Evolutionary Epistemology and the Aim of Science

Both Popper and van Fraassen have used evolutionary analogies to defend their views on the aim of science, although these are diametrically opposed. By employing Price's equation in an illustrative capacity, this paper considers which view is better supported. It shows that even if our observations and experimental results are reliable, an evolutionary analogy fails to demonstrate why conjecture and refutation should result in: (1) the isolation of true theories; (2) successive generations of theories of increasing truth-likeness; (3) empirically adequate theories; or (4) successive generations of theories of increasing proximity to empirical adequacy. Furthermore, it illustrates that appeals to induction do not appear to help. It concludes that an evolutionary analogy is only sufficient to defend the notion that the aim of science is to isolate a particular class of false theories, namely those that are empirically inadequate.     

Team Performance and Satisfaction: A Link to Cognitive Style Within a Process Framework

Effective teamwork is becoming increasingly important to organizational success. Advances in network and communication technology have allowed companies to widen their potential team member base, however we still need to better understand how to structure top-performing teams. This paper proposes forming teams based on their cognitive style, rather than personality, within a process framework. An experiment was conducted to investigate the innovative performance of problem solving groups with three different blends of cognitive styles. As predicted, groups with a heterogeneous blend of styles outperformed groups with completely or partially homogeneous blends. On the other hand, team members' satisfaction scores were lower for heterogeneous teams than either the completely or partially homogeneous teams. There was preliminary evidence that among groups with heterogeneous blends, those with smaller style dispersions might be expected to outperform those with larger style dispersions. There was also room for some speculation that a curvilinear relationship might exist for team members' satisfaction as a function of diversity in team member cognitive style. Implications of these finding are discussed.     

Defining Communication and Language from Within a Pluralistic Evolutionary Worldview

Topoi - New definitions are proposed for communication and language. Communication is defined as the evolution of physical, biochemical, cellular, community, and technological information exchange....     

Positioning Implicit Theories of Well-Being Within a Positivity Framework

Two studies with 230 and 363 Canadian undergraduate students tested the relationship between incremental theories of well-being (i.e., beliefs regarding the malleability of well-being) and a positive mental outlook. In Study 1, incremental theories of well-being were associated with Prioritizing Positivity (purposely incorporating pleasant activities into one’s daily routine) and showed a positive relationship with several other indicators of positive mental functioning (e.g., intrinsic motivation, eudaimonic motivation). In Study 2, incremental theories of well-being were associated with Positivity (viewing life and experiences with a positive outlook) and were positively correlated with additional indicators of positive mental functioning (e.g., harmony in life, self-compassion). In both studies, the relationship between incremental theories of well-being and both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being held true across different measures. A synthesis of major results using a Bayesian meta-analytic procedure suggested a moderate association between an incremental well-being mindset and well-being. Results of these studies help to situate incremental views toward well-being within a broad positivity framework, and to expand the nomological web of correlates of implicit theories of well-being.     

Cognitive Concepts of the Self and Romantic Relationships

The present study applied 2 complementary cognitive concepts of the self (i.e., self-complexity [SC] and self-concept differentiation [SCD]) to the area of romantic relationships and developed corresponding measures of cognitive concepts of romantic relationships (relationship complexity [RC] and relationship-concept differentiation [RCD], respectively). Then the associations between the cognitive concept measures and the degrees to which the participant's negative affect had been increased due to the recall of negative events in the romantic relationship were examined. Eighty-nine college students who were currently involved in a romantic relationship participated in the study. Results showed that the relationship-concept measures were related to, but not identical with, the self-concept measures. A greater affective reaction to the recall of a negative event in the romantic relationship was associated with a higher score in SC and a lower score in RC, whereas this affective reaction was neither significantly related to SCD nor to RCD. The findings imply that the relationship concept measures developed in the present study contribute significantly to the understanding of affective reactivity in romantic relationships.     

Theism, Evolutionary Epistemology, and Two Theories of Truth

In Michael Ruse's recent publications, such as Taking Darwin Seriously (1998) and Evolutionary Naturalism (1995), he has advocated a certain sort of evolutionary epistemology and has argued that it implies a rejection of metaphysical realism (MR) in favor of a position that he calls "internal realism" (IR). Additionally, he has maintained that, insofar as his evolutionary epistemology implies a rejection of MR in favor of IR, it escapes the kind of argument against naturalism that Alvin Plantinga makes in his Warrant and Proper Function (1993). In this article I explain the relevant views and arguments of Ruse and Plantinga, and I critically engage with Ruse's views, arguing that (1) his case for rejecting MR has no essential connection to evolutionary considerations; (2) his case for rejecting MR depends upon internalist assumptions about the nature of knowledge that are in need of some kind of defense; and (3) given his implicit internalism and his commitment to IR, his argument for rejecting MR can be used against his IR.     

Cultural Blankets: Epistemological Pluralism in the Evolutionary Epistemology of Mechanisms

Journal for General Philosophy of Science - In a recently published paper, we argued that theories of cultural evolution can gain explanatory power by being more pluralistic. In his reply to it,...     

Moving Knowledge into Action: Developing the Rapid Synthesis and Translation Process Within the Interactive Systems Framework

The Interactive Systems Framework (ISF) for Dissemination and Implementation presents an overall framework for translating knowledge into action. Each of its three systems requires further clarification and explanation to truly understand how to conduct this work. This article describes the development and initial application of the Rapid Synthesis and Translation Process (RSTP) using the exchange model of knowledge transfer in the context of one of the ISF systems: the Prevention Synthesis and Translation System (see [special issue “introduction” article] for a translation of the Wandersman et al. (Am J Community Psychol 41:3–4, 2008) article using the RSTP). This six‐step process, which was developed by and for the Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with partners, serves as an example of how a federal agency can expedite the transfer of research knowledge to practitioners to prevent violence. While the RSTP itself represents one of the possible functions in the Prevention Synthesis and Translation System, the resulting products affect both prevention support and prevention delivery as well. Examples of how practitioner and researcher feedback were incorporated into the Rapid Synthesis and Translation Process are discussed. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

Taking Care of the Symbolic Order. How Converging Technologies Challenge our Concepts

In this article we briefly summarize how converging technologies challenge elements of the existing symbolic order, as shown in the contributions to this special issue. We then identify the vision of ‘life as a do it yourself kit’ as a common denominator in the various forms of convergence and proceed to show how this vision provokes unrest and debate about existing moral frameworks and taboos. We conclude that, just as the problems of the industrial revolution sparked off the now broadly established ideal of sustainability the converging technologies should be governed by the ideal of ‘human sustainability’. The essence of this ideal is formed by the ongoing discussion about the extent to which we may, or should want to, ‘make’ our environment and ourselves, and when it is better to simply accept what is given and what happens to us.     

Mathematical Intuition and the Cognitive Roots of Mathematical Concepts

The foundation of Mathematics is both a logico-formal issue and an epistemological one. By the first, we mean the explicitation and analysis of formal proof principles, which, largely a posteriori, ground proof on general deduction rules and schemata. By the second, we mean the investigation of the constitutive genesis of concepts and structures, the aim of this paper. This “genealogy of concepts”, so dear to Riemann, Poincaré and Enriques among others, is necessary both in order to enrich the foundational analysis with an often disregarded aspect (the cognitive and historical constitution of mathematical structures) and because of the provable incompleteness of proof principles also in the analysis of deduction. For the purposes of our investigation, we will hint here to a philosophical frame as well as to some recent experimental studies on numerical cognition that support our claim on the cognitive origin and the constitutive role of mathematical intuition.     

Cognitive Science of Religion and the Study of Theological Concepts

The cultural transmission of theological concepts remains an underexplored topic in the cognitive science of religion (CSR). In this paper, I examine whether approaches from CSR, especially the study of content biases in the transmission of beliefs, can help explain the cultural success of some theological concepts. This approach reveals that there is more continuity between theological beliefs and ordinary religious beliefs than CSR authors have hitherto recognized: the cultural transmission of theological concepts is influenced by content biases that also underlie the reception of ordinary religious concepts.     

Rethinking the Human Being in Light of Evolutionary Biology

Abstract : For the sake of its own enrichment and relevance, Christian anthropology today must be informed by what we are learning from the biosciences, including the theory of biological evolution. The two quite different paradigms of theology and biology should be seen as complementary to each other, with theology recognizing the biological foundation of human nature. This necessitates a repudiation of the traditional body/soul dualism and re‐conceptualizing the concept of soul as a metaphorical expression rather than a spiritual entity. It affirms the spiritual dimension of human life that relates us to God and neighbor. Biblical scholarship affirms this psychosomatic, holistic view of the human being.     

Freud's Views and the Contemporary Application of Hypnosis: Enhancing Therapy Within a Psychoanalytic Framework

Freud's theoretical writings on hypnosis are reviewed and reasons for his abandoning of this clinical tool are suggested. Clinical hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness which has its own felt reality and does not bypass the ego. In fact, many of the essential characteristics of hypnosis are ego functions. Functions such as focused or free-floating attention, deep absorption, enhanced memory, imagery, ego-receptivity, ego-activity, defenses, and the capacity for self-observation all remain intact in hypnosis. This view is contrasted with Freud's early uses of hypnosis which were not informed by his later psychoanalytic discoveries. Clinical material is presented which illustrates how the conversion from a psychoanalytic psychotherapy to a hypnoanalysis resolved a therapeutic impasse and allowed for a productive treatment. Fromm's view of hypnosis, as a special form of adaptive regression in the service of the ego is clinically illustrated. It is postulated that the altered state of hypnosis facilitates an increased ego mobility. It is the psychic mobility of hypnosis which facilitates the vacillation between primary and secondary process thinking; the experiencing ego and the observing ego, and conscious and unconscious experience. It is largely the ego-mobility and available memory in hypnosis that account for its advantages as compared to non-hypnotic treatment. Relational and self-psychological components of hypnosis are also proposed.     

第三方惩罚的演化与认知机制

第三方惩罚一般是指当违反社会规范的行为与自身利益无关时,个体牺牲自我利益来惩罚违规者的行为。最近的研究发现,对于个体而言,第三方惩罚是一种具有适应性的信号,包括建立良好的声誉以及威慑违规者。不同情境下第三方惩罚的功能有所差异,它是一种特殊的利他行为。第三方惩罚依赖于多个系统,涉及情绪反应、共情等社会认知能力以及认知控制等中央执行能力。探讨该行为的演化和认知机制也能贡献于个体、群体和人际层面的社会心理服务工作。     

Beyond Reduction and Pluralism: Toward an Epistemology of Explanatory Integration in Biology

The paper works towards an account of explanatory integration in biology, using as a case study explanations of the evolutionary origin of novelties—a problem requiring the integration of several biological fields and approaches. In contrast to the idea that fields studying lower level phenomena are always more fundamental in explanations, I argue that the particular combination of disciplines and theoretical approaches needed to address a complex biological problem and which among them is explanatorily more fundamental varies with the problem pursued. Solving a complex problem need not require theoretical unification or the stable synthesis of different biological fields, as items of knowledge from traditional disciplines can be related solely for the purposes of a specific problem. Apart from the development of genuine interfield theories, successful integration can be effected by smaller epistemic units (concepts, methods, explanations) being linked. Unification or integration is not an aim in itself, but needed for the aim of solving a particular scientific problem, where the problem’s nature determines the kind of intellectual integration required.     

力求麻醉手术前四个充分有效防范围术期不良事件

世界麻醉医师协会联合会提出"帮助全世界人民获得最高质量的麻醉、镇痛和复苏"宗旨,我国医院管理年提出"以病人为中心,以质量为核心".如何提高麻醉质量,我们提出了力求麻醉手术前"充分了解、充分认识、充分准备、充分沟通"的措施,以期有效防范围术期不良事件的发生,确保医疗安全.     

认知偏向研究的进化心理学视角

这篇文章从进化心理学的视角阐述了认知偏向研究的方法和基本理论,进化心理学认为人类认知存在系统的偏向,这种有偏的认知通常是自然选择设计的特征.认知偏向的误差管理理论认为:如果认知在不确定条件下做出,并且错误肯定和错误否定的错误的成本在进化历史上不对称情况循环出现,自然选择偏爱犯最小成本错误的认知偏向.认知偏向研究的进化心理学方式有助于系统地产生关于领域特定化的认知偏向的预测.