Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in the five western counties of Massachusetts. Formed from a division of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, it was officially recognized at the organizing convention of November 10, 1901. At a special meeting on January 22, 1902, Alexander Hamilton Vinton, Rector of All Saints Church in Worcester, Massachusetts. was elected first diocesan bishop. The first two Anglican parishes in what would become the diocese were started in Great Barrington in 1762 and Lanesborough in 1767 on
Cognitive authority Cognitive authority According to Rieh (2005), "Patrick Wilson (1983) developed the cognitive authority theory from social epistemology in his book, "Second-hand Knowledge: An Inquiry into Cognitive Authority". The fundamental concept of Wilson’s cognitive authority is that people construct knowledge in two different ways: based on their first-hand experience or on what they have learned second-hand from others. What people learn first-hand depends on the stock of ideas they bring to the interpretation and understanding of their encounters with the world. People primarily depend on others for ideas as well as for information outside the range of direct experience. Much of