Cliometric metatheory: II. Criteria scientists use in theory appraisal and why it is rational to do so

Construction of Meta-Thinking Educational Program Based on Mental-Brain Simulation (MTMBS) and Evaluating its Effectiveness on Executive Functions, Emotion Regulation, and Impulsivity in Children With ADHD: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study

OBJECTIVE

The aim of present research was to make a Meta-Thinking educational program based on mental-brain simulation and to evaluate its effectiveness on executive functions, emotion regulation and impulsivity in children with ADHD.

METHODS

The research method was Embedded Design: Embedded Experimental Model. The research sample included 32 children with ADHD who were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The intervention was implemented for eight sessions of 1.5 hr for the experimental group, and fMRI images were taken from them, while the control group didn't receive any treatment. Finally, using semi-structured interviews, coherent information was collected from the parents of the experimental group about the changes made. Data were analyzed with SPSS-24, MAXQDA, fMRIprep, and FSL software.

RESULTS

The Meta-Thinking Educational Program had effect on performance of ADHD children and suppressed brain regions related to DMN.

CONCLUSION

The Implementation of this educational program plays a vital role in improving psychological problems of children with ADHD.

Predicted as observed? How to identify empirically adequate theoretical constructs

The identification of an empirically adequate theoretical construct requires determining whether a theoretically predicted effect is sufficiently similar to an observed effect. To this end, we propose a simple similarity measure, describe its application in different research designs, and use computer simulations to estimate the necessary sample size for a given observed effect. As our main example, we apply this measure to recent meta-analytical research on precognition. Results suggest that the evidential basis is too weak for a predicted precognition effect of d = 0.20 to be considered empirically adequate. As additional examples, we apply this measure to object-level experimental data from dissonance theory and a recent crowdsourcing hypothesis test, as well as to meta-analytical data on the correlation of personality traits and life outcomes.

Transformation of Psychology: From Thinking/Thought to Metathinking/Metathought

The prefix meta is popular in psychology as well as in other sciences oriented on the investigation of psychology. In the first case the usage is quite simple: every term is “the sum” of meta and usual psychological concept. In the second case, the situation is much more complicated. Sometimes, it is related to transition on a higher level of abstraction, from first-order to second-order investigations. Why is such a transition necessary and is it useful for scientific progress? The comparative analysis of the meta-approach to different sciences shows both specific peculiarities (reasons for application of the prefix, methods of manipulation and investigation, main objects of analysis, goals raised, and status of metaresearcher) and common features and regularities that may be discovered only in an interdisciplinary context. In this special section, we suggest a new way of application of meta-approach to psychology—in terms of metathinking. Our main idea is as follows: The wide circulation of meta-approach to psychology with necessity leads to serious changes in thinking of both researchers in the field of psychology and in sciences oriented on investigation of psychology.

Integrative Propositional Analysis: A New Quantitative Method for Evaluating Theories in Psychology

Currently, many top journals of psychology fail to specify any method for evaluating theories within submissions. The reason for this is not clear. Without a formal process, we cannot advance psychology as rapidly or as scientifically as we might. A growing body of literature, both philosophical and empirical, takes up the question of evaluating theories “on the page” with promising results. Here, we discuss a range of methods to identify some strengths and weaknesses. These include Integrative Propositional Analysis (IPA), a method for objectively evaluating the structure (complexity and interrelatedness) of theories that has proven effective in analyzing theories of management, organizations, ethics, systems, and policy. IPA is explained and applied to investigate a sample of theories of psychology. This study shows how we may identify theories that are more likely to be useful in practical application. Additionally, this study identifies benefits that might be gained through a rigorous integration of multiple theories. Importantly, this paper calls for the adoption of objective methods for reviewing theories within journal submissions that will accelerate the advancement of our field. IPA is put forward as a candidate for that role.

The Power of Theory, Research Design, and Transdisciplinary Integration in Moving Psychopathology Forward

While the past few decades have seen much work in psychopathology research that has yielded provocative insights, relatively little progress has been made in understanding the etiology of mental disorders. We contend that this is due to an overreliance on statistics and technology with insufficient attention to adequacy of experimental design, a lack of integration of data across various domains of research, and testing of theoretical models using relatively weak study designs. We provide a conceptual discussion of these issues and follow with a concrete demonstration of our proposed solution. Using two different disorders - depression and substance use - as examples, we illustrate how we can evaluate competing theories regarding their etiology by integrating information from various domains including latent variable models, neurobiology, and quasi-experimental data such as twin and adoption studies, rather than relying on any single methodology alone. More broadly, we discuss the extent to which such integrative thinking allows for inferences about the etiology of mental disorders, rather than focusing on descriptive correlates alone. Greater scientific insight will require stringent tests of competing theories and a deeper conceptual understanding of the advantages and pitfalls of methodologies and criteria we use in our studies.