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Improving Psychological Science

How can we improve psychological science?

Figure 2, Klein et al., 2018

Figure 2, Klein et al., 2018

Psychological science, and social psychology in particular, has faced a number of challenges over the last several years. This includes failed replications, publication bias, underspecified theories, and a science that often ignores the perspectives of underrepresented and marginalized groups. To help address these shortcomings and move our science forward, my work aims to improve and document the replicability of our results, the robustness of our methods, and the quality of our theories.

The lab has contributed to these efforts in several ways. For example, we have published replications (e.g., Brandt, 2020) and developed guidelines for conducting high quality replications (Brandt et al., 2014). We have also contributed to (e.g., Klein et al., 2018) and lead (Brandt et al., 2020) a variety of large-scale projects that leverage data collection from around the world. A key part of a rigorous science is training the next generation of scientists to do rigorous work. Our contributions to CREP (e.g., Wagge et al., 2023) is one way to do that.

Related publications

  • Cassario, A. L., Vallabha, S., Thompson, J. L., Carrillo, A., Solanki, P., Gnall, S., Rice, S., Wetherell, G. A., & Brandt, M. J. (2025). Registered report: Cognitive ability, but not cognitive reflection predicts expressing greater political animosity and favouritism. British Journal of Social Psychology, 64, e12814. doi | pdf | code
  • Hall, B., Schmidt, K., Wagge, J., Lewis, S. C., Weissgerber, S., Kiunke, F., Pfuhl, G. … Brandt., M. J. … Buchanan, E. M. (2024). Registered replication report: A large multilab cross-cultural conceptual replication of Turri et al. (2015). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 7, 1-38. doi | pdf | code | data
  • Isager, P. M., van Aert, R. C. M., Bahník, Š, Brandt, M. J., DeSoto, K. A., Giner-Sorolla, R., Krueger, J. I….Lakens, D. (2023). Deciding what to replicate: A decision model for replication study selection under resource and knowledge constraints. Psychological Methods, 28, 438-451. doi | pdf
  • Brandt, M. J., He, J., & Bender, M. (2021). Registered report: Testing ideological asymmetries in measurement invariance. Assessment, 28, 687-708. doi | pdf | code
  • Wagge, J. R., Brandt, M. J., Lazarevic, L. B., Legate, N., Christopherson, C., Wiggins, B., & Grahe, J. E. (2019). Publishing research with undergraduate students via replication work: The Collaborative Replications and Education Project. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 247. doi | pdf
  • Watkins, H. M. & Brandt, M. J. (2019). The moral landscape of war: A registered report testing how the war context shapes morality’s constraints on default representations of possibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 85, 103843.  doi | pdf | code | data
  • IJzerman, H., Grahe, J., & Brandt, M. J. (2018). How to make replications mainstream. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 41, e136. doi | pdf
  • Collins, T. P., Crawford, J. T., & Brandt, M. J. (2017). No evidence for ideological asymmetry in dissonance avoidance: Unsuccessful close and conceptual replications of Nam, Jost, and van Bavel (2013). Social Psychology, 48, 123-134. doi | pdf
  • Hagger, M. S., Chatzisarantis, N. L. D., Alberts, H., Anggono, C. O., Batailler, C., Birt, A., …Brandt, M. J.,… Zwienenberg, M. (2016). A multi-lab pre-registered replication of the ego-depletion effect. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 546-573. doi | pdf | code | data
  • Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349, aac4716-1-aac4716-8. doi | pdf | code | data
  • Brandt, M. J., IJzerman, H., & Blanken, I. (2014). Does recalling moral behavior change the perception of brightness? A replication and meta-analysis of Banerjee, Chatterjee, & Sinha (2012). Social Psychology, 45, 246-252. doi | pdf | code | data
  • Brandt, M. J., IJzerman, H., Dijksterhuis, A., Farach, F. J., Geller, J., Giner-Sorolla, R., Grange, J., A., Perugini, M., Spies, J. R., & van ’t Veer, A. E. (2014). The Replication Recipe: What Makes for a Convincing Replication? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 50, 217-224. doi | pdf
  • IJzerman, H., Blanken, I., Brandt, M. J., Oerlemans, J. M., Van den Hoogenhof, M. M. W., Franken, S. J. M., & Oerlemans, M. W. G. (2014). Sex differences in distress from infidelity in early adulthood and in later life: A replication and meta-analysis of Shackelford et al. (2004). Social Psychology, 45, 202-208. doi | pdf | code | data
  • Klein, R. A., Ratliff, K. A., Vianello, M., Adams, R. B., Jr., Bahník, Š., Bernstein, M. J., … Brandt, M. J., … & Nosek, B. A. (2014). Data from investigating variation in replicability: A “many labs” replication project. The Journal of Open Psychology Data, 2, e4. doi | pdf | code
  • Klein, R. A., Ratliff, K. A., Vianello, M., Adams, R. B., Jr., Bahník, Š., Bernstein, M. J., … Brandt, M. J., … & Nosek, B. A. (2014). Investigating variation in replicability: A “many labs” replication project. Social Psychology, 45, 142-152. doi | pdf | code | data
  • Klein, R. A., Ratliff, K. A., Vianello, M., Adams, R. B., Jr., Bahník, Š., Bernstein, M. J., … Brandt, M. J., … & Nosek, B. A. (2014). Theory building through iterative replication: Response to commentaries on the “Many Labs” replication project. Social Psychology, 45, 307-310. doi | pdf
  • IJzerman, H., Brandt, M. J., & Van Wolferen, J. (2013). Rejoice! In replication. European Journal of Personality, 27, 128-129. pdf
  • Open Science Collaboration. (2012). An open, large-scale, collaborative effort to estimate the reproducibility of psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 652-655.  doi | pdf