INTO TERRA INCOGNITA: CHARTING BEYOND PETER HARRISON'S THE TERRITORIES OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Peter Harrison's The Territories of Science and Religion throws down a serious challenge to advocates of dialogue as the primary means of engagement between science and religion. This article accepts the validity of this challenge and looks at four possible responses to it. The first—a return to the past—is rejected. The remaining three—exploring new epistemic frameworks for the encounter of science and religion, broadening out the engagement beyond the context of the physical sciences and Western culture, and looking at ways in which scientific and theological practitioners may collaborate on practical problems—are all offered as potential ways in which science and religion may engage with one another, in ways which move beyond Harrison's critique.     

Inference to the Best Explanation

The common role of research programs in science and religion is now widely accepted. The next step in the methodology debate is to specify more concretely the shared standards for adequate explanations. The article presents a detailed account of the method of inference to the best explanation and gives examples of how the method can structure the philosophical and theological interaction with science. The resulting approach dispenses with deductive and inductive proofs of religious propositions and limits itself to initially plausible hypotheses that are to be assessed according to their explanatory power. Only when a domain of data and a particular explanatory task have been specified can any serious claim be made that religious theories are equal or superior to their naturalistic alternatives.     

Psychophysiologic correlates of Type A behavior: Comments on Houston (1983) and Holmes (1983)

On the basis of a literature review, B. K. Houston (1983, Journal of Research in Personality, 17, 22–39) concluded that there is a reliable but relatively weak association between Type A (coronary-prone) behavior and heightened physiologic reactivity. D. S. Holmes (1983, Journal of Research in Personality, 17, 40–47) contends that by failing to take into account dependent measures yielding null results, Houston overestimated the consistency with which A/B differences have been obtained. In the present article, we show that it is critical to take into account the method used to assess Type A behavior. Structured Interview assessments show a more consistent association with reactivity than those based on the Jenkins Activity Survey. We then point out that, for certain physiologic measures, null effects do not necessarily reflect an absence of A/B differences in sympathetic-adrenomedullary activity. Other issues that are discussed include the role of situational parameters in eliciting hyperresponsiveness in Type A's, the problem of evaluating the magnitude and importance of A/B effects, and the need for a more theoretical approach to the study of Type A behavior.     

An alternative scaling method for priorities in hierarchical structures

The early contributions of Saaty have spawned a multitude of applications of principal right (PR) eigenvector “scaling” of a dominance matrix [R]. Prior to Saaty's work (1977–1984) scaling of dominance matrices received little attention in multidimensional scaling, e.g., see Shepard (1972, pp. 26–27). This eigenvector method (EM) of scaling [R] yields u_i scores (weights) popularly used at each branching of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique that has been increasingly applied in multiple criterion analysis of utility, preference, probability, and performance. In this paper, it is proposed that an alternate least squares method (LSM) scaling technique yielding least squares optimal scores (weights) provides $\text{w}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^1$ values having a number of important advantages over u_i scores popularly utilized to date.     

Cardinal coordinate independence for expected utility

A representation theorem for binary relations on $\text{R}$ⁿ is derived. It is interpreted in the context of decision making under uncertainty. There we consider the existence of a subjective expected utility model to represent a preference relation of a person on the set of bets for money on a finite state space. The theorem shows that, for this model to exist, it is not only necessary (as has often been observed), but it also is sufficient, that the appreciation for money of the person has a cardinal character, independent of the state of nature. This condition of cardinal appreciation is simple and thus easily testable in experiments. Also it may be of help in relating the neo-classical economic interpretation of cardinal utility to the von Neumann-Morgenstern interpretation.     

Dogmatism, field dependence, and perception of demand characteristics in a verbal operant conditioning experiment

Using a 2 × 2 analysis of variance design, effects of dogmatism and field dependence on subjects' awareness of demand characteristics in a verbal operant conditioning experiment were investigated. From 103 introductory psychology students who participated in a replication of an earlier verbal conditioning experiment, 92 were randomly selected for final study. It was found that only subjects aware of the purpose of the conditioning study appeared to “condition”. Subject awareness was assessed by a series of converging questions which were independently content analyzed by two judges and coded to yield a total awareness score. Based on earlier research it was expected that dogmatism and field dependence would interact to affect levels of awareness. The two-way interaction was statistically significant (p < .05) as predicted. The results were discussed in terms of speculations regarding the modes of perceptual functioning involved in perceiving demand cues.     

Cognitive tuning and receptivity to novel information

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that cognitive tuning would cause receivers to be more receptive to novel than to familiar information, compared to transmitters. The information receptivity of transmitters and receivers was contrasted against a control group. The influence of the source and audience, possible limits on the influence of the tuning set, was also explored. Finally, amount of variance controlled by cognitive tuning, personality variables and information utility were examined.While the results strongly support the prediction that transmitters prefer familiar information, receivers and control group subjects did not significantly differ in preferences for novel information. The anticipated expertise of source or audience had no influence on information receptivity. Among the three sets of variables used, the greatest amount of variance was explained by information utility, followed by cognitive tuning and personality measures, though all three variables controlled a significant amount of variance.