Marital and Relationship Ministry (MRM) as a tenant of pastoral care

Although marital and relationship support programs are available for couples, few churches offer comprehensive marital and relationship ministry (MRM). This research examined MRM topics and formats desired by congregants and advocated adoption by clergy of MRM as a tenant of pastoral care. Eight faith communities in a Midwestern city were non-randomly selected for ethnic and denominational diversity. Overall analyses indicated congregants desired specific areas of marital and relationship ministry that included communication, family, and enrichment topics.     

Developmental order driving the relationship between executive functions and theory of mind: a case study

Several studies have suggested there is a developmental link between executive functions and theory of mind. However, the developmental order driving the relationship is not well understood. The main reason is that the development of executive function parallels the development of theory of mind in normally developing children. In this paper, a case (H.Y.) is reported. H.Y. had lived in a persistent vegetative state for 6 years after encephalitis at the age of 10. He showed a developmental order driving the relationship between executive functions and theory of mind. These findings are consistent with recent suggestions that development of executive function might be important as a predecessor of either the ability to understand false beliefs or the ability to express that understanding.     

Low-temperature damping anomaly in an yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal

Dilational and shear internal friction and four elastic parameters (Young's modulus, the shear modulus, the bulk modulus and the Lame parameter) have been cyclically measured between 68 and 400K in an yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal ((Y)TZP), using an ultrasonic pulse wave of frequency 3.8MHz. A 200K peak in the shear friction, which was observed in repeated cooling runs, decreases with increasing repetition number, suggesting a martensitic-like transition due to short-range cooperative movement of oxygen ions in the (Y)TZP lattice.     

A study of the impact of a simple stimulus on a receiver's imagination in mediated communication.

Mediated communication involves a form of intimate partnership where, as in the case of face-to-face intimate relationships, parties have a strong desire to exchange emotion and ensure a connection by way of receiving and responding to personal messages. So, in mediated communication, although partners have an effective means of conveying a connection, they still are in need of an equally effective means of conveying emotional state; they need a so-called "emotion-related channel." A desire to develop an efficient means of conveying emotion in mediated communication has driven this study. A study was carried out to determine the effects of a simple stimulus on one's imagination when subjects considered the simple stimulus to be a message from an intimate partner. Twenty-one subjects were first subjected to a simple pattern stimulus. They then experienced the same stimulus as a message received from an intimate partner in mediated communication. They subsequently answered questionnaires on their impressions of the stimulus, the emotional states of their imagined partners, and their own emotional states. A statistical analysis was then carried out. From a close examination of the findings, some interesting points were discovered. One important finding is that from the simple stimulus, subjects were able to imagine not only an intimate partner but also the emotional state of that partner. This and other findings lend support to the notion that a simple stimulus could serve as an emotion-related channel, in mediated communication.     

Relationship satisfaction for heterosexual women compared to lesbians and men in a sample of faith communities from Topeka, Kansas

A modified version of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale was administered to 239 women who belonged to 8 different faith communities in Topeka, Kansas in 2001. 12 members of a Metropolitan (gay and lesbian) church identified themselves as lesbians. Lesbian respondents reported significantly higher relationship satisfaction scores than heterosexual women (Cohen's d = 0.69). Controlling for number of children and social desirability reduced the regression coefficient for sexual orientation to a statistically nonsignificant level. Using a matched sample of 12 heterosexual women compared with the lesbians yielded a nonsignificant result (ES = 0.31). Nevertheless, although not statistically significant, comparisons between lesbians and heterosexual women continued to feature effect sizes that represented higher satisfaction for lesbians with no children or with only one child when compared to heterosexual women with no children or only one child. It is apparent that methodology made a difference in the results obtained in this comparative study of lesbian and heterosexual relationships. It was also observed, among members of churches other than the Metropolitan church, that relationship satisfaction was significantly lower (d = 0.22) among females than males, including among wives compared to husbands; significant linear and cubic relationships between a single-item measure of relationship social desirability and relationship satisfaction were also observed.     

A case report of compensation in daily life of a person with memory problems: detailed functional use of memory aids over a five-year period

Numerous studies have been conducted on memory aids for memory-impaired people. However, it is not known how they use these memory aids in a functional, practical way. A 20-year-old patient (MH) was monitored for five years to identify what memory aids or other means she used and how she used them to compensate for her memory problems, e.g., forgetting what was said by others in a few minutes and getting lost or turning in the wrong direction on a walk or in a building. Results indicated MH did not necessarily always use memory aids such as a notebook or calendar to compensate for her memory problems, although MH and her mother reported that she frequently used them in daily life. She coped with memory problems by using various "resources" besides the memory aid. These facts suggest that it may be necessary to redefine functionally useful compensations, which include both memory aids and resources in daily life.     

Phenomenality,conscious states,and consciousness inessentialism

I draw attention to an ambiguity of the expression ‘phenomenal consciousness’ that is an avoidable yet persistent source of conceptual confusio