An aspect of sex-role identification with a sample of twelve year olds and sixteen year olds

It is argued that the social relationships of late childhood have attributes which encourage the feminine stereotype rather than the masculine stereotype. It is hypothesized that children of both sexes who attest to masculine characteristics will feel higher levels of discordance than those children who attest to feminine characteristics. It is also argued that by 16 years this relationship will no longer pertain. Bem's (1974) Sex-Role Inventory was modified in terms of item content, language, and scale to make it appropriate to 11 year olds. The hypothesis concerning discordance was partly confirmed, although sex differences may be present. A second hypothesis concerning the relationship between gregarious interests and sex-role attributes was confirmed, for all groups except the younger boys.     

CONSTRUCTING A THEOLOGY OF EVOLUTION: BUILDING ON JOHN HAUGHT

The construction of a distinctively Christian “theology of evolution” or “theistic evolution” requires the incorporation of the science of evolutionary biology while building a more comprehensive worldview within which all things are understood in relation to our creating and redeeming God. In the form of theses, this article brings four support pillars to the constructive work: (1) orienting evolutionary history to the God of grace; (2) affirming purpose for nature even if we cannot see purpose in nature; (3) employing the theology of the cross to discern divine compassion in the natural world; and (4) relying on the divine promise of new creation. Among other things, John Haught's blueprint has located the pedestals on which these pillars will stand. For this groundwork, Haught deserves thanks.     

Vicarious and direct counterconditioning of test anxiety through individual and group desensitization

Vicarious and direct desensitization were compared for individual and group treatment of test anxiety. Fifty seventh-graders were assigned by stratified random sampling to the following treatment conditions: direct-individual; vicarious-individual; direct-group; group-observing-group; group-observing-model. Twenty-one eighth-graders served as no-treatment controls. Upon completion of the experimental phase, all subjects were administered a measure of test anxiety and a reading test. As predicted, experimental subjects improved significantly, relative to controls, on both outcome measures; as further expected, the experimental variations did not produce significantly different outcomes among treatment conditions. Neither sex of subject nor assignment to alternative therapists qualified the findings.     

Judgment and condemnation: How we love it!

The violence and death in Charlottesville on August 14, 2017 led to a national and even international barrage of condemnations of white supremacy along with condemnations of those who were slow to condemn. Why do we like to judge and condemn? And why do we do it with such passion and zeal? If the biblical gospel proclaims that we are justified before God by grace and not via self‐justification through condemnation, could we turn our attention more directly to those victimized by the conflict at hand? Specifically, could we listen to the voices of African Americans, Jews, America's Deep South, America's Southwest, and the disenfranchised white working class?     

The relationship between biological and psychosocial risk factors and resting‐state functional connectivity in 2‐month‐old Bangladeshi infants: A feasibility and pilot study

Childhood poverty has been associated with structural and functional alterations in the developing brain. However, poverty does not alter brain development directly, but acts through associated biological or psychosocial risk factors (e.g. malnutrition, family conflict). Yet few studies have investigated risk factors in the context of infant neurodevelopment, and none have done so in low‐resource settings such as Bangladesh, where children are exposed to multiple, severe biological and psychosocial hazards. In this feasibility and pilot study, usable resting‐state fMRI data were acquired in infants from extremely poor (n = 16) and (relatively) more affluent (n = 16) families in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Whole‐brain intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) was estimated using bilateral seeds in the amygdala, where iFC has shown susceptibility to early life stress, and in sensory areas, which have exhibited less susceptibility to early life hazards. Biological and psychosocial risk factors were examined for associations with iFC. Three resting‐state networks were identified in within‐group brain maps: medial temporal/striatal, visual, and auditory networks. Infants from extremely poor families compared with those from more affluent families exhibited greater (i.e. less negative) iFC in precuneus for amygdala seeds; however, no group differences in iFC were observed for sensory area seeds. Height‐for‐age, a proxy for malnutrition/infection, was not associated with amygdala/precuneus iFC, whereas prenatal family conflict was positively correlated. Findings suggest that it is feasible to conduct infant fMRI studies in low‐resource settings. Challenges and practical steps for successful implementations are discussed.     

Covenant,blood, and violence: America at war with itself and others

Religious nationalism is dangerous, because it tends toward violence. In the case of America, religious nationalism is preceded by, and dependent upon, a covenant with God that renders judgment against the nation when it fails to embody divine justice. The second use of the law in Lutheran theology, combined with René Girard's scapegoat theory, provides the prophetic public theologian with a searchlight to make visible the nation's justification of violence. The haunting question becomes this: should the prophetic public theologian expose the lie on which American religious nationalism is built and risk sundering human community?