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

• Published in: Advances in methods and practices in psychological science 2019
• Main Authors: Moshontz, Hannah, Campbell, Lorne, Pfuhl, Gerit, Tamnes, Christian Krog, Schei, Vidar, Zickfeld, Janis Heinrich
• Format: Article
• Language: Norwegian
• ISSN: 2515-2467

Concerns have been growingabout the veracityof 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,offersapragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges. The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is adistributed network of laboratories designed to enable and support crowdsourced research projects. These projects can focus onnovel researchquestions, 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 crowdsourcedresearch 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 insideor 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 itsgeneralizability.