Behavioral science and the Nobel Prize: a history

The Nobel Prizes began a little over a century ago, established by the last will and testament of Alfred Nobel to recognize those individuals "who. shall have conferred the greatest benefits on mankind" (R. M. Friedman, 2001, p. 13). No social science prizes were established among the original five categories, consequently behavioral research has received little recognition. Using archival records from several locations, particularly the Nobel committee records from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which selects the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, this article provides a history of the scientists whose work was related to psychology and who won or lost the attempt for Nobel fame. It concludes with a discussion of the importance of behavioral science in the 21st century in the context of the subject domains of the Nobel Prizes.     

诺贝尔医学奖与幽门螺杆菌

瑞典皇家科学院宣布了今年的化学、物理和医学诺贝尔奖获得者。获得医学奖的是两位澳大利亚科学家。他们因发现幽门螺杆菌而获奖。就幽门螺杆菌的实验研究过程和临床应用作一简介。     

传统、浮躁、道德及其它--医域随感

多年来我一直从事外科医、教、研和科室管理工作,并兼任一些专业杂志的编辑和审稿工作.记不清楚由什么时候开始,逐渐感觉到平时熟悉的情况出现了一些微妙的变化,特别是近几年,可能是市场经济大环境的影响或是社会上漂浮的灰尘飞落到医院和学术界,不太寻常的现象似有所增多.其中有些情况均为所见所闻,间或偶尔与同道议论过,现结合当前事态发展,重新认识一下,可能有益无害.     

National-level Indicators of Androgens are Related to the Global Distribution of Scientific Productivity and Science Nobel Prizes

There are national differences in scientific activity that are not well accounted for by economic and intellectual factors alone. We examine the novel hypothesis that androgen levels may also play a role. Androgens are often referred to as male hormones, but are present in both men and women, and have been linked to performance in other domains, such as sports and entrepreneurship. National-level empirical data on scientific productivity, in terms of numbers of publications, and science Nobel laureates were compared to seven national-level androgen indicators; namely androgenic body hair, the length of the CAG repeat on the androgen receptor gene, prostate cancer incidence, male and female 2D:4D finger ratio, and sex frequency and number of partners. The majority of these indicators were associated in the expected direction with per capita number of scientific publications and Nobel prizes. Moreover, several indicators significantly interacted with national-level estimates of intelligence, such that androgen levels are related to measures of the scientific achievement only when the level of intelligence is relatively high. These findings may partly explain the global distribution of scientific productivity, achievements, and Nobel prizes.     

Gender and Science: Women Nobel Laureates

Women and their creativity are underrepresented in science. To date, few women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in science. Eleven female Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and physiology/medicine between 1901 and 2006 were compared with 37 males who received the Nobel Prize in the same area one year prior and one year after the women. Data analyzed included birth order, marital status, children, awards (Fulbright, Rhodes, and number of honorary awards received), highest education level and Nobel mentor. Results indicated that female Nobel laureates were significantly less likely to marry and have children. When female laureates had children, they had significantly fewer children than male laureates. Female laureates also had fewer publications than their male counterparts. Our findings suggest that eminent women scientists tend to choose the pursuit of scientific discovery over starting families more often than eminent male scientists. More resources are needed in order to nurture and enhance the recruitment and retention of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).     

纳米医学的哲学迷思

自诺贝尔医学奖设立以来,就没有一个真正的中国本土科学家获奖,其因素是多方面的,教育方法的颠覆,科研态度的浮躁,科研政策的困扰和科研资源的散落是其中最重要的四大因素。另外,人文素养的缺乏和一些传统的思维理念的局限,对此也有不小的影响。     

The Biomedical Paradigm and the Nobel Prize: Is It Time for a Change?

An examination of the early history of Nobel Committee deliberations, coupled with a survey of discoveries for which prizes have been awarded to date – and, equally revealing, discoveries for which prizes have not been awarded – reveals a pattern. This pattern suggests that Committee members may have internalized the received, biomedical model and conferred awards in accord with the physicalistic premises that ground this model. I consider the prospect of a paradigm change in medical science and the possible repercussions of such a change on the distribution of Nobel prizes within the domain of physiology or medicine. For expository purposes, I contrast a model based on a science of pathophysiology with one based on a science of pathopsychophysiology. I propose a means whereby members might minimize the potentially blinding effects of model-dependence and come to evaluate medical discoveries from an inter-model rather than an exclusively intra-model perspective. By bringing to light questions rarely asked and proposing answers, I seek to open a dialogue and furnish a vehicle by which the putative delimiting effects of model-dependence might be overcome.     

诺贝尔奖获得者医学创新的原动力探析

诺贝尔奖获得者医学创新的原动力,几乎都是他们对自然现象的好奇心、求知欲、兴趣和责任感等非功利化的因素.这些科学家对科学的好奇心、求知欲和兴趣,虽在产生时间上先后不一,但都是他们心理层面的科学创新原动力.这些科学家在医学创新行为中,无不表现出高于个人责任感的社会责任感、无处不在的集体责任感和作为最高层次的人类责任感,这些责任感是他们精神层面的科学创新原动力.     

基因诺贝尔奖的哲学因素思考

从1909年Johannsen提出基因(gene)一词至2004年以来,因研究基因而获得诺贝尔奖的达53人之多.从材料的选择、科研思想、课题设计、理论实践等方面,分析和探讨这些科学家的成功的因素.     

Why do High IQ Societies Differ in Intellectual Achievement? The Role of Schizophrenia and Left-Handedness in Per Capita Scientific Publications and Nobel Prizes

Previous research has attempted to understand why countries with relatively favorable conditions and high estimated average IQs (such as Finland and Japan) have a relatively low per capita number of scientific Nobel prizes. In the present study, we examine whether there is a relationship between national schizophrenia and left-handedness prevalence, on the one hand, and per capita scientific and literary achievement, on the other hand, in countries with IQ estimates of at least 90. We found that per capita science and literature Nobel prizes and scientific publications are strongly negatively associated with schizophrenia and strongly positively correlated with left-handedness. There also was a very pronounced negative correlation between schizophrenia rate and left-handedness rate. These results suggest that genius can be regarded as a combination of very high IQ, aspects of high-functioning autism (specifically low empathy) plus relatively low impulse control, consistent with observations of intellectually outstanding individuals, and the fact that schizophrenia appears to constitute the opposite pole of these aspects of autism spectrum. We posit differences in androgen levels as a possible underlying explanation for these findings.     

Arrhenius vs. Ehrlich on immunochemistry: Decisions about scientific progress in the context of the Nobel prize

This study forms part of a larger research project examining the election process for the Nobel prizes for Physiology or Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and the role and function of the prizes in early 20th century Swedish and international medicine. The purpose of the study is to clarify the decision-making process which led to the Nobel prize for Paul Ehrlich in 1908, ‘for work on immunity’. His award was preceded by the most dramatic conflict within the prize authority concerning any prizewinner prior to World War I, and thus is apt to illuminate both the implicit and explicit criteria and the strategies used in the prize deliberations. Ehrlich's chemical ideas on the immune response were criticized by the physical chemist Svante Arrhenius who recommended the application of his disciplines's methods and principles on immunological problems. This criticisms were brought into the Nobel prize debate by J.E. Johansson, a physiologist who asserted that Ehrlich's research was of little scientific value and therefore not worthy of a prize. Yet the majority of the Institute, led by its chairmam, the chemist K.A.H. Mörner, succeeded in awarding Ehrlich. An analysis of the controversy shows it to be primarily based upon (1) a difference of scientific styles between the antagonists, resulting in incongruous definitions of immunology as a research field, and of the proper aims and methods of immunological studies. Other factors influencing the final decision were (2) the Institute's negative reaction to what was considered an intrusion in medical Nobel prize matters by a chemist, (3) Arrhenius' and Johansson's diverging views on what kind of work should be awarded a prize, and (4) Johansson's position as a non-conformist at the Karolinska.     

诺贝尔科学奖与日本人的追求

诺贝尔科学奖是世界上对科学工作者最崇高、重要的奖励。事实证明,颁发此奖极有利于促进科学事业的发展。日本由技术革新到科学革新的变革,进而在新世纪的几年里连续获得诺贝尔奖,也说明科学创新的重要。     

2003年诺贝尔医学奖给科学界的多重启示(上)

2003年诺贝尔医学奖授予了两位美英物理学家,劳特布尔和曼斯菲尔德,表彰他们在磁共振成像方面的发现.这些发现导致现代磁共振技术的开发,这一技术标志着医学诊断学和科学研究中的一项突破.该项发现建筑在核磁和核磁共振现象被发现的基础之上.核磁现象的发现及其应用导致了1943、1944和1952年诺贝尔物理学奖的获得.核磁共振现象的发现及其应用导致了1991年和2002年诺贝尔化学奖的获得.这意味着,2003年诺贝尔医学奖是该系列发现中第六个诺贝尔科学奖.     

诺贝尔医学奖与俄罗斯的遗憾

通过对1901～2004年诺贝尔医学奖的复习分析,发现俄罗斯(前苏联)这个大国,在整个20世纪里102次的医学奖颁发中,只获得2人次,与它的大国地位很不相称.试图分析其获奖特少的历史原因并汲取教训.     

An elusive honor: psychology, behavior, and the Nobel Prize

Apart from economics, the human sciences have not generally been rewarded with high honors from the world community. Psychology has been awarded the distinction of a Nobel Prize only when it has served a role in explicating human behavior in relation to economics. Yet psychological science has played no small part in the work of a number of Nobel Prize winners. This section addresses a selection of that work. Some of the winners of the Nobel Prize in the field of psychology are briefly reviewed. In addition, this selection introduces the papers in this issue.     

The economics of science

Increasing the “truth per dollar” of money spent on science is one legitimate long-run goal of the economics of science. But before this goal can be achieved, we need to increase our knowledge of the successes and failures of past and current reward structures of science. This essay reviews what economists have learned about the behavior of scientists and the reward structure of science. One important use of such knowledge will be to help policy-makers create a reward structure that is more efficient in the future.     

对中医审查病机的体会

在诺贝尔生理学或医学奖105年的历史中,美国分别占了颁奖年度的52.08%,获奖成果的44.87%,获奖人数的48.91%。形成这些科学家学术优势积累和美国国家科技竞争优势的学术条件背景是:适宜的宏观政策,充足的经费投入,成功的人才政策,根本的教育改革和创新的科技管理。     

Scientific Productivity and Idea Acceptance in Nobel Laureates

We investigated how new ideas become accepted for Nobel laureates in science. Archival data were collected for 204 Nobel laureates from 1980 to 2009 in physics, chemistry, and medicine or physiology. Acceptance was evaluated for Nobel laureates by Prize area and three key publications in the Nobel laureates' publishing careers: (a) first publication concerning their Nobel idea (FN), (b) highest cited publication concerning their Nobel idea (HN), and (c) last publication concerning their Nobel idea (LN). Acceptance was defined primarily in terms of academic prestige for the journal articles (journal impact factors, article citation counts, Eigenfactor scores [journal impact and journal citations] and journal‐cited half‐life ratings). We found that acceptance for these publications mostly followed LN < FN < HN for all measures and Prize areas—except for physics on impact factor only, which followed FN < LN < HN, as hypothesized. In sum, recent ideas are least accepted rather than original ideas even for established and eminent Nobel laureates.     

诺贝尔医学奖与美国人的情结

通过对美国历年来获得诺贝尔医学奖项目和获奖者的分析,发现美国有获奖者多、原创性成果多、基础前沿研究成果多、出自一流科研机构的获奖者多的"四多"现状.美国的获奖历史和现状带给了我们许多哲学思考.     

Herbert A. Simon: Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, 1978

In 1978, Herbert A. Simon won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, the same Nobel won by Daniel Kahneman in 2002. Simon's work in fact paved the way for Kahneman's Nobel. Although trained in political science and economics rather than psychology, Simon applied psychological ideas to economic theorizing. Classical and neoclassical economic theories assume that people are perfectly rational and strive to optimize economic outcomes. Simon argued that human rationality is constrained, not perfect, and that people seek satisfactory rather than ideal outcomes. Despite his Nobel, Simon felt isolated in economics and ultimately moved into psychology. Nevertheless, his ideas percolated through the economic community, so that Kahneman, whose research advanced Simon's broad perspective, could be the psychologist who won the Nobel in economics.