TY - JOUR
T1 - Challenges facing the neurological study of religious behavior, belief, and experience
AU - Wildman, Wesley J.
AU - McNamara, Patrick
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - The neurological study of religious behavior, belief, and experience faces many challenges related to research conception, experimental design, and interpretation of results. Some of these problems are common to other types of neurological study of behavioral and cognitive phenomena. Others are distinctive to the specifically religious domain of behavior, belief, and experience. This paper discusses eight of these problems and three key strategic principles for mitigating them. It then proposes an eight-step framework for research into the neurology of religious behavior, belief, and experience that implements the three strategic principles and addresses all eight of the problems.
AB - The neurological study of religious behavior, belief, and experience faces many challenges related to research conception, experimental design, and interpretation of results. Some of these problems are common to other types of neurological study of behavioral and cognitive phenomena. Others are distinctive to the specifically religious domain of behavior, belief, and experience. This paper discusses eight of these problems and three key strategic principles for mitigating them. It then proposes an eight-step framework for research into the neurology of religious behavior, belief, and experience that implements the three strategic principles and addresses all eight of the problems.
KW - Evolution
KW - Neuroscience
KW - Religious behavior
KW - Religious belief
KW - Religious experience
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=61149405916&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=61149405916&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/157006808X317455
DO - 10.1163/157006808X317455
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:61149405916
SN - 0943-3058
VL - 20
SP - 212
EP - 242
JO - Method and Theory in the Study of Religion
JF - Method and Theory in the Study of Religion
IS - 3
ER -