Book reviews

SCHIFF, W. AND FOULKE, E. (Eds.). Tactual Perception: A Source Book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982. Pp. 464. ISBN 0 521 24095 6. £25.00.

GILHOOLY, K. J. Thinking: Directed, Undirected and Creative. London: Academic Press. 1982. Pp. 178. ISBN 0 12283482 8. £5.50.

DEUTSCH, D. The Psychology of Music. New York: Academic Press, 1982. Pp. 542. $49.50. ISBN 0 12 2135601.

SHEPARD, R. N. and COOPER, L. A. Mental Irnuges and Their Transfomutions. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. 1982. Pp. 364. ISBN 0 262 19200 4. £17.50

WADE, N. The Art and Science of Visual Illusions. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1982. Pp. 293. E1y. 95 ISBN 0 7100 0868 6.

REED, S.K. Cognition: Theory and Applications. Montery, Calif.; BrooksiCole Publishing Co. 1982. Pp. 394. $19.95 ISBN 0 8185 0462 5.

CAELLI, T. Visual Perception Theonl and Practice. Oxford: Pergamon Press. 1981Pp. 197. £8.50 (paper) ISBN 0 08 oz4419/0~4420.

A. M. UTTLEY. Infomation Transmission in the Nervous System. London: Academic Press. 1979.Pp. 111 £7.50 ISBN 0 12709750 3.

ANDERSON, J. R. (Ed.). Cognitive Skills and their-Acquisition. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum. 1981. Pp. 386. 00.00. ISBN 0 89859 093 0.

KUCZAC, S. (Ed.). Language Development. Volume I: Syntux and Semantics. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum. 1982. Pp. 492. ISBN 0 89859 1OO 7.

DEUTSCH, W. (Ed.). The Child's Construction of Languuge. London: Academic Press. 1981. Pp. 393. ISBN 0 12213580 6. £19.20.

BAKER, C. L. and MCCARTHY, J. J. (Eds). The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 1981. Pp. 358. ISBN 0 262 02159 5. £19.25.

DIXON, N. F. Preconscious Processing Chichester: Wiley 1981. Pp. 313. ISBN 0 471 27982 X. £14.95.     

THE CREATIVE IMPERATIVE: Religious Ethics and the Formation of Life in Common

Challenging a long‐standing assumption of the separation of ethical from poetic activity, this essay develops the basis for a theory of moral life as inherently and radically creative. A range of contemporary post‐Kantian ethicists—including Ricoeur, Nussbaum, Kearney, and Gutiérrez—are employed to make the argument that moral practice requires a fundamental capability for creative transformation, imagination, and social renewal. In addition, this poetic moral capability can finally be understood only from the primordial religious point of view of the mystery of Creation as such. Humanity as an image of its Creator is called to the endless impossible possibility of the re‐creation of its own complex, plural, and fallen social world. Such a perspective is opposed to views of moral life as the application of law‐like principles or the recovery of past moral histories. Without a better understanding of moral life's radically creative imperative, we miss a vital element of social relations' distinctive humanity.     

Immigration, parasitic infection, and United States religiosity

Fincher & Thornhill (F&T) present a powerful case for the relationship between parasite-stress and religiosity. We argue, however, that the United States may be more religious than can be accounted for by parasite-stress. This greater religiosity might be attributable to greater sensitivity to immigration, which may hyperactivate evolved mechanisms that motivate avoidance of potential carriers of novel parasites.     

Low‐income parents' warmth and parent–child activities for children with disabilities,suspected delays and biological risks

Warm and responsive parenting is optimal for child development, but this style of parenting may be difficult for some parents to achieve. This study examines how parents' observed warmth and their reported frequency of parent–child activities were related to children's classifications as having biological risks or a range of disability indicators. Children were low‐income prekindergarteners who participated in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project Longitudinal Follow‐up. Data from parent, early care and education staff reports, and direct child assessments were used to classify children into the following groups: disabilities, suspected delays, biological risks, disabilities and biological risk, suspected delays and biological risk, and no disability indicator. Socioeconomic status (ethnicity, maternal education and poverty level) and maternal depression were controlled in the analyses. The parents of children with disabilities and suspected delays evidenced significantly lower levels of warmth and less frequent parent–child activities compared with other parents. The parents of children with biological risk factors who did not also have disabilities or suspected delays did not exhibit decreased warmth and less frequent parent–child activities. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.