The Knowledge Problem in Mature Science

In the course of the nineteenth century, physical scientists became increasingly self-conscious of the need for a theory of how scientific knowledge was produced. Though many theories were proposed, none won a consensus. As explicitly stated by William Whewell, the core problem was the same for everyone: how to ground claims of knowledge of experience in a way that also justified claiming that the object of these claims was a reality independent of experience that caused experience. Everyone was acutely aware of the Fallacy of Affirming the Consequent and of the logical gulf between induction and deduction. John Herschel, Whewell, John Stuart Mill, August Comte, Hermann Helmholtz, Pierre Duhem, and Ernst Mach were some who proposed theories of science. Of these, Mach alone decisively rejected reality as the objective of science. Meanwhile, the nonscientist J. B. Stallo argued for the fundamental role played by metaphysical concepts in modern science.

Bellagio II Report: Terrestrial Applications of Space Medicine Research

INTRODUCTION: For over 50 yr, investigators have studied the physiological adaptations of the human system during short- and long-duration spaceflight exposures. Much of the knowledge gained in developing health countermeasures for astronauts onboard the International Space Station demonstrate terrestrial applications. To date, a systematic process for translating these space applications to terrestrial human health has yet to be defined.METHODS: In the summer of 2017, a team of 38 international scientists launched the Bellagio ll Summit Initiative. The goals of the Summit were: 1) To identify space medicine findings and countermeasures with highest probability for future terrestrial applications; and 2) To develop a roadmap for translation of these countermeasures to future terrestrial application. The team reviewed public domain literature, NASA databases, and evidence books within the framework of the five-stage National Institutes of Health (NIH) translation science model, and the NASA two-stage translation model. Teams then analyzed and discussed interdisciplinary findings to determine the most significant evidence-based countermeasures sufficiently developed for terrestrial application.RESULTS: Teams identified published human spaceflight research and applied translational science models to define mature products for terrestrial clinical practice.CONCLUSIONS: The Bellagio ll Summit identified a snapshot of space medicine research and mature science with the highest probability of translation and developed a Roadmap of terrestrial application from space medicine-derived countermeasures. These evidence-based findings can provide guidance regarding the terrestrial applications of best practices, countermeasures, and clinical protocols currently used in spaceflight.Sides MB, Johnston SL III, Sirek A, Lee PH, Blue RS, Antonsen EL, Basner M, Douglas GL, Epstein A, Flynn-Evans EE, Gallagher MB, Hayes J, Lee SMC, Lockley SW, Monseur B, Nelson NG, Sargsyan A, Smith SM, Stenger MB, Stepanek J, Zwart SR; Bellagio II Team. Bellagio II report: terrestrial applications of space medicine research. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(8):650669.

The Naturalizing Program of Perceptions Defended

The author defends the naturalizing program of the notion of representation against the primitivist view according to which the notion of representation as belonging to psychology as a mature science is irreducible. First, the author concedes that the original teleological project trivializes the concept of representation by applying it to bacteria, protozoa, amoeba, when the best available explanation is the assumption that primitive organisms and artifacts are merely indicating proximal stimulation rather than representing the distal causes of stimulation. Yet, the author does not believe that this presents an unsurmountable obstacle for the naturalizing program when what is in question is genuine sensory representation, namely perception. In the author’s view, what matters for the naturalizing program are not cases in which the concept of representation is misemployed, but rather cases in which the focus is genuine sensory representation, that is, genuine perceptions; or so he shall argue.

What is a global state of consciousness?

The notion of a global state (or level) of consciousness is an increasingly important construct in the science of consciousness. However, exactly what a global state of consciousness is remains poorly understood. In this paper I offer an account of global states of consciousness as consciousness-related capacity modulations. On this view global states are not themselves phenomenal states – they are not occurring experiences. Rather, they are states that specify which of a creature’s overall consciousness-related capacities are currently online. Given that the search for the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), as it is currently conceived, is the search for the neural basis of occurrent experiences, the NCC framework is incapable of revealing the neural basis of global states. As such, a mature science of consciousness will need to move beyond the search for NCCs, as that project is currently conceived.

Revived call for consensus in the future of psychotherapy

The emblem of success in psychotherapy research and practice has long been innovation. Although such ingenuity is commendable, it has nonetheless perpetuated fragmentation across the field. At least four decades ago, it was suggested that achieving consensus on what constitutes psychotherapy’s theoretical, empirical, and practical ‘core’ might allow the discipline to evolve beyond its siloed state, as is reflective of mature science. Yet, division remains the rule versus exception, owing in large part to power struggles among disparate schools of therapy and quarrels over whether theory-specific or theory-common factors most account for therapeutic change. We outline here a vision for psychotherapy’s future that is defined by consensus rather than disintegration. Namely, we reiterate the need for the field to invest in clinical strategies that transcend ostensibly incompatible theoretical models. We also argue that psychotherapy research should build on the growing evidence for such clinical strategies in an effort to establish core, evidence-based principles of therapeutic change. We then discuss how establishing consensus will require reconciliation among the mounting evidence for flexible, principle-informed practice with the current realities of training, dissemination, and implementation paradigms. Finally, we articulate ways in which practicing clinicians will serve a vital role in carrying out, and amending as needed, actionable efforts toward psychotherapy consensus.

The Emerging Science of Virtue

Numerous scholars have claimed that positive ethical traits such as virtues are important in human psychology and behavior. Psychologists have begun to test these claims. The scores of studies on virtue do not yet constitute a mature science of virtue because of unresolved theoretical and methods challenges. In this article, we addressed those challenges by clarifying how virtue research relates to prosocial behavior, positive psychology, and personality psychology and does not run afoul of the fact–value distinction. The STRIVE-4 (Scalar Traits that are Role sensitive, include Situation × Trait Interactions, and are related to important Values that help to constitute E udaimonia) model of virtue is proposed to help resolve the theoretical and methods problems and encourage a mature science of virtue. The model depicts virtues as empirically verifiable, acquired scalar traits that are role sensitive, involve Situation × Trait interactions, and relate to important values that partly constitute eudaimonia (human flourishing). The model also holds that virtue traits have four major components: knowledge, behavior, emotion/motivation, and disposition. Heuristically, the STRIVE-4 model suggests 26 hypotheses, which are discussed in light of extant research to indicate which aspects of the model have been assessed and which have not. Research on virtues has included survey, intensive longitudinal, informant-based, experimental, and neuroscientific methods. This discussion illustrates how the STRIVE-4 framework can unify extant research and fruitfully guide future research.

How to Translate a Verbal Theory Into a Formal Model

Turning verbal theories into formal models is an essential business of a mature science. Here I elaborate on taxonomies of models, provide ten lessons for translating a verbal theory into a formal model, and discuss the specific challenges involved in collaborations between modelers and non-modelers. It’s a start.

How to translate a verbal theory into a formal model

Turning verbal theories into formal models is an essential business of a mature science. Here I elaborate on taxonomies of models, provide ten lessons for translating a verbal theory into a formal model, and discuss the specific challenges involved in collaborations between modelers and non-modelers. It's a start.

Thermodynamics of heating

Heat transfer is a mature science, and so is thermodynamics. They are almost 200 years old having developed largely independently until the 1980s. Maturity comes from the usefulness and success of the thermal sciences. This review uses the thermodynamics of heat transfer to focus on aspects that are usually not discussed in physics: performance, purpose, function, objective and direction of evolutionary design. The article illustrates the unity of the thermal sciences discipline (heat transfer +thermodynamics + constructal law), and uses the opportunity to correct a few recent interpretations of the thermodynamics of heat transfer regarding dissipative engines and energy storage.