Close Replication Research Articles

B2.5-Eunomia simulations of Magnum-PSI detachment experiments: I. Quantitative comparisons with experimental measurements

Detachment experiments have been carried out in the linear plasma device Magnum-PSI by increasing the gas pressure near the target. In order to have a proper detailed analysis of the mechanism behind momentum and power loss in detachment, a quantitative match is pursued between B2.5-Eunomia solutions and experimental data. B2.5 is a multi fluid plasma code and Eunomia is a Monte Carlo solver for neutral particles, and they are coupled together to provide steady-state solution of the plasma and neutral distribution in space. B2.5-Eunomia input parameters are adjusted to produce a close replication of the plasma beam measured in the experiments without any gas puffing in the target chamber. Using this replication as an initial condition, the neutral pressure near the plasma beam target is exclusively increased during simulation, matching the pressures measured in the experiments. Reasonable agreement is found between the electron temperature of the simulation results with experimental measurements using laser Thomson scattering near the target. The simulations also reveal the effect of increased gas pressure on the plasma current, effectively reducing the current penetration from the plasma source. B2.5-Eunomia is capable of reproducing detachment characteristics, namely the loss of plasma pressure along the magnetic field and the reduction of particle and heat flux to the target. The simulation results for plasma and neutrals will allow future studies of the exact contribution of individual plasma-neutral collisions to momentum and energy loss in detachment in Magnum-PSI.

A Multi-Site Collaborative Study of the Hostile Priming Effect

In a now-classic study by Srull and Wyer (1979), people who were exposed to phrases with hostile content subsequently judged a man as being more hostile. And this “hostile priming effect” has had a significant influence on the field of social cognition over the subsequent decades. However, a recent multi-lab collaborative study (McCarthy et al., 2018) that closely followed the methods described by Srull and Wyer (1979) found a hostile priming effect that was nearly zero, which casts doubt on whether these methods reliably produce an effect. To address some limitations with McCarthy et al. (2018), the current multi-site collaborative study included data collected from 29 labs. Each lab conducted a close replication (total N = 2,123) and a conceptual replication (total N = 2,579) of Srull and Wyer’s methods. The hostile priming effect for both the close replication (d = 0.09, 95% CI [-0.04, 0.22], z = 1.34, p = .16) and the conceptual replication (d = 0.05, 95% CI [-0.04, 0.15], z = 1.15, p = .58) were not significantly different from zero and, if the true effects are non-zero, were smaller than what most labs could feasibly and routinely detect. Despite our best efforts to produce favorable conditions for the effect to emerge, we did not detect a hostile priming effect. We suggest that researchers should not invest more resources into trying to detect a hostile priming effect using methods like those described in Srull and Wyer (1979).

Accentuation and compatibility: Replication and extensions of Shafir (1993) to rethink choosing versus rejecting paradigms

AbstractWe conducted a replication of Shafir (1993) who showed that people are inconsistent in their preferences when faced with choosing versus rejecting decision-making scenarios. The effect was demonstrated using an enrichment paradigm, asking subjects to choose between enriched and impoverished alternatives, with enriched alternatives having more positive and negative features than the impoverished alternative. Using eight different decision scenarios, Shafir found support for a compatibility principle: subjects chose and rejected enriched alternatives in choose and reject decision scenarios (d= 0.32 [0.23,0.40]), respectively, and indicated greater preference for the enriched alternative in the choice task than in the rejection task (d= 0.38 [0.29,0.46]). In a preregistered very close replication of the original study (N= 1026), we found no consistent support for the hypotheses across the eight problems: two had similar effects, two had opposite effects, and four showed no effects (overalld= −0.01 [−0.06,0.03]). Seeking alternative explanations, we tested an extension, and found support for the accentuation hypothesis.

Incidental Attitude Formation via the Surveillance Task: A Preregistered Replication of the Olson and Fazio (2001) Study

Evaluative conditioning is one of the most widely studied procedures for establishing and changing attitudes. The surveillance task is a highly cited evaluative-conditioning paradigm and one that is claimed to generate attitudes without awareness. The potential for evaluative-conditioning effects to occur without awareness continues to fuel conceptual, theoretical, and applied developments. Yet few published studies have used this task, and most are characterized by small samples and small effect sizes. We conducted a high-powered (N = 1,478 adult participants), preregistered close replication of the original surveillance-task study (Olson & Fazio, 2001). We obtained evidence for a small evaluative-conditioning effect when “aware” participants were excluded using the original criterion—therefore replicating the original effect. However, no such effect emerged when three other awareness criteria were used. We suggest that there is a need for caution when using evidence from the surveillance-task effect to make theoretical and practical claims about “unaware” evaluative-conditioning effects.

The psychological impact of digital signatures: A multistudy replication.

Despite increasing adoption of digital signatures, research has suggested that doing so may carry deleterious social consequences. Prior research established that documents signed electronically are deemed to convey less social presence than those signed by hand, which in turn negatively impacts social judgments. This article reports the results of two preregistered close replication studies (total N = 311) and a meta-analysis spanning the original study and these new studies. Robust support emerged for previously documented psychological consequences of digital signatures. Signers using an avatar were rated as less socially present and were perceived to be more likely to breach the signed contract than those who had hand-signed the document. Further, the indirect effect of signature type on perceived likelihood of contract breach via social presence was nonzero in all samples. These studies add to the growing literature on the psychological impact of digital signatures and carry both practical and theoretical implications.

Supplemental Material for The psychological impact of digital signatures: A multistudy replication.

Despite increasing adoption of digital signatures, research has suggested that doing so may carry deleterious social consequences. Prior research established that documents signed electronically are deemed to convey less social presence than those signed by hand, which in turn negatively impacts social judgments. This article reports the results of two preregistered close replication studies (total N = 311) and a meta-analysis spanning the original study and these new studies. Robust support emerged for previously documented psychological consequences of digital signatures. Signers using an avatar were rated as less socially present and were perceived to be more likely to breach the signed contract than those who had hand-signed the document. Further, the indirect effect of signature type on perceived likelihood of contract breach via social presence was nonzero in all samples. These studies add to the growing literature on the psychological impact of digital signatures and carry both practical and theoretical implications.

Replication of the mirror mark test experiment in the magpie (Pica pica) does not provide evidence of self-recognition.

Self-recognition in animals is demonstrated when individuals pass the mark test. Formerly, it was thought that self-recognition was restricted to humans, great apes, and certain mammals with large brains and highly evolved social cognition. However, 1 study showed that 2 out of 5 magpies (Pica pica) passed the mark test, suggesting that magpies have a similar level of cognitive abilities to great apes. The scientific advancement depends on confidence in published science, and this confidence can be reached only after rigorous replication of published studies. Here, we present a close replication of the magpie study but using a larger sample size while following a very similar experimental protocol. Like the previous study, in our experiment, magpies showed both social and self-directed behavior more frequently in front of the mirror versus a control cardboard stimulus. However, during the mark test, self-directed behavior proved more frequent in front of the cardboard than in the mirror. Thus, our replication failed to confirm the previous results. Close replications, while not disproving an earlier study, identify results that should be considered with caution. Therefore, more replication studies and additional experimental work is needed to unambiguously demonstrate that magpies are consistently able to pass the mark test. The existence of compelling evidence of self-recognition in other corvid species is discussed in depth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Subjective likelihood and the construal level of future events: A replication study of Wakslak, Trope, Liberman, and Alony (2006).

C. J. Wakslak, Y. Trope, N. Liberman, and R. Alony (2006) examined the effect of manipulating the likelihood of future events on level of construal (i.e., mental abstraction). Over 7 experiments, they consistently found that subjectively unlikely (vs. likely) future events were more abstractly (vs. concretely) construed. This well-cited, but understudied finding has had a major influence on the construal level theory (CLT) literature: Likelihood is considered to be 1 of 4 psychological distances assumed to influence mental abstraction in similar ways (Trope & Liberman, 2010). Contrary to the original empirical findings, we present 2 close replication attempts (N = 115 and N = 120; the original studies had N = 20 and N = 34) that failed to find the effect of likelihood on construal level. Bayesian analyses provided diagnostic support for the absence of an effect. In light of the failed replications, we present a meta-analytic summary of the accumulated evidence on the effect. It suggests a strong trend of declining effect sizes as a function of larger samples. These results call into question the previous conclusion that likelihood has a reliable influence on construal level. We discuss the implications of these findings for CLT and advise against treating likelihood as a psychological distance until further tests have established the relationship. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Impact of Public Health Interventions to Curb SARS-CoV-2 Spread by an Evidence-Educated Delphi-Panel and Tailored SEIR Model

Background: With the absence of immunization, public health interventions are the basis for curbing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Evidence of impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) on SARS-CoV-2 spread in Germany is scarce. The objectives of this study were to use a Delphi-panel based assessment of the effectiveness of different COVID-19 specific prevention measures in order to retrospectively approximate and to prospectively predict the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic progression via a SEIR model (SEIR: Susceptible - Exposed - Infectious - Removed). The SEIR model will be made available with a modifiable user interface.Methods: We applied an evidence-educated Delphi-panel approach to elicit the impact of NPIs being discussed in Germany on the SARS-CoV-2 transmission rate R0. Initial estimates were discussed and agreed upon in two Delphi stages resulting in a final set of average efficacy and compliance estimates for each NPI. Effectiveness was defined as the product of efficacy and compliance. A discrete, deterministic SEIR model with time step of 1 day, a latency period of 1.·8 days, duration of infectiousness of 5 days, and a share of the total population of 15% assumed to be protected by immunity was developed in order to estimate the impact of selected NPI measures on pandemic course. The model was populated with the Delphi-panel results and varied in sensitivity analyses.Results: Efficacy and compliance estimates were obtained as follows (ranked by effectiveness): test and isolate 49% (efficacy)/78% (compliance), keeping distance 42%/74%, personal protection masks (cloth masks or other face masks) 33%/79%, ban of large public events 26%/96%, contact reduction 33%/59%, closure of non-essential stores 10%/97%, closure of schools 10%/100%, working from home 12%/66%, closure of restaurants 8%/96%, and improved hand hygiene 7%/54%. Applying these NPI effectiveness estimates to the SEIR model resulted in a valid replication of reported occurrence of the German SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.Conclusion: Employing an evidence-educated Delphi-panel approach for generating NPI effectiveness estimates is feasible and could help to generate model simulations with close replication of reported infected cases in Germany. Future curbing scenarios require a combination of NPIs. A Delphi-panel based NPI assessment and modelling might support public health policy decision making by informing sequence and number of needed public health measures.Funding Statement: None.Declaration of Interests: None declared.Ethics Approval Statement: Not applicable.

Anticipating words during spoken discourse comprehension: A large-scale, pre-registered replication study using brain potentials

Numerous studies report brain potential evidence for the anticipation of specific words during language comprehension. In the most convincing demonstrations, highly predictable nouns exert an influence on processing even before they appear to a reader or listener, as indicated by the brain's neural response to a prenominal adjective or article when it mismatches the expectations about the upcoming noun. However, recent studies suggest that some well-known demonstrations of prediction may be hard to replicate. This could signal the use of data-contingent analysis, but might also mean that readers and listeners do not always use prediction-relevant information in the way that psycholinguistic theories typically suggest. To shed light on this issue, we performed a close replication of one of the best-cited ERP studies on word anticipation (Van Berkum, Brown, Zwitserlood, Kooijman & Hagoort, 2005; Experiment 1), in which participants listened to Dutch spoken mini-stories. In the original study, the marking of grammatical gender on pre-nominal adjectives (‘groot/grote’) elicited an early positivity when mismatching the gender of an unheard, highly predictable noun, compared to matching gender. The current pre-registered study involved that same manipulation, but used a novel set of materials twice the size of the original set, an increased sample size (N = 187), and Bayesian mixed-effects model analyses that better accounted for known sources of variance than the original. In our study, mismatching gender elicited more negative voltage than matching gender at posterior electrodes. However, this N400-like effect was small in size and lacked support from Bayes Factors. In contrast, we successfully replicated the original's noun effects. While our results yielded some support for prediction, they do not support the Van Berkum et al. effect and highlight the risks associated with commonly employed data-contingent analyses and small sample sizes. Our results also raise the question whether Dutch listeners reliably or consistently use adjectival inflection information to inform their noun predictions.

Many Labs 5: Registered Replication of Vohs and Schooler (2008), Experiment 1

Does convincing people that free will is an illusion reduce their sense of personal responsibility? Vohs and Schooler (2008) found that participants reading from a passage “debunking” free will cheated more on experimental tasks than did those reading from a control passage, an effect mediated by decreased belief in free will. However, this finding was not replicated by Embley, Johnson, and Giner-Sorolla (2015), who found that reading arguments against free will had no effect on cheating in their sample. The present study investigated whether hard-to-understand arguments against free will and a low-reliability measure of free-will beliefs account for Embley et al.’s failure to replicate Vohs and Schooler’s results. Participants ( N = 621) were randomly assigned to participate in either a close replication of Vohs and Schooler’s Experiment 1 based on the materials of Embley et al. or a revised protocol, which used an easier-to-understand free-will-belief manipulation and an improved instrument to measure free will. We found that the revisions did not matter. Although the revised measure of belief in free will had better reliability than the original measure, an analysis of the data from the two protocols combined indicated that free-will beliefs were unchanged by the manipulations, d = 0.064, 95% confidence interval = [−0.087, 0.22], and in the focal test, there were no differences in cheating behavior between conditions, d = 0.076, 95% CI = [−0.082, 0.22]. We found that expressed free-will beliefs did not mediate the link between the free-will-belief manipulation and cheating, and in exploratory follow-up analyses, we found that participants expressing lower beliefs in free will were not more likely to cheat in our task.

Who supports redistribution? Replicating and refining effects of compassion, malicious envy, and self-interest

Abstract Debate over wealth redistribution plays a prominent role in society, but the causes of differences in support for redistribution remain contested. A recent three-person two-situation model suggests these differences are shaped by evolved motivational systems of self-interest, compassion, and dispositional envy. We conducted a close replication testing this prediction, all subjects were British, recruited from an online subject pool. Study 1 (N = 206) confirmed the roles of self-interest (β = 0.20) and compassion for others (β = 0.37), as well as a predicted null effect of procedural fairness. Dispositional envy was non-significant (β = 0.06). In study 2 (N = 304), we tested whether it was better to conceptualize envy as being two separate emotions, benign envy and malicious envy. A significant effect of malicious envy was found (β = 0.13) and no significant effect of benign envy (β = −0.06). Study 3 (N = 501) closely replicated this improved model, confirming significant effects of compassion (β = 0.40), self-interest (β = 0.21), and malicious envy (β = 0.15), accounting for one third of variance in support for redistribution. These results support the role of evolved motivational systems to explain and improve important aspects of contemporary economic redistribution.

Using elicited imitation to measure global oral proficiency in SLA research: A close replication study

AbstractWe closely replicated Wu and Ortega (2013), who found that an elicited imitation test (EIT) reliably distinguished low-level from high-level language abilities among instructed second language (L2) learners of Mandarin Chinese. The original study sampled learners (1) from second-level courses to represent low-level language abilities and (2) from third-, fourth- and graduate-level courses to represent high-level language abilities. Results showed high-level learners outperformed low-level learners on the Mandarin EIT. Our close replication used Wu and Ortega's (2013) materials and procedures in order to understand (1) the extent to which this EIT can additionally distinguish between finer-grained language abilities and (2) the ways in which the broad grouping of language abilities in the high group may have contributed to the findings. Sixty-five instructed L2 learners from four instructional levels were assigned to one of three groups: Beginner (first-level courses), Low (second-level courses), High (third- and fourth-level courses). Consistent with the original study, our results showed clear between-group differences, indicating that the EIT can distinguish between both broad (beginner vs high) and finer-grained (beginner vs low, low vs high) language abilities. These results are discussed in light of the original study's findings with implications for proficiency assessment in second language acquisition (SLA) research.

Modelling within-day ridehailing service provision with limited data

This paper proposes a holistic, within-day ridehailing service provision modelling approach, focusing on large-scale services with human-driven fleets. The model is powered by a full, two-year record of ridehailing trips in Toronto. Canada. Despite the abundant data, operations and fleet-related data still lacks, and uncertainty still exists concerning actual service provision deployment. Hence, a novel approach dealing with limited data availability is developed, which extracts implicit supply levels from trip-based demand data. The model is time-step driven, agent-based, and uses list-based data structures. It focuses on three key components: matching mechanisms, time intervals, and (several features of) driver activity. After testing various component combinations, a Hungarian matching algorithm, a normal distribution of driver work hours, and 5-minute time intervals allow close replication of observed wait time distributions and unique drivers per hour. Emergent model outputs also include VKT by vehicle states (idling, en-route, in-service), vehicle shifts and trip chains.

Relationship value in business-to-business markets: a replication and extension of Ulaga and Eggert’s (2006) study

PurposeUlaga and Eggert (2006a) examined a framework of relationship value in business markets. This study aims to replicate their study to show that relationship benefits are more important than relationship costs when it comes to choosing a main supplier. This research also extends the original study by hypothesising that the development of relationship value has a positive impact on relationship marketing outcomes, thus providing evidence for the nomological validity of the original scale.Design/methodology/approachThe study used empirical data from purchasing managers in manufacturing firms in the UK. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire. The study adopted a close replication to Ulaga and Eggert (2006a) using a rather similar context and methodology for comparison reasons.FindingsRelationship benefits are more important than relationship costs when it comes to choosing a main supplier. Cost competitiveness is a necessary but not sufficient condition to differentiate in business markets. Value dimensions relate significantly to relationship marketing outcomes, providing evidence for the nomological validity of the original scale.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the dynamic nature of the relationship value construct, future longitudinal research could offer useful insights on how value is created over time.Practical implicationsAlthough internal cost reduction, which can ultimately lead to price reduction, should not be ignored, suppliers should focus on creating value through personal interaction, service quality, product enhancements and delivery efficiency.Originality/valueThe findings provide support for Ulaga and Eggert’s (2006a) conceptualisation, indicating that the relationship value is not merely a theoretical construct viewed on a high level of abstraction but rather can also be empirically measured.

Toward a generalized Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro rule for spatiotemporal learning via triplet-STDP in memristive devices

The close replication of synaptic functions is an important objective for achieving a highly realistic memristor-based cognitive computation. The emulation of neurobiological learning rules may allow the development of neuromorphic systems that continuously learn without supervision. In this work, the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro learning rule, as a typical case of spike-rate-dependent plasticity, is mimicked using a generalized triplet-spike-timing-dependent plasticity scheme in a WO3−x memristive synapse. It demonstrates both presynaptic and postsynaptic activities and remedies the absence of the enhanced depression effect in the depression region, allowing a better description of the biological counterpart. The threshold sliding effect of Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro rule is realized using a history-dependent property of the second-order memristor. Rate-based orientation selectivity is demonstrated in a simulated feedforward memristive network with this generalized Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro framework. These findings provide a feasible approach for mimicking Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro learning rules in memristors, and support the applications of spatiotemporal coding and learning using memristive networks.

The "Mnemonic Time-Travel Effect".

This registered report aims at replicating the so-called "mnemonic time-travel" effect. Aksentijevic, Brandt, Tsakanikos, and Thorpe (2019) reported that memory was improved when their participants experienced backward motion before a memory test in comparison to when they experienced forward motion or no motion. This finding was interpreted as suggesting that backward motion brought individuals back to the moment of encoding. In the original study, the mnemonic time-travel effect was robustly found with various types of backward motion (real, simulated, and imagined). Such a spectacular finding calls for a preregistered replication. To determine the robustness of the effect, we performed a close replication of Experiment 4 of Aksentijevic et al. in which the mnemonic time-travel effect was most pronounced. Despite sufficient statistical power to detect an even considerably smaller effect than the one reported by Aksentijevic et al., we found no significant differences among the different motion conditions. The present results thus disconfirm the idea that experiencing backward motion improves memory which suggests that the empirical robustness of the mnemonic time travel effect should be further scrutinized before any conclusions about mnemonic space and time can be drawn.

Fingerprinting changes of source apportionments from mixed land uses in stream sediments before and after an exceptional rainstorm event

The loss of fertile topsoil is one of the principal soil degradation problems in mountain agroecosystems worldwide. Soil erosion rates reach their maximum during exceptional storm events that remove soil particles, especially from unprotected topsoil. In Mediterranean mountainous environments, several centuries of non-irrigated agriculture and the subsequent removal of natural vegetation for developing agriculture has increased the surface area prone to erosion. In addition, the irregularity in exceptional precipitation events results in a great loss of fertile soil, the subsequent siltation of reservoirs and a decrease in water quality. To analyse the soil response to exceptional events, 161 source samples were collected in a 23 km2 catchment that was mostly cultivated at the beginning of the last century. Source samples were distributed over the five main land use/land covers such as agricultural land, pine afforestation, open forest, bare soil and channel bank areas. Furthermore, 20 channel bed sediment samples were collected along the main streams before and after the exceptional storm event to document changes in the sediments. In addition, floodplain sediments were collected to provide a close replication of sediments deposited during regular storm events. Source apportionments were calculated using the FingerPro unmixing model in the pre-event, regular events and post-event scenarios.The unmixing outputs displayed a large variation of source apportionments from the upper part to the lower part of the catchment and from pre- to post-event sediments. After the event, a decrease of >70% of the clay fraction and its associated elements such as Fe, Al, K, Ba, Sr, Rb, Pb, Zn, V, 137Cs, 40K, 232Th and SOC along with a rise in contents of elements associated with the coarse fraction (Si, Nb, Zr, Ti, P and 226Ra) was recorded in the channel bed sediments. At the catchment outlet, the pre-event sediment showed substantial contributions from bare soil (29%) and from agriculture and channel banks, which both reached 35%, while the channel bank was the main source along the catchment ranging between 44 and 71%. The low contribution from soil under natural covers with a mean value <4% underlines the benefits of vegetation to prevent soil loss. In the post-event sediment, the channel bank contribution increased up to 63% at the catchment outlet. Our findings highlight the hazards of exceptional storm events on modifying sediment source contribution and exporting fine sediment.

Social value orientation and attachment: a replication and extension of Van Lange et al. (1997).

We report a replication and extension of a finding from Studies 1 and 2 of Van Lange et al.'s influential paper (Van Lange et al. 1997 J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 73, 733–746. (doi:10.1037/0022-3514.73.4.733)), which showed an association between Social Value Orientation (SVO) and attachment security. We report a close replication but with measures of attachment that are considered superior in comparison to measures used by Van Lange et al., due to subsequent psychometric improvements. Psychometric analyses indeed showed that our attachment measures were reliable and valid, demonstrating theoretically predicted associations with other outcomes. With a sample (N = 879) sufficiently large to detect d = 0.19 (and larger than the original N = 573), we failed to replicate the effect. Based on the available evidence, we interpret as there being no evidence for the link between attachment security and Social Value Orientation, but further replication research that uses solid measures and large samples can provide more definite conclusions about the association between attachment and SVO.

Development of Proving Ground Field Test for Establishment of Vehicle Accelerated Corrosion Test Procedure in Malaysia

This paper presents the field tests conducted as part of activity to establish the vehicle accelerated corrosion test procedure in Malaysia, initiated by the national car manufacturer company, PROTON, Malaysia. Vehicle accelerated corrosion test is a combination of corrosion exposures and durability cycles to accelerate the corrosion process and detect potential failures that may occur during in-service conditions. PROTON conducts the vehicle accelerated corrosion test at external test centres in overseas. However, due to the different climatic of test location, some of the corrosion problems were found to be varied and many did not address the actual corrosion problems detected in Malaysia markets. Hence, the primary aim of this study is to establish a suitable corrosion driving procedure to accommodate the hot and humid environment using facilities in PROTON Test Track. Three corrosion driving procedures were designed based on the number of corrosion exposures and designated as Field Tests 1, 2 and 3. Analysis ruled out that Field Test 3 provides moderate corrosion rate of 0.077-0.842 mm/year and potentially to be the best suited for accelerated corrosion test procedure in Malaysia due to its close replication of actual cosmetic corrosion behaviour observed in Malaysia.