Psychology, replication & beyond

Modern psychology is apparently in crisis and the prevailing view is that this partly reflects an inability to replicate past findings. If a crisis does exists, then it is some kind of ‘chronic’ crisis, as psychologists have been censuring themselves over replicability for decades. While the debate in psychology is not new, the lack of progress across the decades is disappointing. Recently though, we have seen a veritable surfeit of debate alongside multiple orchestrated and well-publicised replication initiatives. The spotlight is being shone on certain areas and although not everyone agrees on how we should interpret the outcomes, the debate is happening and impassioned. The issue of reproducibility occupies a central place in our whig history of psychology.