Cynthia S. Koenig

The Role of Religion for Hospice Patients and Relatively Healthy Older Adults

As older adults approach the end of life, they frequently experience death anxiety and a decline in subjective well-being that are not always alleviated by increased religious participation. One possible explanation is the differential influences of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity. The present study examined the effects of religious orientation and spiritual activities on subjective well-being and death attitudes among 103 relatively healthy older adults and 19 hospice patients (aged 61 and older). The results of path analyses showed that a sense of purpose in life rather than religiosity had a direct positive effect on subjective well-being and a direct negative effect on death fear after controlling for physical health and demographic characteristics. Intrinsic religiosity had an indirect positive effect on subjective well-being and a strong direct positive effect on approach acceptance of death. Extrinsic religiosity, however, was positively related to death anxiety and, for hospice patients, negatively related to approach acceptance of death.

Adulthood Relocation: Implications for Personality, Future Orientation, and Social Partner Choices

The purpose of this study was to learn the reasons why individuals relocate and whether relocaters differ from nonrelocaters on demographic, social, and personality factors. One hundred participants from three age groups, 34 to 46 (young/middle-aged), 54 to 66 (young-old), and 69 to 93 (older) years, were designated as relocaters or residents as a function of months of residence. Relocaters did not differ from residents in age, income, health, or marital status. Reasons provided for relocating revealed the following differences: young/middle-aged moved for employment reasons, young-old moved for reasons of retirement, and older adults relocated to be closer to family members. No differences in network size occurred and older relocaters selected more cards in a social partner selection task. Most interesting was the finding that relocaters scored higher on Openness to Experience and future orientation. These data suggest personality may be an important trait that explains why some individuals are more likely to relocate.The purpose of this study was to learn the reasons why individuals relocate and whether relocaters differ from nonrelocaters on demographic, social, and personality factors. One hundred participants from three age groups, 34 to 46 (young/middle-aged), 54 to 66 (young-old), and 69 to 93 (older) years, were designated as relocaters or residents as a function of months of residence. Relocaters did not differ from residents in age, income, health, or marital status. Reasons provided for relocating revealed the following differences: young/middle-aged moved for employ ment reasons, young-old moved for reasons of retirement, and older adults relocated to be closer to family members. No differences in network size occurred and older relocaters selected more cards in a social partner selection task. Most interesting was the finding that relocaters scored higher on Openness to Experience and future orientation. These data suggest personality may be an important trait that explains why some individuals are more likely to relocate.

Applying Technology to Facilitate Poster Presentations

Because college graduates with baccalaureate degrees in psychology are often employed in positions that are not directly related to psychology, we offer a rationale for introducing applied technological skills in the classroom. We focus specifically on presentation software, primarily as a vehicle for creating posters. Given the surge in popularity of poster presentations and the impact of high-quality visual displays, we review sources of information for preparing posters and graphs. We also offer guidelines for the use of PowerPoint™ presentation software to create single-unit poster presentations, a skill applicable in a variety of academic and employment settings.

Analogical transfer in the THOG task

The influences of surface and structural similarity on analogical transfer were examined with 318 undergraduate participants in four experiments using Needham and Amados (1995) Pythagoras THOG problem as the source problem and Wasons standard abstract THOG task as the target problem. In Experiments 1–3, systematic changes in surface similarity between the source and target problems were introduced by changing the named exemplar, the dimensional values, and the dimensions, respectively, in the target problem. Significant transfer was obtained in all three experiments. In Experiment 4, we explored the basis of this transfer by examining three versions of the Pythagoras THOG problem, factorially combining its facilitating features as source problems. Results indicated that the inclusion of a hypothesis generation request was necessary for significant transfer. The implications of our findings for using transfer versus facilitation as the performance criterion for deductive reasoning are considered.

De-confusing the THOG problem: The Pythagorean solution

Sources of facilitation for Needham and Amados (1995) Pythagoras version of Wasons THOG problem were systematically examined in three experiments with 174 participants. Although both the narrative structure and figural notation used in the Pythagoras problem independently led to significant facilitation (40–50% correct), pairing hypothesis generation with either factor or pairing the two factors together was found to be necessary to obtain substantial facilitation (> 50% correct). Needham and Amados original finding for the complete Pythagoras problem was also replicated. These results are discussed in terms of the “confusion theory” explanation for performance on the standard THOG problem. The possible role of labelling as a de-confusing factor in other versions of the THOG problem and the implications of the present findings for human reasoning are also considered.