Statisticism in Psychology: What Is It? How Was It Contracted? Is There a Cure?
Abstract
At its inception in the late 19th century, experimental psychology was aimed at discovering the general laws presumed to govern the psychological functioning of individuals. It was understood that a general law would be one common to all of the individuals investigated; that is, true of each one of them individually. Already by the turn of the 20th century, however, psychological scientists were increasingly conducting treatment group experimentation, a form of inquiry suited to revealing statistical regularities true on average for aggregates of experimental subjects. The desired preservation of epistemic continuity between the two forms of experimentation required the adoption of thinking and aligned discursive practices that indulged the interpretation of knowledge about aggregates as if it provided, at the same time, knowledge of the individuals within the aggregates. The errors of reasoning built into such interpretations manifest what I have termed ‘statisticism’ in psychological science. This conceptual malady prevents the widespread realization that what was once psychology has long since been superseded by a discipline that is, effectively, a species of demography. In this presentation, I will discuss the historical rise of statisticism, and urge its widespread recognition and eradication in the interest of reviving a true psychological science.
Before the meeting, please read the attached chapter:
Lamiell, J.T. (2020). “On the systemic misuse of statistical methods within mainstream psychology”. In J.T. Lamiell & K. Slaney (Ed.). Problematic Research Practices and Inertia in Scientific Psychology: History, Sources, and Recommended Solutions (pp. 8-22). Routledge. [PDF].
This talk is a part of the Traincrease Lecture Series (D4.2).
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 952324.
