Hi

James M. Clark
Professor of Psychology
204-786-9757
204-774-4134 Fax
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 23-Feb-07 6:26:37 AM >>>
...
Then again, how many topics in psychology fall into the "Holy War"
category? 

> I don't know that it would happen in history, but I could certainly
see
> it happening in psychology:  If anyone can come along, believing him-
or
> herself possessed of True Knowledge about the subject, change
entries,
> I'm not sure it's worth the time.

Well, which topics would inspire such zeal and persistence, outside of
the Memory issues I've pointed out above?  The validity of
psychoanalysis?
ESP?  Perhaps we should reconceptualize providing entries to Wikipedia
as being "teaching moments" but for a classroom that involves the
whole
world.  Wouldn't that make it worth the effort?

-Mike Palij
New York University
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
 

JC:

How about anything to do with psychological differences between groups
and whether those differences are due to genetic or environmental
causes?  Think of all the controversy around ethnic and gender
differences in cognition ... talks by Jensen and others being disrupted,
President of Harvard being canned, ....

Or what about the contrasting perspectives of scientists and
practitioners on various matters other than repressed memories, such as
the importance of evidence for efficacy, projective measures, and the
like.

And that is just "within" the psychology camp.  Once we go more public,
how can we avoid controversies with groups arguing for alternative
treatments for psychological disorders, groups opposed to evolutionary
(genetic) explanations for most anything, ...

I suspect psychology is rife with controversies, not only within the
discipline, but also external ones, and that "open-access" documentation
as in wikipedia would bring much of this to light ... not necessarily a
bad thing.

Take care
Jim



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