Informal Laboratory Practices in Psychology

Abstract

Method sections in psychology articles differ in the amount of information they provide, or the level of specificity at which they do so. This can make incremental research (e.g., replication efforts) difficult, because potentially relevant methodological decisions or practices may not be reported. As yet, these unwritten practices have not been systematically studied; the current work represents a first attempt in this direction. For this paper, we interviewed 22 experimental psychologists in the Netherlands to find out about these unwritten aspects of experimenting, as well as their opinions and beliefs regarding these practices. Thematic analysis of the transcripts suggests that (a) experimental psychologists indeed employ a variety of methods that they consider relevant yet do not routinely report in method sections, and (b) these unwritten practices seem to fall into two broad categories: 'professionalism' and 'the production of good data'. We discuss implications for psychological research generally, and the replication debate more specifically.

Monetary and non-monetary rewards reduce attentional capture by emotional distractors

“…Monetary rewards are the norm in this area, and they place a substantial, but perhaps unnecessary, burden on research budgets. Second, many of our reward componentsfeedback, encouragement, "gamification"are part of individual laboratory practices that are sometimes not reported in method sections (Brenninkmeijer et al, 2019). The fact that some of these components affect motivation (and thus cognitive control) means that they should be carefully considered and more systematically reported.…”

Advancing the understanding of individual differences in attentional control: Theoretical, methodological, and analytical considerations

“…Task variations, even those that seem subtle, might add undesired variance between studies and complicate if not prevent replication of findings (see also Brenninkmeijer, Derksen, & Rietzschel, 2019). Cross-study comparisons are further complicated by differences in how raw data are processed and which dependent measures are analyzed.…”

Monetary and non-monetary reward reduces attentional capture by emotional distractors.

“…Monetary rewards are the norm in this area, and they place a substantial, but perhaps unnecessary, burden on research budgets. Second, many of our reward componentsfeedback, encouragement, "gamification"are part of individual laboratory practices that are sometimes not reported in method sections (Brenninkmeijer, Derksen, & Rietzschel, 2019).…”