replication crisis

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Psychology Research Is Mostly Fine
2 months ago
- The replication crisis primarily affected social psychology, especially social priming research, not all of psychology.
- Most psychology subfields (e.g., cognitive, clinical, neuropsychology) are robust and produce trustworthy research.
- Other sciences like economics and medicine also face replication issues, making psychology not uniquely flawed.
- Critics should avoid generalizing failures of social priming to the entire field of psychology.
Nothing ever dies. It merely becomes embarrassing.
2 months ago
- Psychological phenomena like power posing, ego depletion, and growth mindset persist in research despite being debunked, often rebranded under new names.
- The replication crisis has not settled disputes; theories continue to be studied because they are difficult to definitively falsify, leading to endless debates.
- The author proposes a 'Halo theory' of science: scientific theories never truly die, they only become embarrassing, and instead of trying to kill them, we should recognize when they are no longer worth pursuing.
- Historical examples (e.g., continental drift, germ theory) show that initially cringe-worthy ideas can later become accepted, but old theories that remain cringe likely have no merit.
- The author criticizes over-reliance on meta-analyses and statistical corrections, arguing that these methods do not resolve fundamental disputes about a theory's existence.
- A call to move on from endlessly debating whether a theory is alive or dead and instead focus on more productive scientific questions.
Half of social-science studies fail replication test in years-long project
2 months ago
- A large-scale replication project found that half of social-science studies failed to replicate.
- The project spanned several years and involved multiple research groups.
- The findings raise concerns about reproducibility in social science research.

replication crisis

Psychology Research Is Mostly Fine

Nothing ever dies. It merely becomes embarrassing.

Half of social-science studies fail replication test in years-long project