Category: Science

Psychological assessment often requires concrete decisions, e.g. whether a person is “below the norm” in some psychological domain. It is still common that practitioners directly compare the test score with some theoretical norm value (e.g., one standard deviation below the mean). In a literature review, we show that all German textbooks on Psychological Assessment recommend taking measurement uncertainty of psychological tests into account, for example by using critical differences, hypothesis tests, or confidence intervals. However, these recommendations resemble heuristics without a comprehensible rationale on how to choose necessary parameters (e.g., the appropriate significance or confidence level). Statistical decision theory is a mathematical framework for making rational decisions. Although once en vogue in psychology (cf. Cronbach & Gleser, 1965), it receives little attention today. When viewed from a decision theoretic perspective, one can show the implicit assumptions of current decision heuristics. For example, using two-sided hypothesis tests and confidence intervals with significance level alpha = 0.05 implies that type I errors are 39 times as costly as type II errors. In this paper, we give a short introduction to decision theory and use this framework to discuss the implication of current assessment practices. We also present a small survey of clinical neuropsychologists, who reported different representations of their internal cost ratio for a fictitious assessment scenario. Although the practitioners’ cost ratios varied, the majority chose less extreme ratios than the common heuristics would imply. We argue that psychological assessment would benefit from explicitly considering decision theoretic implications in practice and outline possible future directions.

Sterner, P., Friemelt, B., Goretzko, D., Kraus, E. B., Bühner, M., & Pargent, F. (2022, June 10). The confidence/significance level implies a certain cost ratio between type I error and type II error: For a stronger focus on decision theory in psychological assessment – Das Konfidenz-/Signifikanzniveau impliziert ein bestimmtes Kostenverhältnis zwischen Fehler 1. Art und Fehler 2. Art: Für ein stärkeres Einbeziehen der Entscheidungstheorie in die psychologische Einzelfalldiagnostik. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rsqvt

This article is a review of recent contributions in critical psychology, and its close cousins, critical social psychology, critical community psychology and liberation psychology, to understandings of the human response to climate change. It contrasts critical psychology with mainstream psychology in general terms, before introducing a critical psychological perspective on climate change. Central to this perspective is a critique of the framing of individual behavior change as the problem and solution to climate change in mainstream psychology, and a related emphasis on identifying ‘barriers’ to pro-environmental behavior. This framework is argued to be reductive, obscuring or downplaying the influence of a range of factors in shaping predominant responses to climate change to date, including social context, discourse, power and affect. Currently, critical psychologies set out to study the relative contribution of these factors to (in)action on climate change. A related concern is how the psychological and emotional impacts of climate change impact unevenly on communities and individuals, depending on place-based, economic, geographic and cultural differences, and giving rises to experiences of injustice, inequality and disempowerment. Critical psychology does not assume these to be overriding or inevitable psychological and social responses, however. Critical psychologies also undertake research and inform interventions that highlight the role of collective understanding, activism, empowerment and resistance as the necessary foundations of a genuine shift towards sustainable societies.

Adams, M. (2021, February 10). Critical psychologies and climate change. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.01.007

Disconnected psychology is a form of psychological science in which researchers ground their work upon the main principles of psychological methods but are detached from a “field” consisting of other psychologists that comprise connected psychology. It has previously been proposed that combining the two forms of psychology would result in the most significant advancement of psychological knowledge (Krpan, 2020). However, disconnected psychology may seem to be a “utopian” idea rather than a realistic endeavor. The present article therefore sets the practical foundations of disconnected psychology. In this regard, I first describe a hypothetical disconnected psychologist and discuss relevant methodological and epistemological implications. I then propose how this variant of psychology could be integrated with the current academic system (i.e., with connected psychology). Overall, the present article transforms disconnected psychology from a dream into substance that could eventually maximize psychological knowledge.

Krpan, D. (2020, December 19). Beyond a Dream: The Practical Foundations of Disconnected Psychology. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/mw8fs

This chapter is written to help undergraduate students better understand the role of replication in psychology and how it applies to the study of social behavior. We briefly review various replication initiatives in psychology and the events that preceded our renewed focus on replication. We then discuss challenges in interpreting the low rate of replication in psychology, especially social psychology. Finally, we stress the need for better methods and theories to learn the right lessons when replications fail.

Van Bavel, J. J., & Cunningham, W. A. (2017, December 22). Scientific replication in the study of social animals. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/gsz85

This is a commentary to dr. Paul T.P. Wong’s article Existential Positive Psychology (PP 2.0) and global wellbeing: Why it is Necessary During the Age of COVID-19, published in the International Journal of Existential Positive Psychology. Publication can be found at https://www.meaning.ca/ijepp-article/vol10-no1/an-inclusive-existential-positive-psychology-a-commentary/

Jans-Beken, L. (2021, February 14). An Inclusive Existential Positive Psychology: A Commentary. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/np7wm

This handbook aims to bridge the gap between the fields of positive psychology and the psychology of religion and spirituality. It is the authoritative guide to the intersections among religion, spirituality, and positive psychology and includes the following sections: (1) historical and theoretical considerations, (2) methodological considerations, (3) cultural considerations, (4) developmental considerations, (5) empirical research on happiness and well-being in relation to religion and spirituality, (6) empirical research on character strengths and virtues in relation to religion and spirituality, (7) clinical and applied considerations, and (8) field unification and advancement. Leading positive psychologists and psychologists of religion/spirituality have coauthored the chapters, drawing on expertise from their respective fields. The handbook is useful for social and clinical scientists, practitioners in helping professions, practitioners in religious and spiritual fields, and students of psychology and religion/spirituality.

Davis, E. B., Worthington, E., & Schnitker, S. (2022, February 14). Handbook of Positive Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/pgwtn