Evolution of word meanings through metaphorical mapping: Systematicity over the past millennium

One way that languages are able to communicate a potentially infinite set of ideas through a finite lexicon is by compressing emerging meanings into words, such that over time, individual words come to express multiple, related senses of meaning. We propose that overarching communicative and cognitive pressures have created systematic directionality in how new metaphorical senses have developed from existing word senses over the history of English. Given a large set of pairs of semantic domains, we used computational models to test which domains have been more commonly the starting points (source domains) and which the ending points (target domains) of metaphorical mappings over the past millennium. We found that a compact set of variables, including externality, embodiment, and valence, explain directionality in the majority of about 5000 metaphorical mappings recorded over the past 1100 years. These results provide the first large-scale historical evidence that metaphorical mapping is systematic, and driven by measurable communicative and cognitive principles.     

Kelley's formula as a basis for the assessment of reliable change

In the literature on the measurement of change,reliable change is usually determined by means of a confidence interval around an observed value of a statistic that estimates thetrue change. In recent literature on the efficacy of psychotherapies, attention has been particularly directed at the improvement of the estimation of the true change. Reliable Change Indices, incorporating thereliability-weighted measure of individual change, also known as Kelley's formula, have been proposed. According to current practice, these indices are defined as the ratio of such an estimator and an intuitively appealing criterion and then regarded as standard normally distributed statistics. However, because the authors fail to adopt an adequate standard error of the estimator, the statistical properties of their indices are unclear. In this article, it is shown that this can lead to paradoxical conclusions. The adjusted standard error is derived.     

A Prospective Longitudinal Study of High School Dropouts Examining Multiple Predictors Across Development

Prior studies report a variety of demographic, school, individual, and family characteristics that are related to high school drop out. This study utilizes data from a 19-year prospective longitudinal study of “at-risk” children to explore multiple predictors of high school dropouts across development. The proposed model of dropping out emphasizes the importance of the early home environment and the quality of early caregiving influencing subsequent development. The results of this study demonstrate the association of the early home environment, the quality of early caregiving, socioeconomic status, IQ, behavior problems, academic achievement, peer relations, and parent involvement with dropping out of high school at age 19. These results are consistent with the view of dropping out as a dynamic developmental process that begins before children enter elementary school. Psychosocial variables prior to school entry predicted dropping out with power equal to later IQ and school achievement test scores. In our efforts to better understand processes influencing dropping out prior to high school graduation, early developmental features warrant further emphasis.     

THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF TRANSFORMATION: SCIENCE FICTION'S IMAGINED TECHNOLOGIES AND THE CIVIC IMAGINATION

This is an introduction to the thematic section on Science Fiction's Imagined Technologies, which includes three articles that were presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) in San Diego, CA on November 24, 2019.     

KAIROS: BETWEEN COSMIC ORDER AND HUMAN AGENCY A Comparative Study of Aurelius and Confucius

In nontheistic moral traditions, there is a typical ethical conundrum concerning the relation between cosmic order and human agency. Within those traditions, it is generally recognized that the universe has its own order and history that are independent of human will. A moral discourse has to find space to accommodate human agency in the midst of the iron grid of cosmic law. Both Confucius and Aurelius use the concept of timeliness (kairos) to resolve the difficult issue. But their philosophies take on divergent paths. By studying their resolutions of the issue, we will be able to appreciate the distinctive nature of their nontheistic moral narratives.     

Reliability and validity of the Japanese language version of Pro‐Change's decisional balance measure for effective stress management1

This study aimed to develop the Japanese language version of Pro‐Change's decisional balance measure for effective stress management (PDSM). Effective stress management refers to activities that are practiced, for at least 20 min per day, to reduce a person's perceived stress. Six hundred and sixty‐five female and 456 male Japanese university and college students participated in this study, which consists of two surveys. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the Japanese language version of the PDSM was developed, which contains 12 items and consists of two factors, the Pros and the Cons. The levels of internal consistency are acceptable (Pros = 0.78 and Cons = 0.64). The scores for the Pros and the Cons subscores were not affected by social desirability (Pros = ?0.04 and Cons = ?0.12). We confirmed the construct validity of the Japanese language version of PDSM with theoretically predicted relationships between the decisional balance and the stage of change for effective stress management. The Japanese language version of the PDSM with construct validity and reliability was developed.     

Social Customs and Demographic Change: The Case of Godparenthood in Catholic Europe

This article analyzes social norms regulating the selection of godparents in Italy and France. Based on Vatican statistics and European Values Study responses, the vast majority of children in Catholic Europe are baptized and birth rituals are considered important even by nonbelievers. Moreover, the dominant custom of selecting godparents from among kinsmen is a recent development, based on historical data. A new survey about the selection of godparents in Italy and France, conducted for this study, shows that godparents are chosen not for religious, but for social‐relational reasons. Selection of kinsmen is the norm, with uncles and aunts being the majority choice. For Italy, choice determinants are explored by means of multinomial regressions. The results are contrasted with demographic change to show that in lowest‐low fertility countries current godparenthood models are bound to disappear.     

Generations of Catholics in Eastern Africa: A Practice‐Centered Analysis of Religious Change

This article considers how well Martin Riesebrodt's practice‐centered theory of religion addresses religious change among Catholics in eastern Africa. Two arguments are advanced using a generational change scheme. First, Riesebrodt's focus on religious practices assists in understanding many changes that African Catholics and their communities have experienced over time. It acknowledges believers’ perspectives and the impact of missionaries, and it generates comparative insights across different cases. However, Riesebrodt's approach has limitations when developing a comparative perspective on historical transformation in these communities. Therefore, his focus on the objective meaning of interventionist religious practices needs supplementing: (1) capturing religious change within a given religion requires attention both to practices and their subjective appropriation by believers, and (2) in the forging of collective identities, theological reflection by elites helped connect Catholic practices to preexisting worldviews and Catholic practices marked generational change by distinguishing Catholics from other African Christians.     

Effects of Suspicion on Willingness to Engage in Systematic Processing of Persuasive Arguments

ABSTRACT

Two experimental studies tested the influence of suspicion on willingness to engage in a systematic analysis of arguments presented to support the introduction of a new comprehensive exam at public universities. The effect of suspicion differed depending on whether it was defined as a source feature or a receptor's personal disposition. Suspicion aroused by a specific source inhibited the systematic processing of the message, overwhelming individual differences in need for cognition. Suspicion as a receptors' stable disposition had the opposite effect. Highly suspicious receptors engaged in a more systematic processing of arguments. Although dispositional suspicion and need for cognition were correlated, the first variable had a significant effect beyond the effect of need for cognition.     

Generational differences in American students’ reasons for going to college, 1971–2014: The rise of extrinsic motives

ABSTRACT

We examined generational differences in reasons for attending college among a nationally representative sample of college students (N = 8 million) entering college between 1971–2014. We validated the items on reasons for attending college against an established measure of extrinsic and intrinsic values among college students in 2014 (n = 189). Millennials (in college 2000s–2010s) and Generation X (1980s–1990s) valued extrinsic reasons for going to college (“to make more money”) more, and anti-extrinsic reasons (“to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas”) less than Boomers when they were the same age in the 1960s–1970s. Extrinsic reasons for going to college were higher in years with more income inequality, college enrollment, and extrinsic values. These results mirror previous research finding generational increases in extrinsic values begun by GenX and continued by Millennials, suggesting that more recent generations are more likely to favor extrinsic values in their decision-making.