Research has found that children possess a broad bias in favor of teleological--or purpose-based--explanations of natural phenomena. The current two experiments explored whether adults implicitly possess a similar bias. In Study 1, undergraduates judged a series of statements as "good" (i.e., correct) or "bad" (i.e., incorrect) explanations for why different phenomena occur. Judgments occurred ...

Essay 1: Objective Scale Anchoring in Sequential Judgments We explore the scope and boundary conditions for anchoring when respondents render sequential judgments in the absence of an explicit comparative standard. We show that previous judgments can anchor subsequent ones, even when these are not explicitly compared. We then demonstrate that the effect is caused by the reinterpretation of obje...

Abstract In this study, we ask whether consensus testimony affects children’s judgments of the possibility improbable and impossible events. Fifty-six U.S. Chinese 8-year-olds made before after hearing three speakers affirm or deny Results indicated that whereas both children altered their in direction testimony, effect was stronger for children. were particularly receptive to events when provi...

This article examines the independence of Indonesian Constitutional Court in relation to religious issues, particularly regarding freedom and marriage regulations. Utilizing a socio-legal approach, analyzes five judgments assesses whether accommodates aspirations majority while still maintaining neutrality. Results show that Court's legal decisions tend accommodate societal aspirations, but thi...

Is it possible to talk about God without either misrepresentation or failing to assert anything of significance? The article begins by reviewing how, in attempting to answer this question, traditional theories of religious language have failed to sidestep both potential pitfalls adequately. After arguing that recently developed theories of metaphor seem better able to shed light on the nature o...

Abstract Bioethics functions within a world of deep moral pluralism; universe discourse debating ethical analysis, public policy, and clinical practice in which common, generally accepted morality does not exist. While religious thinkers are often approached hermeneutic suspicion for assuming standards that cannot be justified rational terms, secular bioethicists routinely find themselves exact...