05 JULY 2008
The Journal of Scientific Psychology will begin a quarterly publication schedule in autumn of 2008. We invite you to explore our archives and the other content available on the Psyencelab website.
Posted at 12:27 PM | Filed Under
01 JUNE 2008
Entropy is an established measure of variability in nominal data. The present paper addresses the problem of directly estimating population entropy from an empirical sample. Thirty artificial, nominal, population distributions were subjected to Monte Carlo analysis. Comparison of sample entropy values to the known population entropy values showed that entropy is a consistent measure of nominal variability. Raw sample entropy is a biased estimator that underestimates the population value. This bias was virtually eliminated through bootstrap resampling from the samples. Bootstrap corrected sample entropy is a sufficient, consistent, minimally biased, population estimator of nominal variability that can be used in further statistical analyses.
Posted at 10:47 PM | Filed Under
01 MAY 2008
Previous research has found that divorce negatively predicts college students' romantic relationships and intimacy (Ensign, Scherman, & Clark, 2006). However, previous studies on adult children of divorce have not included extended family support as an influence on attachment styles. To address this void, the current study examined differences in attachment styles of children of divorced and intact parents and investigated whether extended family social support predicted attachment avoidance and anxiety among adult children of divorce. Simple linear regressions revealed that perceived extended family support did not significantly predict attachment avoidance among adult children of divorce. However, perceived extended family support did predict attachment anxiety, such that the greater the perceived extended family support, the lower the anxiety reported.
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04 APRIL 2008
The Journal of Scientific Psychology (JSP) has a future as exciting as the journal's relatively short history. JSP was created to facilitate professional discourse in scientific psychology across the world and is an online, peer-reviewed, open access journal that has grown quickly. In fact, the founders of this venue could be considered pioneers of the online, open access, peer-reviewed academic journal. Indeed, Society for Personality and Social Psychology President Harry Reis (2007) recently wrote about the impact of open access science publications on the traditional academic community and publishers. He suggested that, "It's no longer a question of whether we should have Open Access in one form or another-rather, the key question is, how do we move in all good speed toward Open Access while at the same time protecting the integrity of our science and the viability of our journals" (p. 21). Many journals such as Psychological Science are moving toward electronic publication ("Help Shape," 2007) and many journals publish online versions of articles in advance of the print versions, with the online versions featuring more interactive features. Nature (see Nature's supplementary information policy) and Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour are just two examples of scientific journals with such features.
Posted at 10:23 PM | Filed Under
13 MARCH 2008
It is paradoxical that individuals with mental retardation are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, suggesting a greater proportion of false positives, while at the same time there is concern regarding a potential motivation for individuals without mental retardation to simulate such a condition for the purpose of avoiding the death penalty, a concern for false negatives. To determine if the likelihood of accurate classification of impairment could be enhanced, we examined the pattern of scaled scores in the WAIS-III standardization dataset. Specifically, we compared the scores obtained by individuals obtaining a Full Scale IQ within the Borderline range with those in the Mild or Moderate range of impairment. Difference scores among the indexes were used to create a composite indicator making it possible to more than double the likelihood of correctly detecting impairment. Given the potential motivation to simulate impairment, a unique feature of the composite indicator described here is the inclusion of a regression equation to estimate missing values.
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23 FEBRUARY 2008
Why do we do things? As humans, we are uniquely equipped to reflect upon our own existence. We constantly strive to understand why others behave as they behave as well as to understand how our own actions bring about actions of others (Heider, 1958). We commonly make decisions and do so with the widespread belief that more awareness and more thought lead to better decisions (Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006). It is intuitive among humans-if you want to make a good decision, you must think really hard. Otherwise, people would get married on first dates and never make it to a second real estate showing. If we took awareness from decisions, we'd be left with a society in which people close-mindedly evaluated each potential mate, each house, each decision as "yes/no" rather than comparing options, for how can we compare options without awareness? Humans would be like other animals—breeding and feeding without thought to the consequence. Awareness must be what separates us from other animals, which means awareness must be a "good thing," right?
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02 JANUARY 2008
What is this journal? Is it any good? Should I submit my manuscript to it? Aren't many of the names on the Editorial Board familiar? The answers to these questions are: your, yes, yes, and yes. It's YOUR JOURNAL. Yes, it's good because it is YOUR JOURNAL. Yes, you should submit to it because it's YOUR JOURNAL. Yes, many of the names on the Editorial Board are familiar because they signed on to be part of YOUR JOURNAL. That means that a lot of very important people think very highly of you! The Journal of Scientific Psychology is emerging, and I expect 2008 to be important to our development. That is, important to the development of the journal that is YOURS and MINE.
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06 DECEMBER 2007
This paper argues there are significant "postmodern" responses to Enlightenment science's three primary characteristics of simplicity, generalizability, and verifiability. Specifically, Walter Benjamin's response to simplicity is constellation; Werner Heisenberg's response to generalizability is uncertainty, and Kurt Godel's response to verifiability is incompleteness. In each instance, three factors characterize the response: a determination of the epistemological inadequacy of the specific scientific characteristic, a reintroduction of the human into the equation for reality, and an expansion, not displacement, of the epistemological frame. By reframing each characteristic and its response as a type of Bohrian conceptual complement, this paper maintains both a humane science and science of the human is possible, a science that simultaneously invites a more exhaustive description of the human as well as provides a context for developing an ethical "techne of the self." Further, such a proposed human(e) science provides new directions for research in psychology, as well as suggests a therapeutic stance characterized by holistic understanding and client-based agency.
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15 NOVEMBER 2007
NEW EDITOR
Dr. Robert Mather will take the reins as Editor of JSP, starting January 2008. Dr. Mather is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a background in social, experimental, and human factors psychology. He had served as a co-editor and consulting editor of JSP during the 2006 and 2007 academic years and looks forward to continuing the excellent job Mike Knight did during his two years as Editor. You can contact Dr. Mather at rmather@psyencelab.com.
NEW ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Dr. Gabriel Rupp will take the new position of Associate Editor of JSP, starting January 2008. Dr. Rupp is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a background in rhetoric, composition, experimental psychology, history of science with a specialization in psychology, Native American psychology, and thanatology. He had served as consulting editor for JSP since 2005. Dr. Rupp will be overseeing theoretical an historical submissions as well as book and movie reviews. You can contact Dr. Rupp at grupp@psyencelab.com.
Dr. Alicia Limke will take the new position of Associate Editor of JSP, starting January 2008. Dr. Limke is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a background in social and personality psychology. She has served as a consulting editor for JSP during 2007. Dr. Limke will be overseeing empirical submissions. You can contact Dr. Limke at alimke@psyencelab.com.
MANAGING EDITOR
Kelli Vaughn-Blount has graciously agreed to return for the position of Managing Editor of JSP in 2008. Ms. Vaughn-Blount is a graduate student at the University of Central Oklahoma with a background in business management, history of psychology, feminist psychology, evolutionary psychology, and thanatology. She has served as publisher and managing editor for JSP since its inception and is also the 2007/2008 Student Notebook Editor, Champions of Psychology Editor, and APSSC board member for the Association for Psychological Science (APS). You can contact Ms. Vaughn-Blount at kvaughn@psyencelab.com.
COPY EDITOR
Jerri Jones has also graciously agreed to return for the continuation of the position of Copy Editor of JSP in 2008. Ms. Jones is a graduate student at the University of Central Oklahoma with a background in clinical and experimental psychology with emphasis on IAT and Eyetracker methodology. She has served as copy editor for JSP since 2006. You can contact Ms. Jones at jjones@psyencelab.com.
Editorial Consultants
Founding Editor(s): Mike Knight, University of Central Oklahoma
Founding Editor(s): Kelli Vaughn-Blount, University of Central Oklahoma
Daryl Bem, Cornell University
Steve Brown, Kent State University
Rebecca Burch, State University of New York - OSWEGO
David Buss, University of Texas at Austin
Patricia DeLucia, Texas Tech University
Rob Doan, University of Central Oklahoma
David Leary, University of Richmond
Elizabeth Loftus, University of California, Irvine
Otto Maclin, University of Northern Iowa
Richard McGlynn, Texas Tech University
Steven Platek , University of Liverpool
Darcy Reich, Texas Tech University
David Schmitt, Bradley University
Todd Shackelford, Florida Atlantic University
Irwin Silverman, York University
Robert Sternberg, Tufts University
Randy Thornhill, University of New Mexico
Phil Zimbardo, Stanford University
Consulting Editors
Chalon Anderson, University of Central Oklahoma
Jennifer Callahan, Oklahoma State University
Mario Casa de Calvo, Boise State University
Jacquline Cottle, Roger Williams University
Bill Frederickson, University of Central Oklahoma
Janelle Grellner, University of Central Oklahoma
Shelia Kennison, Oklahoma State University
Angelina Mackewn, University of Tennessee at Martin
Sandra Mayfield, University of Central Oklahoma
Wayne McMillin, Northwestern Oklahoma State University
Ian Norris, Murray State University
April Phillips, Columbus State University
Mickie Vanhoy, University of Central Oklahoma
Virgil Zeigler-Hill, University of Southern Mississippi
The Executive Board and Publishers of the Journal of Scientific Psychology would like to thank all of the board members and reviewers for their continued support in the coming year.
Spread the Word: Now Accepting Submissions for 2008
JSP is now accepting submissions for 2008. In addition to empirical works, theoretical and historical articles are encouraged. Instructions for authors can be found at http://psyencelab.com/about/submission/..
For information regarding book and movie reviews please contact Robert Mather at rmather@psyencelab.com.
Spread the Word: Now Accepting Reviewers for 2008
Professionals and students interested in reviewing for JSP should send a request to review and a copy of their vita to admin@psyencelab.com. JSP believes in the evolution of the next generation and therefore requires that all articles be reviewed by at least one student in conjunction with professional reviewers.
Wishing you all the best during the coming year,
The Journal of Scientific Psychology
Posted at 4:07 PM | Filed Under
05 NOVEMBER 2007
Current research into mate selection processes has developed under two main theoretical approaches: evolutionary and social structural. While the evolutionary approach favors behavior mediated through evolved dispositions, the social structural
approach is guided by cultural exchange and gender role expectations. The interpretation of empirical data within these two perspectives is reflected across the various dimensions of mate selection studies; particularly in the sexual differentiation of mate selection behaviors. Both theoretical models offer valuable insight into the mechanics of mate selection criteria; however, a combined theoretical approach provides a more thorough and comprehensive examination of the issue. Future research would benefit from a unified and multidimensional evolutionary and social structural approach.
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