The proof of the pudding: an illustration of the relative strengths of null hypothesis, meta-analysis, and Bayesian analysis.

Some methodologists have recently suggested that scientific psychology's over-reliance on null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) impedes the progress of the discipline. In response, a number of defenders have maintained that NHST continues to play a vital role in psychological research. Both sides of the argument to date have been presented abstractly. The authors take a different approach to this issue by illustrating the use of NHST along with 2 possible alternatives (meta-analysis as a primary data analysis strategy and Bayesian approaches) in a series of 3 studies. Comparing and contrasting the approaches on actual data brings out the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. The exercise demonstrates that the approaches are not mutually exclusive but instead can be used to complement one another.

Adapting human lifestyles for the 21st century.

A number of ecological problems (e.g., global warming, ozone depletion, deforestation, acid rain) have been identified, which threaten to reduce the quality of human life in the 21st century. These problems are human produced, resulting primarily from over-population and over-consumption. Alterations in people's awareness, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors may stimulate changes in their political and economic systems, which in turn might foster the kind of lifestyle changes that could mitigate these ecological problems. Psychologists can play a role in helping individuals and systems advance toward the goal of becoming a sustainable society: one that satisfies its current needs without jeopardizing the prospects of future generations.

Reflections on change in science and religion.

Science and the Catholic church are both conservative, slow-to-change institutions. However, science has institutionalized procedures that ensure that ample amounts of criticism of currently accepted theories and methodologies will always be present. This arrangement of continuous conjectures and refutation in science ensures often slow but steady change. Because supporters often think of religions as trafficking in timeless truths, criticism of church beliefs and practices (even when intended to stimulate reflection and improvement) is frequently seen as being disloyal to the institution. Because of the growing crises caused by world overpopulation, I argue that the Catholic church's opposition to all artificial methods of birth control now lacks whatever moral force it might have had when originally promulgated. By highlighting theological perspectives that might be appropriate for the ecological realities of the 21st century, I hope the church will see the wisdom of reevaluating many of its positions in the light of rapidly approaching ecological imperatives.

Sex must be a four-letter word.

PIP: The author has previously proposed that the Catholic church reconsider its opposition to artificial methods of birth control in light of the growing threat of global overpopulation. He defends himself against the ensuing criticism of Andrews and Donahue. Andrews and this author share positions against the church's stand on birth control and its role in maintaining the status quo in collaboration with geopolitical power elites. It is clear through her critique that Andrews is angry at the church. This author wonders, however, why given Andrews' strident feminist stance she would be angry with him. He is generally perplexed by her response and does not think that it has much to do with his article. Andrews' article is less of a reaction to this author's original article than it is a position paper triggered by his article. Donahue's analyses of the author's points, however, are so flawed that they are laughable. Donahue argues that since there are other causes of overpopulation, one should not call for institutional change in the church. His efforts to obscure and deflect attention from the Catholic church are morally and intellectually irresponsible. This author offers a few thoughts on why it is hard to engage in scholarly, dispassionate discussions in psychology of religion.^ieng

Culture tales. A narrative approach to thinking, cross-cultural psychology, and psychotherapy.

Narrative (or storytelling) approaches to understanding human action have recently become more popular in several areas of psychology. Treating human thinking as instances of story elaboration offers numerous implications for many domains of psychological theory, research, and practice. For example, several instances of cultural diversity take on a different hue when viewed from a narrative perspective. Finally, several authors (e.g., Bruner, 1986; Howard, 1989; Mair, 1989; McAdams, 1985; Polkinghorne, 1988; Sarbin, 1986) see the development of identity as an issue of life-story construction; psychopathology as instances of life stories gone awry; and psychotherapy as exercises in story repair.

Convergent and discriminant validity of FACES-III: family adaptability and cohesion.

Research on earlier versions of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES) has ostensibly shown that the scales lack discriminant and convergent validity (23). However, these studies have defined convergence as agreement between family members or as agreement between family members and family therapists. Such definitions confound real differences between respondents' perceptions of the family with the notion of convergent validity. In the current study, we take a different approach to construct validity. Multiple measures of family adaptability, cohesion, and talkativeness were administered to two family members (insiders) and two significant others (outsiders). The two insiders' responses were averaged together, as were the two outsiders' responses. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we demonstrated that family adaptability, cohesion, and talkativeness are distinct traits, and that the different sources of information about these traits, including FACES-III (24), have convergent validity.