scholarly journals New functionalism and the social and behavioral sciences

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Beck ◽  
James D. Grayot
Keyword(s):  
Social And Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Special Sciences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Style Of Thought ◽  
Functional Kinds ◽  
Double Impact

AbstractFunctionalism about kinds is still the dominant style of thought in the special sciences, like economics, psychology, and biology. Generally construed, functionalism is the view that states or processes can be individuated based on what role they play rather than what they are constituted of or realized by. Recently, Weiskopf (2011a, 2011b) has posited a reformulation of functionalism on the model-based approach to explanation. We refer to this reformulation as ‘new functionalism’. In this paper, we seek to defend new functionalism and to recast it in light of the concrete explanatory aims of the special sciences. In particular, we argue that the assessment of the explanatory legitimacy of a functional kind needs to take into account the explanatory purpose of the model in which the functional kind is employed. We aim at demonstrating this by appealing to model-based explanations from the social and behavioral sciences. Specifically, we focus on preferences and signals as functional kinds. Our argument is intended to have the double impact of deflecting criticisms against new functionalism from the perspective of mechanistic decomposition while also expanding the scope of new functionalism to encompass the social and behavioral sciences.

scholarly journals The Center Page

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (04) ◽  
pp. 822-823
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Social And Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Grant Programs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Application Requirements

As a result of generous contributions by Association members and friends to the Centennial Campaign, APSA created nine endowments to support a diverse range of grant programs to encourage individual research and writing in all fields of political science and to facilitate collaboration among scholars working within the discipline and across the social and behavioral sciences and humanities. More details on the Centennial Center, these endowments, and application requirements [email protected].

scholarly journals When the Going Gets Tough, How Do We Perceive the Future?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie J. Tepper ◽  
Neil Anthony Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Time Perception ◽  
Integrated Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social And Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Intervention Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior ◽  
Experienced Difficulty

People struggle to stay motivated to work toward difficult goals. Sometimes the feeling of difficulty signals that the goal is important and worth pursuing; other times, it signals that the goal is impossible and should be abandoned. In this paper, we argue that how difficulty is experienced depends on how we perceive and experience the timing of difficult events. We synthesize research from across the social and behavioral sciences and propose a new integrated model to explain how components of time perception interact with interpretations of experienced difficulty to influence motivation and goal-directed behavior. Although these constructs have been studied separately in previous research, we suggest that these factors are inseparable and that an integrated model will help us to better understand motivation and predict behavior. We conclude with new empirical questions to guide future research and by discussing the implications of this research for both theory and intervention practice.

scholarly journals Revisiting Mediation in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelio José Figueredo ◽  
Rafael Antonio Garcia ◽  
Tomás Cabeza de Baca ◽  
Jonathon Colby Gable ◽  
Dave Weise
Keyword(s):  
Social And Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
The Social

A Social, Behavioral, and Implementation Science Perspective on Convergence Mental Health

2021 ◽  
pp. 199-210
Author(s):  
Steven M. Albert ◽  
Edmund Ricci
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Implementation Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Social And Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Population Science ◽  
New Treatment ◽  
Mental Health Treatments

Convergence is best approached through a systems science lens because it includes multiple levels of influence and organization and a host of mutually reinforcing elements. Each of these factors requires behavioral and social science research to ensure that convergence is appropriately anchored in the experience of patients and their communities. For example, the continuous assessment of mental state made possible through real-time mobile app recording of voice, movement, and biosignatures will be much less effective if people reject it because of privacy concerns or if this monitoring is not adequately linked to choices for self-care. Patients may need in-person contact with a therapist to choose an appropriate app and in-person boosters to support effective use. Use of the app and its effectiveness accordingly depend on social-behavioral factors. Likewise, the social and behavioral sciences are central for shortening the time between development and translation of mental health treatments and programs. Including the social and behavioral sciences in mental health convergence science suggests the need for broad-scale efforts that link mental health to population science to systems thinking. This effort places mental health within the broader framework of population health and to implementation science for reducing the time from development of a new treatment to its widespread use. The approach has implications for data collection and analysis in that it entails much larger datasets and need for greater computational power.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document