I don't see the beginning of the thread for some reason so I'm not entirely sure what you are referring to (although I have a good guess). Might you be referring to James Coyne's recent commentary about Ellen Langer's research?
If not, you might find his thoughts on the matter interesting (although I suspect you may have already seen this & that this is what you are referring to): http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/eminent-harvard-psychologist-mother-of-positive-psychology-new-age-quack/ Trent On Tue, Nov 18, 2014 at 2:55 PM, Stuart McKelvie <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Dear Tipsters, > > > > I had always regarded the two nursing home studies (experiments, actually) > as interesting and have regularly reported them in my classes. The > significant finding of different death rates in the follow-up study was of > particularly attention-grabbing and almost too good to be true, but I had > not seen any reason to doubt it, even though the sample size was small. > > > > I went back to these two papers to see if I could detect serious errors in > methodology and statistics. Of course, if there was something important > that was not reported, we would not know that. Based on this re-reading I > still do not see any serious errors, although the data on multiple measures > could have been treated with MANOVA rather than ANOVA. > > > > The authors also report various attempt to keep extraneous variables > constant – e.g. raters being blind as to the condition in which people > were. In addition, they express their own surprise at the death rate data > and admit that not everything was known about the patients. > > > > Of course, the matter of replication remains. If this has not occurred, we > do not know what the outcome would be. As I mentioned in an earlier post, > there has been a failure to replicate the results of the > exercise-as-placebo experiment. > > > > So, overall, I still think that the original experiments, as reported, > offer interesting results. Have there been serious criticisms of them that > I have missed? > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Stuart > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > > "*F**loreat* *L**abore*" > > > > > > "*Recti cultus pectora roborant*" > > > > *Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D*., *Phone*: 819 822 9600 x 2402 > > Department of Psychology, *Fax*: 819 822 9661 > > Bishop's University, > > 2600 rue College, > > Sherbrooke, > > Québec J1M 1Z7, > > Canada. > > > > E-mail: [email protected] (or [email protected]) > > > > Bishop's University Psychology Department Web Page: > > http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy > > > > *F**loreat* *L**abore*" > > > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > > > > > > > > *From:* Michael Britt [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* November 18, 2014 8:20 AM > *To:* Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > *Subject:* [tips] Psych science.? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > This is so discouraging. Eye opening perhaps, but discouraging. I > remember well the nursing home study and I always thought positively of > it. I have two parents in their 90s and I know they are frustrated by > their lack of independence and the loss of control over their lives. But > as I reflect on all this I had to ask myself, "Why would I think that the > participants in Langer's study would lead healthier, longer lives simply > because of their ability to take care of a plant?" Given how complex > humans are, and how complex life is, why would I think that a simple > “intervention” like giving people control over a plant would have such > powerful effects? Maybe because I wanted to believe…. > > > > As for this counterclockwise “study”…oh boy..at least it is indeed an > excellent point about how eminence doesn’t necessarily mean credible. > > > > I am additionally discouraged because I recently finished reading a > published article which appeared to have been carefully carried out (and > which was filled with all manor of impressive advanced statistical > techniques) but in the end all they really found were essentially > correlations. I kept going back to my underlined sentences and I still > couldn’t figure out why this study was important enough to publish. The > hypotheses and the conclusions were “tortured” into giving up some kind of > “significance”. > > > > I need some cheering up: can anyone point to a recently published article > they think was interesting and credibly carried out? > > > > Michael > > > > Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. > [email protected] > http://www.ThePsychFiles.com > Twitter: @mbritt > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13510.2cc18398df2e6692fffc29a610cb72e3&n=T&l=tips&o=40276 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-40276-13510.2cc18398df2e6692fffc29a610cb7...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=582499.3b862fcc285c6276efc1da9f00860b94&n=T&l=tips&o=40285 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-40285-582499.3b862fcc285c6276efc1da9f00860...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > -- R.Trent Codd, III, Ed.S., LPC Board Certified Behavior Analyst Diplomate & Fellow, Academy of Cognitive Therapy Academy of CT Certified Trainer/Consultant Clinical Faculty, Lenoir-Rhyne University Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Center of WNC, P.A. 1085 Tunnel Road, 7A Asheville, NC 28805 828-350-1177 828-350-1188 (Fax) [email protected] www.BehaviorTherapist.com <http://www.behaviortherapist.com/> Podcast: www.CBTRadio.org <http://www.cbtradio.org/> The information contained in this email message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the designated recipient or entity named above. 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