Religious Involvement Measurement Model in a National Sample of African Americans

This study examined the factor structure of a brief measure of religious involvement developed previously in research with African American women. Telephone interview methods were used with a national sample of both African American women and men (N = 2,370). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the distinction between religious beliefs and religious behaviors factors and indicated that the factor loadings were equivalent for women and men. Women reported higher levels of religious involvement than men. These results support the validity of this relatively brief instrument for assessing these two dimensions of religious involvement for both African American women and men.     

Spiritual Integration Predicts Self-Reported Mental and Physical Health

Data from 167 participants were used to establish the psychometric properties of the Reidhead spiritual integration scale, 31-item version (SI-31). Structural equation modeling was used to empirically evaluate influences on perceived health functioning, while accounting for possible confounds. The analyses showed that SI-31 predicted perceived mental and physical health while controlling for life satisfaction, religious variables, mood patterns, depression symptoms, and demographics. The importance of SI as a predictor of health-related outcomes is supported, as is the usefulness of the SI-31 in predicting these outcomes.     

The Role of Spiritual Experiences and Activities in the Relationship Between Chronic Illness and Psychological Well-Being

Our research explores the correlates of spiritual experiences over a 2-year period in a sample of older adults (N = 164; mean age 81.9 years) living in a continuing care retirement community. Utilizing responses to the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, scores were analyzed for changes over time and for their hypothesized moderating effect in the relationship between chronic illness impact and markers of psychological well-being (as measured by the Geriatric Depression and Life Satisfaction scales). Repeated measures ANOVA indicated a significant decline (P < .01) in the reported spiritual experiences over a 2-year period of time, and t tests showed a significant difference by gender (P < .01) in years 1 and 2, with women reporting higher levels of spiritual experiences than men. Analyses found low spirituality scores associated with low life satisfaction in all years (baseline: r = ?.288, P < .01; year 1: r = ?.209, P < .05; year 2: r = ?.330, P < .001). Only weak associations were detected between low spirituality and the presence of depressive symptoms at baseline (r = .186, P < .05) and year 2 (r = .254, P < .01). Moderation effects of spirituality on the relationship between chronic illness impact and markers of psychological well-being were explored in all years, with a statistically significant effect found only for the presence of depressive symptoms in year 2. Higher impact of chronic illnesses is associated with more depressive symptoms under conditions of low spirituality. Future research may center upon longer-duration evaluation of reliance upon spiritual practices and their impact in care management models.     

Growth motivation as a moderator of behavioral self-handicapping in women

Behavioral self-handicapping is a strategy used to protect attributions about ability. People behaviorally self-handicap by creating an obstacle to their success so failure is attributed to the obstacle instead of to their ability. Although past research has observed behavioral self-handicapping exclusively in men, the current research revealed a moderator of behavioral self-handicapping in women: growth motivation, which reflects the desire to develop one's abilities and learn from failure. Participants (N = 100) completed a test purportedly predictive of successful careers and relationships, and some were given failure feedback about their performance. Participants could behaviorally self-handicap by choosing to complete another test in a performance-impairing environment. Although men self-handicapped more overall, women self-handicapped more after failure when they were low in growth motivation. These results highlight a novel moderator of behavioral self-handicapping in women.     

A History of Psychology of Religion in the West: Implications for Theory and Method

The study of religion in Western psychology has an interesting history that provides many lessons for future attempts to understand the spiritual aspects of human experience. In the past, psychologists have typically operated from one of three paradigms in their study of religion: (1) hermeneutic–phenomenological, (2) positivistic naturalism, and (3) religious integration. Each of these paradigms has a number of important theoretical assumptions and a preferred set of methodologies that offer significant advantages and disadvantages. The paradigm of positivistic naturalism, with its emphasis on quantitative questionnaire methodology, has been the most influential but also the least helpful in generating new ideas for the psychological understanding of religion, particularly as it is practiced in non-Western contexts. A historical survey of the other competing paradigms offers many insights and practical suggestions about how research in the psychology of religion might proceed in the twenty-first century.     

Health Programming for Clergy: An Overview of Protestant Programs in the United States

The health of clergy is important, and clergy may find health programming tailored to them more effective. Little is known about existing clergy health programs. We contacted Protestant denominational headquarters and searched academic databases and the Internet. We identified 56 clergy health programs and categorized them into prevention and personal enrichment; counseling; marriage and family enrichment; peer support; congregational health; congregational effectiveness; denominational enrichment; insurance/strategic pension plans; and referral-based programs. Only 13 of the programs engaged in outcomes evaluation. Using the Socioecological Framework, we found that many programs support individual-level and institutional-level changes, but few programs support congregational-level changes. Outcome evaluation strategies and a central repository for information on clergy health programs are needed.     

Morphological patterns and their colour

This study analyzed qualitative aspects in perception, particularly the relationship between morphological aspects of biological shapes and colour. The experiment reported by the study assessed the functional relation between shape and colour and, in particular, the relations among the patterns of shapes appearing in perceptual configurations, as well as certain characteristics of colour. Participants were shown 32 natural images and were asked to match them with a colour. The results indicated that some figures were more frequently associated (positively or negatively) with some colours instead of others. Type of shape, texture, and three-dimensionality were important elements in the participants' choices. Rounded figures and non-holed figures had positive matches with red; elongated figures were associated with colours between blue and green; and holed figures showed positive matches with colours between green and yellow. Type of shape and texture also exhibited a relationship with the warmth of the colour.     

An accuracy-response time capacity assessment function that measures performance against standard parallel predictions

Measures of human efficiency under increases in mental workload or attentional limitations are vital in studying human perception, cognition, and action. Assays of efficiency as workload changes have typically been confined to either reaction times (RTs) or accuracy alone. Within the realm of RTs, a nonparametric measure called the workload capacity coefficient has been employed in many studies (Townsend & Nozawa, 1995). However, the contribution of correct versus incorrect responses has been unavailable in that context. A nonparametric statistic that is capable of simultaneously taking into account accuracy as well as RTs would be highly useful. This theoretical study develops such a tool for two important decisional stopping rules. Preliminary data from a simple visual identification study illustrate one potential application.     

Generalization through the recurrent interaction of episodic memories: a model of the hippocampal system

In this article, we present a perspective on the role of the hippocampal system in generalization, instantiated in a computational model called REMERGE (recurrency and episodic memory results in generalization). We expose a fundamental, but neglected, tension between prevailing computational theories that emphasize the function of the hippocampus in pattern separation (Marr, 1971; McClelland, McNaughton, & O'Reilly, 1995), and empirical support for its role in generalization and flexible relational memory (Cohen & Eichenbaum, 1993; Eichenbaum, 1999). Our account provides a means by which to resolve this conflict, by demonstrating that the basic representational scheme envisioned by complementary learning systems theory (McClelland et al., 1995), which relies upon orthogonalized codes in the hippocampus, is compatible with efficient generalization-as long as there is recurrence rather than unidirectional flow within the hippocampal circuit or, more widely, between the hippocampus and neocortex. We propose that recurrent similarity computation, a process that facilitates the discovery of higher-order relationships between a set of related experiences, expands the scope of classical exemplar-based models of memory (e.g., Nosofsky, 1984) and allows the hippocampus to support generalization through interactions that unfold within a dynamically created memory space.     

The Influence of Prior Handling on the Effective CS-US Interval in Long-Trace Taste-Aversion Conditioning in Rats

The Psychological Record - In conditioned taste aversion (CTA), a taste, the conditioned stimulus (CS), is paired with an illness-inducing stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus (US), to produce...