Abstract
The idea of replication is based on the premise that there are empirical regularities or universal laws to be replicated and verified, and the scientific method is adequate for doing it. Scientific truth, however, is not absolute but relative to time, context, and the method used. Time and context are inextricably intertwined in that time (e.g., Christmas Day vs. New Year’s Day) creates different contexts for behaviors and contexts create different experiences of time, rendering psychological phenomena inherently variable. This means that internal and external conditions fluctuate and are different in a replication study vs. the original. Thus, a replication experiment is just another empirical investigation in an ongoing effort to establish scientific truth. Neither the original nor a replication is the final arbiter of whether or not something exists. Discovered patterns need not be permanent laws of human behavior proven by the pinpoint statistical verification through replication. To move forward, phenomenon replications are needed to investigate phenomena in different ways, forms, contexts, and times. Such investigations look at phenomena not just in terms the magnitude of their effects but also by their frequency, duration, and intensity in labs and real life. They will also shed light on the extent to which lab manipulations may make many phenomena subjectively conscious events and effects (e.g., causal attributions) when they are nonconsciously experienced in real life, or vice versa. As scientific knowledge in physics is temporary and incomplete, should it be any surprise that science can only provide “temporary winners” for psychological knowledge of human behavior?
Highlights
This paper examines the nature of scientific and psychological truth and the role of replication in its establishment
-called replication failures have raised questions about psychology as a serious science, good news is that in the long run, the value of scientific psychology cannot be diminished by any of it, for one thing, because psychology is the only science that can answer some important questions about human life. Why is it that most people do not exercise regularly even though physiological evidence has compellingly demonstrated that “exercise is medicine” for both prevention and treatment of major illnesses? The question cannot be answered by physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, or any other field of science, except psychology, because the answer lies in the operations of the human mind and the brain (Iso-Ahola, 2013, 2018)
Time and context are inextricably interwoven in human behavior, with time creating different contexts and contexts creating different experiences of time
Summary
Time and context are inextricably intertwined in that time (e.g., Christmas Day vs New Year’s Day) creates different contexts for behaviors and contexts create different experiences of time, rendering psychological phenomena inherently variable. This means that internal and external conditions fluctuate and are different in a replication study vs the original. To move forward, phenomenon replications are needed to investigate phenomena in different ways, forms, contexts, and times Such investigations look at phenomena not just in terms the magnitude of their effects and by their frequency, duration, and intensity in labs and real life.
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