Deconstructing delusions: A qualitative study examining the relationship between religious beliefs and religious delusions

Delusions have been conceptualized as forming in response to experience, yet the relationship between religious belief, and beliefs regarded as delusional, has received little research attention. This is despite the high prevalence of delusions featuring religious content. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants who had been diagnosed as experiencing delusions. Participants from a range of religious backgrounds were asked about their religious experiences and beliefs, family background and experiences of psychosis. These interviews were analysed qualitatively. Whilst religious background affected the content of delusions, the nature of delusions appeared to be influenced by other factors, such as early family experiences, particularly an absent parent and conflict within the family. Individuals often used a religious framework to understand unusual experiences, and there seemed to be a role for the process of identification and wish fulfilment in influencing delusional content. Whilst this research is clearly limited by its exploratory nature, it offers a possible framework of understanding which helps make sense of religious delusions, and suggests approaches which may be helpful in recovery.     

Factors Predicting Likelihood of Eating Irradiated Meat

Perception of risk associated with meat irradiation was investigated in a sample of 478 respondents. Fears associated with irradiation, the relative severity and risk of bacterial infection versus potential risks due to the irradiation, and perceptions of the safety of the meat irradiation process combined to strongly predict participants' reports of their likelihood of eating irradiated meat in the present investigation. Overall, respondents were skeptical with regard to eating irradiated meat if it became locally available. Respondents' acceptance of meat irradiation was clearly driven by concerns about the risks of irradiation, but not the risks of bacterial contamination, confirming findings in the literature on differences in perception of “natural” and “technological” risks.     

Book Reviews

Avicenna (d. 1037) and Tūsī (d. 1274) have different doctrines on the contradiction and conversion of the absolute proposition. Following Avicenna's presentation of the doctrine in Pointers and reminders, and comparing it with what is given in Tūsī's commentary, allow us to pinpoint a major reason why Avicenna and Tūsī have different treatments of the modal syllogistic. Further comparison shows that the syllogistic system Rescher described in his research on Arabic logic more nearly fits Tūsī than Avicenna. This in turn has consequences for analysing Avicenna's logic, and for writing the history of a fascinating period of change and diversity in the discipline in the medieval Islamic world.     

Yielding to Deviant Temptation: A Quasi-Experimental Examination of the Inhibiting Power of Intrinsic Religious Motivation

ABSTRACT

The deviance-inhibiting power of religion is among the oldest criminological inquiries. To date, the extant empirical literature contains mixed and oftentimes contradictory evidence. Social scientists have argued that the ambiguous body of religion-deviance evidence is attributable, in some part, to known methodological weaknesses. This study responds to the criticisms of prior research by utilizing a validated measure of religiosity, employing a quasi-experimental design, and observing actual deviant behavior. The results of this study find that religion is indeed a powerful predictor of deviant behavior.     

An implicit basis for the retention benefits of random practice

The cognitive effort explanations of contextual interference (CI) and implicit motor learning represent a paradox in which cognitive involvement is seen to be advantageous or disadvantageous for learning. The authors aimed to resolve this paradox by measuring cognitive effort and working memory dependence during low and high CI practice on two Australian Rules Football tasks (kicking and handball). Measures of cognitive effort included: kicking and handball outcome performance during acquisition and during a test of retention, performance on a probe reaction time task during a sample of acquisition trials, and self-reported levels of cognitive effort. Measures of implicit and explicit learning included kicking and handball performance during a secondary task transfer, and self-report verbal protocols (number of verbal rules and hypotheses reported). The results suggest that high CI may cause an implicit mode of learning, perhaps due to the interference caused by task switching. However, these findings are restricted to the more complex of the 2 tasks (kicking).     

Attention and relative novelty in human perceptual learning

Four experiments examined the role of attention in human perceptual learning. In Experiment 1, participants were preexposed to a pair of visual (checkerboard) stimuli AX and BX, with common elements X and unique features A and B. A same-different task was then used to assess discrimination of AX and BX and a pair of control stimuli, CY and DY. In addition, participants' eye movements were recorded to assess the role of attentional processes. The results showed that preexposure enhanced discrimination between AX and BX. Furthermore, participants showed greater attention to the preexposed unique features A and B than to the novel unique features C and D, as measured by the eye gaze monitor. Experiments 2 and 3 examined the prediction that perceptual learning is due to the relative familiarity of the common and unique stimulus features. Experiment 4 replicated the intermixed-blocked effect and showed that the way in which AX and BX are presented is also important for perceptual learning. The results generally support the idea that intermixed preexposure to AX and BX increases attention to the unique stimulus features A and B. Some aspects of the results are consistent with a relative novelty account, whereas others implicate a high-level attentional process that is not driven by stimulus novelty.     

Young adult female fragile X premutation carriers show age- and genetically-modulated cognitive impairments

The high frequency of the fragile X premutation in the general population and its emerging neurocognitive implications highlight the need to investigate the effects of the premutation on lifespan cognitive development. Until recently, cognitive function in fragile X premutation carriers (fXPCs) was presumed to be unaffected by the mutation. Here we show that young adult female fXPCs show subtle, yet significant, age- and FMR1 gene mutation-modulated cognitive impairments as tested by a quantitative magnitude comparison task. Our results begin to define the neurocognitive endophenotype associated with the premutation in adults, who are at risk for developing a neurodegenerative disorder associated with the fragile X premutation. Results from the present study may potentially be applied toward the design of early interventions wherein we might be able to target premutation carriers most at risk for degeneration for preventive treatment.     

Compulsive Internet Use Among Adolescents: Bidirectional Parent–Child Relationships

Although parents experience growing concerns about their children’s excessive internet use, little is known about the role parents can play to prevent their children from developing Compulsive Internet Use (CIU). The present study addresses associations between internet-specific parenting practices and CIU among adolescents, as well as the bidirectionality of these associations. Two studies were conducted: a cross-sectional study using a representative sample of 4,483 Dutch students and a longitudinal study using a self-selected sample of 510 Dutch adolescents. Results suggest that qualitatively good communication regarding internet use is a promising tool for parents to prevent their teenage children from developing CIU. Besides, parental reactions to excessive internet use and parental rules regarding the content of internet use may help prevent CIU. Strict rules about time of internet use, however, may promote compulsive tendencies. Finally, one opposite link was found whereby CIU predicted a decrease in frequency of parental communication regarding internet use.