Factor structure of an Arabic translation of the scale, preference for numerical information

An Arabic translation of Viswanathan's 1993 scale, Preference for Numerical Information, was administered to 157 tenth-grade students (M age = 16.1 yr.) in the United Arab Emirates. Analysis showed that the scale was homogeneous as the factor solution was comparable to that reported in the original study and item scores were moderately correlated with total scores when used in a different cultural setting.     

A mathematics content course and teaching efficacy beliefs of undergraduate majors in education

This study was designed to assess the mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of undergraduates in elementary education through a manipulative-based course in mathematics. Responses of 106 university undergraduates to the 21-item Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs administered as pre- and posttest without a control group showed a significant immediate postcourse change in their efficacy beliefs using dependent t test.     

Mathematics anxiety among eighth-grade students of the United Arab Emirates.

To investigate the mathematics anxiety of 159 students in Grade 8 (M age = 14.3 yr.) in the United Arab Emirates a 28-item anxiety scale was administered. Analysis indicated some mathematics anxiety. Also, boys and girls scored significantly differently as boys had the higher mean.     

An evolutionary hypothesis for obsessive compulsive disorder: a~psychological immune system?

A new hypothesis is presented within the framework of evolutionary psychology that attempts to explain the origins of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is suggested that obsessions and compulsions originate from the overactivity of a mental module that the majority of humans possess and has the function of generating risk scenarios without voluntary intervention. It is hypothesised that obsessional phenomena function as an off-line risk avoidance process, designed to lead to risk avoidance behaviour at a future time, thus distinguishing it from anxiety and related phenomena as on-line emotional states, designed to lead to the avoidance of immediate and direct risks. Finally, the hypothesis makes a number of specific predictions that are testable and refutable. It is contended that the present hypothesis if supported by empirical evidence could serve as a basis for future research on this important disorder.     

Pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluation predicts post-transplantation outcomes

Psychosocial factors greatly impact the course of patients throughout the liver transplantation process. A retrospective chart review was performed of patients who underwent liver transplantation at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center between 2002 and 2012. A composite psychosocial score was computed based on the patient’s pre-transplant evaluation. Patients were divided into two groups based on compliance, support and insight: Optimal psychosocial score and Non-optimal psychosocial score. Post-liver transplantation survival and complication rates were evaluated. Out of 100 patients who underwent liver transplantation at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center between 2002 and 2012, 93% had a complete pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluation in the medical record performed by professional psychologists and social workers. Post-liver transplantation survival was significantly higher in the Optimal group (85%) as compared to the Non-optimal group (56%, p = .002). Post-liver transplantation rate of renal failure was significantly lower in the Optimal group. No significant differences were observed between the groups in other post-transplant complications. A patient’s psychosocial status may impact outcomes following transplantation as inferior psychosocial grades were associated with lower overall survival and increased rates of complications. Pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluations are an important tool to help predict survival following transplantation.     

Preference for numerical information among Arab students

To investigate the preferences for numerical information of 157 tenth grade students (M = 16.1 yr.) in the United Arab Emirates, an Arabic translation of a questionnaire of Viswanathan developed, validated, and moderately stable over time was administered. Analysis indicated the preferences of Arab students for numerical information was positive. Also, these Arab students scored higher than American students in contrast with those in the Viswanathan study but the difference was not statistically significant using an independent t test.     

Differences in spatial visualization as a function of scores on hemisphericity of mathematics teachers.

59 teachers of mathematics were administered the Your Style of Learning and Thinking-Form A and categorized as showing Left (n = 13), Right (n = 12), or Integrated (n = 15) hemisphericity. Rotations scores on the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test were not statistically significant among the three groups.     

Muslim–Paulician Encounters and Early Islamic Anti-Christian Polemical Writings

This article investigates the portrayals of the Paulicians in early Islamic sources and specifically analyses the role that Paulician religious views play in Islamic anti-Christian writings. The study also gives insights into the nature of materials that were available to Muslim scholars and the strategies they applied in constructing coherent arguments to refute certain Christian religious beliefs. In doing so, the study touches upon Muslims’ religious needs and scholarly curiosity, which sheds light on their intellectual interactions with non-Islamic religious beliefs and philosophical ideas. The article demonstrates that references to Paulician religious beliefs can be found primarily in early Christian–Islamic polemics. Muslim polemicists, most of whom were Mu?tazilites, attempted to demonstrate the soundness and the coherence of Islamic tenets vis-à-vis inadequacies and contradictions in Christian doctrines. The reliance of Muslim polemicists on heresiographical discourse therefore constituted an important strategy to substantiate their polemical arguments. Two major issues stand out in Islamic portrayals of Paulician doctrines: the centrality of Paul of Samosata in the history of the sect, and his association with the view that Jesus was a human being devoid of divinity.