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The American Psychologist 2012Data indicate that large percentages of the general public regard psychology's scientific status with considerable skepticism. I examine 6 criticisms commonly directed...
Data indicate that large percentages of the general public regard psychology's scientific status with considerable skepticism. I examine 6 criticisms commonly directed at the scientific basis of psychology (e.g., psychology is merely common sense, psychology does not use scientific methods, psychology is not useful to society) and offer 6 rebuttals. I then address 8 potential sources of public skepticism toward psychology and argue that although some of these sources reflect cognitive errors (e.g., hindsight bias) or misunderstandings of psychological science (e.g., failure to distinguish basic from applied research), others (e.g., psychology's failure to police itself, psychology's problematic public face) reflect the failure of professional psychology to get its own house in order. I offer several individual and institutional recommendations for enhancing psychology's image and contend that public skepticism toward psychology may, paradoxically, be one of our field's strongest allies.
Topics: Humans; Psychology; Public Opinion; Science
PubMed: 21668088
DOI: 10.1037/a0023963 -
The American Psychologist Nov 2019This contribution explores the historical developments of transnational lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) psychology in Colombia, the...
This contribution explores the historical developments of transnational lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) psychology in Colombia, the Philippines, Russia, and South Africa in relationship to U.S. LGBT psychology. LGBTI psychology in these diverse contexts share commonalities but also have important variations in their development and focus within LGBTI concerns. The International Psychology Network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Issues (IPsyNet) provides a model for international professional psychology collaboration and linkage on behalf of advocacy for LGBTI rights and sexual orientation and gender identity and/or expression concerns. Although there is the risk of transnational LGBTI psychology(ies) reproducing European-North American (Euro-N.A.) "homonationalism" and contributing to neo-colonization, these case examples illustrate the dynamic potential of transnational LGBTI psychology, including the possibilities of psychology to develop LGBTI psychologies drawing from indigenous as well as international structures and platforms, influencing Euro-N.A. models in the process. Finally, this article describes the promise and the limitations of transnational LGBTI psychology, including the role of human rights frameworks, as well as advocacy within professional psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Female; Gender Identity; History, 20th Century; Human Rights; Humans; Male; Psychology; Sexual Behavior; Sexual and Gender Minorities
PubMed: 31697131
DOI: 10.1037/amp0000561 -
The American Psychologist 2016The APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major: Version 2.0 (henceforth Guidelines 2.0; APA, 2013) represents a national effort to describe and develop...
The APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major: Version 2.0 (henceforth Guidelines 2.0; APA, 2013) represents a national effort to describe and develop high-quality undergraduate programs in psychology. The task force charged with the revision of the original guidelines for the undergraduate major examined the success of the document's implementation and made changes to reflect emerging best practices and to integrate psychology's work with benchmarking scholarship in higher education. Guidelines 2.0 abandoned the original distinction drawn between psychology-focused skills and psychology skills that enhance liberal arts development. Instead, Guidelines 2.0 describes five inclusive goals for the undergraduate psychology major and two developmental levels of student learning outcomes. Suggestions for assessment planning are provided for each of the five learning goals.
Topics: Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Psychology; Societies, Scientific; Universities
PubMed: 26866986
DOI: 10.1037/a0037562 -
Current Opinion in Psychology Feb 2018Social psychological factors pertain to all aspects of terrorism, including how terrorist organizations operate, and the impact of terrorism on everyday people. The... (Review)
Review
Social psychological factors pertain to all aspects of terrorism, including how terrorist organizations operate, and the impact of terrorism on everyday people. The present analysis focuses on the aspect of terrorism where social psychology's voice is perhaps most critical: radicalization (i.e., how terrorists are made) and deradicalization (i.e., how terrorists are unmade). In reviewing the literature, we identify three factors critical to radicalization: (1) the individual need that motivates one to engage in political violence, (2) the ideological narrative that justifies political violence, and (3) the social network that influences one's decisions along the pathway to extremism. Theoretical and empirical contributions are discussed. We end with an examination of interviews conducted with former extremists of various ideological leanings to highlight these same three factors as critical to their individual deradicalization experiences.
Topics: Humans; Models, Theoretical; Politics; Psychology, Social; Terrorism
PubMed: 29279211
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.024 -
The American Psychologist Sep 2015Psychology has recently been viewed as facing a replication crisis because efforts to replicate past study findings frequently do not show the same result. Often, the...
Psychology has recently been viewed as facing a replication crisis because efforts to replicate past study findings frequently do not show the same result. Often, the first study showed a statistically significant result but the replication does not. Questions then arise about whether the first study results were false positives, and whether the replication study correctly indicates that there is truly no effect after all. This article suggests these so-called failures to replicate may not be failures at all, but rather are the result of low statistical power in single replication studies, and the result of failure to appreciate the need for multiple replications in order to have enough power to identify true effects. We provide examples of these power problems and suggest some solutions using Bayesian statistics and meta-analysis. Although the need for multiple replication studies may frustrate those who would prefer quick answers to psychology's alleged crisis, the large sample sizes typically needed to provide firm evidence will almost always require concerted efforts from multiple investigators. As a result, it remains to be seen how many of the recently claimed failures to replicate will be supported or instead may turn out to be artifacts of inadequate sample sizes and single study replications.
Topics: Bayes Theorem; Humans; Psychology; Reproducibility of Results; Research Design; Sample Size
PubMed: 26348332
DOI: 10.1037/a0039400 -
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2015Academic psychology has become increasingly non-diverse politically, which skews and impedes social psychological science (as Duarte et al. argue). We should embrace...
Academic psychology has become increasingly non-diverse politically, which skews and impedes social psychological science (as Duarte et al. argue). We should embrace viewpoint diversity, especially since the arguments favoring sociopolitical diversity are identical to those for demographic and cultural diversity. Doing so will produce a more robust, open, and creative psychological science that is informed and tested by a multiplicity of sociopolitical paradigms.
Topics: Cultural Diversity; Humans; Politics; Psychology; Science
PubMed: 26786506
DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X14001393 -
American Journal of Community Psychology Dec 2018Community psychology's history has traditionally been described within the context of U.S. history, silencing contributions from people of color from the Americas, Asia,...
Community psychology's history has traditionally been described within the context of U.S. history, silencing contributions from people of color from the Americas, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Africa. In a MA/PhD specialization in Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, Indigenous Psychologies, and Ecopsychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, we are attempting to steer into critical dialogues about modernity, coloniality, and decoloniality, closely examining our curriculum and pedagogy, including our approaches to fieldwork and research. Turning to Indigenous psychologists, decolonial and critical race theorists, and cultural workers within the U.S. and from the Global South, we are attempting to challenge coloniality in the social sciences, community psychology, and in our own thinking and teaching to unmask hegemonic assumptions and open space for decolonial theory and practice. In this paper, we explore ways in which we are working with our graduate students and faculty to co-construct a decolonial curriculum that integrates decoloniality so that knowledges from historically silenced locations, as well as anti-racist and other decolonial praxes can co-exist and thrive.
Topics: Colonialism; Culture; Curriculum; Psychology, Social; Social Justice; Teaching; United States
PubMed: 30552690
DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12295 -
Journal of Personality and Social... Oct 2023Every research project has limitations. The limitations that authors acknowledge in their articles offer a glimpse into some of the concerns that occupy a field's...
Every research project has limitations. The limitations that authors acknowledge in their articles offer a glimpse into some of the concerns that occupy a field's attention. We examine the types of limitations authors discuss in their published articles by categorizing them according to the four validities framework and investigate whether the field's attention to each of the four validities has shifted from 2010 to 2020. We selected one journal in social and personality psychology (), the subfield most in the crosshairs of psychology's replication crisis. We sampled 440 articles (with half of those articles containing a subsection explicitly addressing limitations), and we identified and categorized 831 limitations across the 440 articles. Articles with limitations sections reported more limitations than those without (avg. 2.6 vs. 1.2 limitations per article). Threats to external validity were the most common type of reported limitation (est. 52% of articles), and threats to statistical conclusion validity were the least common (est. 17% of articles). Authors reported slightly more limitations over time. Despite the extensive attention paid to statistical conclusion validity in the scientific discourse throughout psychology's credibility revolution, our results suggest that concerns about statistics-related issues were not reflected in social and personality psychologists' reported limitations. The high prevalence of limitations concerning external validity might suggest it is time that we improve our practices in this area, rather than apologizing for these limitations after the fact. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Personality; Personality Disorders; Research Design; Psychology
PubMed: 36996169
DOI: 10.1037/pspp0000458 -
The American Psychologist Nov 2017This article is part of a special issue of the American Psychologist celebrating the American Psychological Association's (APA's) 125th anniversary. The article reviews...
This article is part of a special issue of the American Psychologist celebrating the American Psychological Association's (APA's) 125th anniversary. The article reviews the last quarter century (1991-2016) of accomplishments by psychology's education and training community and APA's Education Directorate. The purpose is to highlight key trends and developments over the past quarter century that illustrate ways the Directorate sought to advance education in psychology and psychology in education, as the Directorate's mission statement says. The focus of the Directorate has been on building a cooperative culture across psychology's broad education and training community. Specifically APA has (a) promoted quality education-from prekindergarten through lifelong learning, (b) encouraged accountability through guidelines and standards for education and training, and (c) supported the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge to enhance health, education, and well-being. After identifying challenges and progress, the article discusses the future of the field of psychology and the preparation of its workforce of tomorrow. (PsycINFO Database Record
Topics: History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Psychology; Societies, Scientific
PubMed: 29172581
DOI: 10.1037/amp0000201 -
Revue de Neuropsychiatrie Infantile Et... Dec 1964
Topics: Adolescent; Child; Humans; Psychology, Adolescent; Psychology, Child; Science
PubMed: 14253785
DOI: No ID Found