Context and Commitment

The major contention of this book is that psychologists - as well as philosophers and sociologists - can contribute significantly to the debate on the nature of science. In particular, its author demonstrates the relevance of certain topics in cognitive psychology and perception studies to the analysis of argument and inference in science, and he discusses the existence and role of confirmatory biases in the conduct and interpretation of scientific research, the nature and function of memory schemata in the work of the scientist and the influence of presuppositions on the perception and presentation of scientific findings. He argues that the work of individual scientists can be best understood as a joint product of intellectual background and willingness to adopt and defend a position with respect to important elements of that context. Lovie illustrates his argument by a number of psychological examples (taken from the history of behaviourism and factor theories of intelligence), but he also discusses Gerald Holton's analysis of the work of Robert Millikan and Albert Einstein, and Michael Faraday's studies of electromagnetic induction as dissected by Ryan Tweney.
His own analysis of the American astronomer Percival Lowell's controversial views on the canals of Mars forms the centrepiece of the book. "Context and Commitment" should be of interest to all psychologists, as well as philosophers and sociologists of science.