The candidate gene approach is a prudent strategy for investigating hypotheses about potential disease genes for which there exists a priori knowledge, but unbiased, genome-wide methods are needed to nominate novel loci.
However, when assessing the toxicity of chemical mixtures, it is prudent to test the null hypothesis of no interactions.
It was, in theory, a prudent decision.
Under these circumstances, is it not prudent to take the neutral explanation as the null hypothesis?
In other words, though the hypothesis many be false, the policies it promotes are prudent".
Importantly, rather than interpreting the lack of moderating effect of DRD4 VNTR genotype on reaction to alcohol cues as diverging from previous findings [ 37, 40], it appears more prudent to conclude that this study could not fully test that hypothesis.
It seems prudent, therefore, to remain open to, and actively seek, alternative hypotheses for the evolutionary advantages of imprinting on a locus-by-locus basis, especially in non-eutherian species.
I do not say that the stereochemical or physicochemical hypotheses are false, I simply explain what I observe using a prudent tone.
The second main hypothesis of the study was partially confirmed, in that happiness was positively associated with most of the prudent health behaviours except alcohol consumption, and other drug uses.
The behavioral hypothesis emerges from a line of research in psychology, which suggests that lower mood is associated with more prudent behavior and reduced risk taking (e.g., Cole et al., 1998; Bader, 2005; Kahnman, 2011).
