Cognitive Science of Religion The Colloquium, convened by Dr. Wesley J. Wildman, meets weekly for interdisciplinary discussions of the scientific study of religion. The group is a friendly and supportive environment for people making their way in the scientific study…
Wesley Wildman, Connor Wood, Catherine Caldwell-Harris, Aimee S. Radom, Nicholas DiDonato Psychology of Religion Abstract: The Multidimensional Religious Ideology (MRI) scale is a new 43-item measure that quantifies conservative versus liberal aspects of religious ideology. The MRI focuses on recurring…
In 2017, CMAC Researchers Jonathan Morgan, Connor Wood, and Catherine Caldwell-Harris published their paper “Reflective Thought, Religious Belief, and the Social Foundations Hypothesis” as a chapter in the book The New Reflectionism edited by Gordon Pennycook. In 2021, AI bots…
Patrick McNamara, Wesley J Wildman, George Hodulik, David Rohr SLEEP Advances Study Objectives: To test and extend Levin & Nielsen’s (2007) Affective Network Dysfunction (AND) model with nightmare disorder (ND) image characteristics, and then to implement the extension as a computational simulation, the…
CMAC is excited to introduce DIGETHIX – a public education and communication project that provides publicly available discussions on issues involving technology and ethics. The goal of DIGETHIX is to promote high-level, practical ethical analysis through conversations with scholars and industry experts,…
In the summer of 2020, CMAC brought on our first full-time demographer, Rachel Bacon. Rachel is working on the Modeling Religious Change project, adapting traditional demography methods to cooperate with cutting edge methods in computational simulation. Following the release of…
Ryan Cragun, Kevin McCaffree, Ivan Puga-Gonzalez, Wesley Wildman, F. LeRon Shults Secularism and Nonreligion Abstract: Statistical models attempting to predict who will disaffiliate from religions have typically accounted for less than 15% of the variation in religious affiliations, suggesting that…
Wesley J. Wildman, Saikou Y. Diallo, George Hodulik, Andrew Page, Andreas Tolk, and Neha Gondal Complexity January 2021 Overview: Operating universities under pandemic conditions is a complex undertaking. The Artificial University (TAU) responds to this need. TAU is a configurable,…
Saikou Diallo, F. LeRon Shults, Wesley J. Wildman AI & Society August 2020 Abstract: Public policies are designed to have an impact on particular societies, yet policy-oriented computer models and simulations often focus more on articulating the policies to be applied than…
Kate J. Stockly and Wesley J. Wildman About the book: From psychedelic tourism to techno-geek psychonauts, spiritual seeking has finally merged with high-tech entrepreneurism. Most people are still not aware of these technologies of spirituality, let alone how they are…
CMAC Research Associate F. LeRon Shults recently published Practicing Safe Sects: Religious Reproduction in Scientific and Philosophical Perspective. The book is now open access and anyone can download it for free! Shults’ book addresses how conceptions of supernatural agents arise…
In April 2011, the first issue of Religion, Brain & Behavior was published by Taylor & Francis, adorned then as today with William Blake’s “Web of Religion”. The journal provides “a vehicle for the advancement of current biological approaches to understanding religion…
Wesley J. Wildman, F. LeRon Shults, Saikou Diallo, Ross Gore, Justin E. Lane Secularism and Nonreligion August 2020 Abstract: The abandonment of supernatural religious beliefs and rituals seems to occur quite easily in some contexts, but post-supernaturalist cultures require a…
Rich Byrne, Gail H. Cassell, Matthew E. Downs, Florida International University, John Halamka, Shayri M. Kansagra, Leavitt Partners, Rakhee Palekar, Neelima Ramaraju, Kunal J. Rambhia, Kippy Rudy, Jay Schnitzer, Taylor Wilkerson August 2020 Introduction: The complex decision-making regarding reopening of…
A Cross-Cultural Examination of Ritual as a Signaling and Solidarity-Building Strategy Kate J. Stockly, Stephanie Arel, Megan K. DeFranza, Damian Ruck, Luke Matthews Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Vol. 14, No. 1 August 2020 Abstract: Prior research…
Keynote Address to the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion, August 12, 2018 Dr. Wesley J. Wildman CMAC Executive Director Dr. Wesley J. Wildman gave the following keynote lecture at the 2018 International Association for the Cognitive Science…
One of CMAC’s newest projects is Black Maternal Mortality, which is looking at data from Boston hospitals to learn more about the underlying conditions that cause maternal mortality rates to be three to four times worse for Black mothers than…
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented global health crisis. Given the urgency for a rapid response to the pandemic, the open communication of knowledge and expertise within the scientific community has never been more important. Scientific models and algorithms…
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re all getting used to a new normal. Phrases like “in these unprecedented times” and “stay healthy” are now frequently used by myself and others. Even for those not experiencing the symptoms of the virus,…
Five Intersex Stories of Sex, Gender, and Religious Faith November 8, 2019 Boston, MA – Intersex and Faith’s film Stories of Intersex and Faith is available to purchase for institutional screenings as of November 8, 2019. Stories of Intersex and…