Scientific Footing Research Articles

Unconscious Racism: A Concept in Pursuit of a Measure

It is common in scientific and popular discussions to claim that unconscious racism is both prevalent and potent in modern societies. We review the theoretical models that posit different forms of unconscious racism and evaluate the empirical evidence for them. Our analysis suggests that people may sometimes lack knowledge of and control over the causes and consequences of their racial biases. However, there is little evidence to support the more provocative claim: that people possess unconscious racist attitudes. Many of the arguments to the contrary rest on strong interpretations of response patterns on implicit attitude measures. Although advances in implicit measurement can improve our understanding of racial bias, at present their use as tools for rooting out unconscious racism is limited. We describe research programs that might move these constructs to firmer scientific footing, and we urge inferential caution until such research programs are carried out.

Authors' Responses

The risk of rampant second-guessing of the design and/or results of randomized clinical trials could lead to reluctance of scientific experts to participate in the management or oversight of these important vehicles that test new therapies. Under the premise that second-guessing is a growing issue, we considered it to be a very important exercise to use sound scientific footing in order to do so. Given the controversial nature of the subject material, the editor obtained discussions from a group of eight experts from multiple points of view. These discussions add a great deal to our publication. This article will provide our summary response to both practical and technical issues underlying their discussion.

Frankwood E. Williams (1883–1936)

FRANKWOOD E. WILLIAMS was convinced that the new science of human nature would not only provide treatment methods for severe and persistent forms of mental illness but also intervention strategies for their prevention. During his association with the National Committee for Mental Hygiene from 1916 to 1931 (the last 9 years of which he served as medical director), Williams stimulated, guided, and oversaw the implementation of a wide range of preventive methods. The National Committee was founded in 1909 by Clifford W. Beers, who had spent 3 years in mental hospitals, and Adolf Meyer, by then the foremost American psychiatrist. It aimed to increase the status of psychiatry, placing the discipline on a sound scientific footing by arranging funding for medical research and improving the care provided to individuals institutionalized in mental hospitals. At that time, there were no effective treatments for severe and persistent forms of mental illness. The Committee therefore embraced the ideal of prevention as the most effective measure to decrease the incidence of mental illness. Williams had studied medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and specialized in psychiatry at one of the first hospitals established for the scientific study of mental illness in the United States. His teacher, Albert M. Barrett, adhered to a strictly somatic approach within psychiatry, as did E. E. Southard, director of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital, where Williams spent 2 years after the completion of his studies in 1913. Southard was also known for his interest in social issues such as alcoholism and criminality, issues that also became of interest to Williams. During the first decade of operation, the psychiatrists associated with the National Committee conducted a number of surveys that demonstrated the social significance of mental illness. Williams participated in a survey of prisons in the county of New York that showed that a significant percentage of individuals confined in them suffered from mental illness.1 Among recidivists, the number was even higher. To Williams, these findings indicated that judges and jail keepers were dealing with mental illness without any insight into its nature. These findings inspired the psychiatrists of the National Committee to develop clinics for the treatment of juvenile delinquents. With early intervention, it was thought, a life of crime could be prevented. In the 1920s, mental hygienists became interested in childhood as the period during which preventive measures could most effectively be implemented. In 1925, Williams traveled to Vienna to undergo psychoanalysis with Otto Rank, who at that time was one of Sigmund Freud’s closest disciples. According to Williams, Freud’s psychoanalysis indicated that virtually all problems later in life were caused by difficulties in early childhood. To prevent these problems, intervention strategies that targeted early childhood were needed. The National Committee oversaw the establishment of a dozen Child Guidance Clinics where parents confronted with troublesome children could ask for help. Williams actively promoted progressive education because he believed that only a complete transformation of the educational system could make it congruent with the demands of emotional development. He was also actively involved in the establishment of several college mental hygiene programs in the belief that college students, the future leaders of society, needed to be free of emotional problems.2 At the time Williams wrote “Finding a Way in Mental Hygiene,” he had already announced his resignation from the National Committee and had come to doubt the effectiveness of its programs. He recognized that to realize the sometimes utopian ideals of the mental hygiene movement, only the complete reorganization of American society along the lines of the science of human nature would do. He began to spend most of his time conducting psychoanalytic psychotherapy, which he had come to see as the only effective way to change human nature. In 1929, the stock market crashed, which was followed by a worldwide economic depression. For most mental hygienists, the consequences of the Depression were disconcerting and at times even alarming. Because of widespread economic insecurity, the incidences of depression, anxiety, and suicide were at an all-time high. To counter this, they argued that structural instead of individualized measures were urgently needed. In 1931, Williams visited the Soviet Union and was astounded by what he witnessed in the carefully maintained villages designed for visitors from the West, where a life of plenitude, happiness, and mental health was enjoyed by all. Williams returned as a convert to the Soviet cause and championed its accomplishments during the remaining 5 years of his life.3 He had never been aware of the atrocities of Stalin’s regime and died in the conviction that the ideals of the mental hygiene movement could be achieved through structural and political means only.

Introduction: Polymerization

The Oxford English Dictionary defines polymer in its broadest sense as “a substance with a molecular structure formed from many identical small molecules bonded together.” Polymers, in their many diverse forms, are the remarkable materials constituting the essential “stuff” from which everything, from living organisms to computer components to common household goods, is formed. In the area of synthetic abiotic organic polymers, the past two decades have witnessed a dramatic explosion in research activity, driven by appreciation for the remarkable properties that synthetic polymers can have and the desire to productively put the creation and understanding of their properties on a firm scientific footing. The ultimate goal is to synthesize …

Second World Ayurveda Congress

Second World Ayurveda Congress

Big plans for little brains

Experts in neuroscience, computing and education are coming together in a massive effort to put the way in which children are taught on a sounder scientific footing. Trisha Gura profiles this ambitious — some might say foolhardy — initiative. Educators in the past have fashioned curricula by watching children learn. Educational neuroscience eschews such subjective methods, instead relating brain function directly to learning in the classroom.

Editor's Choice

The trial of moxibustion, the stimulation of an acupuncture point with heat from a herbal stick, (pp. 743–747) caused much editorial debate. Not only was the researchers' planned sample size of 260 probably too small to reliably tell us whether it helps turn breech babies, but the trial was stopped halfway, without a proper stopping rule, when no effect was seen. Some editors therefore recommended rejection. However, a previous widely-publicised small trial had apparently shown that moxibustion was effective, a finding which this Western sceptic, for one, found implausible. Other editors therefore argued that even this small trial` should go into the public domain. Two studies emphasise the difficulties of diagnosing and treating this important problem. On pages 737–742 some new tests for pre-term delivery turn out to have only modest predictive ability. In a logistic regression model derived from the original dataset they add a little information, but whether they would do so in fresh datasets remains uncertain. On pages 725–730 a group from Queen Charlotte's and St Thomas' Hospitals report a randomised trial of rofecoxib, a cox-2 inhibitor, for preventing pre-term labour. There were good reasons to believe that it might have been effective, but it's not. Rofecoxib does not postpone delivery; the trend was in the opposite direction. Three years ago Valerie Beral and her colleagues summarised the evidence from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trials of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in an important Lancet paper.1 In this issue of BJOG they extend their analysis to include the recent estrogen-only WHI results as well as some other smaller trials. The message is timely since no other major trials are ongoing. Both types of HRT reduce fractures, and increase stroke and pulmonary embolus. Combined therapy seems to increase breast cancer and probably coronary heart disease as well, although it also protects against colorectal cancer. On pages 689–691 Mary Lumsden discusses other possible interpretations of the data, such as the suggestion that the cardiovascular harm may be less pronounced at younger ages, puts the risks in context, and gives the absolute risk estimates necessary for sensible decision making. She concludes that HRT should not usually be used for prophylaxis, and that for treatment of symptoms it should be used at minimum dose and for the minimum time. In the remainder of this large issue-the next six each have forty extra pages as we deal with a backlog of accepted papers-is a trial of amnio-infusion (pp. 759–763), a paper putting risk estimation for pre-eclampsia on the same scientific footing as Down's syndrome screening (pp. 703–709), and a debate about the ethics of the various ongoing vitamin E trials in pregnancy (pp. 684–688). However, I am writing this on April 25th and standing for parliament next week, so perhaps readers will forgive a short Editors Choice, and read the details for themselves.

Scientifically Unsupported and Supported Interventions for Childhood Psychopathology: A Summary

Although numerous scientifically supported treatments are available for childhood psychiatric disorders, many of the most popular interventions for these conditions are based on weak or nonexistent data. This article offers basic guidelines for distinguishing scientifically supported from unsupported treatments for 3 important childhood psychiatric disorders: autistic disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder. A key challenge for the future will be to place the treatment of childhood psychiatric disorders on firmer scientific footing.

The protection of biological diversity by using the variation in sensitivity of species for toxic substances

Efforts to develop generally applicable criteria or standards for environmental quality for the purpose of protecting South Africa’s rich biodiversity are normally hampered by the fact that species can differ considerably in their sensitivity to toxic substances. Direct extrapolation from one species to another is therefore not possible. By actually using this variation in sensitivity of species, the assessment of risk posed by contaminants may be placed on a more rigorous scientific footing. This concept holds that if quality criteria are accepted which would protect the most sensitive species, all other species are automatically protected. This article focuses on the use of sensitivity distributions of species as method and critically reviews the nature and applications of extrapolation models which are based on these distributions. Their possible use and arguments for and against such use are discussed. The conclusion is drawn that species sensitivity distributions have useful applications but data on the sensitivities of local species are scarce. Although already useful, this methodology can find more general application in South Africa if more research is undertaken to obtain reliable toxicity data for different species. In order to do that standardized toxicity tests for local species will have to be developed.

The formation of the Newtonian philosophy: the case of the Amsterdam mathematical amateurs

In the eighteenth century, Newton's ideas were an important element of the dominant world view, but it was not immediately clear that they could play such a role. What made them seem philosophically relevant is investigated in the case of the Dutch Republic. At the universities people initially were rather sceptical about Newton's theories. Support came mainly from scientific amateurs who tried to place their religious feelings on a scientific footing. The Spinozists' claim that religion was refuted by mathematics created the need for a scientific answer, which would demonstrate the fallaciousness of Spinoza's geometrical method and uphold revealed religion. In this article, it is shown in some detail how Newtonian ideas were put to such use among mathematical amateurs in Amsterdam, mainly under the influence of informal contacts with David Gregory and his circle. Physico-theology appeared not so much as a fresh start as a transformation of the older mathematical approach of philosophical and religious questions.

What Evidence in Evidence-Based Medicine?

Evidence-Based Medicine is a relatively new movement that seeks to put clinical medicine on a firmer scientific footing. I take it as uncontroversial that medical practice should be based on best evidence—the interesting questions concern the details. This paper tries to move towards a coherent and unified account of best evidence in medicine, by exploring in particular the EBM position on RCTs (randomized controlled trials).

Fernando I. Ortiz‐Crespo (1942–2001)

Fernando I. Ortiz‐Crespo (1942–2001)

The Hidden Lineage of Modern Management Science: Astrology, Alchemy and the MyersBriggs Type Indicator

Beneath the surface of some significant contemporary management practices there exists evidence of pre-modern cosmology. The influence of astrological and alchemical ideas on organisational conduct has not, however, attracted very much serious social-scientific attention to date. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTIÒ) is described and reasons discussed for considering it to be a prime example of the underpinning of the modern by the pre-modern. C.G. Jung's role as mediator between pre-modern and modern is considered, with some investigation devoted to the four function-types and two attitude-types which he propounded, their origins in earlier symbolism, and their influence on subsequent psychological theory and practice. An astro-genealogical account of the development of the MBTI is offered, taking into account its debt to Renaissance and earlier forms of thinking and symbolism. In conclusion, a warning note is sounded: the modern need to place psychology on an entirely scientific footing can manifest as a dogmatic, belief-driven revisionism that produces a fragmentary, potentially alienating, view of the individual.

Clinical Recognition of CSF Shunt Failure

Source: Garton HJL, Kestle JRW, Drake JM. Predicting shunt failure on the basis of clinical symptoms and signs in children. J Neurosurg. 2001;94:202–210.The diagnosis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt failure is difficult even for experienced clinicians because the cardinal symptoms—headache, vomiting, lethargy—are so prevalent in common childhood illnesses such as otitis, gastroenteritis, and various viral syndromes. Pediatricians, parents, and other caretakers must be informed and vigilant, because for each episode of shunt failure the mortality rate is greater than 1%.1 Deaths from shunt failure commonly occur out of hospital despite symptomatic prodromes lasting days to weeks.2To place the recognition of CSF shunt failure on a more scientific footing, this report analyzes clinical data collected prospectively during the recently completed Pediatric Shunt Design Trial.3 A standard battery of clinical data was collected at each scheduled and unscheduled follow-up visit during the trial. The status of the shunt was assessed by the treating neurosurgeon and reviewed by a central adjudication committee using symptoms, signs, and results of imaging studies. In the current study symptoms and signs were tabulated against the final status of the shunt, and each individual factor was analyzed as a test of shunt function. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to improve clinical prediction. These models were developed using half of the data set and were validated against the other half.The authors divided the encounters into early (≤ 5 months after surgery; 276 encounters) and late (≥ 9 months after surgery; 155 encounters) groups. The presence of several symptoms and signs in both the early and late groups had strong positive predictive values. For instance, in the early-and late-encounter groups every patient who exhibited papilledema had shunt failure. Unfortunately, no single symptom or sign was reliable in identifying children who did not need further investigation. The multivariate models improved the identification of patients who did not need further investigation (TableT1). The prevalence of shunt failure among patients with scores of 0 was 4% among the early encounters and 8% among the late encounters in the validation data set, whereas a score of only 1 was associated with shunt failure rates of 50% and 38% in the early and late groups, respectively.The “information density” in this report is very high, and interested readers should review the original article. The busy practitioner must have a low threshold for initiating an investigation of a CSF shunt and a low threshold for reassessing symptomatic patients who are not sent initially for investigation. Because the sensitivity of imaging studies in the detection of shunt failure is only about 75%,4 investigation of a CSF shunt should include referral back to the treating neurosurgeon. The possibility of CSF shunt failure should not be dismissed until the suspicious symptoms have resolved or the shunt has been revised.As clinicians, we are eager for any clues that will tell us whom to shunt back to the neurosurgeon, and whom to continue to manage ourselves. Tapping into this study will provide some but not all of these clues.

Anxiety/aggression - driven depression: A paradigm of functionalization and verticalization of psychiatric diagnosis

1. A new subtype of depression is proposed, named: anxiety/aggression-driven depression. 2. The psychopathological, psychopharmacological and biochemical evidence on which this construct is based, is being discussed. 3. Selective postsynaptic 5-HT 1A agonists together with CRH and/or cortisol antagonists are hypothesized to be a specific biological treatment for this depression type, in conjunction with psychological interventions to raise the stressor-threshold and to increase coping skills. 4. The development of this depression construct has been contingent on the introduction of two new diagnostic procedures, called functionalization and verticalization of psychiatric diagnosis. 5. These procedures are explained and it is stressed that they are essential to psychiatric diagnosing, in order to put this process on a scientific footing.

Introduction: Varieties of Comparative Criminology

GRAEME NEWMAN [*] GREGORY J. HOWARD [**] Introduction ALMOST EVERY PAPER one reads on topic of criminology repeats quote from Durkheim to effect that comparative sociology is ... sociology itself (Durkheim 1938:39). True enough, if Durkheim meant that we follow in sociology, given that kernel of scientific method lies in comparison of experimentally allocated groups. Of course, in social science, especially sociological version, chances of conducting a scientific study in which compared groups are constructed according to the scientific are not too great, since subjects of study -- from small to large groups -- have already formed without aid of social scientists. When groups are constructed by social scientists, such as in variants of social survey, there is unavoidable problem that such groups are necessarily artificial, constructed by research solely for purposes of study. Once data are collected, such groups disappear. They live only as long as study. Scientists with aid of statisticians have, however, invented all kinds of ways to simulate scientific comparisons, using data that groups and organizations in society produce. Today, it is possible to conduct comparisons in many unlikely settings and with an incredible array of data. These data -- and there are increasingly massive amounts of such data emerging as one of byproducts of electronic revolution -- challenge ingenuity of sociologists to adapt them for research purposes and, if sociologist is so disposed, development of social policy. We use word group in a very general sense. It is apparent that a bunch of students in a classroom taking Criminology 101 from Professor Y is a though what kind of group, how it is organized, and what its goals are, may be a puzzle. If we compare grades of this with those of Criminology 101 taught by Professor X, we may also ask why there are differences in performance between two groups. All of this makes much sense, and is stuff of many introductory methods and design courses in all social science curricula. But suppose we compared performance of Professor Y's students (from United States) with those of Professor A in another country (Japan)? Must method change? In fact, what is it that is being compared? Group performance itself, or performance in particular countries? Such groups cannot be said to represent in scientific sense their respective countries, can they? Would Professor Y learn anything by examining why Professor A's students performed at a higher level than his students? One could reasonably expect that he would -- perhaps by discovering that there was a stronger among Japanese students, or that there were higher demands placed on them. Arguably, Professor Y might learn something similar by comparing his class's performance to that of Professor X's, just down hail from him. But what would he learn? He might learn that Professor X also places higher demands on his students. But he might not learn that it is poor work ethic of his students since that would be more or less invariant. By doing a cross-cultural comparison, one can ask questions that may not arise in a single cultural setting. Such initial comparisons are not very scientific; in fact, they may be not much more than impressionistic. But they do raise possibility that we will be confronted by novel discoveries that can set stage for research on a more solid scientific footing. What kinds of comparisons did Durkheim have in mind, scientific comparisons or impressionistic comparisons? We think both, given range of methods reflected in Durkheim's own work, from empirical and almost doctrinaire Suicide to his Elementary Forms of Religious Life, where impressions and speculation were woven together into a rich theory that remains a classic in sociology of religion. …

The National Stream Quality Accounting Network: a flux‐based approach to monitoring the water quality of large rivers

AbstractEstimating the annual mass flux at a network of fixed stations is one approach to characterizing water quality of large rivers. The interpretive context provided by annual flux includes identifying source and sink areas for constituents and estimating the loadings to receiving waters, such as reservoirs or the ocean. Since 1995, the US Geological Survey's National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) has employed this approach at a network of 39 stations in four of the largest river basins of the USA: the Mississippi, the Columbia, the Colorado and the Rio Grande. In this paper, the design of NASQAN is described and its effectiveness at characterizing the water quality of these rivers is evaluated using data from the first 3 years of operation. A broad range of constituents was measured by NASQAN, including trace organic and inorganic chemicals, major ions, sediment and nutrients. Where possible, a regression model relating concentration to discharge and season was used to interpolate between chemical observations for flux estimation. For water‐quality network design, the most important finding from NASQAN was the importance of having a specific objective (that is, estimating annual mass flux) and, from that, an explicitly stated data analysis strategy, namely the use of regression models to interpolate between observations. The use of such models aided in the design of sampling strategy and provided a context for data review. The regression models essentially form null hypotheses for concentration variation that can be evaluated by the observed data. The feedback between network operation and data collection established by the hypothesis tests places the water‐quality network on a firm scientific footing. Published in 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The effects of clinical and scientific expert testimony on juror decision making in capital sentencing.

The Supreme Court and many state courts have assumed that jurors are capable of differentiating less accurate clinical opinion expert testimony from expert testimony based on more sound scientific footing and of appropriately weighing these two types of testimony in their decisions. Persuasion and jury decision-making research, however, both suggest that this assumption is dubious. The authors investigated whether mock jurors are more influenced by clinical opinion expert testimony or actuarial expert testimony. Results suggested that jurors are more influenced by clinical opinion expert testimony than by actuarial expert testimony and that this preference for clinical opinion expert testimony remains even after the presentation of adversary procedures. Limited empirical evidence was found for the notion that various types of adversary procedures will have a differential impact on the influence of expert testimony on juror decisions.

The developmental roots of consciousness and emotional experience

Charles Darwin is generally credited with having formulated the first systematic attempt to explain the evolutionary origins and function of the expression of emotions in animals and humans. His ingenious theory, however, was burdened with popular misconceptions about human phylogenetic heritage and bore the philosophical and theoretical deficiencies of the brain science of his era that his successors strove to overcome. In their attempts to rectify Darwin’s errors, William James, James Mark Baldwin and John Dewey each made important contributions to a theory of emotion, which attempted to put it on a more secure philosophical and scientific footing. My contention is that Dewey and his collaborator, infant experimentalist Myrtle McGraw, succeeded where their contemporaries failed. They pointed the way out of the morass of recapitulationism, and showed how a developmental theory of consciousness, mind and emotion could be formulated that avoided the epistemological and ontological pitfalls of Darwin’s theory. Drawing on an extensive body of research from contemporary experimental studies of infant development, this essay attempts to put the questions raised by these historical figures about the structure, function and value of emotions in a theoretical framework. A developmental theory is proposed about the complex, interacting neurobiological and neurobehavioral factors that contribute to human emotional development. This theory identifies the possible relationships among emotions, consciousness and mind and how their co-development influences the capacity of young children to form moral judgments.

The ten most commonly asked questions about chronic anticoagulant use in cardiology.

Long-term anticoagulant therapy in cardiology practice has been placed on a firm scientific footing based on rigorous clinical trial evaluation. Two factors have markedly improved the efficacy and safety of long-term anticoagulants. These include the demonstration of the efficacy and safety of less intense levels of anticoagulation than previous standards and the introduction of the International Normalized Ratio (INR) to standardize anticoagulant monitoring and control.