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40-772: As of 1986, the members of the task force were: On May 11, 1987, the APA Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) rejected the DIMPAC report because "[i]n general, the report lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur ." Along with the rejection memo came two letters from external advisers to the APA who reviewed the report (the APA did not make its internal review public): The memorandum concludes with "Finally, after much consideration, BSERP does not believe that we have sufficient information available to guide us in taking

80-435: A Washington state law firm and twelve other scholars as defendants. Ofshe and Singer said that these actions damaged their reputations as forensic experts in the fields of psychology and sociology in the area of coercive persuasion, preventing their testimony against cults , and specified acts of collusion between several of the defendants and cult groups. The court summons filed by Singer and Ofshe's lawyer described

120-665: A methodical approach is the scientific method , in which a person will produce a hypothesis based on what they believe to be true, then construct experiments in order to prove that hypothesis wrong. This method, when followed correctly, helps to prevent against circular reasoning and other fallacies which frequently plague conclusions within academia. Other disciplines, such as philosophy and mathematics, employ their own structures to ensure intellectual rigour. Each method requires close attention to criteria for logical consistency, as well as to all relevant evidence and possible differences of interpretation. At an institutional level, peer review

160-458: A point, some point is within an angle, and figures can be superimposed on each other). This was contrary to the idea of rigorous proof where all assumptions need to be stated and nothing can be left implicit. New foundations were developed using the axiomatic method to address this gap in rigour found in the Elements (e.g., Hilbert's axioms , Birkhoff's axioms , Tarski's axioms ). During

200-467: A position on this issue." Margaret Singer and her professional associate sociologist Richard Ofshe subsequently sued the APA in 1992 for defamation , frauds , aiding and abetting, and conspiracy—and lost in 1994. Subsequently, judges did not accept Singer as an expert witness in cases alleging brainwashing and mind control . The task force completed its final report in November 1986. In May 1987,

240-548: A principled approach; and intellectual rigour can seem to be defeated. This defines a judge 's problem with uncodified law . Codified law poses a different problem, of interpretation and adaptation of definite principles without losing the point; here applying the letter of the law, with all due rigour, may on occasion seem to undermine the principled approach . Mathematical rigour can apply to methods of mathematical proof and to methods of mathematical practice (thus relating to other interpretations of rigour). Mathematical rigour

280-420: A principled position from which to advance or argue. An opportunistic tendency to use any argument at hand is not very rigorous, although very common in politics , for example. Arguing one way one day, and another later, can be defended by casuistry , i.e. by saying the cases are different. In the legal context, for practical purposes, the facts of cases do always differ. Case law can therefore be at odds with

320-462: A situation or constraint either chosen or experienced passively. For example, the title of the book Theologia Moralis Inter Rigorem et Laxitatem Medi roughly translates as "mediating theological morality between rigour and laxness". The book details, for the clergy , situations in which they are obligated to follow church law exactly, and in which situations they can be more forgiving yet still considered moral. Rigor mortis translates directly as

360-405: A standard of rigour, but are written in a mixture of symbolic and natural language. In this sense, written mathematical discourse is a prototype of formal proof. Often, a written proof is accepted as rigorous although it might not be formalised as yet. The reason often cited by mathematicians for writing informally is that completely formal proofs tend to be longer and more unwieldy, thereby obscuring

400-411: A topic or case is dealt with in a rigorous way, it typically means that it is dealt with in a comprehensive, thorough and complete way, leaving no room for inconsistencies. Scholarly method describes the different approaches or methods which may be taken to apply intellectual rigour on an institutional level to ensure the quality of information published. An example of intellectual rigour assisted by

440-601: Is a professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University , Richmond, VA and the University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA , specialized in sociology of religion and the academic study of new religious movements . He has written extensively about cults , new religious movements , apostasy , and the anti-cult movement . Bromley received his B.A. in sociology (1963) from Colby College . He then obtained his M.A. (1966) and Ph.D. (1971) from Duke University . He began his professional teaching career at

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480-430: Is based on the notion of allegiance. In its dealings with the larger society, Bromley argues, religious groups can be either allegiant, contestant, or subversive of mainline values and institutions. Those who leave allegiant groups are "defectors", and the allegiant groups, protected by their popularity, may dismiss them as "problem individuals". Groups perceived by the society as "subversive" have "apostates", who claim that

520-451: Is often cited as a kind of gold standard for mathematical proof . Its history traces back to Greek mathematics , especially to Euclid 's Elements . Until the 19th century, Euclid's Elements was seen as extremely rigorous and profound, but in the late 19th century, Hilbert (among others) realized that the work left certain assumptions implicit—assumptions that could not be proved from Euclid's Axioms (e.g. two circles can intersect in

560-409: Is possible to doubt whether complete intellectual honesty exists—on the grounds that no one can entirely master his or her own presuppositions—without doubting that certain kinds of intellectual rigour are potentially available. The distinction certainly matters greatly in debate , if one wishes to say that an argument is flawed in its premises . The setting for intellectual rigour does tend to assume

600-448: Is used to validate intellectual rigour. Intellectual rigour is a subset of intellectual honesty —a practice of thought in which ones convictions are kept in proportion to valid evidence . Intellectual honesty is an unbiased approach to the acquisition, analysis, and transmission of ideas. A person is being intellectually honest when he or she, knowing the truth, states that truth, regardless of outside social/environmental pressures. It

640-731: The California Fourth District Court of Appeal . This resulted in a rejection of Singer's testimony on the basis that the brainwashing theory of false imprisonment constituted an attempt to premise tort liability on religious practices that the plaintiff believed to be objectionable, and that such premise appeared inconsistent with the First Amendment . In 1990, District Court Judge Lowell Jensen excluded Singer's testimony in United States v. Fishman . According to J. Gordon Melton , upon reading

680-887: The Unification Church . The brief portrayed Singer's hypotheses as uninformed speculations based on skewed data. On March 24, 1987, the APA filed a motion to withdraw its signature from this brief, as it considered the conclusion premature in view of the ongoing work of the DIMPAC task force. The amicus as such continued because the co-signed scholars did not withdraw their signatures. These included: Jeffrey Hadden , Eileen Barker , David Bromley and J. Gordon Melton , Joseph Bettis , Durwood Foster , William R. Garret , Richard D. Kahone , Timothy Miller , John Young , James T. Richardson , Ray L. Hart , Benton Johnson , Franklin Littell , Newton Malony , Donald E. Miller, Mel Prosen , Thomas Robbins , and Huston Smith . When

720-555: The arithmetization of analysis . Starting in the 1870s, the term gradually came to be associated with Cantorian set theory . Mathematical rigour can be modelled as amenability to algorithmic proof checking . Indeed, with the aid of computers, it is possible to check some proofs mechanically. Formal rigour is the introduction of high degrees of completeness by means of a formal language where such proofs can be codified using set theories such as ZFC (see automated theorem proving ). Published mathematical arguments have to conform to

760-415: The 19th century, the term "rigorous" began to be used to describe increasing levels of abstraction when dealing with calculus which eventually became known as mathematical analysis . The works of Cauchy added rigour to the older works of Euler and Gauss . The works of Riemann added rigour to the works of Cauchy. The works of Weierstrass added rigour to the works of Riemann, eventually culminating in

800-465: The APA Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) rejected the DIMPAC final report; stating that the report "lack[ed] the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur". The BSERP board requested that the task-force members not distribute or publicize the report without indicating that the Board found the report unacceptable, and cautioned the members of

840-708: The APA's BSERP declined to accept the DIMPAC findings, Singer sued the APA and other scholars in 1992 for " defamation , frauds , aiding and abetting and conspiracy " under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and lost in 1994. The lawsuit alleged that several top executives at the APA and ASA attempted to destroy careers, charging that from 1986 to 1992 they resorted to improper influence of witnesses in state court litigations, filed untrue affidavits , attempted to obstruct justice in federal litigations, deceived federal judges, and committed wire and mail fraud . The lawsuit also cited

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880-599: The Social Order, an annual serial published by the Association for the Sociology of Religion . Regarding the definition of new religious movements, Bromley distinguishes them from other religious groups based on the concept of "alignment" with both dominant social institutions and dominant cultural patterns in a given society. While dominant religious groups are aligned with both, sectarian religious groups reject

920-500: The University of Virginia, where he taught from 1968 to 1974. He then taught at the University of Texas at Austin (1976–1980), and University of Hartford (1980–1983). Since 1983 he has held his professorial post at the University of Virginia and also at Virginia Commonwealth University. His primary area of teaching and research is sociology of religion , with a specialization in the academic study of new religious movements . He

960-589: The arguments against Singer and Ofshe 's theories on brainwashing and coercive tactics, the court denied their expert testimony. In 1991, the Patrick Ryan v. Maharishi Yogi case was filed in the US District Court in Washington, DC . Judge Oliver Gasch refused to allow Singer to testify, based on the premises that Singer and Ofshe's theory did not enjoy substantial scientific approval and

1000-494: The dominant institutions of modern society, yet accept key elements of the dominant Christian cultural pattern. Bromley has written about the rise of an anti-cult movement in the 1970s and 1980s, and the accompanying controversies involving allegations of brainwashing and deprogramming . He defined the anti-cult movement in 1981 as the amalgam of groups who embrace the brainwashing theory. Bromley has also written about apostasy , cults and religions. His theory of apostasy

1040-475: The dominant social institutions but at the same time accept at least some of the dominant cultural patterns. New religious movements reject both dominant social institutions and cultural patterns, and are in turn rejected by mainline institutions and cultural agencies as cults. For instance, according to Bromley the Amish are a sectarian religious group rather than a new religious movement because they operate outside

1080-494: The formalisation of proof does improve the mathematical rigour by disclosing gaps or flaws in informal written discourse. When the correctness of a proof is disputed, formalisation is a way to settle such a dispute as it helps to reduce misinterpretations or ambiguity. The role of mathematical rigour in relation to physics is twofold: Both aspects of mathematical rigour in physics have attracted considerable attention in philosophy of science (see, for example, ref. and ref. and

1120-467: The help of a properly trained teacher. Rigour in the classroom is commonly called "rigorous instruction". It is instruction that requires students to construct meaning for themselves, impose structure on information, integrate individual skills into processes, operate within but at the outer edge of their abilities, and apply what they learn in more than one context and to unpredictable situations. David G. Bromley David G. Bromley (born 1941)

1160-430: The lawyer who represented them in the case, for malpractice . Rigour Rigour ( British English ) or rigor ( American English ; see spelling differences ) describes a condition of stiffness or strictness. These constraints may be environmentally imposed, such as "the rigours of famine "; logically imposed, such as mathematical proofs which must maintain consistent answers; or socially imposed, such as

1200-570: The line of argument. An argument that appears obvious to human intuition may in fact require fairly long formal derivations from the axioms. A particularly well-known example is how in Principia Mathematica , Whitehead and Russell have to expend a number of lines of rather opaque effort in order to establish that, indeed, it is sensical to say: "1+1=2". In short, comprehensibility is favoured over formality in written discourse. Still, advocates of automated theorem provers may argue that

1240-573: The movements they have left are dangerous or criminal, and are taken seriously by mainline institutions and media. Somewhere in the middle are "whistleblowers", who expose negative features not previously well-known of contestant (and sometimes also of allegiant) religious groups. Within the academic study of new religious movements , Bromley has been described as somewhat sympathetic of groups labeled as cults, such as by Canadian sociologist Stephen A. Kent , who objected to Bromley's definition of ex-members of cults as "apostates" as leading to disregarding

APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-534: The parties as the opposing camps in a long-standing debate over certain theories in the field of psychology, and that the plaintiffs could not establish deceit with reference to representations made to other parties in the lawsuit. In a further ruling, James R. Lamden ordered Ofshe and Singer to pay $ 80,000 in attorneys' fees under California's SLAPP suit law, which penalizes those who harass others for exercising their First Amendment rights. At that time Singer and Ofshe declared their intention to sue Michael Flomenhaft,

1320-479: The process of defining ethics and law . "Rigour" comes to English through old French (13th c., Modern French rigueur ) meaning "stiffness", which itself is based on the Latin rigorem (nominative rigor ) "numbness, stiffness, hardness, firmness; roughness, rudeness", from the verb rigere "to be stiff". The noun was frequently used to describe a condition of strictness or stiffness, which arises from

1360-425: The rejection of the DIMPAC report by the APA's BSERP as a "rejection of the scientific validity of the theory of coercive persuasion". The court dismissed the case on the basis that the claims of defamation, frauds, aiding and abetting and conspiracy constituted a dispute over the application of the First Amendment to a public debate over academic and professional matters. The court stated that one could characterize

1400-421: The stiffness ( rigor ) of death ( mortis ), again describing a condition which arises from a certain constraint (death). Intellectual rigour is a process of thought which is consistent, does not contain self-contradiction, and takes into account the entire scope of available knowledge on the topic. It actively avoids logical fallacy . Furthermore, it requires a sceptical assessment of the available knowledge. If

1440-604: The task force against using their past appointment to it to imply BSERP or APA support or approval of the positions advocated in the report. In August 1988, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed part of the case Kropinski v. World Plan Executive Council , based on the lack of scientific support for the theories presented by Margaret Singer during her testimony as an expert witness . In 1989, Robin George v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness appeared in

1480-513: The value of the information they can supply. According to Kent ex-members sometimes provide better information about these movements than the NRM Studies scholars. Bromley has expressed opposition to the claims of brainwashing and the practice of deprogramming. Bromley compared these social conflicts to witch-hunts of the late Middle Ages, and has claimed that civil liberties guaranteeing religious freedom were threatened. He has criticized

1520-536: The works quoted therein). Rigour in the classroom is a hotly debated topic amongst educators. Even the semantic meaning of the word is contested. Generally speaking, classroom rigour consists of multi-faceted, challenging instruction and correct placement of the student. Students excelling in formal operational thought tend to excel in classes for gifted students. Students who have not reached that final stage of cognitive development , according to developmental psychologist Jean Piaget , can build upon those skills with

1560-635: Was also director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Hartford and chairman of Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Virginia. From 1992 to 1995, Bromley was the editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , published by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion , and was between 1991 and 2003 one of the editors of Religion and

1600-576: Was therefore not admissible as the basis of expert opinion. Before the task force had submitted its final report, the APA together with a group of scholars submitted an amicus curiae brief in a pending case, Molko v. Holy Spirit Ass'n for the Unification of World Christianity before the California Supreme Court . The case was submitted on February 10, 1987, and involved issues of brainwashing and coercive persuasion related to

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