THEISTIC EVOLUTION IN THE POSTGENOMIC ERA

How to reconcile the theory of evolution with existing religious beliefs has occupied minds since Darwin's time. The majority of the discourse on the subject is still focused on the Darwinian version of evolutionary theory, or at best, the mid‐twentieth century version of the Modern Synthesis. However, evolutionary thought has moved forward since then with the insights provided by the advent of comparative genomics in recent decades having a particularly significant impact. A theology that successfully incorporates evolutionary biology needs to take such developments into account, because range of truly viable options among the many versions of theistic evolution that have been proposed in the past may narrow down when this is done. Here I present these previously underappreciated strains of contemporary evolutionary thought and discuss their potential theological impact.     

READING WILLY WONKA IN THE ERA OF ANTI-THINKING

Whether encountered as a movie or novel, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a childhood staple of postwar Anglophone culture. Originally published in 1964, Dahl’s story of “Willie Wonka” is a morality tale for our times addressed by the present essay in relation to the precariousness, violence, intergenerational faith, and materialist fantasies reflective of contemporary life in the early twenty-first century. Compensating for the precarity of contemporary life’s impoverishment as assumptions of societal stability are overthrown, this chronicle of the Bucket family details: envious desire validated by large group chosen trauma; authoritarian enslavement of inferior, colonized peoples with murderous, industrial-level human experimentation; toward gratification of the greedy fantasy of unlimited sweetness under the sway of lethal identification with the aggressor.     

RELIGION IN AN AGE OF SCIENCE; METAPHYSICS IN AN ERA OF HISTORY

Abstract. Ian Barbour's Religion in an Age of Science is a welcome systematic, theoretical overview of the relations between science and religion, culminating his long career with a balanced and insightful appraisal. The hallmarks of his synthesis are critical realism, holism, and process thought. Barbour makes even more investment in process philosophy and theology than in his previous works. This invites further inquiry about the adequacy of a highly general process metaphysics in dealing with our particular, deeply historical world; also further inquiry about the adequacy of its panexperientialism and incrementalism.     

Reducing Excessive Television Viewing

Excessive television watching among children can have several negative consequences, including exposure to frequent violent and aggressive scenes and limitations in their opportunities to engage in alternative educational and prosocial activities. In the present study, a youngster evidencing high levels of television viewing behavior was placed on a modified token economy: earned tokens were used to activate the television for set periods of time. With onset of the intervention, immediate and dramatic reductions in television viewing were noted. High levels returned during a return to baseline phase, but reductions again occured when the intervention was reimplmented. Positive second-order effects were noted in the child's school work, in the amounts of time the family spent together, and in the mother's perception of a social support variable.     

互联网——心理学研究的新工具

互联网作为一种新的工具,在心理学研究中得到越来越多的使用。文章介绍了基于互联网的心理学研究的历史和现状,并分析了这种新研究工具的优点,如更高的效度,多样化的被试,操作更方便更高效,费用更低廉等。同时也客观地指出了新研究工具的局限性,如并不是所有的心理学研究都可以在互联网上实现,控制不够严格等。但是作为一种新的研究工具,互联网应该得到心理学工作者更多的重视。     

External, Not Internal Challenges to Interdisciplinary Research

This commentary draws on personal experience with interdisciplinary collaborations to suggest that Maton, Perkins, and Saegert (this issue) may overstate the challenges internal to interdisciplinary work groups. It supports their discussion of external challenges, and comments on the efforts they suggest to further interdisciplinary work.     

BOOK REVIEW

No abstract available for this article.     

Knowledge creation in consumer research: Multiple routes,multiple criteria

The modal scientific approach in consumer research is to deduce hypotheses from existing theory about relationships between theoretic constructs, test those relationships experimentally, and then show “process” evidence via moderation and mediation. This approach has its advantages, but other styles of research also have much to offer. We distinguish among alternative research styles in terms of their philosophical orientation (theory-driven vs. phenomenon-driven) and their intended contribution (understanding a substantive phenomenon vs. building or expanding theory). Our basic premise is that authors who deviate from the dominant paradigm are hindered by reviewers who apply an unvarying set of evaluative criteria. We discuss the merits of different styles of research and suggest appropriate evaluative criteria for each.     

The NIH Roadmap: Are Psychologists In or Out?

Psychologists often express concerns about the inclusion of psychology in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap initiative. Most Roadmap themes focus on biomedical research, forming the basis for psychologists’ concerns. Although most Roadmap funding goes toward biomedical research, social and behavioral scientists do win support. It is reasonable to ask, however, why the Roadmap is focused so exclusively on medical research. One explanation is that medical interventions are seen as the natural translation of basic biomedical research, whereas psychological interventions are not perceived as following from basic behavioral research. Psychologists working in academic health centers represent the best opportunity for creating such linkages, and therefore the best potential bridge for psychology connecting to the NIH Roadmap. This paper represents the views of the author, and not necessarily those of the American Psychological Association and is based on a presentation given at the 3rd National Conference of the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers in May 2007 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.     

临床应用抗菌药物的调查分析

通过对某院1328例患者出院病历有关使用抗菌药物情况的调查,探讨了临床应用抗菌药物的基本情况及存在的问题,并提出了相应的对策.     

Possible research area bias in the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) draft journal rankings

An analysis of the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) draft rankings of 661 psychology journals points to systematic differences between research areas in the distribution of ranks. Journals in experimental, biological and neuroscientific psychology obtained higher mean ranks, consistent with a tendency for “hard‐science” areas to have higher bibliometric journal impact. The ERA will influence the distribution of resources and rewards within psychology and create powerful incentives for institutions and researchers, so differences in ranks across research areas may alter the shape of the discipline. Although they do not necessarily imply bias, such differences raise the possibility that psychology researchers will not operate on a level playing field.     

Getting Beyond Form Filling: The Role of Institutional Governance in Human Research Ethics

It has become almost a truism to describe the interaction between research ethics committees and researchers as being marred by distrust and conflict. The ethical conduct of researchers is increasingly a matter of institutional concern because of the degree to which non-compliance with national standards can expose the entire institution to risk. This has transformed research ethics into what some have described as a research ethics industry. In an operational sense, there is considerable focus on modifying research behaviour through a combination of education and sanctions. The assessment of whether a researcher is ‘ethical’ is too often based on whether they submit their work for review by an ethics committee. However, is such an approach making a useful contribution to the actual ethical conduct of research and the protection of the interests of participants? Does a focus on ethical review minimise institutional risk? Instead it has been suggested that ethics committees may be distorting or frustrating useful research and are promoting a culture of either mindless rule following or frustrated resistance. An alternative governance approach is required. There is a need for a strong institutional focus on promoting and supporting the reflective practice of researchers through every stage of their work. By situating research ethics within the broader framework of institutional governance, this paper suggests it is possible to establish arrangements that actually facilitate excellent and ethical research.     

Pre‐registration: Why and How

In this article, we (1) discuss the reasons why pre‐registration is a good idea, both for the field and individual researchers, (2) respond to arguments against pre‐registration, (3) describe how to best write and review a pre‐registration, and (4) comment on pre‐registration’s rapidly accelerating popularity. Along the way, we describe the (big) problem that pre‐registration can solve (i.e., false positives caused by p‐hacking), while also offering viable solutions to the problems that pre‐registration cannot solve (e.g., hidden confounds or fraud). Pre‐registration does not guarantee that every published finding will be true, but without it you can safely bet that many more will be false. It is time for our field to embrace pre‐registration, while taking steps to ensure that it is done right.