From Selz to Gigerenzer: A thought-psychological research history, which needs a Popperian, fallibilist theory of rationality to effectively develop

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wettersten
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Karl Popper ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Herbert Simon ◽  
Research History

Two sharply separated traditions in the philosophy of science and in thought psychology began with Otto Selz’s psychology. The first tradition began with Karl Popper; it has been developed by many others. The developers of the second tradition have included Julius Bahle, Adriaan de Groot, Herbert Simon, and Gerd Gigerenzer. The first tradition has ignored empirical studies of thought processes. The second tradition is widely based on Simon’s inductivist philosophy. The first tradition can be improved by integrating empirical studies of rationality into its research. The second tradition can be improved by replacing its inductivist assumptions with a fallibilist framework.

The Würzburg School today: The three—now four—world theory and new psychological research

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 396-416
Author(s):  
John Wettersten
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Karl Popper ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Mental Processes ◽  
World Theory ◽  
Rational Thought ◽  
Biological Entities

Research in cognitive psychology has been by and large dominated by attempts to explain how psychological processes can be explained as products of biological ones; these processes are presumed to be causal. These theories fail to account for and be integrated with theories of non-causal mental activities. In order to bridge this gap a new theory of mental processes is needed. Karl Popper and John Eccles’s three world theory offers a promising path. According to this view there are biological entities, rational thought processes and ideas’. It is a revision of a view that Popper adopted as a member and student of the Würzburg School, which held that there are biological entities, causal psychological processes and ideas’. By going back towards the original and redoing it as a four world theory, by adding to it non-causal rational thought processes, the unfortunate widespread influence of associationist psychology and inductivist methods may be overcome and new social aspects of cognitive psychology may be opened.

scholarly journals An N-Pact Factor for Clinical Psychological Research

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Wade Reardon ◽  
Avante J Smack ◽  
Kathrin Herzhoff ◽  
Jennifer L Tackett
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Medium Effect Size ◽  
One Step ◽  
Hard To Reach Populations ◽  
Self Examination ◽  
Adequate Sample Size

Although an emphasis on adequate sample size and statistical power has a long history in clinical psychological science (Cohen, 1992), increased attention to the replicability of scientific findings has again turned attention to the importance of statistical power (Bakker, van Dijk, & Wicherts, 2012). These recent efforts have not yet circled back to modern clinical psychological research, despite the continued importance of sample size and power in producing a credible body of evidence. As one step in this process of scientific self-examination, the present study estimated an N-pact Factor (the statistical power of published empirical studies to detect typical effect sizes; Fraley & Vazire, 2014) in two leading clinical journals (the Journal of Abnormal Psychology; JAP, and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; JCCP) for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. Study sample size, as one proxy for statistical power, is a useful focus because it allows direct comparisons with other subfields and may highlight some of the core methodological differences between clinical and other areas (e.g., hard-to-reach populations, greater emphasis on correlational designs). We found that, across all years examined, the average median sample size in clinical research is 179 participants (175 for JAP and 182 for JCCP). The power to detect a small-medium effect size of .20 is just below 80% for both journals. Although the clinical N-pact factor was higher than that estimated for social psychology, the statistical power in clinical journals is still limited to detect many effects of interest to clinical psychologists, with little evidence of improvement in sample sizes over time.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Saks ◽  
Barbara A. Spellman
Keyword(s):  
Basic Research ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Psychological Understanding ◽  
Trial Judges ◽  
Rules Of Evidence ◽  
Evidence Rules ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Rules of evidence are designed to facilitate trials by controlling what evidence may be presented at trial. Those rules came into being, and evolved over time, due to changes in trial process and structure – especially following the rise of adversarial procedure, whereby control over the marshaling and presentation of facts shifted from judges to lawyers. Refinements and reforms continue to be undertaken to try to improve the scope and clarity of the rules. Trial judges must not only apply the rules, they also have the discretion to make rulings in light of their expectations of the impact they think the evidence will have on jurors. This task involves metacognition: one human trying to estimate the thought processes of others. Thus, evidence rulemakers have been and are, effectively, applied psychologists. The rules of evidence reflect their understanding of the psychological processes affecting, and capabilities and limitations of witnesses, lawyers and jurors. Psychological research and methods provide an additional source of insight and assistance in that endeavor. Better psychological understanding should lead to more effective rules. Psychologists typically employ the scientific method: empirically testing hypotheses in an effort to discover which are valid understandings of how people perceive, store, and retrieve information. To evaluate evidence rules, one could conduct experiments directly on a rule, or borrow from existing knowledge developed in basic research and see whether those understandings support existing or proposed evidence rules.

Causal Explanations in Psychiatry: A Critique of Some Current Concepts

1969 ◽  
Vol 115 (519) ◽  
pp. 129-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Dalén
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Slight Modification ◽  
Psychiatric Research ◽  
Karl Popper ◽  
Koch’S Postulates ◽  
Causal Explanations ◽  
Koch's Postulates

The rules known as Koch's postulates have served as invaluable guides to the discovery of the specific causes of various infectious diseases. It may safely be assumed that their influence has also been great on the methods of study in the field of non-infectious diseases. For example, with slight modification Koch's postulates may be applied to the study of diseases caused by poisons. But can they be modified and applied with profit in psychiatric research? This is an important problem, and it cannot be discussed without reference, explicit or implicit, to philosophical assumptions. In this paper some consequences of the philosophy of science of Sir Karl Popper will be tentatively explored.

The Uses of Karl Popper

1995 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 177-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günter Wächtershäuser
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Karl Popper ◽  
Intellectual Activity

Karl Popper's work is of great diversity. It touches on virtually every intellectual activity. But he himself considered his philosophy of science one of his most important achievements. And indeed his achievement here is revolutionary. It destroyed the philosophy of inductivism which held sway over science for hundreds of years.

scholarly journals Dream as a subject of psychological research

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
P.A. Egorova
Keyword(s):  
Activity Theory ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Subjective Significance

We discuss the main theoretical concepts of a dream: dream definitions, ideas about its genesis, functions, dream location in the structure of activity. We analyze the similarities and differences between the approaches. The results of empirical studies of adolescent and adult dreams are generalized, dream functions in adolescence are analyzed. Based on the analysis of different approaches, we chose theoretical basis of our own research – A. Leontiev activity theory, L.S. Vygotsky concept, K. Lewin's model. We formulated and substantiated the definition of dream as emotionally colored image of the desired future, having a subjective significance. We show the significance and hypotheses of our research: 1) the content of dreams is connected not only with a situation of frustration, but also with the teenager abilities, 2) the dream is involved in regulating of values choice; 3) restoration and development of the ability to dream can be used in the practice of counseling and psychotherapy as an effective tool to help adolescents and adults.

scholarly journals influence of social support and personal networks on doctoral student performance

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Hlebec ◽  
Tina Kogovšek ◽  
Anuška Ferligoj
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Work Motivation ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Explained Variance

In the paper the effects of individual and social factors on the performance of doctoral students (young researchers) in Slovenia are studied. The paper starts with an overview of theoretical models and empirical studies that originate in educational research and psychological research. The paper continues with a description of theoretical models and empirical studies that originate from organizational research and focus on explaining job performance. The Job Demands-Resources model (Xanthopoulou et al., 2007; Bakker and Demerouti, 2007) is used to explain why some doctoral students perform better than others. Social support networks and social support from a doctoral student's research group (supervisor and co-workers) are operationalized as job resources. The proportion of explained variance of the doctoral students' academic performance is 0.14. Social support and personal networks have the largest effect, following by work motivation.

scholarly journals Emigration intentions of youth: theoretical foundations of the study and categorical diversity (a review of international studies)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-67
Author(s):  
N.V. Murashcenkova
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
The Individual

The article deals with the overview of modern international studies of emigration intentions of youth. The special role of psychological research in this scientific field is substantiated. The article reviews the procedural models of voluntary emigration. The paper analyses the significance of the social context and the role of the “migration culture” by shaping the emigration activity of the individual. The article describes the categorical variety of youth emigration intentions in international studies. The article analyses the main research strategies, measurement methods and current trends by conducting such psychological research. It is promising to compare the analyzed results of international studies with those of national scientists in the area under consideration. The data presented in the article can be useful in organizing and conducting socio-psychological empirical studies aimed at identifying the driving forces behind the emigration activity of young people in Russia and other countries.

scholarly journals Fossils with Feathers and Philosophy of Science

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 840-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce C Havstad ◽  
N Adam Smith
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Thomas Kuhn ◽  
Karl Popper ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Research Programmes ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe last half century of paleornithological research has transformed the way that biologists perceive the evolutionary history of birds. This transformation has been driven, since 1969, by a series of exciting fossil discoveries combined with intense scientific debate over how best to interpret these discoveries. Ideally, as evidence accrues and results accumulate, interpretive scientific agreement forms. But this has not entirely happened in the debate over avian origins: the accumulation of scientific evidence and analyses has had some effect, but not a conclusive one, in terms of resolving the question of avian origins. Although the majority of biologists have come to accept that birds are dinosaurs, there is lingering and, in some quarters, strident opposition to this view. In order to both understand the ongoing disagreement about avian origins and generate a prediction about the future of the debate, here we use a revised model of scientific practice to assess the current and historical state of play surrounding the topic of bird evolutionary origins. Many scientists are familiar with the metascientific scholars Sir Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, and these are the primary figures that have been appealed to so far, in prior attempts to assess the dispute. But we demonstrate that a variation of Imre Lakatos’s model of progressive versus degenerative research programmes provides a novel and productive assessment of the debate. We establish that a refurbished Lakatosian account both explains the intractability of the dispute and predicts a likely outcome for the debate about avian origins. In short, here, we offer a metascientific tool for rationally assessing competing theories—one that allows researchers involved in seemingly intractable scientific disputes to advance their debates.

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