Oneworld Publications 276 pp., £9.95 (pb) ISBN 1–85168–098–5     

The ethics of creative accounting

Creative accounting, which generally involves the preparation of financial statements with the intention of misleading readers of those statements, is prima facie a form oflying, as defined by Bok.¹ This paper starts by defining and illustrating creative accounting. It examines and rejects the arguments for considering creative accounting, in spite of its deceptive intent, as not being a form of lying. It then examines the ethical issues raised by creative accounting, in the light of the literature on the ethics of lying. This literature includes the evaluation of various excuses and justifications for lying, and these are examined here in relation to creative accounting. It is concluded that even in circumstances in which creative accounting would arguably serve a worthy purpose, that purpose would be at least as well served by honest communication.