Dissertation Research: Cognition and Religion: Religiosity in Tibetan Buddhist Monasticism as a Test Case

论文研究：认知与宗教：藏传佛教寺院中的宗教信仰作为测试案例

• 批准号: 0719002
• 负责人: Melvyn Goldstein
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Case Western Reserve University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-09-15 至 2010-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0719002&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Cognition; Religion; Religiosity

Graduate student Alex W. Bridges, supervised by Dr. Melvyn C. Goldstein, will undertake research on the relationship between religiosity and cognition. Recent research has suggested that universal cognitive neurological properties of the human brain may underlie apparent similarities in religious experiences. Bridges will test aspects of that theory through intensive field research in the unique social context of Tibetan Buddhist monasticism.Fieldwork will take place over a twelve month period in Ladakh, a predominantly Tibetan Buddhist region of India's northern Himalayas. Research will be conducted at two monasteries representing different monastic sects. The researcher will use traditional ethnographic methodologies, including participant observation and life-history interviewing. In addition, he will conduct experiments employing an adapted method of serial reproduction testing, which is used to test memory. In this context, the researcher will test monks to elicit patterns in the narrative usage and remembering of religious ideas and ritual practices. Universalist claims of cognitive theorists of religion will be evaluated through 1) determining how the personal backgrounds of monks influence the relationship between religious ideas and life events, and 2) revealing the extent to which religious concepts are distinguished from everyday practice in a monastic context. This research is important because it will be one of the first anthropological studies to test universalist cognitive theories of religion in the social context of particular religious experience. This will contribute to better understanding of the religious dimensions of human cognition, as well as to the education of a graduate student.

研究生亚历克斯W。布里奇斯，由梅尔文博士监督。戈尔茨坦，将承担宗教和认知之间的关系的研究。最近的研究表明，人类大脑的普遍认知神经特性可能是宗教体验明显相似的基础。Bridges将在藏传佛教独特的社会环境中进行深入的实地研究，以检验这一理论的各个方面。实地研究将在印度北方喜马拉雅山的一个以藏传佛教为主的地区拉达克进行，为期12个月。 研究将在代表不同寺院教派的两座寺院进行。 研究者将使用传统的民族志方法，包括参与观察和生活史访谈。此外，他将进行实验，采用改编的方法，串行复制测试，这是用来测试记忆。在此背景下，研究者将测试僧侣，以引出叙事使用和宗教思想和仪式实践的记忆模式。 宗教认知理论家的普遍主义主张将通过以下方式进行评估：（1）确定僧侣的个人背景如何影响宗教观念与生活事件之间的关系，以及（2）揭示宗教概念在多大程度上与僧侣背景下的日常实践相区别。这项研究是重要的，因为它将是第一个人类学研究，以测试在特定的宗教经验的社会背景下，宗教的普遍认知理论之一。这将有助于更好地理解人类认知的宗教层面，以及研究生的教育。