The Psychological Science Accelerator: Advancing Psychology through a Distributed Collaborative Network

Authors

Hannah Moshontz, Duke University.
Lorne Campbell, Western UniversityFollow
Charles R. Ebersole, University of Virginia.
Hans IJzerman, Université Grenoble Alpes.
Heather L. Urry, Tufts University.
Patrick S. Forscher, University of Arkansas.
Jon E. Grahe, Pacific Lutheran University.
Randy J. McCarthy, Northern Illinois University.
Erica D. Musser, Florida International University.
Jan Antfolk, Åbo Akademi University.
Christopher M. Castille, Nicholls State University.
Thomas Rhys Evans, Coventry University.
Susann Fiedler, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
Jessica Kay Flake, McGill University.
Diego A. Forero, Universidad Antonio Nariño.
Steve M. Janssen, University of Nottingham - Malaysia Campus.
Justin Robert Keene, Texas Tech University.
John Protzko, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Balazs Aczel, ELTE, Eotvos Lorand University.
Sara Álvarez Solas, Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam.
Daniel Ansari, The University of Western OntarioFollow
Dana Awlia, Ashland University.
Ernest Baskin, Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University.
Carlota Batres, Franklin and Marshall College.
Martha Lucia Borras-Guevara, University of St Andrews.
Cameron Brick, University of Cambridge.
Priyanka Chandel, Pt Ravishankar Shukla University.
Armand Chatard, Université de Poitiers et CNRS.
William J. Chopik, Michigan State University.
David Clarance, Busara Center for Behavioral Economics.
Nicholas A. Coles, University of Tennessee.
Katherine S. Corker, Grand Valley State University.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2018

Journal

Advances in methods and practices in psychological science

Volume

1

Issue

4

First Page

501

Last Page

515

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1177/2515245918797607

Abstract

Concerns have been growing about the veracity of psychological research. Many findings in psychological science are based on studies with insufficient statistical power and nonrepresentative samples, or may otherwise be limited to specific, ungeneralizable settings or populations. Crowdsourced research, a type of large-scale collaboration in which one or more research projects are conducted across multiple lab sites, offers a pragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges. The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a distributed network of laboratories designed to enable and support crowdsourced research projects. These projects can focus on novel research questions, or attempt to replicate prior research, in large, diverse samples. The PSA's mission is to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and generalizable evidence in psychological science. Here, we describe the background, structure, principles, procedures, benefits, and challenges of the PSA. In contrast to other crowdsourced research networks, the PSA is ongoing (as opposed to time-limited), efficient (in terms of re-using structures and principles for different projects), decentralized, diverse (in terms of participants and researchers), and inclusive (of proposals, contributions, and other relevant input from anyone inside or outside of the network). The PSA and other approaches to crowdsourced psychological science will advance our understanding of mental processes and behaviors by enabling rigorous research and systematically examining its generalizability.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Citation of this paper:

Moshontz H, Campbell L, Ebersole CR, et al. The Psychological Science Accelerator: Advancing Psychology Through a Distributed Collaborative Network. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science. December 2018:501-515. doi:10.1177/2515245918797607