Are Most Positive Findings in Psychology False or Exaggerated? An Activist’s Perspective

Before some people fearful that I would bring up their false and exaggerated findings became more sophisticated in their reprisals for my talking about dubious scientific and publishing practices.

January 2024 introduction

Starting around 2008, I received a lot of requests for a version of this talk, and I tended to modify it every time I presented. I believe this was my third presentation at the Australian National University, a research university where I held a visiting professorship in a fun but financially threatened School of Psychology. This time, some junior faculty requested that I say something positive and my title slide announced that I was responding to that request.

To my great delight, Professor Mike Smithson, a faculty member in the School of Psychology originally from the US, livened things up this time with an impromptu mock debate without the two of us not having any prior communication or advanced planning.

Was John Ioannidis's provocative claim a bit of an exaggeration?

In these talks, I often included the phrase “false or exaggerated” which was inspired by John Ioannidis.

Ioannidis JP. Why most published research findings are false. PLoS medicine. 2005 Aug 3…