APS and Potentially Biased Editorial Experience

[Shiori]

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I have seen some cognitive psych papers not report demographics. One of my old professors justified it by saying they weren't necessary because the work was just focused on brains and not culture.

 

[Ollie123]

I have seen some cognitive psych papers not report demographics. One of my old professors justified it by saying they weren't necessary because the work was just focused on brains and not culture.

I mean, I totally get it matters more in some cases than others. I'm way less worried when it comes to a study of dynamic scene perception in infants than I am in a study of affective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. I've seen reviewers slam studies for slight under-representation of group X according to national statistics (e.g., low-but-not-zero Hispanic sample in a region with low Hispanic population) in studies where there was zero reason to believe that would impact things.

However you always-always-always report your sample demographics in as much detail as you can. And as someone who has done studies examining cultural influences on the brain, that blanket justification reveals a fundamental lack of understanding of both culture and brains.

 

[futureapppsy2]

I mean, I totally get it matters more in some cases than others. I'm way less worried when it comes to a study of dynamic scene perception in infants than I am in a study of affective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. I've seen reviewers slam studies for slight under-representation of group X according to national statistics (e.g., low-but-not-zero Hispanic sample in a region with low Hispanic population) in studies where there was zero reason to believe that would impact things.

However you always-always-always report your sample demographics in as much detail as you can. And as someone who has done studies examining cultural influences on the brain, that blanket justification reveals a fundamental lack of understanding of both culture and brains.

You see the same logic in ABA articles, at least historically--the idea that culture doesn't matter because the principles of behavior are universal. There's been several articles, including one by me and some colleagues, calling that out, and it's slowly changing.

 

[ClinicalABA]

I mean, I totally get it matters more in some cases than others. I'm way less worried when it comes to a study of dynamic scene perception in infants than I am in a study of affective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. I've seen reviewers slam studies for slight under-representation of group X according to national statistics (e.g., low-but-not-zero Hispanic sample in a region with low Hispanic population) in studies where there was zero reason to believe that would impact things.

However you always-always-always report your sample demographics in as much detail as you can. And as someone who has done studies examining cultural influences on the brain, that blanket justification reveals a fundamental lack of understanding of both culture and brains.

This is something Roberts points out in his more recent paper. There is an assumption that white=default. If the sample is white, the study is presented/titled as something along the lines of "Effects of Priming on Memory". If the sample is Asian, the study is presented/titled "Memory in Asians: the Effects of Priming." This establishes "white" as the norm, and Asian as a "special pipulation" that needs to be specifically identified. Even the the majority of people on this earth are technically "Asian", the WEIRD sample is treated as the default human condition and not specifically identified as "Memory in Caucasians: the Effects of Priming." In their original 2020 article, Robert's et al. cite research showing that culture can influence cognitive processes, thus assuming white=default or norm is erroneous, scientifically speaking.

 

[ClinicalABA]

You see the same logic in ABA articles, at least historically--the idea that culture doesn't matter because the principles of behavior are universal. There's been several articles, including one by me and some colleagues, calling that out, and it's slowly changing.

And this is important research that needs to keep happening. Idiogrqphic assessment that accounts for cultural, gender, SES, sexuality, and family specific contingencies is key not only in developing effective interventions, but also (and probably more importantly) appropriate treatment goals.

In my grad program we rotated our treatment teams annually around different theories and perspectives. I was struck by my experiences on the Social Consructivist team more closely mirrored my Behavioral Therapy perspective than some of the other team (e.g. psychodynamic) that assumed cross cultural consistencies. One of the things that draws me to GOOD ABA is that no variable/contingency/experience is given a default status of being more universally important, default, than any other. That's how I try to teach my students (when I actually show up for class!). It can be very difficult, being raised, accultured, and phentypically/socially identified as a cisgendered white male, to counteract my biases, but I try.

 

[borne_before]

What if racial differences were found in cog lit? Could you just imagine the **** storm on the woke side and hard on for the cherry picking racist side.

 

[WisNeuro]

What if racial differences were found in cog lit? Could you just imagine the **** storm on the woke side and hard on for the cherry picking racist side.

Oh, we've already hit that ****storm throughout the decades, most recently with the NFL settlements and Heaton norms.

 

[ClinicalABA]

What if racial differences were found in cog lit? Could you just imagine the **** storm on the woke side and hard on for the cherry picking racist side.

They have been (c.f. Roberts et al. 2020).

 

[PsychPhDone]

I keep trying to get papers focused on women into "mainstream" journals and they get desk rejected, editors saying they should go in women's journals, as if you must mentally prepare yourself for seeing an article about menopause. Not like it affects half the population.

Anyway just a side-tracking comment about the view of "default" in the academy.

 

[WisNeuro]

I keep trying to get papers focused on women into "mainstream" journals and they get desk rejected, editors saying they should go in women's journals, as if you must mentally prepare yourself for seeing an article about menopause. Not like it affects half the population.

Anyway just a side-tracking comment about the view of "default" in the academy.

If you're also looking at the cognitive aspects of it, some of the neuro journals may be more receptive. There's been a lot of interest in that in recent years.

 

[PsychPhDone]

If you're also looking at the cognitive aspects of it, some of the neuro journals may be more receptive. There's been a lot of interest in that in recent years.

I'm not but this could be a fun lil direction to go in at some point. Would need a neuro collaborator though. 😉 Will keep in mind!