On medicine as a human science

All the powerful influences exertedby the subjective-interpersonal dimension onthe organic or technical-functional dimensionof sickness and health do not make anintersubjective test concerning medicaltherapeutic results impossible. Theseinfluences are not arbitrary; on the contrary,they obey laws that are de facto sufficientlystable to allow predictions and explanationssimilar to those of experimental sciences.While, in this respect, the rules concerninghuman action are analogous to the scientificlaws of nature, they can at any time be revokedby becoming aware of them. Law-like andreproducible regularities in the sciences ofman are by no means separated from a patient'spersonal-hermeneutic mediation. This makes itpossible for human beings to modify, improve orsometimes even entirely (or better almostentirely) suspend these psychological,sociological, ethnological, medical,regularities. For this reason the sciences ofman including medicine are under the obligationof constantly inspecting the continuingvalidity of the rules on which theirpredictions and explanations are based, namelyby indirect, statistical methods. Thisrequires a synergistic collaboration ofextra-clinical and clinical tests through whichmedicine can obtain a good level ofintersubjective testability.     

Analyse des prélèvements biologiques médico-légaux : quel cadre juridique à l’ère de la qualité?

Medico-legal autopsy sometimes requires the use of the Parasitology-Mycology specialty. Two recent medico-legal clinical cases, involving this specialty, have questioned us. First of all, may a non-conformity biological analytical (compared to accepted and accredited standards by COFRAC) fail the whole biological expertise, and thereafter, the medico-legal expertise of the file? The answer must consider that the raw result obtained as a result of a medical biology technique must be interpreted and discussed by the expert in the discipline (in this case by the parasitologist) before being included in the medical discussion and discussed by the medical examiner. The judgment is secondarily delivered by the judge according to his intimate conviction and without determining the probative value of the examination. Should a post-mortem biological examination be part of an expertise in medical biology or is it a technical and scientific examination? This answer is based on the previous one, considering the significant contribution of the expert who will bring his knowledge, interpreting and discussing the raw result. A simple technical and scientific examination would only provide the raw result without any assessment of the context and circumstances of the biological sample.     

Do children think that inheritance determines height and weight?

Three studies were conducted to investigate if children think that physical growth is determined by inheritance. All three studies employed the “switched‐at‐birth” task. Study 1 investigated if children and adults thought that height and weight were determined by parentage. Study 2 examined preschoolers and elementary school children's and adults' understanding of the role of parentage and nutrition in determining weight. Study 2a examined children's and adults' understanding of the role of parentage and nutrition in determining height. Results indicate that overall, preschoolers and third graders have more of an inheritance bias for height than for weight. However, when nutrition was introduced, apart from third graders, all other grades reasoned that nutrition played a greater role in determining weight. Overall, these results indicate that even young children have a rudimentary but differentiated theory of the role of inheritance in determining height and weight.

Highlights

• Participants were presented with switched‐at‐birth tasks to determine if they thought that parentage and/or nutrition influences height and weight.
• Young children viewed height as determined more by parentage than weight, suggesting that they have a differentiated and autonomous theory for the determination of height.

     

Anticipatory Uncertainty: How Academic and Industry Researchers in the Life Sciences Experience and Manage the Uncertainties of the Research Process Differently

The institutional contexts of research increasingly require researchers to anticipate their productivity and the uncertainties inherent in their research. This applies to both academic researchers and to researchers in start-up companies. This creates a specific kind of uncertainty, anticipatory uncertainty, that we define as the state of being uncertain as to whether research processes will be productive in a specific time frame and along situated definitions of good performance. In the life sciences, this anticipatory uncertainty is experienced and managed differently, depending on how research is organized and the cultural resources available in specific institutional contexts. In biotechnology companies, there is a readiness to embrace dynamic changes in both research strategies and the organization of work in response to new developments in the progress of the overall research agenda. In academia, the ability of research groups to react with similar flexibility seems significantly constrained by the individual attribution of research work and credit, and the correspondingly high level of individual anticipatory uncertainty. This raises questions about how far the current organization of academic research allows epistemic uncertainty to be embraced and corresponding risks to be taken, rather than safe questions to be pursued.     

学前儿童用“人为不介入原理”区分生物、非生物能力的发展

本研究采用访谈法,考查4～6岁儿童对生物的“人为不介入原理”的理解。研究结果表明：1．学前儿童没有表现出明显的“泛灵论”倾向。2．学前儿童对“人为不介入原理”的理解随年龄增长而呈现提高趋势,多数6岁儿童已经能够利用这一原理区分生物和非生物。3．学前儿童对不同领域刺激物的认知表现出不平衡性,对动物的认知优先发展,植物次之,对人造物认知的发展落后于对生物认知的发展。4．学前儿童表现出初步的分类概念。     

Integrating Behavioral and Social Sciences in the Medical School Curriculum: Opportunities and Challenges for Psychology

The Institute of Medicine has reviewed and made recommendations concerning current teaching approaches, content, and barriers to the incorporation of behavioral/social sciences in medical school curricula (Cuff & Vanselow, 2004). This paper discusses those recommendations, the history of medical education reform, the barriers to and evolution of behavioral/social sciences’ inclusion, and the implications for psychology’s future role in academic medicine. Psychological concepts and technology permeate medical practice, but little progress has been made in integrating psychological and biological sciences. Looking to its basic science domains (e.g. cognition, learning, development, neuroscience), psychology can take scientific leadership in illuminating the mechanisms by which behavioral/social processes interact with biological functions in health, thereby providing the empirical basis for a truly integrated bio-behavioral curriculum. This article is based upon a symposium, “IOM Report on Enhancing Behavioral & Social Science in Medical Education: Impact and Opportunities for Psychology,” presented at the Annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 21, 2005. Suzanne Bennett Johnson, Chair; Elena Reyes, John E. Carr, and Anthony Errichetti, participants; Eugene K. Emory, Discussant.     

影响感觉寻求人格特质的生物遗传因素

综述了感觉寻求人格特质的生物遗传机制的相关研究。主要从3个方面对该问题进行了探讨：（1）单胺类物质与感觉寻求人格特质的关系;（2）激素对感觉寻求人格特质的影响;（3）感觉寻求人格特质的生物遗传性     

睡眠拖延行为背后的心理生理机制解析

摘 要 睡眠拖延行为是健康行为拖延领域提出的一个新概念,其可概括为在没有外部原因阻碍的情况下,仍无法在预定时间上床睡觉的现象。目前的研究认为睡眠拖延行为是导致普通人群睡眠不足的重要原因,睡前日常活动及沉浸式活动常常诱导其发生,探讨其背后机制主要涉及自我调节和生物节律两大因素。利用时限性自我调节理论可尝试解析睡眠拖延行为的发生过程。未来研究可从其神经机制探讨及预防和干预措施等方面尝试展开。     

Postfoundationalism and Interdisciplinarity: A Response to Jerome Stone

Abstract. In my recent work I argued that the religion and sciencedialogue is most successful when done locally and contextually. However, I also argued against theology's epistemic isolation in a pluralist, postmodern world, and for a postfoundationalist notion of human rationality that reveals the interdisciplinary, public nature of all theological reflection. I now want to explore the possibility that, when we look at what the prehistory of thehuman mind reveals about the biological roots of all human rationality, some forms of contemporary evolutionary epistemology may actually hold the key to understanding the kind of cognitive fluidity that enables true interdisciplinary reflection. Philosophically the religion and science dialogue benefits from this move when a postfoundationalist notion of rationality redescribes the dynamic interaction of our various disciplinary dialogues with one another as aform of transversal reasoning. Transversality in this sense justifies and urges an acknowledgment of multiple patterns of interpretation as one moves across the borders and boundaries of different disciplines.