Psychology Will Be a Much Better Science When We Change the Way We Analyze Data

Jn 1964, 1 entered the field of psychology because 1 believed that within it dwelt some o f the most fund a m e nta l a nd ch a lJe n g ing proble ms of the exta nt sciences. Who could not be intrigu ed, for example, by the rela tion between consciou sness and be ha vior, o r the rules guiding interactions in social situations, o r the processes tha t underlie d evelopme nt from infancy to ma turity? Tod ay, in 1996, my fascination with these proble ms is undiminis hed . But I have deve loped a certain an gst ove r the interve ning 30-something years-a constant, nagging feeling that our fie ld spe nds a lo t of time spinning its wheels without really ma king much progress. This problem s hows up in obvious waysfor insta nce, in the regulari ty with which findings seem no t to replicate. 1t also s hows up in subtler ways-for instance, one d oes not o ften hea r psychologists saying, " Well, this proble m is solved now; let's move on to the next one" (as, e.g., Johannes Kepler must have said m ore tha n three centuries