Blog: Ross Pomeroy, "The Six Stages of a Failed Psychological Theory"

[Andy]

Not directly about ME but perhaps of interest, considering the subject matter.

With the publication of his exhaustingly researched and skillfully reported article, "LOL Something Matters," science writer Daniel Engber convincingly demonstrated that the "backfire effect," the notion that contradictory evidence only strengthens entrenched beliefs, does not hold up under rigorous scientific scrutiny. Bluntly stated, the "backfire effect" probably isn't real.

The debunking of this longstanding psychological theory follows similar academic takedowns of ego depletion, social priming, power posing, and a plethora of other famous findings. Indeed, much of what we "know" in psychology seems to be false.

There's a good reason for this: psychology, as a discipline, is a house made of sand, based on analyzing inherently fickle human behavior, held together with poorly-defined concepts, and explored with often scant methodological rigor. Indeed, there's a strong case to be made that psychology is barely a science.

Seeing how disarray defines psychology, it makes perfect sense that the field's leading theories are vulnerable to collapse. Having watched this process play out a number of times, a clear pattern has emerged. Let's call it the "Six Stages of a Failed Psychological Theory."

https://www.realclearscience.com/bl..._stages_of_a_failed_psychological_theory.html

 

[Hoopoe]

Stage 6: The Theory Lives On as a Zombie. Despite being debunked, the theory lingers on in published scientific studies, popular books, outdated webpages, and common "wisdom." Adherents in academia cling on in a state of denial – their egos depend upon it.

 

[Barry]

There's a good reason for this: psychology, as a discipline, is a house made of sand, based on analyzing inherently fickle human behavior, held together with poorly-defined concepts, and explored with often scant methodological rigor. Indeed, there's a strong case to be made that psychology is barely a science.

Now doesn't that ring true. May well ring truer in the not so distant future.

 

[Snowdrop]

Just my perspective but it seems to me that psychological theories and their research suffer from reductionism that rises to the level of the absurd.

There are so many individual variables embedded in larger family, cultural and environmental variables. Psychological research takes tiny little atoms of being to examine and creates whole worlds out of it. Hubris.

 

[rvallee]

Just my perspective but it seems to me that psychological theories and their research suffer from reductionism that rises to the level of the absurd.

There are so many individual variables embedded in larger family, cultural and environmental variables. Psychological research takes tiny little atoms of being to examine and creates whole worlds out of it. Hubris.

I can't help but always think of the celestial spheres. They were built out of the same principles: superficial observations and fabricating a plausible explanation that describes only the most superficial observations, as long as you don't mind that one planet that does a loop-back and the many small contradictions. Or that it actually explains nothing, describing a possible explanation is not the same as an actual explanation. *cough* FND *cough*.

It's what a pre-science discipline does when careful observation and experimentation can't resolve problems. The same as without strong experimental data, costing billions, theoretical physics can only go so far. At some point you have to make very careful observations with expensive machines and even more extremely careful experiments in order to test hypotheses. That takes thousands working on the same problem, not small teams doing the same small stuff in circles by their lone selves.

Psychology is still stuck at the "well, the spheres look so cool and we got nothing else". A very important and worthwhile endeavor but I really wish people stopped being so damn certain about the partial stuff we have for now. It's indicative, there's nothing definitive yet. Certainly nothing that be pointed to as a default explanation to decide the fate of millions.