ALEJANDRO LEÓN, AGUSTÍN DANIEL GÓMEZ FUENTES*

* Coordinators: RMIPEH-SMIP.

The status of psychology as a scientific discipline is unique, since a consensual object of study has not been established throughout its history. Therefore, there are different perspectives about the nature of psychological phenomena, of their respective units of analysis, of valid methods for the study of these units, and of relevant forms for the analysis and representation of their data. Thus, the fundamental difference between the various psychological approaches lies on the very definition of their objects of study, and therefore, on how knowledge is generated about them. In other words, the difference between the psychological approaches is given by the characterization of the objects of study they aim to know, that is, by the definition of the phenomena to be studied (ontological commitment) and / or by the identification of attributes of these objects, in order to determine the criteria for valid and relevant knowledge (epistemological commitment).

Considering that the ontological and epistemological commitments define the methodological criteria, the procedures, the type of measures employed, as well as the nature of the theoretical representations proposed or chosen to approximate the phenomena, the eventual commensurability and comparability of data from the light of different psychological perspectives will depend on the similarity of their ontological and epistemological commitments.

This issue is just a sample of the diversity of approaches that generate knowledge in contemporary psychology, each with a different object of study and different methods for obtaining and analyzing data. The reader has at their disposal papers with different scopes (exploratory, descriptive, correlational, etc.); methodological approaches (quantitative, qualitative); data collection strategies (direct observation, psychometric instruments, interviews); theoretical frameworks (behavioral, cognitive), and types of research (basic, applied).

The first five papers constitute a special section and were written by guest authors, members of the National Network of Human Experimental Psychology (RMIPEH, for its Spanish acronym) of the Mexican Psychology Research System (IPMS, for its Spanish acronym). The main purpose of this network is to contribute to the development of research in human behavior from an experimental approach. The papers included in this section are part of the efforts of this network's members; its authors come from prestigious Mexican and South American universities. Among the former are the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, the Universidad de Guadalajara and the Universidad Veracruzana; and among the latter, the Universidad de São Paulo-SP and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

The four subsequent papers rigorously analyze the psychometric properties of different instruments linked to relevant topics in the area of health psychology (social phobia, psychological well-being, subjective social support, and self-silencing) and the adaptation and / or validation of these instruments. The authors of these research papers come from recognized universities in different Ibero-American countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Portugal.

Further papers include two studies on depression, with different methodological approaches and populations; a correlational descriptive study about different types of leadership and the behavior of sharing knowledge with co-workers; a single-subject experimental study that assessed an intervention strategy with parents based on the perspective of social interaction to reduce child behavior problems; a correlational research on partner abuse; and finally, an international scientometric analysis of the scientific production between 1992 and 2010 around national publications in Brazil and international publications of trans-cultural studies on psychological assessment. The papers in this last group come from major universities in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.

The RMIPEH, belonging to the SMIP, wish to thank the Journal Acta Colombiana de Psicología and the authors of this issue, whose contributions help promote the development of research in human behavior from different perspectives, to create a space for exchange and academic collaboration among its members, and to establish mechanisms for disseminating the research findings of its members, academic bodies and research groups worldwide.