This article reports on two empirical studies testing whether increasing analytical thinking affects religious beliefs, finding no meaningful change in faith from heightened logical processing. The work challenges the idea that reasoning directly diminishes religiosity and emphasizes robust methods and replication in this area of research.

This topic is of interest to psychology readers because it examines how cognitive styles relate to beliefs, highlighting the complexities behind faith and the importance of rigorous experimental design in psychology research.

Article Title: New research challenges the idea that logical thinking diminishes religious belief

Link to PsyPost Article: https://nolinkpreview.com/www.psypost.org/new-research-challenges-the-idea-that-logical-thinking-diminishes-religious-belief/

#cognition #religion #analyticalthinking #cognitionmad #psychologyresearch #beliefsystems #replicabilitycrisis #experimentaldesign #debiasing #mentalprocesses

Our paper on the poor replicability of Tolman, Richie & Kalish, 1946 - the famous "Sunburst maze" - is out!

Last author @rmgrieves made a very nice thread about it here:
https://fediscience.org/@rmgrieves/115844897663215766

The article: Tolman's Sunburst Maze 80 Years on: A Meta-Analysis Reveals Poor Replicability and Little Evidence for Shortcutting

I'll just add that this doesn't at all question the #CognitiveMap theory, which is quite strongly supported by diverse lines of evidence - but it shows that one of the elements previously used to support the theory, the ability to choose a shortcut over unexplored space, is not that clearly demonstrated!

Importantly, this also shows that it is crucial to consider papers in their context and to make sure results are consistently replicable before changing them into scientific facts!

PS: I managed to attract Roddy to Mastodon - it would be great to show him we can get at least as much interaction on here as with his similar thread on Bluesky

#SpatialCognition #Neuroscience #Shortcutting #Tolman #Sunburst #ReplicabilityCrisis

"Basically, if you heard about it from Malcolm Gladwell or a TED talk, it’s likely no longer true.  From Marshmallows tests to Prisoner experiments, from Depletable Willpower to Wonder Woman poses, our favorite cocktail party tidbits lie in tatters all around us..."

https://jamiewheal.substack.com/p/mdma-and-the-placebo-problem

#science #ReplicabilityCrisis #MDMA #TraumaTherapy #MAPS

MDMA and the Placebo Problem

why science always misses forests for trees

Homegrown Humans Newsletter
The latest blog post by #ErikHoel makes the case that #neuroscience suffers from a #ReplicabilityCrisis crisis going beyond the well-known replication issues in psychology. Sample sizes are small, brain “areas” may be an artifact, and researchers are floundering for lack of a generally accepted theory of consciousness. https://open.substack.com/pub/erikhoel/p/neuroscience-is-pre-paradigmatic?r=2cb3jc&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Neuroscience is pre-paradigmatic. Consciousness is why

Nothing in the brain makes sense except in the light of consciousness

The Intrinsic Perspective