An Examination of the Biblical Evidence for Open Theism

Open Theist theologians argue that their view of divine foreknowledge and providence is the correct interpretation of the Bible, and suggest some biblical evidence to support this claim. Among these theologians, Gregory A. Boyd’s case is the most systematic, and also the most comprehensive and rigorous. Taking into consideration (1) the main philosophical claims of Open Theism and its main rivals, namely Calvinism and Molinism, and (2) Open Theist theologians’ interpretative principles for the Bible, the biblical evidence for Open Theism suggested by Boyd can be classified into three groups according to their strength. I will argue that the first group of themes has no evidential value for Open Theism, since these themes can be interpreted just as plausibly from a Calvinist or Molinist perspective. By contrast, the second group of themes has some evidential value and thus constitutes prima facie evidence for Open Theism, since these themes make most sense under an Open Theist interpretation. However, these themes also make some sense on a Molinist reading. The third group of themes, I argue, has most evidential value for Open Theism, since it seems hard to reconcile these themes either with Calvinism or Molinism.     

Quantification of Conflicts of Interest in an Online Point-of-Care Clinical Support Website

Science and Engineering Ethics - Online medical reference websites are utilized by health care providers to enhance their education and decision making. However, these resources may not adequately...     

Uncovering the trail of positive affect in the job attitudes literature: A systematic review

A review of the organisational psychology literature suggests that researchers have examined at least four job attitude constructs: job satisfaction, work/task satisfaction, job involvement, and organisational commitment. Less, however, is known about why the four different job attitudes vary in magnitude as predictors of vital organisational outcomes. In this systematic review, I propose that positive affect is central in explaining the differential effects of these job attitudes on organisational outcomes. The review then explicates patterns of results underlying prior studies on these job attitudes and presents an overarching proposition: Accurate conceptualisation and measurement of the affective component underlying each job attitude will help illustrate how, and to what extent, each job attitude leads to desirable organisational outcomes. Finally, four key suggestions for further job attitudes research are presented: (a) enhancing conceptualisation and measurement of positive affect in job attitudes, (b) developing an overarching theory of positive affect, (c) focusing on discrete positive emotions, and (d) looking beyond existing current job attitude constructs. This work complements the current affective epoch of job attitudes research, uncovering the trail of positive affect as it has informed the job attitudes literature historically and suggesting its theoretical and practical developments for the future.     

Positive Psychological States and Employee Creativity: The role of Ethical Leadership

This study explores a new theoretical model of employee creativity by investigating the impact of ethical leadership on creativity mediated by creative self-efficacy and psychological safety. Data collected from 200 supervisor–subordinate dyads in Pakistan reveal that ethical leadership is positively related to creativity. Further, psychological safety partially mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and creativity. However, creative self-efficacy is found insignificant in the relationship between ethical leadership and creativity. The study discusses research and practical implications of the proposed new theoretical framework with regard to employee creativity.     

Examining stimuli paired with alternative reinforcement to mitigate resurgence in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and pigeons

In two laboratory experiments, we examined whether stimuli paired with alternative reinforcers could mitigate resurgence of a previously reinforced target response with pigeons (Experiment 1) and children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Experiment 2). In Phase 1, we arranged food reinforcement according to a variable-ratio schedule for engaging in a target response. In Phase 2, we arranged extinction for target responding and differentially reinforced alternative responding according to a fixed-ratio schedule, with every alternative-reinforcer delivery paired with a change in keylight color (Experiment 1) or automated verbal (praise) statement (Experiment 2). In Phase 3, we assessed resurgence during extinction of target and alternative responding in the presence versus absence of continued presentation of the paired stimulus. Despite variation across sessions, resurgence on average was lower when continuing to present the paired stimuli in all pigeons and children while maintenance of alternative responding did not differ between assessments. These findings indicate that stimuli paired with alternative reinforcement can modestly decrease resurgence, but further examination of their efficacy and a better understanding of the underlying processes are necessary before they can be recommended for clinical use in reducing resurgence of clinically relevant problem behavior.     

Male HIV-1 transgenic rats show reduced cocaine-maintained lever-pressing compared to F344 wildtype rats despite similar baseline locomotion

The HIV-1 transgenic (Tg) rat model is valuable for understanding HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) and accompanying substance use and misuse. Tg and F344/NHsd wildtype (WT) rats were allowed to self-administer intrajugular cocaine. For the first 7 sessions, neither genotype self-administered cocaine (0.1 mg/kg/infusion) on a fixed ratio 1 schedule. We thus implemented a lever–cocaine “autoshaping” session followed by a series of manipulations changing dose and reinforcement schedule. Tg rats self-administered much less cocaine than WT rats throughout the study. Of 8 Tg rats, 5 modestly increased self-administration from sessions 36–50. Of those, only 3 showed a lever discrimination. Of 10 WT rats, 8 acquired robust self-administration by session 19; all WT rats self-administered cocaine by the end of the study. WT and Tg rats had similar baseline locomotor activity in the self-administration chamber suggesting that the low levels of cocaine intake in the Tg rats did not reflect a nonspecific motor impairment in this rat strain. Concomitant measurement of activity with self-administration revealed activity increases that followed increased cocaine intake. That relation held in Tg rats. Therefore, the present study provides evidence that HIV-1 Tg rats are less sensitive to the reinforcing effects of cocaine than their F344 WT counterparts.     

Pyridostigmine-induced inhibition of blood acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and resulting effects on manual ocular tracking performance in the trained baboon

A method was developed to determine the effects of pyridostigmine on sensory-motor control in baboons trained to perform visuo-oculo-manual tracking tasks. The performance was evaluated in terms of accuracy, maximum smooth pursuit velocity, and gain. Administration of pyridostigmine (0.4-0.7 mg/kg intramuscularly) induced a dose-related decrease in smooth pursuit performance which appeared 10 to 30 min after injection and lasted about 1 h. If the animal was allowed to track the target with its hand or to move the target itself, the smooth pursuit performance increased significantly, returning to near normal values. The movement of the hand was not altered. The effect of intramuscular injections of pyridostigmine (0.5 mg/kg) was studied on blood acetylcholinesterase activity in alert baboons. Maximum inhibition of about 60% of baseline activity was observed 10 min after pyridostigmine injection. Subsequently the activity slowly tended to return to control level. Three hours after drug administration, acetylcholinesterase activity inhibition was still 34.1% of control value. In the baboon, the time-course of acetylcholinesterase activity recovery after injection is similar to that recorded in human. The similarity of the time-course of blood acetylcholinesterase activity and changes in smooth pursuit performance suggests a causal relationship between the two factors. A further experiment showed that pyridostigmine administered per os at a dose normally used as a prophylactic against organophosphates does not significantly alter sensorimotor performance as evaluated at the oculomanual tracking system level. When compared to the literature, our results suggest that the baboon can be used as a human experimental analog for pharmacological studies such as the action of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.     

Maternal correlates of stability and change in infant-mother attachment

The relations between maternal control style, sensitivity, and childrearing attitudes on one hand and the stability of the infant-mother attachment relationship on the other were examined in a sample of 38 mother-infant dyads. The mother-child pairs were observed during a structured play session and in Ainsworth's Strange Situation when the infants were 12 and 20 months old, a developmental period characterized by increased autonomous functioning. Our results suggested that infants whose mothers had nonpunitive childrearing attitudes, were sensitive, and supportive of their infants' striving toward autonomy remained, or became, secure in their attachment relationship over their second year of life. Mothers who were more punitive, more controlling, and less sensitive had infants who either remained or became insecurely attached across this developmental period. While previous research has linked attachment stability to socioeconomic factors, the present investigation points to the importance of more subtle interactive variables to the understanding of the attachment relationship.