Holy Smokes: Psychologists Replicate Experiment
Researchers at the University of Chicago have successfully replicated an experiment.
“We honestly couldn’t believe it,” said social psychologist Dr. Barbara Sherman. “I mean, I was double-checking all the numbers, making sure we hadn’t omitted anything from the original study. But it’s there, it’s all there, so I think we’re safe. We even used P<0.001. Isn’t that insane?”
“This is what good science is all about,” she said. “Through self-scrutiny, pre-registering our hypotheses, and revising our incentive structure, we can restore social psychology to its former glory.”
Thanks to her successful replication, Dr. Sherman was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant of $625,000, which she will use to continue replicating experiments.
NOTES: Social psychology has received considerable criticism over the past few years due to the replication crisis (see link below). Thus, it is considered a big deal when experiments replicate, since it is no longer assumed to be the norm.
