Financial support for research in psychology and related areas.

"Financial support for psychological research has increased as psychologists have demonstrated their capabilities of contributing significantly to developments on a broad front ranging from the biological to the social sciences." As an aid to persons seeking information on agencies and foundations providing financial support for research in psychology and related areas, the American Psychological Association's Board of Scientific Affairs has compiled a list of sources; these are listed in 2 general sections—federal agencies and private foundations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a general theory for the behavioral sciences.

Since 1949 specialists in various social and biological sciences including "… history, anthropology, economics, political science, sociology, social psychology, psychology, psychiatry, medicine, physiology, and mathematical biology" have met in the attempt to develop a theory "… embracing all aspects of behavior." A number of terms useful in the consideration of theory including "system," "boundary," "subsystems," and "coding" are discussed. Formal models of behavior and homologies with electronic systems are considered. The paper is concerned with specifying and elaborating 19 propositions "… each empirically testable at the levels of cell, organ, individual, small group, and society… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A bump on a bump? Emerging intuitions concerning the relative difficulty of the sciences.

In 4 studies, the authors examined how intuitions about the relative difficulties of the sciences develop. In Study 1, familiar everyday phenomena in physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and economics were pretested in adults, so as to be equally difficult to explain. When participants in kindergarten, Grades 2, 4, 6, and 8, and college were asked to rate the difficulty of understanding these phenomena, children revealed a strong bias to see natural science phenomena as more difficult than those in psychology. The perceived relative difficulty of economics dropped dramatically in late childhood. In Study 2, children saw neuroscience phenomena as much more difficult than cognitive psychology phenomena, which were seen as more difficult than social psychology phenomena, even though all phenomena were again equated for difficulty in adults. In Study 3, we explored the basis for these results in intuitions about common knowledge and firsthand experience. Study 4 showed that the intuitions about the differences between the disciplines were based on intuitions about difficulty of understanding and not on the basis of more general intuitions about the feasibility or truth of the phenomena in question. Taken together, in the studies, the authors find an early emerging basis for judgments that some sciences are intrinsically more difficult than others, a bias that may persevere in adults in subtler forms in such settings as the courtroom. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A matter of degree.

That "… .social sciences are observational in nature whereas the natural sciences are experimental" and that "… one can measure precisely in the natural sciences and cannot do so in the social sciences" are incorrect criteria for distinguishing between the natural and social sciences. "The real difference between these two great branches of science lies in the fact that social sciences deal with the performance of human beings." While social sciences "… are making great progress… " in insisting upon rigor "… there is still a real difference in the way in which the natural scientist and the social scientist proceed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are we there yet? Stasis and progress in forensic psychology.

Progress in forensic psychology has been rapid in some areas and nonexistent in others. By contrasting technological and conceptual scientific progress in three areas--the legal disposition of mentally ill offenders, risk appraisal, and theories of individual differences in antisocial behaviour--I attempt to identify some determinants of progress. Conceptual progress appears to depend even more heavily than technological progress on developments in the more advanced sciences, supporting the idea that consilience plays a vital heuristic role in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparation for teaching psychology in high school.

Of 150 randomly selected Division 2 psychologists, 100 responded to a questionnaire. They "think of high school psychology as belonging somewhere between biological science and social science… . They favor more training in psychology and less in related areas than is the practice at present" for high school teachers of psychology. "The amount of preparation recommended, especially that indicated as desirable, is so high that it is not likely many high school teachers of psychology can be induced to secure this amount of training." Major sections are: Science or Social Study? General Suggestions, Training in Psychology, Related Training, Conclusions. (3 tables) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Norton history of the human sciences.

Reviews the book, The Norton history of the human sciences by Roger Smith (1997). Beginning in the Renaissance, and working through developments in Enlightenment science and philosophy, Smith charts the origins, growth, and contributions of the modern social sciences, in particular psychology. The text explores in significant detail the influence of such "architects of modern Western ideas about human nature" as Descartes, Marx, Freud, and Darwin. Other topics covered include the effect of colonialism on Western thought, the interaction of the social sciences and jurisprudence, and the historical sources of our modern ideas about sex and gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contribution of stereotyped and individualized information to predictive accuracy.

The study investigated the effect of 7 types of information upon predictive accuracy. 4 of them were simple steretoypes, 3 consisted of more individualized input data. Clinicians and nursing students made predictions about 4 different Ss on selected MMPI items and bipolar traits. Predictive accuracy was found to depend little on the type and amount of information provided, stereotypes doing as well as or better than most individualized inputs. Global response sets of "Social Desirability," "Normality," and "Assumed Similarity" appeared to account for most of predictive accuracy. The judges would have significantly increased their over-all predictive accuracy, even for manifestly abnormal Ss, had they depended more heavily upon the mentioned response tendencies instead of relying on their discriminatory powers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is clinical psychology a science?

"Science is a matter of degree of systematic logical organization of phenomena; clinical psychology is a science to a degree that will rise in proportion to such systematization," but its development depends upon creative thinking and a vital matrix of pervasive, sympathetic, and qualitative experiences. A "science of personal human behavior seems more feasible in the domain of deviant (neurotic, psychic) behavior than in mentally healthy behavior. One may predict and logically systematize compulsive (neurotic) behavior, whereas the mentally healthy man is more spontaneous, free, and creative in his personal behavior—hence, in detail, less predictable or logically organizable. A science of clinical psychology seems more realizable (as to detailed prediction) than a science of general healthy personalityp" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neoscholastic Psychology Revisited.

Beginning around 1879, a Neoscholastic psychology developed, an experimental psychology with a soul. Opposed to materialism, it sought to renew Scholastic philosophy by incorporating the findings of the natural sciences. Neoscholastic psychology is an important chapter in the history of the relationships between science and religion in the 20th century. Neoscholastic psychology was both experimental and philosophical. This article presents the main accomplishments of North American Neoscholastic psychology in academic and applied areas. Neoscholastic psychologists championed scientific psychology while insisting on a better conception of human nature. Philosophical critiques led to a decline of Neoscholasticism; after the 1960s it was no longer official Catholic philosophy. Neoscholasticism gave psychologists concerned with philosophical questions impetus to turn to phenomenology, existentialism, and humanistic psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The middle way: Charles Taylor on knowledge and the self.

Reviews the books, Philosophical papers, volume I: Human agency and language by Charles Taylor (1985) and Philosophical papers, volume II: Philosophy and the human sciences by Charles Taylor (1985). Professor Taylor of McGill University is one of a number of thinkers who are attempting the difficult and important task of taking the social sciences "beyond objectivism and relativism." One of the foremost philosophers of his generation, Taylor has long devoted himself to study of the foundations of the social sciences, especially psychology and political science. Now the Cambridge University Press has issued, in a two-volume set, a selection of Taylor's essays written over the last twenty years. The essays cover a wide variety of topics. Some are focussed critiques—of mainstream cognitive psychology, of Piagetian developmental psychology, and of Michel Foucault's social studies of knowledge and power, for example. Others are historical studies which trace the development of theories of language and meaning from the Renaissance to the present day. Several essays discuss the nature of the self, and seek to show the incoherence of positions which fail to take into account the human capacity for self-consciousness, choice and responsibility. "Interpretation and the Sciences of Man," perhaps the best-known essay in the collection, is a closely argued demonstration of the irreducability of human meanings and the consequent necessity for a "hermeneutic" social science. Despite their historical range and disciplinary breadth, not to mention their casual familiarity with the Anglo-Saxon, French and German philosophical traditions, Taylor's essays form an organic, if sprawling whole. No psychologist interested in the epistemological foundations of his science should neglect these stimulating and cogent articles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of What’s behind the research? Discovering hidden assumptions in the behavioral sciences.

Reviews the book, What’s behind the research? Discovering hidden assumptions in the behavioral sciences by Brent D. Slife and Richard N. Williams (1995). As the book's subtitle indicates, the authors' purpose is to assist the reader in Discovering hidden assumptions in the behavioral sciences, a worthy objective not likely to be realized simply through a love affair with "information" and its packaging. Slife and Williams state their mission clearly: "Presenting (behavioral sciences') hidden assumptions, along with their costs and consequences, is our task in this book. Whether you are a student of the behavioral sciences, therapist, educator, businessperson, or simply a consumer of behavioral science information, you will need to know the implicit ideas in that information. What are the main interpretations of the data by scientists? What alternative methods are available for gathering knowledge? What ideas are embedded in the usual approaches to abnormality and treatment? Are there other ideas available for generating solutions to human problems? Do conventional approaches to business or education include assumptions about the world or human nature that are questionable or unacceptable to the people who use them? We attempt to answer these and many other questions." In most respects, Slife and Williams do a splendid job at this. Many of the central conceptual issues Slife and Williams have raised have been treated before (by, among others, the mentor of both authors and the scholar to whom they have dedicated their work, Joseph Rychlak, but I know of no work the equal of this one in presenting the material in a way so accessible to previously uninitiated students and the intelligent and interested lay public. Surely this book will be welcomed by those scholars and educators who would wish to move psychology and the other behavioral sciences into the 21st century shorne of their positivistic leanings and empiricist pretensions, and re-oriented toward a more apposite science of human nature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aristotle, time, and temporality.

The view of time that has dominated our western tradition and formed the basis of explanations in contemporary social science is essentially the one formulated by Aristotle. Robinson (1989) rightly observes that the writings of Aristotle were so comprehensive and insightful that much of our western tradition can be seen as reaction to or modification of his work. This is perhaps more true in psychology than other scientific disciplines, and perhaps nowhere better illustrated than in our reliance on the Aristotlean notion of time. In this paper I will examine Aristotle's treatment of time and indicate some important conceptual implications of this view manifest in our psychological theorizing. The notion of temporality as developed in the works of Martin Heidegger (1962) and others in the post-modernist tradition provides an alternative perspective on time which impacts on the practice of social science. Finally the paper will briefly describe some of the impact, showing particularly how it both affirms the essential Aristotlean insight and yet provides an alternative to his conception of time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social neuroscience: Understanding the pieces fosters understanding the whole and vice versa.

Social science and neuroscience perspectives represent two ends of a continuum of levels of organization studied in psychology. Human behavior as a whole unfolds at social levels of organization, whereas much of the research in psychology has focused on cognitive and biological pieces of this whole. Recent evidence underscores the complementary nature of social, cognitive, and biological levels of analysis and how research integrating these levels can foster more comprehensive theories of the mechanisms underlying complex behavior and the mind. This research underscores the unity of psychology and the importance of retaining multilevel integrative research that spans molar and molecular levels of analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is psychology a profession?

Maintains that assumptions about the identity of psychology, as science, as profession, or as some combination of the two, are fundamental to many issues that concern psychologists. Preferred models of training and forms of national association, for example, depend on the basic definitions of psychology that proponents of differing viewpoints presume. Commonly accepted characteristics of professions are identified, and the availability of a useful, communicable technology based on a reasonably coherent intellectual discipline is considered the most important attribute of a profession. The qualifications of psychology as a profession, with special emphasis on clinical applications of knowledge (in biological, individual, social, and community psychology) are reviewed. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The uncertain sciences.

Reviews the book, The uncertain sciences by Bruce Mazlish (1998). In this very wide-ranging book, Mazlish examines the achievements, failings, and possibilities of the human sciences—understood broadly to include history, anthropology, political science, psychology, sociology, economics and other related disciplines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compte rendu dLa construction du réel chez le psychologue: épistémologie et méthodes en sciences humaines.

Reviews the book, La construction du réel chez le psychologue: épistémologie et méthodes en sciences humaines by Christiane Gillieron (1985). This work of 280 pages is an introductory text including information on epistemology and concepts of the scientific method in psychology and social sciences in general. Its framework of reference is explicitly the genetic epistemology of Piaget, which is found in all its aspects of the strong use of examples resulting from psychology and intelligence and it has a tendency to elaborate on the cognitive aspects of the scientific method. The work is divided in nine chapters gathered in three parts. The three chapters of the first part carry on the postulates and principles of the scientific method. The second part of four chapters examines the technical aspects of research. The last part contains a chapter on the psychology of the experimental situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leda Cosmides.

Leda Cosmides has received an award for inspiring leadership in defining a new approach to the mind: evolutionary psychology. In thoughtful essays with John Tooby, she has shown how to unite the cognitive, social, and natural sciences by invoking evolutionary theory in its most sophisticated modern form. This journal article includes a citation and biography of Leda Cosmides. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)