Multiple-landmark piloting in pigeons (Columba livia): landmark configuration as a discriminative cue

Using the landmark-transformation technique, researchers have shown that pigeons (Columba livia) tend to encode a goal location relative to 1 landmark, even when multiple landmarks are in the vicinity of the goal. The current experiments examined pigeons' ability to use configural information from a set of landmarks by making the arrangement of 4 landmarks a discriminative cue to the location of buried seeds. Results showed that pigeons used information from the 3 consistently placed landmarks to search accurately when 1 landmark was displaced. Findings indicate that pigeons are able to search for a goal using information from multiple landmarks instead of just 1 and that landmark use by these birds may be more flexible than previously theorized.     

Increasing attendance at colorectal cancer screening: testing the efficacy of a mailed, psychoeducational intervention in a community sample of older adults.

This article describes a trial of a psychoeducational intervention designed to modify negative attitudes toward flexible sigmoidoscopy screening and thereby increase screening attendance. The intervention materials addressed the multiple barriers shown to be associated with participation in earlier studies. Adults ages 55-64 (N = 2,966), in a "harder-to-reach" group were randomized either to receive an intervention brochure or to a standard invitation group. Attitudes and expectations were assessed by questionnaire, and attendance at the clinic was recorded. Compared with controls, the intervention group had less negative attitudes, anticipated a more positive experience, and had a 3.6% higher level of attendance. These results indicate that psychoeducational interventions can provide an effective means of modifying attitudes and increasing rates of screening attendance.     

When does priming justice promote forgiveness? On the importance of distributive and procedural justice for self and others

Two studies show that thinking about justice can both enhance and impede forgiveness, depending on whether thoughts about distributive and procedural justice for self and others are activated. In Study 1 (n = 197), participants expressed more forgiveness towards a prior transgressor when primed to think about justice for self or procedural justice for others, and less forgiveness when primed to think about distributive justice for others. Study 2 (n = 231) used an alternate priming method and replicated these effects by inducing an interpersonal transgression and measuring forgiveness intentions, emotions and behavior. Study 2 also showed that priming justice influences forgiveness especially when the perceived severity of an interpersonal offense is high. The current research shows that activating justice cognitions can enhance or impinge on forgiveness in predictable ways. We discuss contributions to emerging justice theory, potential implications, and future directions.     

Orthodoxy revisited: the postsecular classroom

As is the case with many new intellectual concepts, the definitional parameters of the term ‘postsecular’ are in flux and ultimately will shape its critical usefulness. This article represents an effort to participate in this discussion with a particular emphasis on the pedagogical importance of the tenets of religious orthodoxy when discussing spiritual matters in the university-level liberal arts classroom. The analysis is contextualized by reflection on the place of religion in the public sphere by various scholars, including Jürgen Habermas and Rowan Williams. This analysis establishes that the study of traditional religious positions in the university classroom can enrich the discourse of the liberal arts; however, neither proselytization nor an emotion-based spiritual paradigm bereft of intellectual rigor will serve these ends. I argue that the re-introduction of religion into analytical discourse in the humanities classroom will be successful if the discussion of religion is complemented by the recognition of the serious study of religious thought and scholarship. The argument is then developed through a pedagogical case study of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited that illustrates how the discussion of orthodox positions can enhance discussion of the novel in the postsecular classroom.     

Spirituality in African-American Breast Cancer Patients: Implications for Clinical and Psychosocial Care

Journal of Religion and Health - Spirituality has been shown to be important to many individuals dealing with a cancer diagnosis. While African-American breast cancer survivors have been reported...     

MEASURING AND INCREASING THE HAPPINESS OF PEOPLE WITH PROFOUND MENTAL RETARDATION AND PHYSICAL HANDICAPS

Applied research in mental retardation has focused on skill training and education to the relative neglect of measuring and increasing happiness in the lives of people with mental retardation. Here we report the results of four preliminary studies that were conducted to develop and demonstrate methodologies for measuring happiness in people with profound mental retardation and other severe handicaps. These results suggest that: (1) facial expressions can provide a valid measure of happiness, and can be measured reliably by relatively untrained observers; (2) the rate of spontaneous smiling is highly variable across individuals; (3) some individuals’ happiness can be increased dramatically by very simple social interactions; and (4) clients’ differential emotional reactions to various caregivers may be useful in tracking the development of social relationships. Suggestions for future research include systematic replication of these preliminary findings with a larger number and variety of subjects, and demonstration of how these measures can be applied to quality assurance systems.     

Infant and parent factors associated with early maternal sensitivity: a caregiver-attachment systems approach

We examined variations in maternal sensitivity at 6 months of child age as a function of child negativity and maternal physiology. We expected maternal vagal withdrawal in response to infant negative affect to facilitate the maintenance of sensitivity, but only for mothers of securely attached children. One hundred and forty-eight infant-mother dyads were observed in multiple contexts at 6 months of child age, and associations among maternal and child variables were examined with respect to 12-month attachment quality. Mothers of later securely attached children were more sensitive than mothers of avoidant children. However, sensitivity decreased for all mothers at high levels of infant negative affect. Furthermore, for mothers of avoidant children, vagal withdrawal was associated with sensitivity to child distress. No association was found between vagal withdrawal and sensitivity for mothers of securely attached children. This suggests that mothers of avoidant children may be uniquely challenged by the affective demands of their infants.     

Allowing for correlations between correlations in random-effects meta-analysis of correlation matrices

Practical meta-analysis of correlation matrices generally ignores covariances (and hence correlations) between correlation estimates. The authors consider various methods for allowing for covariances, including generalized least squares, maximum marginal likelihood, and Bayesian approaches, illustrated using a 6-dimensional response in a series of psychological studies concerning prediction of exercise behavior change. Quantities of interest include the overall population mean correlation matrix, the contrast between the mean correlations, the predicted correlation matrix in a new study, and the conflict between the existing studies and a new correlation matrix. The authors conclude that accounting for correlations between correlations is unnecessary when interested in individual correlations but potentially important if concerned with a composite measure involving 2 or more correlations. A simulation study indicates the asymptotic normal assumption appears reasonable. Because of potential instability in the generalized least squares methods, they recommend a model-based approach, either the maximum marginal likelihood approach or a full Bayesian analysis.