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The classical dual use problem—the potential for harmful as well as beneficial application of scientific findings—has become more immediate in biotechnology than in most other fields of science. Terrorist misuse of the information on the development of pathogenic organisms can lead to catastrophic outcomes. Therefore, particular in biosciences researchers are faced with the dilemma to find a proper balance between the right to know and the dangers of knowing. In this paper this dilemma is illustrated by the research on the influenza A virus subtype H5N1, commonly known as “bird flu”. The pros and cons of the full publication on the development of a dangerous airborne type are discussed.

The following is a slightly revised version of a lecture presented at the RIA/IUA/HRB workshop ‘Research Integrity: Promoting and Building Trust’ at the Royal Irish Academy of Sciences, Dublin, on 24 September 2009. Various thoughts and arguments presented in this paper are also discussed in the advisory report of Working Group 2 (Code of Conduct) to the ESF Member Forum on Research Integrity.

On souligne dans cet essai les limites de l’approche quantitative traditionnelle en psychologie du travail et des organisations. Il est necessaire de s’orienter vers un elargissement de la palette des methodes une ouverture sur de nouveaux problemes et une meilleure integration d’une part avec les disciplines connexes, d’autre part avec les applications des resultats des recherches pour garantir l’utilite et la mise en œuvre de la future psychologie du T&O. Ce qui ne signifie pas que les microproblemes doivent etre laisses de cote, mais on part du principe que la psychologie du T&O ne doit pas etre privee de la possibilite de s’attaquer aux questions de niveau moyen et global, souvent les plus pertinentes, sous pretexte que l’on ne dispose pas des outils appropries pour les traiter. In this essay the limitations of the traditional quantitative approach in work and organisational psychology are put forward. It is argued that an extension of the methods, a broadening of the type of problems to be addressed, and a stronger integration with associated disciplines as well as with the application and implementation of the research findings are needed to ensure the usefulness and application of future W&O psychology. It is not suggested that micro-level problems should not be investigated, but it is postulated that W&O psychology should not be deprived of the opportunity to tackle other, and often more relevant, meso- and macro-level issues because we lack appropriate tools for attacking them.

In Australia and the Netherlands, research institutions and their funders, as well as academics, state integrity agencies, judges, governments, and journalists, have contributed to the development of rules and procedures that might help prevent, investigate, and respond to research fraud and misconduct. Both countries have experienced scandals and have ended up with codes, investigatory committees, and national research integrity committees. National policy has created a series of expectations for research institutions. However, in both countries, the primary responsibility for research integrity remains with the institutions under whose auspices the research is carried out, as well as with the researchers themselves. Research institutions have to decide how to respond to misconduct, albeit in ways that are open to scrutiny by national advisory committees, the media, courts, and state accountability mechanisms. As a result, many institutions have amended and sharpened their own codes and regulations; refined their mechanisms for advising staff, reporting and investigating suspected misconduct, and responding to findings of misconduct; improved their protection rules for whistleblowers; regulated data storing and archiving; and sought to foster greater transparency in both their research and research integrity procedures. However, while researchers have been encouraged to embed awareness and acknowledgment of these principles through teaching, supervision, and mentoring of students and junior staff, less effort has been placed on resourcing good practice, tracing and understanding the causes of misconduct, and on fostering and entrenching a research culture invested with the values of professional responsibility and integrity.

Science is not taken for granted any longer. Society, politics and the media frequently pose critical questions tending to censorship or at least control of science. How does science react? On the one hand it cannot exist and develop without freedom: on the other hand this does not mean freedom to amass knowledge at any price and without restrictions. Thus, the scientist must balance freedom and ethical and social responsibility. This paper will reflect on the question of the limitations of science; who should control what and on which criteria

This paper tries to demonstrate that the truthfulness and usefulness of psychology as a science, although clearly distinguishable, can and often do go together very well. The criteria for the two concepts are relevance and veracity, respectively. Each of these criteria is further analyzed and differentiated. Together they compose a three-dimensional Knowledge-Relevance (K-R) model. This model proves to be useful in addressing various classical epistemological questions, pertaining to both the theoretical and practical dimensions of psychology. It is argued that a proper balance between pure and applied research has to be kept so as to serve the various relevant objectives of psychology as a science.

This article presents the results of statistical analyses of the scores on subtests of the Intelligence Test for Visually Impaired Children—a new test with nonverbal subtests for children aged 6–15. The analyses were conducted for two vision groups: children with no usable vision and children with usable vision. The classification is based on the results of a short, objective vision test. The results suggest that the battery has differential—factorial and predictive—validity.

(1991). Work Meanings: A Conceptual, Semantic and Developmental Approach. European Work and Organizational Psychologist: Vol. 1, No. 2-3, pp. 125-133.

The question “Is psychology applied enough?” can be regarded in two ways. In the first place, it could refer to the distinction “pure versus applied science”, and the reproach that modern scientific experimental psychology has little to offer to the practitioner. It is argued that this distinction has lost much of its topicality in modern science, and certainly with respect to psychology. In this sense “applied psychology” is an outmoded notion. Secondly, it could refer to the question whether psychology is utilised enough in dealing with the great many pressing problems in modern society. And it is shown that this question cannot be answered in the affirmative. Too often psychological aspects of problems escape notice and too often potential psychological contributions are neglected in governmental and organisational decision-making, also in cases where such a contribution would prove valuable indeed. A number of reasons for such a neglect are discussed and some ways of improvement are suggested. La question de savoir si la psychologie est suffisamment appliquee peut etre abordee de deux facons. Elle peut d’abord renvoyer a la distinction entre science fondamentale et science appliquee et a la critique selon laquelle la psychologie experimentale moderne a peu a offrir au praticien. Nous pensons que cette distinction a perdu beaucoup de son actualite, surtout en psychologie. Dans ces conditions, la « psychologie appliquee » est une notion desuete. Ensuite, cette question peut faire reference au fait de savoir si la psychologie est suffisamment exploitee dans le traitement des nombreux problemes sociaux qu’il est urgent de resoudre. Il apparait qu’il n’est pas possible de repondre par l’affirmative. Trop souvent, les dimensions psychologiques des problemes passent inapercues et les contributions potentielles de la psychologie sont negligees dans les decisions gouvernementales et organisationnelles, meme quand cet apport serait manifestement precieux. On analyse les raisons de cette negligence et l’on suggere quelques pistes en vue d’une amelioration.

The theme of the 2006 IAP Conference, held at Alexandria, from 1–3 December 2006, was ‘The Unity of Science’. Let me explain how I interpret this interesting motto. For me, this does not mean that there is one regina scientiarum that rules over the other fields of science and learning; a role that was allotted to theology in olden times, and that nowadays – in a more secular vein – is claimed by physics. In my view, the notion ‘unity of science’ rather refers to ‘communality within diversity’. Disciplines vary in content, issues and methods. But there are also quite some common objectives, interests and concerns, the most important of which may be the common goal of searching for testable truth with objective and independent evidence. The communalities render it possible, or even imperative, to communicate and to cooperate. The diversity implies complementariness and calls for interdisciplinarity in the study of today’s numerous and complex phenomena in science and society.

Science is not taken for granted any longer. Society, politics and the media pose critical questions tending to censorship or at least control of science. How does science respond? It cannot exist and develop without freedom, but this does not mean freedom to amass knowledge and apply technological applications at any price and without restrictions. Science should be autonomous, but is not value-free. A distinction is made between external and internal social/ethical problems. The former refer to questions of the social/ethical context and consequences of scientific research, and the latter to the rules of 'good practice' and scientific integrity. The role of academies of science, and of associations of such academies (e.g. All European Academies (ALLEA)) in developing codes of good scientific practice and fostering a proper sense of scientific values and standards is further discussed.

Recently many academies, science foundations and university associations have placed scientific integrity high on the agenda. 'Scientific integrity' falls within the category internal ethical problems in science as opposed to the category external ethical problems (e.g. justification of the choice of the subject of research, independence of research, responsibility for possible applications) and differs from intrinsic ethical problems such as those generated by stemcell research, nuclear fusion, xenotransplantation a.o. Crucial for science is trust by colleagues and peers as well as the wider public. Trust is weakened by published cases of misconduct: fraud, deceit, and infringement of intellectual property. Scientific misconduct and fraud have been a worldwide phenomenon of all times. The borderline between acceptable and unacceptable conduct is often vague. Causes of scientific misconduct include pressure from powerful institutions, economic and financial motives, and own ambition and vanity of the scientists. Hard data on the occurrence of misconduct is lacking, but a present-day increase of misconduct is not inconceivable. Prevention of misconduct include corrective and antecipatory measures, but most important is the fostering of a scientific conscience and at a sense of proper values and standards.

In this article it is argued that on the one hand science should be free from external pressures, be it from ideology, religion, political or financial interests. Only facts should speak, only the logical norm should rule. On the other hand scientists, and certainly behavioral scientists, are nowadays confronted with a host of ethical, social and political questions that cannot be pushed aside with the argument that they are normative and not scientific. Ethical and normative questions arise with respect to the choice and justification of research topics, to the nature of experimentation and handling data, and to the technological or socio-political application and use of the research results. Freedom of research therefore finds its boundaries in the ethical and social responsibility of the (behavioral) scientist.

The first Academy, founded by Plato in the fifth century before Christ, was situated in the grove near Athens outside the centre of public life. It was not the wish for isolation but rather the desire of independent individuals to engage in critical reflection on both the prevailing philosophical theorems and the political arguments that made that place most appropriate. When the Emperor Justinian almost a millennium later decided to close this Academy, since he believed that the views developed and disseminated there were damaging to the state, he did not realize that the very value and contribution of an Academy does spring from its independent position and its freedom to criticize. Later, in the Renaissance, it was this same spirit of independence and intellectual freedom that caused the revival of the idea of an Academy. An academy is a place where scholars meet, exchange ideas and reflect in an environment and spirit of absolute intellectual freedom and independence.

A framework and method of a three-country comparative study on the process of participative decision-making is described. Research methods, models, and instruments are developed in the context of a longitudinal de-sign. The major hypotheses relate to the situationally determined relation between power decentralization, skill utilization, and effectiveness. The four-year study hopes to provide at least partial answers to some theoretical as well as practical questions in a field of considerable current controversy in Europe.

A venom gland extract of Microbracon hebetor (Say) was injected into representatives of different insect orders. A high susceptibility to this paralysing venom is restricted to the order of the Lepidoptera . A few species of Hemiptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera could be paralysed but only if high doses of the venom were injected.

This article discusses the experiences with participative decision making on the shop floor ("work consultation") in three Dutch organizations. Work consultation is characterized in terms of content, process, and effects. Besides the moderating effect of a number of contingency variables on the relation between participation and outcome variables is researched. The results lead to questioning the usefulness of a contingency model in research on the effects of participation.

Severe iodine deficiency may lead to endemic cretinism, which is characterized by a number of abnormalities, such as mental retardation, neurological abnormalities and hearing disorders. These abnormalities may occur in various combinations, but impaired mental development is always a component. The present study was attempted to determine whether there is also evidence of mental retardation, perhaps to a lesser degree, in that part of the population that manifest no symptoms of cretinism, the non-cretins, in an iodine-deficient area. Results of an extensive test battery have been collected in two village populations: one village in an area with severe iodine deficiency and a control village in a non-iodine-deficient area. Both villages were situated in Central Java, Indonesia. In the selected villages the total population between the ages of 6 and 20 years participated in this study. No evidence of significant mental retardation has been detected in the non-cretin group in the severely iodine-deficient area. Significant differences between the two populations, however, have been found with regard to a number of perceptual and neuro-motor abilities.

A comparison is made between two different kinds of predictors of school performance: previous school records and intelligence tests. It is shown that both predictors have their weaknesses, from a theoretical/psychometric as well as from a practical/ethical point of view. It is further demonstrated that a number of objections are particularly pertinent in developing countries. In this respect, special attention is paid to the negative effect on educational objectives and discrimination of less advantaged subgroups in the population. It is argued that, generally, school records may suffer more from these weaknesses than certain psychological tests, provided that the latter have been constructed carefully and have been adapted to the particular population. In the summary, therefore, an optimal "division of tasks" between school records and psychological tests is recommended.

Before 1982 there was no formal limitation to the time students could be enrolled in Dutch universities. As long as they paid the (relatively small) fees, they could remain registered, for the most part, at the university of their choices. The formal course length in most disciplines was five (six years in medicine), but the de facto time required for graduation was often longer. The median study time in many fields was well over six years.

A big issue in research on leadership and organisation change is how, and how much, workers who will carry out the decisions should participate in the decision making process. An answer to this question has become more crucial now that several recent studies have shown that worker participation in the decision making process is by no means always successful: here the type of decision plays a large part. Certain conclusions from a study in three Dutch organisations are discussed below. This study is part of an international research project.

Socialization is the process by which an individual develops his actual behaviour, influenced by what is customary and acceptable according to the standards of his group (Child, 1954). Within the total set of social stimuli a great number have an accidental and unsystematic nature. A subset however is shared by the reference group, is persistent over generations and is adaptive to changes in the physical world and social environment. One can speak of “behaviour patterns acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups” (Brislin et al., 1973) or, somewhat more restricted, of “patterns of roles and norms embedded in certain paramount values” (Kroeber & Parsons, 1958). It will be understood that in these specifications we refer to the concept of “culture.” The social environment, therefore, plays a predominant role in the shaping of human behaviour, and important persons and institutions act as social agents in the socialization process, by making use of their reinforcement power.

One of the most worn-out phrases I know is that old “PR begins at home”... But — I want to add to that phrase another, less known, quotation from a Harry G. Mendelson: “What is new is not necessarily needed — and what is old is not necessarily obsolete”...

In the second part of the decade 1950–1960 a detailed and well designed research-study was carried out in the Netherlands, concerning, among other things, a variety of characteristics of shiftwork (Banning et ah 1961). Its publication contained, apart from data with regard to the applications, effects and opportunities of shiftwork, several predictions on the development of shiftwork in the Netherlands in the years to come. Even the most modest prediction foresaw an increase, both absolute and percentage-wise, as to the application of shiftwork in most branches of industry, due, among other things, to investments made. Ten years later this proved to have been an inaccurate forecast. The proportional increase in the application of shiftwork was a minor one, which table 1 illustrates. (Data regarding the mining industries are not included since most mines have been closed during this decade.)