Learning new names for new objects: cortical effects as measured by magnetoencephalography

We tracked the evolvement of naming-related cortical dynamics with magnetoencephalography when five normal adults successfully learned names and/or meanings of unfamiliar objects. In all subjects, the learning of new names was associated with pronounced cortical effects. The learning effect was of long latency and emerged as a change of activation in the same cortical network that was active during naming of familiar items. In four out of five subjects, the cortical learning effect occurred in the inferior parietal lobe. In three of these subjects, the cortical effect was left-sided. These results suggest that the inferior parietal lobe plays an important role in the acquisition of novel words, presumably as a part of working memory systems.     

Changes in research on Judaism in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods

This article offers an overview of what every theologian and scholar of religion should know about changes in biblical studies that have taken place concerning the past depreciation of Second Temple Judaism, the use of newly discovered sources and their implications, as well as integrative approaches to top-down (reflected beliefs, prescribed practices, textual sources) and bottom-up (intuitive beliefs, lived practices, material culture) processes. Changes in the field lead to the re-writing of the history of the Bible and of Judaean society in the Greco-Roman context. By means of this co-authored research article, we wish to demonstrate the benefit of, as well as the need for, interdisciplinary work in the study of antiquity.     

Continuity of temperament from infancy to middle childhood

Continuity of temperament from 6 months (the IBQ) to 5.5 years (the CBQ) was explored in Finnish children (n = 231) within the theoretical framework deviced by Rothbart. Activity level, smiling and laughter, distress to limitations and fear showed significant differential homotypic and heterotypic continuity, while soothability and duration of orienting showed significant differential heterotypic continuity. On the level of latent superconstructs, infant positive and negative affectivity accounted for 4.6, 22.3, and 6.0% of the variance in childhood extraversion, effortful control and negative affectivity, respectively. Infant and childhood temperament clustered into profile types named “resilient”, “undercontrolled”, and “overcontrolled” mirroring ipsative continuity. These findings give empirical credence to Rothbart's theory by replicating and extending previous findings in significant ways.     

Socioeconomic status in childhood and adulthood: associations with dispositional optimism and pessimism over a 21-year follow-up

We examined whether dispositional optimism and pessimism (overall LOT-R and optimism and pessimism component scores) of 694 adults aged 24 and 27 were associated with socioeconomic status (SES) measured concurrently and in childhood at ages 3 and 6. SES measures included education, occupational status and unemployment, and income. Concurrent adulthood SES was associated with the overall LOT-R and optimism and the pessimism component scores. Childhood family SES predicted overall LOT-R and pessimism component scores, even after controlling statistically for the adulthood SES. Social mobility between SES of family of origin and current SES also influenced the scores. The current findings suggest that the foundation of dispositional optimism and pessimism is related to early SES of the family.     

Response of the pituitary-adrenal axis in terms of type a behaviour,hostility and vital exhaustion in healthy middle-aged men

Abstract

Pituitary-adrenal axis was studied in terms of Type A behaviour, hostility and vital exhaustion among 69 healthy middle-aged men. The results showed that psychological factors could explain a significant proportion of the biologically manipulated responses of HPA axis, but they worked in different ways. Type A behaviour was related to a high level of mean basal ACTH and a low level of cortisol response to ACTH stimulation after dexamethasone suppression; hostility was related to a high level of mean basal cortisol and a high cortisol in cortisol/ACTH ratio, while vital exhaustion was characterized by a low level of mean basal ACTH and a decreased ACTH in relation to cortisol. The adrenocortical patterns, i.e. a high ACTH-low cortisol; a high cortisol; and a low ACTH-low mean basal cortisol, as related to Type A behaviour, hostility and exhaustion, respectively, are in line with the traditional physiological stress model and suggest that different adrenocortical responses might be able to identify different mental stress processes. Sense of control has been suggested to be a key concept for psychological understanding of this finding.     

Theological Implications of Young Earth Creationism and Intelligent Design: Emerging Tendencies of Scientism and Agnosticism

Abstract

Creationism is a worldview that does not accept the undirected formation and development of life but requires intelligent (supernatural) intervention. We analyzed texts representing Young Earth creationism (YEC) and intelligent design (ID) for their theological content and implications by assessing their position in central issues of systematic theology. YEC proponents emphasize the young age of the Earth and the necessity of literal interpretation of Genesis as prerequisites for the Fall and redemption. ID accepts the geological age of the planet, but requires intervention during evolution. YEC maintained the traditional characteristics of the Christian God (omnipotence, omniscience, benevolence), while some ID authors refused to speculate on the nature of the alleged designer. YEC authors utilized reinterpretation of scientific data as evidence for creation and to legitimize their belief in the historicity of Genesis. This could be regarded a form of scientism. YEC theodicy concentrated on the Fall as the cause of evil and the eschatological resolution of suffering. In contrast, ID proponents attempted to solve theodicy by compensated benefits of, e.g., pain. ID did not take a clear stand regarding salvation and ecclesiology, but YEC authors considered the acceptance of evolutionary theory and Christian faith to be mostly inconsistent. YEC doctrine differed from major Christian denominations by accepting scientific evidence as a proof for the historicity of Genesis and showed signs of exclusivity regarding evolutionary proponents. In ID, no satisfactory theodicy could be observed and some ID theorists could be classified as agnostics because of doubting the identity of the designer and by limiting God's omnipotence and benevolence. Both YEC and ID demonized evolutionary theory and its proponents. Creationism seems to be on its way to becoming a new kind of denomination or an emerging novel religion.     

Finnish parents’ attitudes toward entrepreneurship education

This study set out to investigate parental attitudes toward entrepreneurship education as evaluative directing components of social representations. A nationwide sample of parents (N = 625) was asked to indicate their opinions on a set of statements about entrepreneurship education. The parents’ attitudinal orientation suggested that they would rather avoid entrepreneurship education than approach it. Additionally, parental evaluations contained indecision and polarised opinions, and most parents saw it as unlikely or were unsure whether their children would become entrepreneurs. Parental attitudes correlated with the established representations of education and subsequent policy stands, suggesting that entrepreneurship education has been made familiar by anchoring attitudes in the field of educational debates. It was suggested that current trends in educational policy and work life may stimulate the formation of polemical social representations pertaining to entrepreneurship education.     

Childhood temperament and mother's child-rearing attitudes: stability and interaction in a three-year follow-up study

Stability and interactions between children's behavioural styles (i.e. the temperament dimensions sociability, negative emotionality, and activity) and maternal child-rearing attitudes were studied in a random sample of 507 three-year-old children over a three-year interval. Structural equation modelling indicated low to moderate stability for children's temperament dimensions and mothers’ child-rearing attitudes. In addition, gender-specific interactions were found. In boys, negative emotionality and low sociability potentiated a strict disciplinary style of the mother, whereas activity was more likely to be stimulated by a mother's low tolerance towards the child. By contrast, in girls a mother's strict disciplinary style predicted negative emotionality and low sociability, whereas the girl's activity predicted a strict disciplinary style of the mother. These findings underline the close interaction between temperament and mothering during childhood. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

BIBLICAL AND THEISTIC ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE EVOLUTIONARY ARGUMENT AGAINST NATURALISM

Alvin Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism states that evolution cannot produce warranted beliefs. In contrast, according to Plantinga, Christian theism provides (I) properly functioning cognitive faculties in (II) an appropriate cognitive environment, in accordance with (III) a design plan aimed at producing true beliefs. But does theism fulfill criteria I–III? Judging from the Bible, God employs deceit in his relations with humanity, rendering our cognitive functions unreliable (I). Moreover, there is no reason to suppose that God's purpose would be to produce true beliefs in humans (III). Finally, from the theistic/religious perspective, it is impossible to tell whether observations have natural or supernatural causes, which undermines an appropriate cognitive environment (II). Reliable identification of deceit or miracles could alleviate these problems, but the theistic community has failed to resolve this issue. Dismissal of parts of the Bible, or attempts to find alternative interpretations, would collapse into skepticism or deism. Thus, Plantinga's problem of epistemic warrant backfires on theism.     

Growth in infancy and childhood and hospitalization for personality disorders in adulthood: the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study

This study examined the associations between infant and childhood growth and severe personality disorders. Among 4,689 men and 4,200 women of the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study 1934-1944, 81 men and 68 women had been hospitalized with an ICD (-8, -9, -10) diagnosis of personality disorder in adulthood. Among men, slower gain in BMI between birth and 6 months, faster gain in weight and BMI between 6 months and 1 year, and slower gains in them between 7 and 11 years of age predicted an increased risk of hospitalization for personality disorders. Thinness at 6 months and again at 11 years also showed significant association with personality disorders among men. Among women, slower gain in height between 2 and 7 years predicted hospitalization for personality disorders. Our findings show the importance of early growth as a vulnerability factor of personality disorders severe enough to justify hospitalization.