User:HMaloigne/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/2020-21/Seminar group 15/Evidence

Evidence in psychology

Evidence in psychology: Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Different forms of evidence play a crucial role in the development of psychological theories, such as the theory of Cognitive Dissonance. The theory of cognitive dissonance describes a situation in which an individual's inconsistent (dissonant) thoughts lead to psychological discomfort, which is alleviated by a change in behaviour and avoidance of situations which confirm the inconsistencies.

Cognitive dissonance theory outline

The first evidence to suggest the construct of cognitive dissonance was a case study conducted by Leon Festinger in 1954, involving covert observation of a small UFO cult called The Seekers. The Seekers believed that a great catastrophe would cause the world to end on December 21, 1954, and a UFO would rescue the true believers. Covert observation involved the researchers becoming members of the cult, to gain insight into their social and psychological processes in a naturalistic environment. This research was qualitative, as it focused mainly on behavioural observations rather than objective numerical data. Their observations aimed to determine how invested each member was in the belief system of The Seekers. Many members of the group left their families, their jobs and gave away many of their prized possessions and life savings in anticipation of the UFOs arrival. When the UFO never arrived, the members who put more emotional and physical investment in their expectations claimed their devotion saved the Earth from mass destruction. Festinger proposed that the more committed members were, the less likely they were to accept errors in their initial ideas, instead attempting to change the story to align with their beliefs. From this study, Festinger developed his Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Festinger's research highlights the importance of the use of qualitative data when investigating social processes. The researchers were able to observe the social reality and feelings of many individuals in conjunction with their relationship with The Seekers, to gather a basic understanding of the social mechanisms involved in cognitive dissonance.

As qualitative observations are prone to observer biases, quantitative evidence can also be influential in the development of theories for more insight into causal relationships. In 1959, Aronson and Mills used a controlled experiment to investigate effort expenditure as a cause of cognitive dissonance. They found that participants who had to undergo an embarrassing experience during initiation into a group were more likely to rate its members and activities higher on a scale of enjoyment, indicating that effort is a cause of cognitive dissonance.

Evidence in economics

The Quantity Theory of Money

The issue of evidence is relevant in the discipline of economics, and in this case monetary economics. Despite the general consensus within the economic community to rely on assumptions in order to create models, evidence is a necessary tool to understanding the interactions of economic agents.

The quantity theory of money, also termed the Fisher equation, is used in order to explain the concept of price stability in the macroeconomy. The quantity theory of money is shown below with M representing the money supply, V representing the velocity of circulation, P representing the price level and the T representing the quantity of transactions.

MV = PT

The equation argues that the velocity of circulation remains stable. As a result of this, an increase in the money supply will either result in an increase in the price level or an increase in the quantity of output. The purpose is to understand the effect of an increase in the money supply thereby allowing economists to understand the root cause of inflation which is central in monetary policy.

This is an important piece of evidence in the discipline of economics as although it may be contested, it generally effectively conveys the effect of policies on the general economy but does not apply to all economies. Empirical evidence supported this equation as Fisher effectively linked mathematics and economics through economic analysis of the economy in order to establish this equation as there proved to be a correlation between monetary policy and inflation.

Additionally, evidence was found in the real world due to looking the effect of monetary policy on the economy. However, other forces affect the economy so unless assuming ceteris paribus, the Fisher equation cannot be applied to every situation as most economic models assume rationality when humans are inherently irrational. Additionally, the economy reacts unexpectedly on numerous occasions and it is therefore unrealistic to use assumptions in every scenario.

Evidence in Clinical Nutrition

Pyramid Comparing the Quality of Different Forms of Evidence

Clinical nutrition is a discipline within the sciences that combines empirical evidence and clinical observation in order to evaluate how nutrients can be used to improve human health outcomes.

Epidemiology has been implemented in nutrition research which in turn has informed dietitians on how to make the best clinical decisions. Evidence in nutritional science can often be conflicting for example a network meta-analysis of many randomized clinical trials may show different results than a single randomized control and lead clinicians to make different conclusions.

The quality of evidence in clinical nutrition varies in terms of the type of study design that has been carried out, where meta-analysis and randomized control trials are the most valid and anecdotal reports are the least valid. Having said this, the validity of randomized control trials has been questioned by many academics in the nutritional field. For example, if a trial is designed to compare high and low intake of a specific nutrient, in a randomized control trial, it does not take into account other behaviors that may occur as a result of limiting the intake that would be seen in non-clinical settings.

Limits of Evidence

Evidence is usually insufficient in deciding what's best for patients as there are many other factors that must be considered for example the risks, the merits associated with non-nutrition related treatments as well as the patients' own desires must also be taken in account.

Clinicians often lack time in order to carry out the necessary research in order to decipher the evidence in support for various nutritional treatments, however in an increasingly digital world information is seemingly more accessible than ever.

Evidence in Meditation

Introduction

There are many forms of mental training and introspection which go by the name of meditation. Broadly speaking, meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique- for example, insight (Vipassana), loving kindness (metta), focus on a particular object or mantra- to achieve a particular state, usually one of emotional calmness and mental clarity.

The goals of practicing meditation vary greatly, from achieving a state of Enlightenment (as laid out in Buddhist doctrine), to reducing stress and depression. As such, the study of the practice of meditation spans a wide range of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology and philosophy.

For the purposes of this article, the focus is on Mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness is characterized by non-judgmental awareness of experience in the present moment, whether pleasant or unpleasant.  

Psychology and Science

The adoption of Meditative practices from 'Meditative Disciplines' by "western" psychology, as the practice of mindfulness is done to progress the state of calm for an individual. This relies heavily on the person's subjectivity and perception of a successful meditation. Different disciplines have recorded the effects of mindfulness and documented their successes, but how is the measure and evidence of this subjectivity explored?

Walsh and Shapiro's 2006 Paper for the American Psychology Association, details the effects of meditation on different medical issues. They recount studies that have demonstrated a correlative affect between the use of meditation and the benefits of it for stress-related illnesses such as increased hypertension. All medical studies here use a quantitative analysis to objectify the subjective experience by using empirical outcomes - such as the progress of a medical illness, which can be mapped and identified.

Evidence in brain activity

In testing the evidence for Mindfulness meditation, fMRI scans are used to track the brain physiology and neural activity in the subject’s brain, either during the act of meditating, or before and after meditating.

Studies show that the patterns of brain activation in subjects who meditate are different from non-meditators.

Indeed, meditation is shown to improve cognitive function and even produce changes in gray matter density in the areas of the brain which are related to learning, memory, emotional regulation, and self awareness.

Evidence for biological impact

There are many claims for the value of practising Mindfulness meditation, in particular, for reducing stress, anxienty and depression. Mindfulness meditation has indeed been shown to modulate pain, mitigate anxiety and depression, as well as regulation inflammation, circadian rhythms and glucose metabolism.

Evidence in quality of life

Practitioners of Mindfulness meditation are not restricted by the goal of improving their physiology. Meditation is often associated with the esoteric aim of liberation from suffering through awareness of the true nature of consciousness. Due to the esoteric nature of this aim, it can be problematic to measure evidence through the scientific method. However, some studies do suggest that mindfulness meditation may lead to an increased sense of quality of life in practitioners.

Subjectivity

Buddha meditating under tree

Similar to the psychological and medical sciences, the meditative disciplines (eg. Buddism, Taoism), use subjective evidence to understand the development of one's own personal meditative progression. The qualitative aspect of this discipline cannot allow any objective conclusions to be reached- meditation is based on subjective personal experiences, due to the end result of meditation being the absence of suffering, and the achievement of enlightenment. The Buddhist understanding of meditation, the use of mindfulness and the focus on the present, is most widely associated with the Buddha, Siddharta and his achievement of enlightenment through the practice of meditation, famously as he sat under a tree. The experience of this is deeply personal and one becomes a Buddha (the achievement of enlightenment) when they complete the teachings of the first Buddha, Siddharta.

Whilst both science and meditative disciplines use empirical evidence or observation to understand the progress made by meditation, the use of quantitative and qualitative evidence differs.

Evidence in water scarcity measurments

Map showing the ratio of total annual water withdrawals to the total available annual renewable supply

Experts struggle to define a meaningful indicator for water scarcity around the globe. Indeed, no metric able to take in account every inluencial variable has been found yet, which makes the numbers unrepresentative of reality. It is very difficult to find a holistic measure because, in addition to addressing the physical problem of measuring moving water in different states, such a metric would need to consider water scarcity's intimate relationship to hardly quantifying socio-economic concerns such as government policies and adaptive capacity of a society.

Physical issues

The WSI (Water Stress Index), developped in the 80s, is the first formal quantification of water scarcity It measures the need for freshwater in terms of the number of people who compete for one flow unit of water (10⁶ m³ per year) . To measure water, the WSI relies solely on the annual river discharge and thereby neglets soil moisture storage, ground water storage and weather varability. This has now proven to be insufficient data to assess a country's need for water: the water we find in the ground plays a huge role in agricultural water demand and affects the sectors to which river water is distributed (domestic, indusrial or agricultural) . Moreover, water fluctuation depends on weather conditions that are not constant throughout and between years.

Social issues

The ability of a country to adapt to weather variability (floods, droughts) and use its resources efficiently depends on its infrastructures and government efficiency. A distinction should be made between physically and economically water scarce countries. Indeed, a lot of countries have enough physical resources but do not invest properly in infrastructure, which results in important losses and bad distribution. Thereby, the population of countries which have sufficient resources lack access to water, while others who are categorised as "water scarce" by the WSI have a comfortable access.

As well as social issues, academic issues surround the approaches to water scarcity and whether or not the measurements in place that determine 'water scarcity' demonstrate actual lack of available water, as opposed to having sufficient water resources but the lack of equitable distribution.

Evidence in Ayurveda

Evidence in Ayurveda

Ayurveda is an ancient Hindu medicinal system that dates back 5000 years ago. Ayurveda also refers to general philosophy of health, wellness and life hygiene. It combines physical, mental and spiritual health. Although Ayurveda is generally recognized by World Health Organization as an idea of health and therapy, it is still percieved by many as a pseudoscience, as it intertwines empirical phenomena with metaphysical concepts. Ayurvedic medicinal practices may include herbal medicine, massage and meditation.

Ayurveda and cancer

The nervous system (Vata or air), the venous system (Pitta or fire) and the arterial system (Kapha or water) are three basics of Ayurveda and very important for normal body function. In malignant tumors all three systems get out of control and lose mutual coordination that causes tissue damage, resulting critical condition. Hence, patients suffering from cancer often resort to Ayurvedic treatments, like aromatherapy or massage. They are reported to help support immune system and better the mental conditions of the patients. Moreover, the majority of herbal treatments used in Ayurveda (plants like Andrographis paniculata, Annona atemoya, Phyllanthus niruri and many others) have scientific evidence of anticancer properties - they influence different organ systems all together and nourish the body as a whole by supporting body's defense systems.

Ayurveda and dementia

Ayurvedic medicinal herbs modulate the neuro-endocrine-immune systems and are also rich sources of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. They are claimed to enhance memory and rejuvenate cognitive functions. Ayurvedic medications induce specific effects on brain functions, such as increase in blood flow and maintenance of memory.

As conventional synthetic drugs are often reported to cause undesireable side effects, herbal medicines, including the medicines and practises found in ayurveda, are becoming more popular as effective remedies for many brain disorders.