When: Monday, Jan 8, 2018 @ 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Where:  Norm Endler Seminar Room (BSB 164)

Speaker: Dr. Leandre R. Fabrigar, Department of Psychology, Queen's University

Title: Reconsidering Some Common Assumptions in the Replication Debate

Abstract: Over the past 7 years, the field of psychology has been engulfed in a debate regarding the reproducibility of its findings. This debate has focused on questions such as to what extent are findings replicable, why do replication studies often fail to reproduce the original findings, what research practices might enhance the reproducibility of findings, and what is the proper role of replication studies in the discipline? Although many differing views have been expressed in this debate and disagreements have often been fierce, a number of commonly held assumptions regarding replication have emerged in this literature. These assumptions have often been adopted, even by people who disagree strongly on substantive issues. Some of these assumptions have been explicitly stated whereas others have rarely, if ever, been overtly articulated. In this talk, I will review several of these commonly held assumptions. For each assumption, I will discuss the nature of the assumption, how it has shaped the replication literature, evaluate the extent to which it is warranted, and discuss the implications of rejecting or modifying it.