Cargo Cult Psychology: How The Field Went Astray Over And Over

[HuckleB]

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/cargo-cult-psychology/

"...

Richard Feynman was the first to compare the contemporary social sciences, including psychology, to a cargo cult. For those not familiar, the term “cargo cult” originates with the natives in Melanesia, who were awestruck by the planes that landed on their islands during WWII bringing all kinds of supplies. They had no understanding of what airplanes were or where they came from. Magical thinking led them to create bamboo replicas of planes and control towers in the superstitious belief that it would attract planes and bring them material goods. Similarly, many psychology researchers have been imitating the methods of science without really understanding how science is supposed to work. They go through the motions, but their research designs are so poorly thought out and the methodology so poor that their results are meaningless. And then they use those meaningless results to guide therapy. They have been led astray, have deceived themselves, and have harmed patients.

Witkowski’s book starts with a brilliant discussion of how the human mind works and how it evolved thinking processes that frequently lead to errors. Next he provides a thorough discussion of cargo cults, with far more detail than I have read elsewhere. It’s fascinating stuff, especially about the huge variety of cargo cults (at least 55) and the ones that have persisted into the 21st century because of deliberate deception, self-deception, and confusion of reality and beliefs.

...

It’s not all doom and gloom. The book ends on a positive note, with a letter to Richard Feynman chastising him for calling the whole field a cargo cult. Witkowsi draws Feynman’s attention to examples of good science in psychology that have had demonstrable benefits for society, for instance the studies on reaction time in response to different configurations of brake lights that led to laws requiring a third brake light on vehicles, dramatically reducing the number of rear-end collisions, injuries, and repair costs.

There are some errors in the book: AIDS is lumped with untreatable diseases, and the chapter on statistics is poor, with a misleading explanation of p values. But on the whole, there is a lot of valuable information here. Even if you don’t agree with calling these travesties of science cargo cults, it will make you wonder which other generally-accepted psychological principles and therapies are based on good science. This book is the second part of a trilogy; I look forward to volume 3."

-----------------------------------------------


It's good to see the acknowledgment that the field is not all ignorance, but it is clear that we need a campaign to increase the professionalism across the board.

[HuckleB]

1. .

[HuckleB]

2. Kick.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

3. Cargo Cult