Uljana Feest’s research on “Credibility and Trust in the Psychological Sciences” examines the ongoing crisis in the psychological sciences, where many established experimental findings fail to be replicated. In recent years, the philosophical debate on the replication crisis has produced numerous analyses of the causes of replication problems and the reasons for their persistence. We are delighted to welcome numerous guests who provide expertise from sociology, philosophy, and statistics to bring new perspectives to our work on the replication crisis in psychology.
Fiona Fidler has worked on the nature of psychological theories, hypothesis testing, and theory construction in experimental psychologists. For example, she emphasized the need for bolder conjectures and risky tests to establish the absence (or presence) of effects.
Suilin Lavelle’ recent work has focused on the lack of recognitions of significant epistemic goods that come from failed replications under the dominant crisis narratives. During her time with SOCRATES she will work on a more pluralistic approach to developmental psychology, making explicit the North American/European-centric focus of this discipline, which may hinder the production of reliable knowledge.
Freek Oude Maatman has engaged critically with the potential of formalisation and/or formal modelling to construct stronger psychological theories, and has reinforced the problem of underdetermination in psychological theories. During his time with SOCRATES, he will work on conceptualisation and concept extension in psychology, and the role of positing extensions within scientific discovery.
Erkan Buzbas’s main research has focused on replicability and reproducibility of scientific studies. He currently aims to formally connect arising philosophical aspects of metascience to scientific and statistical models at the population level.
Berna Devezer will apply her expertise at SOCRATES to further explore the intersection of statistical and philosophical approaches to metascientific problems. In particular, Berna hopes to gain insights about how to formulate philosophical perspectives as modelling problems to allow for a formal investigation.
David Peterson has been working on self-correction in science, examining diagnostic and integrative motives for replication in different fields and proposing field-specific solutions to the replication crisis. During his time at SOCRATES, he will be working on a book manuscript based on case studies.
We look forward to insightful discussions during this exciting semester and to the workshop "Trust and Credibility in the Psychological Sciences: Beyond Replication," hosted by Uljana Feest. More information on the workshop can be found here.
