The Myth of the Angry Atheist

Atheists are often portrayed in the media and elsewhere as angry individuals. Although atheists disagree with the pillar of many religions, namely the existence of a God, it may not necessarily be the case that they are angry individuals. The prevalence and accuracy of angry-atheist perceptions were examined in 7 studies with 1,677 participants from multiple institutions and locations in the United States. Studies 1–3 revealed that people believe atheists are angrier than believers, people in general, and other minority groups, both explicitly and implicitly. Studies 4–7 then examined the accuracy of these beliefs. Belief in God, state anger, and trait anger were assessed in multiple ways and contexts. None of these studies supported the idea that atheists are particularly angry individuals. Rather, these results support the idea that people believe atheists are angry individuals, but they do not appear to be angrier than other individuals in reality

Predicting swimming performance using state anxiety

Competitive state anxiety is a common response to stressful competitive sports situations that could affect athletic performance. The effects of state anxiety on swimming performance need further inquiry. The aim of the study was to determine the component of state anxiety that best predicts swimming performance. A quantitative, cross-sectional study design that made use of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 to measure precompetitive state anxiety was used. A total of 61 male high school swimmers whose age ranged between 14 and 19 years (M = 16.16, standard deviation = 1.66 years) completed the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 1 hr before competing in a 50-m individual swimming event. Performance was evaluated using finishing position. Due to the relatively short duration of the 50-m event, the available literature would suggest that Somatic Anxiety would have a greater effect on Performance - there is not enough time to allow cognitive anxiety to have a detrimental impact on performance. Thus, it was hypothesized that somatic rather than cognitive anxiety will best predict swimming performance. It emerged that both cognitive (b =.787; p <.001) and somatic anxieties (b =.840; p <.001) can independently predict swimming performance. However, when both cognitive and somatic anxieties were regressed onto swimming performance, somatic anxiety partially dominated cognitive anxiety (b =.626; p <.001) and became the significant predictor of swimming performance. It is recommended that swimmers and swimming coaches make use of specific intervention strategies that eradicate the detrimental effects of somatic anxiety immediately before competition.IS

Memory development: implications for adults recalling childhood experiences in the courtroom

Adults frequently provide compelling, detailed accounts of early childhood experiences in the courtroom. Judges and jurors are asked to decide guilt or innocence based solely on these decades-old memories using 'common sense' notions about memory. However, these notions are not in agreement with findings from neuroscientific and behavioural studies of memory development. Without expert guidance, judges and jurors may have difficulty in properly adjudicating the weight of memory evidence in cases involving adult recollections of childhood experiences

Convergent genetic linkage and associations to language, speech and reading measures in families of probands with Specific Language Impairment

We analyzed genetic linkage and association of measures of language, speech and reading phenotypes to candidate regions in a single set of families ascertained for SLI. Sib-pair and family-based analyses were carried out for candidate gene loci for Reading Disability (RD) on chromosomes 1p36, 3p12-q13, 6p22, and 15q21, and the speech-language candidate region on 7q31 in a sample of 322 participants ascertained for Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Replication or suggestive replication of linkage was obtained in all of these regions, but the evidence suggests that the genetic influences may not be identical for the three domains. In particular, linkage analysis replicated the influence of genes on chromosome 6p for all three domains, but association analysis indicated that only one of the candidate genes for reading disability, KIAA0319, had a strong effect on language phenotypes. The findings are consistent with a multiple gene model of the comorbidity between language impairments and reading disability and have implications for neurocognitive developmental models and maturational processes

Dissection of genetic associations with language-related traits in population-based cohorts

Recent advances in the field of language-related disorders have led to the identification of candidate genes for specific language impairment (SLI) and dyslexia. Replication studies have been conducted in independent samples including population-based cohorts, which can be characterised for a large number of relevant cognitive measures. The availability of a wide range of phenotypes allows us to not only identify the most suitable traits for replication of genetic association but also to refine the associated cognitive trait. In addition, it is possible to test for pleiotropic effects across multiple phenotypes which could explain the extensive comorbidity observed across SLI, dyslexia and other neurodevelopmental disorders. The availability of genome-wide genotype data for such cohorts will facilitate this kind of analysis but important issues, such as multiple test corrections, have to be taken into account considering that small effect sizes are expected to underlie such associations

Approach to epigenetic analysis in language disorders

Language and learning disorders such as reading disability and language impairment are recognized to be subject to substantial genetic influences, but few causal mutations have been identified in the coding regions of candidate genes. Association analyses of single nucleotide polymorphisms have suggested the involvement of regulatory regions of these genes, and a few mutations affecting gene expression levels have been identified, indicating that the quantity rather than the quality of the gene product may be most relevant for these disorders. In addition, several of the candidate genes appear to be involved in neuronal migration, confirming the importance of early developmental processes. Accordingly, alterations in epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation and histone modification are likely to be important in the causes of language and learning disorders based on their functions in gene regulation. Epigenetic processes direct the differentiation of cells in early development when neurological pathways are set down, and mutations in genes involved in epigenetic regulation are known to cause cognitive disorders in humans. Epigenetic processes also regulate the changes in gene expression in response to learning, and alterations in histone modification are associated with learning and memory deficits in animals. Genetic defects in histone modification have been reversed in animals through therapeutic interventions resulting in rescue of these deficits, making it particularly important to investigate their potential contribution to learning disorders in humans

Why has research in face recognition progressed so slowly? The importance of variability

Despite many years of research, there has been surprisingly little progress in our understanding of how faces are identified. Here I argue that there are two contributory factors: (a) Our methods have obscured a critical aspect of the problem, within-person variability; and (b) research has tended to conflate familiar and unfamiliar face processing. Examples of procedures for studying variability are given, and a case is made for studying real faces, of the type people recognize every day. I argue that face recognition (specifically identification) may only be understood by adopting new techniques that acknowledge statistical patterns in the visual environment. As a consequence, some of our current methods will need to be abandoned

Customer emotions in service failure and recovery encounters

Emotions play a significant role in the workplace, and considerable attention has been given to the study of employee emotions. Customers also play a central function in organizations, but much less is known about customer emotions. This chapter reviews the growing literature on customer emotions in employee–customer interfaces with a focus on service failure and recovery encounters, where emotions are heightened. It highlights emerging themes and key findings, addresses the measurement, modeling, and management of customer emotions, and identifies future research streams. Attention is given to emotional contagion, relationships between affective and cognitive processes, customer anger, customer rage, and individual differences