Investigating the Cognitive and Cultural Foundations of Prayer
Co-Principal Investigators include Henry Wellman and Margaret Evans. We examine the development of prayer concepts, specifically concepts of petitionary prayer that makes requests of divine beings....
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Children’s Understanding of Divine Minds and Prayer
Ideas about divine beings that possess extraordinary mental capacities, including omniscience, are found in the doctrines of many religions, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and...
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Holy Cards
[Editor's Note: This essay resides within Anderson Blanton's "The Materiality of Prayer," a portal into Reverberations' unfolding compendium of resources related to the study of prayer.] Simple...
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Marlene Hershey and the Hershey-ettes, “Whisper a Prayer” (1975)
A local favorite from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Marlene Hershey and the Hershey-ettes were masters of disharmony, perhaps the logic of prayer. Hershey hosted her own Christian-themed variety...
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Sisters and Brothers, “Spirit in the Sky” (1974)
In this cover version of Norman Greenbaum’s 1969 original, salvation becomes a social occasion, perhaps even a bureaucratic process. “Spirit in the Sky” is performed, here, by the hastily assembled...
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Prayers to Santa
[Editor's Note: This essay resides within Anderson Blanton's "The Materiality of Prayer," a portal into Reverberations' unfolding compendium of resources related to the study of prayer.] Playful...
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Prayers of a Phonographic Doll
[Editor's Note: This essay resides within Anderson Blanton's "The Materiality of Prayer," a portal into Reverberations' unfolding compendium of resources related to the study of prayer.] Dolls and...
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Children, Social Cognition, and the Divine
Rebekah A. Richert is an Associate Professor of Psychology, and director of the Childhood Cognition Lab, at the University of California, Riverside. Her research focuses on the cultural and...
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If You Don’t Pray Properly, Can God Hear You?
Steven Barrie-Anthony’s interview with NDSP fellow Rebekah Richert about her research had a number of fascinating aspects: I blogged for Psychology Today about the one that surprised me most. People...
View ArticleThe Role of Prayer in the Development of Religious Cognitions
Co-Principal Investigator is Nicholas Shaman. Children’s religious concepts undergo significant transitions during the preschool years. Their understanding of ritual actions, God, and supernatural...
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