Running commentary: Psychological science APA leads the way

Paul Meehl’s famous critique detailed many of the problematic practices and conceptual confusions that stand in the way of meaningful theoretical progress in psychological science. By integrating many of Meehl’s points, we argue that one of the reasons for the slow progress in psychology is the failure to acknowledge the problem of coordination. This problem arises whenever we attempt to measure quantities that are not directly observable but can be inferred from observable variables. The solution to this problem is far from trivial, as demonstrated by a historical analysis of thermometry. The key challenge is the specification of a functional relationship between theoretical concepts and observations. As we demonstrate, empirical means alone cannot determine this relationship. In the case of psychology, the problem of coordination has dramatic implications in the sense that it severely constrains our ability to make meaningful theoretical claims. We discuss several examples and outline some of the solutions that are currently available.

Download Full-text

Trait phenomenological control predicts visually evoked auditory response

10.31234/osf.io/x9eud ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Lush ◽

Zoltan Dienes ◽

Anil Seth ◽

Ryan Bradley Scott

Keyword(s):

Experimental Situation ◽

Control Scale ◽

Demand Characteristics ◽

Psychological Science ◽

Auditory Responses ◽

Wide Range ◽

Auditory Response ◽

Auditory Experience ◽

Subjective Reports ◽

The Way

Up to 40% of people report visually evoked auditory responses (vEARs; for example, ‘hearing’ sounds in response to watching silent videos). We investigate the degree to which vEAR experiences may arise from phenomenological control, i.e. from the way people can control their experience to meet expectancies arising from imaginative suggestion. In the experimental situation, expectancies arise from demand characteristics (cues which communicate beliefs about experimental aims to participants). Trait phenomenological control has been shown to substantially predict experimental measures of changes in ‘embodiment’ experience in which demand characteristics are not controlled (e.g., mirror touch and pain, and experiences of ownership of a fake hand). Here we report substantial relationship between scores on the Phenomenological Control Scale (PCS; a test of direct imaginative suggestion) and vEAR scores (reports of auditory experience for silent videos) which indicate that vEAR experience may be an implicit imaginative suggestion effect. This study demonstrates that relationships of trait phenomenological control with subjective reports about experience are not limited to embodiment and may confound a wide range of measures in psychological science.

Download Full-text

Toward a psychology ofHomo sapiens: Making psychological science more representative of the human population

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1721165115 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 115 (45) ◽

pp. 11401-11405 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Mostafa Salari Rad ◽

Alison Jane Martingano ◽

Jeremy Ginges

Keyword(s):

Human Population ◽

Human Condition ◽

Scholarly Work ◽

Human Psychology ◽

Journal Editors ◽

Psychological Phenomenon ◽

Psychological Science ◽

Almost All ◽

Leading Journals ◽

The Way

Two primary goals of psychological science should be to understand what aspects of human psychology are universal and the way that context and culture produce variability. This requires that we take into account the importance of culture and context in the way that we write our papers and in the types of populations that we sample. However, most research published in our leading journals has relied on sampling WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) populations. One might expect that our scholarly work and editorial choices would by now reflect the knowledge that Western populations may not be representative of humans generally with respect to any given psychological phenomenon. However, as we show here, almost all research published by one of our leading journals,Psychological Science, relies on Western samples and uses these data in an unreflective way to make inferences about humans in general. To take us forward, we offer a set of concrete proposals for authors, journal editors, and reviewers that may lead to a psychological science that is more representative of the human condition.

Download Full-text

History of formation of medical psychology of Ukraine

Psychiatry Neurology and Medical Psychology ◽

10.26565/2312-5675-2021-16-09 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Practical Experience ◽

General Idea ◽

Soviet Period ◽

Medical Psychology ◽

Historical Aspect ◽

Psychological Practice ◽

Psychological Science ◽

History Of ◽

The Subject ◽

The Way

The article in the historical aspect considers the problems of formation of medical psychology. The work contains the results of the analysis of the history of the formation of medical psychology in Ukraine, the development of its most promising directions in solving specific problems of medical practice. On the way to the formation of Ukrainian psychology as a science, there were different schools, directions and concepts. They were different in nature, often contradicting each other. Thus, in Soviet psychological science, based on the communist idea, the task was to develop a single, monistic approach to the study and explanation of mental phenomena. It is emphasized that when the connection with practice is lost, the subject of psychology is eroded, the scientific status of this knowledge is lost. On the way to overcoming the crisis of modern medical psychology, it is necessary to theoretically comprehend the practical experience for the development of technologies for solving urgent practical problems of psychological care. Comprehension and generalization of the invaluable experience of the first practical psychologists of our country can serve modern researchers and practitioners, as psychological practice now faces the same problems that arose at the beginning of the last century before the then scientists and practitioners. Traditional in the history of psychology is the general idea that the allocation of medical psychology as an applied field was due to the closure of experimental research to address current issues and practical problems in psychiatry and neurology in the late XX - early XXI century. The methodological basis for the study of the psyche was to be a dialectical-materialist orientation. However, despite ideological pressure, a single approach to the study of the psyche could not be developed. In specific studies of the Soviet period, sometimes directly, and in most cases, the positions of psychologists of various fields and schools were used in disguise, which was evidence of the creative use of the achievements of world psychological science.

Download Full-text

Toward a psychology of Homo sapiens: Making psychological science more representative of the human population

10.31234/osf.io/hfs3e ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mostafa Salari Rad ◽

Alison Jane Martingano ◽

Jeremy Ginges

Keyword(s):

Human Population ◽

Homo Sapiens ◽

Human Condition ◽

Scholarly Work ◽

The West ◽

Journal Editors ◽

Psychological Science ◽

Almost All ◽

Leading Journals ◽

The Way

Primary goals of psychological science should be to understand what aspects of human psychology are universal, and the way context and culture produce variability. This requires that we take into account the importance of culture and context in the way we write our papers and in the types of populations that we sample. Yet most research published in our leading journals has relied on sampling educated populations from the west. One might expect that our scholarly work and editorial choices would by now reflect the knowledge that western populations may not be representative of humans generally with respect to any given psychological phenomenon. Yet as we show here, almost all research published by one of our leading journals, Psychological Science, relies on western samples and, in an unreflective way, uses this data to make inferences about humans in general. To take us forward we offer a set of concrete proposals for authors, journal editors and reviewers that may lead to a psychological science that is more representative of the human condition.

Download Full-text

L.S. Vygotsky’s “Cultural Psychology” through the Lens of Spinoza and Marx

Cultural-Historical Psychology ◽

10.17759/chp.2018140114 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 126-130

Author(s):

A.D. Maidansky

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Framework ◽

Critical Analysis ◽

Cultural Psychology ◽

Central Problem ◽

The Real ◽

Psychological Science ◽

First Time ◽

The Way ◽

Psychology Of Art ◽

Historical Theory

The book under review critically reconstructs the methodology of L.S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory that traces back to Spinoza and Marx. The second and third parts of the book focus on the experiences of applying the conceptual framework of this theory in the field of psychology of art and pedagogics. The book by S.N. Mareyev appears to be not so much a commentary to Vygotsky’s texts as a critical analysis of the concepts of cultural psychology and an attempt to reveal their heuristic potential. Mareyev tries to re-establish Vygotsky’s ideas the way it was done in the framework of Leontiev’s and Ilyenkov’s activity psychology. At the same time, Mareyev declares the importance of turning cultural-historical psychology around to face Spinoza; however, the book practically ignores the concept of affects that was developed in the Ethics and that Vygotsky considered to be the ‘guiding beginning’ of the new psychology. It is here that, in Vygotsky’s words, the genuine subject of psychological science, ‘the real uniqueness of mind’, emerges for the first time ever and ‘the central problem of all psychology, freedom’ is defined. Unfortunately, neither Mareyev, nor his teacher Ilyenkov, nor Vygotsky’s direct disciples could comprehend and further develop this Spinozian idea of his

Download Full-text

How to Build A Strong Theoretical Foundation

10.31234/osf.io/khrdx ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Paul E. Smaldino

Keyword(s):

Theoretical Foundation ◽

Formal Theory ◽

Formal Models ◽

The Road ◽

Psychological Science ◽

The World ◽

Weak Theories ◽

The Way

It is our theories that shape how we see the world and the questions we ask of it. Fried argues that psychological science is plagued by weak theories, and that there is a real need for building and testing strong theories that include formal models. I agree. Fried calls for better training in the construction of formal theory, and I enthusiastically agree with this as well. However, I am concerned that the road to establish such a training in program will be long and hard. Fried ends his piece with tentative optimism, but little in the way of concrete proposals. Here I’ll outline what I think some of the necessary changes are and why implementing them will be challenging. I’ll conclude with some thoughts on how to overcome those challenges. Constructing good strong theories requires integration of the skills currently possessed by psychological scientists with (1) increased interdisciplinarity, (2) increased technical prowess, and (3) increased philosophical scrutiny.

Download Full-text

System Justification in Social Psychology? A Survey of Responses to the Replicability Debate in Psychology.

10.31234/osf.io/nn67y ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hanne M Watkins

Keyword(s):

Social Psychology ◽

Status Quo ◽

System Justification ◽

Current Debate ◽

Scientific Question ◽

System Justification Theory ◽

Psychological Science ◽

The Status ◽

The Way

There is currently extensive debate in psychological science about how to improve the field’s replicability (e.g. Lindsay, 2015). In this paper I explore the meta-scientific question of who is pushing for changes to the way research is done, and why. I aim to contribute to the debate in 2 ways: First, I use system justification theory (SJT; Jost, Banaji, & Nosek, 2004) to derive (pre-registered) hypotheses about differences between junior and senior researchers, and as a framework for reflecting on the current debate. Results show that tenured social psychologists are more likely to defend the status quo, and to perceive more costs (relative to benefits) to proposed initiatives such as direct replications and pre-registration, than are those who are untenured. Second, all materials and the data from 406 research psychologists are available on the OSF, and I invite other researchers to make full use of them.

Download Full-text

Self-sacrifice for in-group's history: A diachronic perspective

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18001796 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Maria Babińska ◽

Michal Bilewicz

Keyword(s):

Clinical Psychology ◽

Historical Events ◽

Emotional Events ◽

Reciprocal Process ◽

The Way

AbstractThe problem of extended fusion and identification can be approached from a diachronic perspective. Based on our own research, as well as findings from the fields of social, political, and clinical psychology, we argue that the way contemporary emotional events shape local fusion is similar to the way in which historical experiences shape extended fusion. We propose a reciprocal process in which historical events shape contemporary identities, whereas contemporary identities shape interpretations of past traumas.

Download Full-text

A pragmatist philosophy of psychological science and its implications for replication

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18000626 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ana Gantman ◽

Robin Gomila ◽

Joel E. Martinez ◽

J. Nathan Matias ◽

Elizabeth Levy Paluck ◽

...

Keyword(s):

William James ◽

Mental Processes ◽

Psychological Science ◽

Behavioral Measurement ◽

The World ◽

Pragmatist Philosophy

AbstractA pragmatist philosophy of psychological science offers to the direct replication debate concrete recommendations and novel benefits that are not discussed in Zwaan et al. This philosophy guides our work as field experimentalists interested in behavioral measurement. Furthermore, all psychologists can relate to its ultimate aim set out by William James: to study mental processes that provide explanations for why people behave as they do in the world.

Download Full-text