-
Integrative Psychological & Behavioral... Dec 2021This article asks what kind of science psychology should be and what new readings of Vygotsky can contribute to answering this question. Methodology and method are key...
This article asks what kind of science psychology should be and what new readings of Vygotsky can contribute to answering this question. Methodology and method are key to constituting psychology as a science. Hence, the focus is on three major methodologic-methodic approaches to what Vygotsky referred to in his Notebooks towards the end of his life as his and his colleagues' "acmeist psychology" - the objective-analytical, the method of double stimulation and the semic method. Each will be discussed in its own right, followed by a discussion of the interrelatedness of the three in order to provide stimulation for future possibilities. These possibilities - it will be argued - lie in decisively re-orienting psychology as a science that brings single cases and complex semiotic analyses to the fore and thereby also rethinks psychology's relation towards the arts, especially literature.
Topics: Humans; Psychology; Research Design
PubMed: 34515941
DOI: 10.1007/s12124-021-09634-8 -
International Journal of Environmental... Oct 2021This article reviews the historical usage of the concept of 'conflict' in psychology and delineates the design and development of three basic conflict tasks (Stroop,... (Review)
Review
This article reviews the historical usage of the concept of 'conflict' in psychology and delineates the design and development of three basic conflict tasks (Stroop, Flanker, Stop Signal). Afterwards, important theoretical concepts to account for conflict processing are introduced. In the second part, the usage of these tasks in clinical psychology is considered. The article closes with some reflections regarding factors that may have been hitherto largely neglected in this respect.
Topics: Conflict, Psychological; Psychology, Clinical; Reaction Time
PubMed: 34682402
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182010657 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2023
Topics: Behavioral Medicine; Economics, Behavioral; Decision Making
PubMed: 37124804
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1175519 -
Journal of Child Psychology and... Oct 2021Empirical science is a fact-finding enterprise. This raises the question when we know enough about a particular topic to draw firm conclusions and can stop searching for...
Empirical science is a fact-finding enterprise. This raises the question when we know enough about a particular topic to draw firm conclusions and can stop searching for additional evidence in order to save efforts for issues that are less well-established. Clarity on when scientific evidence has passed the stage of to-be-tested hypotheses is important, and setting up criteria for such stopping rules is a necessary as well as thought-provoking challenge. Not only over-investigating phenomena is undesirable but the opposite, falsely assuming beliefs to be facts, as well. Two common reasons for such misperceptions are that negative news is more likely to spread around than positive news (negativity instinct), and that individuals tend to look at problems from always the same perspective (single-perspective instinct). Our field is not immune to those instincts: child psychologists and psychiatrists tend to focus on messages suggesting that the burden of children´s mental health problems calls for more intervention and research, rather than on reports that the majority of children are doing quite well. This focus on problems may obscure the reality that the vast majority of children and adolescents never experience severe mental health problems, despite the challenges of growing up in a complex world.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Psychiatry; Psychology, Child
PubMed: 34585383
DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13515 -
International Journal of Environmental... Feb 2023Scientific evidence highlights that sport psychology interventions adopted by professionals are crucial for making a difference in athlete performance [...].
Scientific evidence highlights that sport psychology interventions adopted by professionals are crucial for making a difference in athlete performance [...].
Topics: Humans; Psychology, Sports; Athletes; Athletic Performance
PubMed: 36834406
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20043712 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Mar 2021As robots advance from the pages and screens of science fiction into our homes, hospitals, and schools, they are poised to take on increasingly social roles.... (Review)
Review
As robots advance from the pages and screens of science fiction into our homes, hospitals, and schools, they are poised to take on increasingly social roles. Consequently, the need to understand the mechanisms supporting human-machine interactions is becoming increasingly pressing. We introduce a framework for studying the cognitive and brain mechanisms that support human-machine interactions, leveraging advances made in cognitive neuroscience to link different levels of description with relevant theory and methods. We highlight unique features that make this endeavour particularly challenging (and rewarding) for brain and behavioural scientists. Overall, the framework offers a way to study the cognitive science of human-machine interactions that respects the diversity of social machines, individuals' expectations and experiences, and the structure and function of multiple cognitive and brain systems.
Topics: Brain; Cognitive Neuroscience; Cognitive Science; Humans; Robotics
PubMed: 33384213
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.11.009 -
The American Psychologist Nov 2016Psychological research has provided essential insights into how stigma operates to disadvantage those who are targeted by it. At the same time, stigma research has been... (Review)
Review
Psychological research has provided essential insights into how stigma operates to disadvantage those who are targeted by it. At the same time, stigma research has been criticized for being too focused on the perceptions of stigmatized individuals and on microlevel interactions, rather than attending to structural forms of stigma. This article describes the relatively new field of research on structural stigma, which is defined as societal-level conditions, cultural norms, and institutional policies that constrain the opportunities, resources, and well-being of the stigmatized. I review emerging evidence that structural stigma related to mental illness and sexual orientation (a) exerts direct and synergistic effects on stigma processes that have long been the focus of psychological inquiry (e.g., concealment, rejection sensitivity), (b) serves as a contextual moderator of the efficacy of psychological interventions, and (c) contributes to numerous adverse health outcomes for members of stigmatized groups-ranging from dysregulated physiological stress responses to premature mortality-indicating that structural stigma represents an underrecognized mechanism producing health inequalities. Each of these pieces of evidence suggests that structural stigma is relevant to psychology and therefore deserves the attention of psychological scientists interested in understanding and ultimately reducing the negative effects of stigma. (PsycINFO Database Record
Topics: Female; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders; Psychology; Sexual Behavior; Social Stigma; Stereotyping; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 27977256
DOI: 10.1037/amp0000068 -
British Journal of Health Psychology Sep 2020Purpose An oral history of the development of health psychology in the United Kingdom. Methods Standard oral history methods produced interviews with 53 UK health...
Purpose An oral history of the development of health psychology in the United Kingdom. Methods Standard oral history methods produced interviews with 53 UK health psychologists, averaging 92 min in length. All interviewees entered the field from the 1970s to the 2000s, representing all four countries in the United Kingdom. A reconstructive mode of analysis, along with the few existing sources, was used to create a narrative of the history of health psychology in the United Kingdom. Audio recordings and transcripts will be archived for use by future researchers. Findings In the 1970s, medical schools in London recruited psychologists to teach, while also conducting pragmatic research on issues in healthcare. At the same time, some clinical psychologists began to work with physical health conditions in general hospitals. Partly influenced by developments in the United States and Europe, an identity of 'health psychology' developed and spread to researchers and practitioners doing work in psychology and health. In the 1980s, the field continued to attract researchers, including social psychologists working with health behaviours and outcomes, and clinical psychologists working in health care settings. During this time, it became formalized as a scientific field with the creation of the BPS Health Psychology Section, courses, and journals. In the 1990s, the field moved towards professional practice, which was controversial with other BPS divisions. However, it continued to grow and develop through the 2000s and 2010s. Conclusion Reflections on the development of UK health psychology represent the first historical narrative produced from oral testimony of those who were present at the time. Statement of Contribution What is already known on this subject? Health psychology emerged in the 1970s, initially in the United States following an APA Task Force report. It developed from a range of precursor movements including psychosomatic medicine, while in the United Kingdom medical psychology was an additional precursor. The development of health psychology has been discussed for a range of countries including the United States and others, but historical scholarship relating to the United Kingdom has been limited. What does this study add? From an oral history project, a narrative of UK health psychology's development is built up. Influences included opportunities at medical schools from the 1970s onward. Growing interest in health behaviours as a test of social psychology theory was important. The experiences of clinical psychologists working in health care settings are demonstrated. Multidisciplinary influences on the emergence and shaping of health psychology are evident.
Topics: Behavioral Medicine; Europe; Female; Humans; London; Male; Psychology; United Kingdom; United States
PubMed: 32314477
DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12418 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Mar 2021Valuing goods and selecting the one with the highest value forms the basis of adaptive behaviour across species. While it is obvious that the valuation of a given type... (Review)
Review
Valuing goods and selecting the one with the highest value forms the basis of adaptive behaviour across species. While it is obvious that the valuation of a given type of goods depends on ownership and availability of that type of goods, the effects of other goods on valuation of the original good are sometimes underappreciated. Yet, goods interact with each other, indicating that the valuation of a given good is conditional on the other goods it is combined with, both in the wild and the laboratory. Here, we introduce conditional valuation in the context of valuing multiple goods and briefly review how human and animal experimentalists can leverage economic tools for the study of interactions among goods. We then review evidence for conditional valuation for combined foods in both human and non-human primates. In the laboratory, non-human primates show increased valuation of certain combinations of foods but decreased valuation of other types of combinations. Thus, similarly to humans, monkeys appear to value combinations of goods in a conditional fashion. Additionally, both humans and monkeys appear to employ similar neural substrates for the valuation of single goods, such as the orbitofrontal cortex. Together, investigations of our evolutionary precursors may provide insights on how we value interacting goods. This article is part of the theme issue 'Existence and prevalence of economic behaviours among non-human primates'.
Topics: Animals; Choice Behavior; Decision Making; Economics, Behavioral; Food Preferences; Primates
PubMed: 33423622
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0669 -
European Journal of Sport Science Feb 2017Sport science is a relatively recent domain of research born from the interactions of different disciplines related to sport. According to the European College of sport... (Review)
Review
Sport science is a relatively recent domain of research born from the interactions of different disciplines related to sport. According to the European College of sport science ( http://sport-science.org ): "scientific excellence in sport science is based on disciplinary competence embedded in the understanding that its essence lies in its multi- and interdisciplinary character". In this respect, the scientific domain of neuroscience has been developed within such a framework. Influenced by the apparent homogeneity of this scientific domain, the present paper reviews three important research topics in sport from a neuroscientific perspective. These topics concern the relationship between mind and motor action, the effects of cognition on motor performance, and the study of certain mental states (such as the "flow" effect, see below) and motor control issues to understand, for example, the neural substrates of the vertical squat jump. Based on the few extensive examples shown in this review, we argue that by adopting an interdisciplinary paradigm, sport science can emulate neuroscience in becoming a mono-discipline.
Topics: Cognition; Cognitive Neuroscience; Humans; Interdisciplinary Studies; Motor Skills; Neurosciences; Psychology, Sports; Sports; Sports Medicine
PubMed: 27485177
DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2016.1207710