Christian Perspectives on Spiritual Needs of a Human Being

SUMMARY

Each human being, independent of culture, time, and age has three fundamental needs. A need for biophysical exchanges, a need for psychosocial exchanges, and a need for spiritual-integrated exchanges. Spiritual needs are not separated from biological, social, psychological, and material aspects of life. Christian spirituality today is oriented toward responding to life, to its beauty and injustices, to the universe, and is responsive and responsible to the poor. Some specific tasks for older people today are commitment to the great causes of justice, peace, and environmental protection, and a deeper bond of love for God and fellow man.     

Conflict adaptation: It is not what you expect

In two studies, a vocal Stroop task with eight different colours was employed in order to put two core assumptions of the original interpretation of the Gratton effect to the test. We verified whether top-down control processes can elicit conflict adaptation when episodic memory effects are controlled for and to what extent proactive adjustments driven by the subjects' expectancy for congruency level repetition contribute to this effect. Therefore, we presented Stroop stimuli without feature repetitions and investigated whether the induced expectancy manipulation of raising the amount of either congruency level repetitions or alternations in a training phase transferred to an unmanipulated test phase. Over the two experiments, a sequential modulation of the Stroop effect was found in the absence of stimulus feature repetitions, strongly confirming a share for top-down control processes in bringing about the Gratton effect. In the condition where congruency level repetitions were raised, a strong Gratton effect was found. When congruency level alternations outnumbered repetitions, the Gratton effect disappeared completely. However, this difference seemed mainly due to cumulative effects of local, dynamic, trial-to-trial control adjustments rather than expectancy-induced attentional shifting. Once the transition probability changed back to 50% in the test phase of each experiment, a similar Gratton effect was found in both conditions. Taken together, these results are best explained in terms of dynamic reactive control.     

Motor Learning Without Knowledge of Results Through the Development of a Response Recognition Mechanism

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the ability of a response recognition mechanism, developed by presenting the sensory consequences associated with the criterion movement in the absence of actual movement recall, to produce motor learning in the absence of knowledge of results (KR). In Experiments 1 and 2, a rapid linear timing task was used (10.16 cm in 100 msec), and reduction of movement error resulted over no-KR practice trials. Experiments 3 and 4 employed a slow movement-time task (750 and 1250 msec) and a linear positioning task, respectively, and no reduction of movement error occurred over the no-KR practice trials in either experiment. The ability of the response recognition mechanism to produce motor learning in the absence of KR depended upon the extent to which feedback could be used during response production.     

Neurotic Nucleus and Test Anxiety

Undergraduate university students (N = 103) participated in a study of the relationship between test anxiety and the variables of trait anxiety, self-esteem, locus of control, mental ability, and gender. Results indicated bivariate associations between total test anxiety and the other measures except for mental ability. Further analyses revealed independent relationships between the “worry” component of test anxiety and the variables of trait anxiety, intemality, chance, and mental ability. We also found independent associations between the “emotionality” aspect of test anxiety and the measures of trait anxiety and chance.     

Long-term rod dark adaptation in man. Threshold measurements, rhodopsin regeneration and allosteric sensitivity regulation. An evaluation

Recent evidence strongly suggests that the relationship between threshold elevation ( T ) and fraction of bleached rhodopsin ( B ), obtained during a major, middle period of long-term rod dark adaptation in man, is well described by a power function, i. e., T = k · Bⁿ , where k is a multiplicative constant and n is the exponent. Due primarily to the low reliability of measurements of rhodopsin regeneration, however, the exponent n of the power function cannot, at present, be given an exact value. Available information indicates that the value of the exponent ranges between 2.4 and 4. Implications of this uncertainty are discussed within the framework of the allosteric, tetrameric model of rod dark adaptation. It is concluded that this model in its simplest form may only offer a first approximation of the real system implicated in the process.     

Engaging in Distancing Tactics Among Sport Fans: Effects on Self-Esteem and Emotional Responses

Abstract

The authors examined the effects of distancing tactics on self-esteem and emotions, following a win or loss of one's favorite team. They measured state self-esteem and emotional responses of basketball fans as they exited the sport arena after their team had won or lost an official game. Half of the fans were given the opportunity to increase or decrease their association with the team before the measures of self-esteem and emotions; the remaining fans were given the opportunity after the measures. The fans tended to associate more with the team after team success than after team failure. In addition, self-esteem and positive emotions were higher, and negative emotions lower, when measured after, rather than before, the opportunity to increase or decrease association with the team. Those effects were more pronounced among high-team-identification fans than among low-team-identification fans. The results suggest a distinction between the short- and long-term effects of game outcome on the willingness to associate with one's team. In the short term, willingness to associate with the team may oscillate in accordance with team performance, even among high-team-identification fans; in the long term, only high-team-identification fans may maintain their allegiance to the team.     

Spirituality as a Resiliency Quality in Xhosa-speaking Families in South Africa

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore spirituality as a characteristic of family resilience in Xhosa-speaking families in South Africa. A parent, and in some cases an adolescent, represented each of the 51 families that participated. Participants were expected to respond to three open-ended questions regarding their family and identify factors or strengths that had recently helped their family. The results indicate that spirituality is an important coping resource. The core theme of spirituality consists of six related categories that facilitated the successful adaptation of the participating families after a crisis. These categories are Gifts from God; Guidance; God's Works; God's Plan; Prayer; and Faith.     

虚拟团队沟通模式对信任和绩效的作用

本研究采用资源两难的情景模拟．研究虚拟团队中沟通模式对于团队信任和绩效的作用,120名被试参与了实验。研究发现．虚拟团队在资源两难任务中．沟通模式对信任和绩效的作用均达到显著水平．团队的信任和绩效水平在网络式沟通模式中最高,其次是层级模式,在序列模式中最低,显示了沟通模式在虚拟团队中作用方式。     

Scenario Planning: The Basics

This article covers the basics of scenario planning: Why scenarios? What are scenarios? How do you develop scenarios? After covering the preliminaries—the constitution of the scenario team; interviews; research; the identification of a focal issue; set and setting for a scenario workshop; staffing; the trajectory of a scenario planning project—the article moves on to describe several methods for identifying a finite set of diverse scenario logics. After a set of scenarios has been developed, there are several different routes from scenarios to strategy. Early indicators can help identify which of several scenarios is in fact unfolding.