Contemporary Psychology Research Articles

Time-Space Distanciation as a Decolonizing Framework for Psychology

Coloniality describes the way in which racialized conceptions of being, personhood, and morality inherent in colonial regimes are maintained long after the formal end of colonial enterprises. Central to coloniality has been the material and psychological colonization of space and time, largely by Western and industrialized nations. We propose the importance of understanding the coloniality of time and space through a historically grounded framework called time-space distanciation (TSD). This framework posits that via the global spread of capitalism through colonization, psychological understandings of time and space have been separated from one another, such that they are now normatively treated as distinct entities, each with their own abstract and quantifiable value. We discuss the construct and its centrality to coloniality, as well as the ways in which contemporary psychology has been complicit in proliferating the coloniality of psychologies of time and space. Finally, we discuss ways to employ the decolonial strategies of denaturalization, indigenization, and accompaniment in the context of future research on the psychology of time and space. TSD contributes to decolonial efforts by combatting the reification of hegemonic psychological constructs, showing how these constructs arise as a function of historical changes in understanding, experience, and use of time and space.

Psycho-emotional well-beiing in adolescence in the context of new realities

One of the most important and resonant themes in contemporary psychology is psycho-emotional well-being. The new social realities in which we live affects in a negative way mental health and causes anxiety, depression, stress and a deterioration of psycho-emotional well-being. The article presents an experimental study of psycho-emotional well-being in adolescence in the context of new social realities. As results we established that a large number of adolescents are living a continuous state of unhappiness (57,50%). For boys is more characteristic unhappiness than for girls. For early and middle adolescence are particular a high level of unhappiness.

Psychology of religion in the theories and research of the Lvov-Warsaw School (basic achievements and developments)

This article presents the basic achievements of the psychology of religion in the Lvov-Warsaw School of K. Twardowski, their developments and significance for the contemporary psychology of religion. Twardowski’s School existed parallel to other European psychological schools: the Würzburg School, founded by Oswald Külpe, and the Dorpat School of the Psychology of Religion, founded by Karl Girgensohn (unfortunately without mutual scientific relations). The article presents two research trends in the psychology of religion resulting from Twardowski’s works, specifically research on mental acts and religious beliefs with use of introspection and research in the field of cultural-historical psychology. The theory of acts and products, and the theory of cratism/power (similar to the theory of Alfred Adler) played crucial roles here. Psychological investigations into religious beliefs were also dominated by the psychological principle of contradiction, and the obtained results also seem to be important today.

Critically Explore Perceptions of Human Development in Classical Muslim Educational Thought and Discuss its Implications for Contemporary Islamic Education.

Education is a contemporary social science that has received a lot of attention. As education defines society, it is imperative to introspect the philosophy of education. Moreover, the current philosophy of education in conventional settings is confined to empiricism. Thus, the broader concepts of education such as spiritual transformation and character reformation seem to be non-existent. The lack of discussion-based pedagogies compounds the educational crisis. This article aims to explore human development models relevant to Islamic education as its purpose is, alongside enhancing academic prowess, to provide spiritual transformation that leads to Gods pleasure and good character. The inquiry uses a historical-textual methodology with a particular focus on psychological foundations of Islamic theory to answer its questions. It will aim to explore childhood developmental models briefly and the concept of self-reflection more specifically and how it can be applied in Islamic education. The key findings of the study illustrate the concept of the three types of Nafs and how self-reflection is integral in achieving transformation, a concept that is condoned in conventional educational practice. Muhāsibī’s Risālatul Mustarshidīn with Shaykh Abdul Fattāh Abū Ghudda’s footnotes is the primary text used to establish the broader purpose of education. A brief overview of Qushayrī’s Risālah and Ibn Qayyim’s Kitābul Rūh will be outlined. Moreover, multiple attributes of human development conform to the demands of contemporary psychology to achieve a healthy mental transformation.

Applications of Energy Psychology in Addressing the Psychological Roots of Illness

he impact of psychological factors on illness is, in recent years, being biochemically mapped. The subspecialties of psychosomatic medicine, health psychology, psychoneuroimmunology, and integrative medicine work with mind and body in concert to promote health and healing. A specialized set of mind-body approaches, collectively called “energy psychology,” is being utilized within these and related clinical frameworks to facilitate beneficial changes in the neurological underpinnings of (1) mental states that impede immune function, (2) emotional influences that contribute to illness, and (3) inner resources that promote healing. Combining practices from time-honored healing traditions, particularly acupressure, with concepts and techniques drawn from contemporary psychology, practitioners using one of the most popular variations of the approach teach patients to tap on a prescribed series of acupuncture points while repeating phrases that activate areas of the brain that are involved with the issue receiving attention. Preliminary evidence supports speculation, which is consistent with more than a hundred peer-reviewed clinical trials, that the procedure can send deactivating signals to areas of the limbic system that are in hyperarousal and can send activating signals to regions of the prefrontal cortex that support executive functions such as planning and managing stressful situations. Ways of utilizing the approach for addressing emotional and cognitive aspects of physical illness are discussed. While utilizing the best medical interventions available remains the first line of treatment, the potential value of working with the psychological aspects of disease is frequently underestimated. Energy psychology is proving to be a powerful tool for addressing this dimension of illness and healing. The paper closes with a detailed case history.

The contributions of Alfred Adler (1870–1937) to the understanding of early childhood development

ABSTRACT This paper presents a biographical profile of Alfred Adler aiming to provide a measured overview of the impact of Alfred Adler's work on the theoretical paradigms and research avenues of contemporary developmental psychology. The key concepts of his theory are exposed: Feeling of Inferiority, Strive to Overcome, Style of Life, Superiority Complex and Social Interest. This article outlines his contributions to humanistic psychology and neo-psychoanalysis, his influence on the work of Lev Vigotsky, his key role in establishing the ecological systems models used today in developmental psychology and his educational and public health-oriented approach, which focused on how social context influences childhood development. It also describes the avenues of research he identified in developmental psychology, including the impact of sibling relations on childhood development, the importance of self-esteem and altruistic behaviour. Finally, the paper proposes the use of a holistic model to advance the study of human psychological development.

The Practice of Experimental Psychology: An Inevitably Postmodern Endeavor.

The aim of psychology is to understand the human mind and behavior. In contemporary psychology, the method of choice to accomplish this incredibly complex endeavor is the experiment. This dominance has shaped the whole discipline from the self-concept as an empirical science and its very epistemological and theoretical foundations, via research practice and the scientific discourse to teaching. Experimental psychology is grounded in the scientific method and positivism, and these principles, which are characteristic for modern thinking, are still upheld. Despite this apparently stalwart adherence to modern principles, experimental psychology exhibits a number of aspects which can best be described as facets of postmodern thinking although they are hardly acknowledged as such. Many psychologists take pride in being “real natural scientists” because they conduct experiments, but it is particularly difficult for psychologists to evade certain elements of postmodern thinking in view of the specific nature of their subject matter. Postmodernism as a philosophy emerged in the 20th century as a response to the perceived inadequacy of the modern approach and as a means to understand the complexities, ambiguities, and contradictions of the times. Therefore, postmodernism offers both valuable insights into the very nature of experimental psychology and fruitful ideas on improving experimental practice to better reflect the complexities and ambiguities of human mind and behavior. Analyzing experimental psychology along postmodern lines begins by discussing the implications of transferring the scientific method from fields with rather narrowly defined phenomena—the natural sciences—to a much broader and more heterogeneous class of complex phenomena, namely the human mind and behavior. This ostensibly modern experimental approach is, however, per se riddled with postmodern elements: (re-)creating phenomena in an experimental setting, including the hermeneutic processes of generating hypotheses and interpreting results, is no carbon copy of “reality” but rather an active construction which reflects irrevocably the pre-existing ideas of the investigator. These aspects, analyzed by using postmodern concepts like hyperreality and simulacra, did not seep in gradually but have been present since the very inception of experimental psychology, and they are necessarily inherent in its philosophy of science. We illustrate this theoretical analysis with the help of two examples, namely experiments on free will and visual working memory. The postmodern perspective reveals some pitfalls in the practice of experimental psychology. Furthermore, we suggest that accepting the inherently fuzzy nature of theoretical constructs in psychology and thinking more along postmodern lines would actually clarify many theoretical problems in experimental psychology.

Почему трудоголики не Моцарты? Музыкальные способности в пост-когнитивную эпоху

The paper is looking at recent publications on musical abilities suggesting the most promising trends for future research. Musical abilities and talent are the most revealing for the whole agenda of giftedness; therefore, it’s easier to see the most arguable points and accents characterizing scholarly discussion in abilities’ and talent discourse. In the first place, this discussion is the hardest addressing the idea of «deliberate practice» that is now declining but used to be very influential in the end of XXth — beginning of the XXI century. «Deliberate practice» had been invented to deny and reject the very notion of giftedness as an inborn psychological category. Secondly, contemporary psychology of musical giftedness and talent gives the leading role to motivation, inner need in music making and bio-evolutionary psychological resources at the expense of more traditional cognitive abilities like pitch, rhythm and musical memory. The author argues that motivational and emotionally based factors are the clue to the concept of musical talent and creativity. Summarizing contemporary psychology of music research, the author joins the nativist approach to musical abilities’ discourse and suggests finding the new foundation for musical talent’s development beyond cognitive resources of human mind and its traditionally accepted measurements.

Dilemmas of Management Psychology in Building a Social Group in Military Institutions

Technological progress on the battlefield and the evaluation of the tactics of soldiers' actions entail a change in the philosophy of human resource management in military institutions, and thus a reorientation in the preparation of commanders-leaders to perform this mission. The modern soldier represents a different level of psychophysical resources. The new, more precise and at the same time more complicated to use equipment forces a change in the concept of preparing a soldier to perform tasks. Directing the development of the contemporary battlefield forces the continuous expansion of the cognitive level, both in the general and specialist area. This new approach to soldier formation shifts the centre of gravity in leadership formation to the area of cognitive resource development. This changes the emphasis of training and education towards the theory of social communication underlying the creation of psychophysical resources and issues related to the contemporary psychology of management in the military environment.

Lay Meanings and Associated Experiences of Nonattachment (Anasakti): A Study From India

Anasakti, translated as “nonattachment” in English, is one of the important philosophical concepts of Hinduism and Buddhism. It has also been studied in contemporary psychology using various measures of anasakti. However, there is a dearth of studies that have qualitatively investigated anasakti from the lay or “folk” perspective. This mixed-method study aimed to uncover subjective meanings and personal belief systems related to anasakti, as well as practices and experiences related to the lay understanding of anasakti among a sample of 240 urban educated adults (female = 104, male = 136) in India. Three structured scales (Test of asakti –anasakti, Scale of anasakti, Nonattachment Scale) were used to assess the levels of anasakti, while a semistructured questionnaire elicited personal meanings, experiences, and associated behaviors and beliefs related to anasakti. Thematic analysis revealed five broad thematic categories covering the qualitative data: personal meanings of anasakti, experiences, benefits, efficacy, and pathways. Roles of desire and attachment were also discussed. Quantitative results indicated higher levels of anasakti in older age groups, suggesting that anasakti may progress with age. These findings have several implications for future research and interventions.

A Perspective View of Creating a School of Thought for Transcendental Psychology in Armenia

The article shows a difference between the transcendental approach to the study of psychic phenomena from the methodologies dominating contemporary psychology. A possibility is shown in this context of establishing an indigenous school of transcendental psychology in Armenia.

Prediction and Explanation in a Postmodern World.

The experimental research paradigm lies at the core of empirical psychology. New data analytical and computational tools continually enrich its methodological arsenal, while the paradigm’s mission remains the testing of theoretical predictions and causal explanations. Predictions regarding experimental results necessarily point to the future. Once the data are collected, the causal inferences refer to a hypothesis now lying in the past. The experimental paradigm is not designed to permit strong inferences about particular incidents that occurred before predictions were made. In contrast, historical research and scholarship in other humanities focus on this backward direction of inference. The disconnect between forward-looking experimental psychology and backward-looking historical (i.e., narrative) psychology is a challenge in the postmodern era, which can be addressed. To illustrate this possibility, I discuss three historical case studies in light of theory and research in contemporary psychology.

A Case for a Philosophical History of Psychology: An Interview with Saulo de Freitas Araujo at the Centenary of the Death of Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920)

On the occasion of the centenary of Wilhelm Wundt’s death (1832–1920), we had a conversation with Saulo de Freitas Araujo on the works and influence of the German author. After a brief introduction, the conversation begins with a reflection on the aims and objectives of Araujo’s work on the history and philosophy of Wundt’s psychology. A philosophical approach to the history of science and of psychology is then described. After considering the social and intellectual context of the revival of Wundt scholarship during the 1970s, Wundt’s philosophical and psychological project is discussed. The conversation ends with general reflections on Wundt’s legacy to recent and contemporary psychology.

Reprint of: The vision of Developmental Teaching and Learning and Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives

Abstract Several well-known concepts in contemporary psychology and education are scrutinized from the standpoint of Developmental Teaching and Learning (DTL) framework grounded in Piotr Galperin's research. In particular, DTL reveals the need to take a fresh look at and radically revise the key suppositions that underlie the currently influential Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives. From the DTL perspective, the Taxonomy has multiple conceptual problems – it reflects a number of deeply entrenched and widely spread misconceptions about how the human mind works, how students learn, and therefore, how teachers need to teach. The major issue is that the Taxonomy is implicitly based on outdated mentalist assumptions and on the mechanistic model of human cognition as “information processing.” By contrast, DTL argues that knowledge is not “information” but rather a set of activities; activities cannot be “stored and retrieved” but can only be developed, enacted, and re-enacted. Thinking about the mind and students' cognitive abilities in terms of activities that are inseparable from the acting person, rather than in misleading terms of stages and levels of “objective information processing,” changes the entire discourse about educational goals, learning, and teaching.

Gidatutako Unibertsitate Debatea: erizain-gaitasunak trebatzeko hezkuntza-metodologia aktiboa

Erizaintza-zainketek pentsamendu kritikorako gaitasuna eta argudiatzeko ahalmena eskatzen dute, eta, hortaz, unibertsitate-hezkuntzan haiek garatzeko erronka planteatzen da. Psikologiaren eta hezkuntzaren harreman estua hezkuntza-metodologia aktiboen oinarrietan islatzen da. Izan ere, Piaget eta Vigotsky psikologo garaikideen lerroari jarraituz, konstruktibismoa da metodo horien funtsa. Hortaz, ikaslea protagonistatzat hartuta, aurretiko jakintzan oinarrituko da modu aktiboan ezagutza sortzeko. Hezitzaileak, ikaslearen barne-prozesua gidatuko du, eta jakin-mina piztu. Gidatutako Unibertsitate Debatea erizaintzaren diziplinan garrantzizko diren gaitasun horiek trebatzeko irakaskuntza-tresna aktibotzat proposatzen da artikulu honetan. Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatean (UPV/EHU) erizaintzako graduan metodologia honen ezarpenarekin ikasleen asebetetzea lortzeaz gain, etorkizuneko praktika klinikoa aberatsagoa egingo duten konpetentziak lantzeko aukera ematen duela ikusi da. Ikasketa-prozesu aktiboek eta Gidatutako Unibertsitate Debateak, bereziki metodologia tradizionalarekin alderatuz, emaitza onuragarriak erakutsi dituzte; informazioa sintetizatu, analizatu eta ebaluatzeko ahalmena hobetzeaz gain, argudiatzeko gaitasuna ere trebatzen baita. Gidatutako Unibertsitate Debatearen bidez, hezkuntza-kulturan presente dauden praktikak aldatu eta, eduki teorikoetatik haratago, apustu egiten da erizainen eginkizun profesionalean erabilgarriak izango diren gaitasun horiek garatzearen alde.

Growth in patience in Christian Moral Wisdom and contemporary positive psychology

ABSTRACT Moral education requires interdisciplinary engagement across philosophy, psychology, and education. Positive psychologists regularly acknowledge the breadth and depth of wisdom regarding the cultivation of virtues present in philosophical and religious texts and consult such writings when creating constructs, but they are less prone to integrate scientific findings with historical texts as inquiry proceeds. Thus, we provide a comparative analysis of the advice given in Lorenzo Scupoli’s The Spiritual Combat, from traditional Christian moral wisdom literature and the research findings from positive psychology on the cultivation of the virtue of patience. Points of convergence relate to the utility of engaging activities that include cognitive reappraisal, habit formation through daily practice, activating positive motivation, prayer, mantra/transcendental meditation, and cultivating elevation through meditation on moral exemplars. Areas of divergence include the advisability of suppression, the role of motivation, and necessity of spiritual intervention, which suggest areas for future inquiry in moral education.

“Walking with God”: developing and pilot testing a manualised four-week program combining Christian meditation and light-to-moderate physical activity for daily stress

ABSTRACT In the current study, the authors developed and pilot tested a manualized four-week program for Christian adults with daily stress, combining Christian meditation with light-to-moderate physical activity among a community sample of churchgoers (N = 8). Although Eastern-influenced mindful walking and yoga practices are quite popular in the contemporary psychology literature as interventions for a wide variety of psychological problems, we wanted to offer a Christian-sensitive alternative for Christian adults to draw from their own faith tradition to impact psychological change. Over a four-week period of time, Christian participants were instructed to meditate on a short passage in Scripture as they engaged in a daily 30-minute movement and walking activity. On all four outcome variables, pilot results revealed that 75% of participants reported score changes in the hypothesized direction. To conclude, study limitations are reviewed, as are directions for future research.

Ecstatic expeditions: Fischl Schneersohn's "science of man" between modern psychology and Jewish mysticism.

This article examines Fischl Schneersohn's (1887-1958) "science of man" as a psychotherapeutic approach situated between modern psychology and Chassidic mysticism. While almost forgotten today, Schneersohn was a prolific writer, well-known in Yiddish-speaking circles as a psychologist, educationalist, novelist, and psychotherapist. As a descendant of an important dynasty of Chassidic rebbes, he grew up inside the Chabad movement, but followed a secular career. The first part of this article traces Schneersohn's biography from the outskirts of the Russian empire to Germany, Poland, the United States, and Palestine, and shows how his upbringing and historical experiences shaped his psychological works and his self-understanding as educationalist and psychotherapist. The second part examines Schneersohn's main work, Studies in Psycho-Expedition, which blended Chassidic mysticism and contemporary psychology in a way that was both idiosyncratic and unique. The psycho-sociological "science of man" was a modern psychological and psychotherapeutic approach, using specific methods to gain knowledge about the human mind, and to counteract and treat mental disorders, neuroses, and nervousness. At the same time, however, it was deeply influenced by Chassidic mysticism; revolving around the assumption of a universal human need for spiritual ecstasy. Schneersohn universalised, secularised, and reframed elements of the Kabbalah as a modern psychotherapy. By examining an almost forgotten psychotherapeutic approach outside the mainstream in its specific historical context, this article contributes to the history of the connection between religion and the psy-disciplines, as well as to ongoing debates about the role of spirituality and ecstasy in psychology and psychotherapy.

Good Robots, Bad Robots: Morally Valenced Behavior Effects on Perceived Mind, Morality, and Trust

Both robots and humans can behave in ways that engender positive and negative evaluations of their behaviors and associated responsibility. However, extant scholarship on the link between agent evaluations and valenced behavior has generally treated moral behavior as a monolithic phenomenon and largely focused on moral deviations. In contrast, contemporary moral psychology increasingly considers moral judgments to unfold in relation to a number of moral foundations (care, fairness, authority, loyalty, purity, liberty) subject to both upholding and deviation. The present investigation seeks to discover whether social judgments of humans and robots emerge differently as a function of moral foundation-specific behaviors. This work is conducted in two studies: (1) an online survey in which agents deliver observed/mediated responses to moral dilemmas and (2) a smaller laboratory-based replication with agents delivering interactive/live responses. In each study, participants evaluate the goodness of and blame for six foundation-specific behaviors, and evaluate the agent for perceived mind, morality, and trust. Across these studies, results suggest that (a) moral judgments of behavior may be agent-agnostic, (b) all moral foundations may contribute to social evaluations of agents, and (c) physical presence and agent class contribute to the assignment of responsibility for behaviors. Findings are interpreted to suggest that bad behaviors denote bad actors, broadly, but machines bear a greater burden to behave morally, regardless of their credit- or blame-worthiness in a situation.

Confucianism and the Liturgy

In Confucian thought, there exists a functional view of rituals in which the participation in ritualistic practices brings about human flourishing. Call this the Confucian Ritual Principle (CRP). Utilizing contemporary psychology, in this paper, we argue for CRP. After linking rituals to human flourishing, we argue that on the hypothesis that Christianity is true, we would expect God to establish highly ritualistic and dogmatic liturgies. Put slightly differently, we argue that we should expect what we call 'high church' on the Christian hypothesis. We then move to engage two objections to our argument. First, we respond to an argument that low church traditions are compatible with CRP. Second, we respond to an objection that argues against the ritual thesis, based on the flourishing of low church traditions.