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STAGE 2
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Revisiting the Effects of Helper Intention on Gratitude and Indebtedness: Replication and extensions Registered Report of Tsang (2006)

Grateful or indebted? Revisiting the role of helper intention in gratitude and indebtedness

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Jo-Ann Tsang, Sarahanne Miranda Field and Cong Peng
When receiving a favor, we may feel grateful and/or indebted to those who have helped us. What factors determine the extent of gratitude and indebtedness people experience? In a seminal paper, Tsang (2006) found that people reported feeling more gratitude when the helper's intention was perceived to be benevolent rather than selfish. In contrast, indebtedness was not influenced by the perceived intention of the helper.

In the current study, Chan et al. (2025) revisited the effects of helper intention on gratitude and indebtedness, by replicating and extending the original studies (Study 2 & 3) by Tsang (2006). Participants were asked to either recall (replication of Study 2) or read (replication of Study 3) a scenario in which another person helped them with either benevolent or selfish intentions, and rate how much gratitude and indebtedness they would experience in such situations. Replicating the findings by Tsang (2006), Chan et al. (2025) found that gratitude was more strongly influenced by helper intention than indebtedness. Extending these findings, the authors further discovered that helper intention affected perceived expectations for reciprocity and reciprocity inclination. Moreover, perceived reciprocity expectations showed opposite correlations with gratitude and indebtedness. Overall, this successful replication reinforces the distinction between gratitude and indebtedness, providing a solid foundation for future research on their underlying mechanisms and downstream influences.

This Stage 2 manuscript was evaluated over one round of in-depth review by three expert reviewers, and a second round of review by the recommender. After the revisions, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 2 criteria and therefore awarded a positive recommendation.
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/uyfvq
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that was used to answer the research question was generated until after IPA. 
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
References

1. Tsang, J.-A. (2006). The effects of helper intention on gratitude and indebtedness. Motivation and Emotion, 30, 199–205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-006-9031-z

2. Chan, C. F., Lim, H. C., Lau, F. Y., Ip, W., Lui, C. F. S., Tam, K. Y. Y., & Feldman, G. (2025). Revisiting the Effects of Helper Intention on Gratitude and Indebtedness: Replication and extensions Registered Report of Tsang (2006)[Stage 2]. Acceptance of Version 6 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/gthma
Revisiting the Effects of Helper Intention on Gratitude and Indebtedness: Replication and extensions Registered Report of Tsang (2006)Chi Fung Chan, Hiu Ching Lim, Fung Yee Lau, Wing Ip, Chak Fong Shannon Lui, Katy Y. Y. Tam, Gilad Feldman<p>Gratitude and indebtedness are common emotions in response to a favor, yet research suggests that they are experienced differently depending on the situation. Tsang (2006) found that gratitude for a favor depended on perceived helper intention,...Social sciencesZhang Chen2024-05-16 21:38:11 View
08 Mar 2025
STAGE 1

Noninvasive Neuromodulation of Visual Perception and Neural Connectivity in Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Registered Report

Understanding the combined effects of brain stimulation and visual attention modification in body dysmorphic disorder

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Samuel Westwood and 1 anonymous reviewer
This study by Diaz-Fong et al. (2025) plans to investigate body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), an understudied psychiatric condition marked by distortions in the perception of a patients’ physical appearance. The authors build on evidence that perceptual symptoms in BDD are underpinned by attentional biases, which may relate to abnormal visual processing and neural connectivity in the dorsal visual stream (DVS; reduced activation) and the ventral visual stream (VVS; increased activation). Prior evidence suggests that activation in the DVS and the VVS may be modifiable by both non-invasive neuromodulation (including transcranial magnetic stimulation), as well as behavioural interventions such as the Visual Modification (ModV) paradigm, which has been suggested to reduce patients’ foveal attention to perceived bodily defects. The ModV paradigm has been specifically linked with altered VVS and DVS activation and connectivity. 
 
Here the authors will test in a within-subject crossover design (N = 40) whether neural connectivity and visual perceptual biases in BDD and subclinical BDD can be modified by combining the effects of altered visual attention in the ModV paradigm with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (continuous and intermittent theta burst stimulation; cTBS and iTBS). By combining a behavioural and an exogenous intervention, the authors predict an increase in the magnitude of clinically meaningful improvements in attentional biases in BDD, with iTBS expected to enhance, and cTBS expected to inhibit the effects of visual attention modification through ModV on neural connectivity (measured using fMRI) and visual processing. More specifically, the effect of TBS is hypothesised to be stronger after patients perform ModV.
 
The Stage 1 manuscript was evaluated by two experts who performed in-depth peer review across multiple rounds of revisions. The authors were responsive in editing their manuscript based on the reviewers’ comments and dedicated much effort to increasing the clarity and interpretability of their power analyses. The revised manuscript was judged to meet the Stage 1 criteria and was awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA). 

URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/ks425 (under temporary private embargo)
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 3. At least some data/evidence that will be used to the answer the research question has been previously accessed by the authors (e.g. downloaded or otherwise received), but the authors certify that they have not yet observed any part of the data/evidence.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
Diaz-Fong, J. P., Lewis, M., Qian, J., Wong, W.-W., Leuchter, A. F., Tadayonnejad, R., Voineskos, D., Konstantinou, G., Lam, E., Blumberger, D. M., Feusner, J. D. (2025). Noninvasive neuromodulation of visual perception and neural connectivity in body dysmorphic disorder: a registered report. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/ks425
Noninvasive Neuromodulation of Visual Perception and Neural Connectivity in Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Registered ReportJoel P. Diaz-Fong, Madison Lewis, Jessica Qian, Wan-Wa Wong, Andrew F. Leuchter, Reza Tadayonnejad, Daphne Voineskos, Gerasimos Konstantinou, Eileen Lam, Daniel M. Blumberger, Jamie D. Feusner<p>Body dysmorphic disorder is a debilitating and understudied psychiatric condition characterized by perceptual distortions pertaining to one’s physical appearance. Current evidence suggests that abnormalities in visual processing likely underlie...Medical SciencesAnna Elisabeth Fürtjes Philip Lewis, Micheal Fox, Yang Dan, Song Luan, Steven Cohen, Paul Fitzgerald, Samuel Westwood, Anonymous, Tim Constandinou, David A. McCormick, Biyu He, Andreas Horn2024-05-02 01:31:43 View
07 Mar 2025
STAGE 2
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Sensorimotor Effects in Surprise Word Memory – a Registered Report

Evaluating adaptive and attentional accounts of sensorimotor effects in word recognition memory

Recommended by and ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Gordon Feld
Words have served as stimuli in memory experiments for over a century. What makes some words stand out in memory compared to others? One plausible answer is that semantically rich words are more distinctive and therefore exhibit a mirror effect in recognition memory experiments where they are likely to be correctly endorsed and also less likely to be confused with other words (Glanzer & Adams, 1985). Semantic richness can arise due to extensive prior experience with the word in multiple contexts but can also arise due to sensorimotor grounding, i.e., direct perceptual and action-based experience with the concepts represented by the words (e.g. pillow, cuddle). However, previous experiments have revealed inconsistent recognition memory performance patterns for words based on different types of sensorimotor grounding (Dymarska et al., 2023). Most surprisingly, body-related words such as 'cuddle' and 'fitness' exhibited greater false alarm rates. 

In the current study, Dymarska and Connell (2025) tested two competing theories that can explain the increased confusability of body-related words: 1) the adaptive account - contextual elaboration-based strategies activate other concepts related to body and survival, increasing confusability; and 2) the attentional account - somatic attentional mechanisms automatically induce similar tactile and interoceptive experiences upon seeing body-related words leading to less distinctive memory traces. The adaptive account leads to different predictions under intentional and incidental memory conditions. Specifically, contextual elaboration strategies are unlikely to be employed when participants do not expect a memory test and therefore in an incidental memory task, body-related words should not lead to inflated false alarm rates (see Hintzman (2011) for a discussion on incidental memory tasks and the importance of how material is processed during memory tasks). However, the attentional account is not dependent on the task instructions or the knowledge about an upcoming memory test.

Here, Dymarska and Connell (2025) undertook an incidental recognition memory experiment with over 5000 words, disguised as a lexical decision task using carefully matched pseudowords during the encoding phase. The sample size was determined by using a sequential hypothesis testing plan with Bayes Factors. To test the predictions of the adaptive and attentional accounts, the authors derived a set of lexical and sensorimotor variables (including a body-component) after dimensionality reduction of a comprehensive set of lexical and semantic word features. The analysis involved running both Bayesian and frequentist hierarchical linear regression to explain four different measures of recognition memory performance based on the key sensorimotor variables and other baseline/confounding variables. While this analysis plan enables a comparison with the earlier results from an expected memory test (Dymarska et al., 2023), the current study is self-contained in that it is possible to distinguish the adaptive and attentional accounts based on the effect of body component scores on hit rate and false alarm rate.
 
Results provided support for the attentional account: body-related words increased false alarms even when attention was not directed to them during the study phase, consistent with a somatic attentional mechanism that causes body-related words to activate tactile and other bodily modalities that render their representations less distinctive as a memory trace and retrieval cue. Overall, the authors conclude that their findings point to a reconsideration of the role of semantic richness in word memory.

The manuscript was evaluated over one round of review, after which the recommenders judged that the submission satisfied the Stage 2 criteria and awarded a positive recommendation.
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/ck5bg
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that was used to answer the research question was generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
References
 
Dymarska, A. & Connell, L. (2025). Sensorimotor Effects in Surprise Word Memory – a Registered Report [Stage 2]. Acceptance of Version 2 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/mg9jt

Dymarska, A., Connell, L. & Banks, B. (2023). More is Not Necessarily Better: How Different Aspects of Sensorimotor Experience Affect Recognition Memory for Words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Language, Memory, Cognition. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001265 

Glanzer, M., & Adams, J. K. (1985). The mirror effect in recognition memory. Memory & Cognition, 13, 8-20. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198438

Hintzman, D. L. (2011). Research strategy in the study of memory: Fads, fallacies, and the search for the “coordinates of truth”. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 253-271. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691611406924
Sensorimotor Effects in Surprise Word Memory – a Registered ReportAgata Dymarska, Louise Connell<p>Sensorimotor grounding of semantic information elicits inconsistent effects on word memory, depending on which type of experience is involved, with some aspects of sensorimotor information facilitating memory performance while others inhibit it...Social sciencesClara Cohen2024-09-11 16:18:43 View
07 Mar 2025
STAGE 2
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On the neural substrates of mind wandering and dynamic thought: A drug and brain stimulation study

Does dopamine availability influence the effect of brain stimulation on mind-wandering?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Chris Chambers and 1 anonymous reviewer
Mind-wandering broadly refers to the phenomenon by which a person's thoughts are directed towards internally generated states as opposed to being directed towards those that are task-relevant. It has been proposed that mind-wandering and cognitive control are supported by overlapping neural systems. While neuroimaging work has implicated prefrontal cortex in both mind-wandering and cognitive control, studies testing its causal role using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been inconclusive.
 
Here, Rasmussen and colleagues (2025) put to a strict test the question of whether the effects of prefrontal cortex tDCS on mind-wandering are mediated by dopaminergic availablility, which is known to be important for cognitive control. Using noninvasive brain stimuluation (prefrontal cortex tDCS vs sham) and a pharmacological intervention (levodopa vs. placebo), they found that contrary to some previous work, stimulation of prefrontal cortex does not alter mind-wandering. By contrast, in the absence of stimulation, increasing dopamine availability via levodopa reduced the frequency of freely moving thought. Together, these results clarify the degree to which prefrontal cortex tDCS and dopamine play a causal role in mind-wandering
 
The Stage 2 manuscript was evaluated over one round of in-depth review. Based on detailed responses to the reviewers' comments, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 2 criteria and awarded a positive recommendation.
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/ujp7e
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that was used to answer the research question was generated until after IPA. 
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
Rasmussen, T., Dux, P. E. & Filmer, H. (2025). On the neural substrates of mind wandering and dynamic thought: A drug and brain stimulation study [Stage 2]. Acceptance of Version 2 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.02.620526 
 
On the neural substrates of mind wandering and dynamic thought: A drug and brain stimulation studyTara Rasmussen, Paul E. Dux and Hannah Filmer<p>The impact of mind wandering on our daily lives ranges from diminishing productivity, to facilitating creativity and problem solving. There is evidence that distinct internal thought types can be modulated by transcranial direct current stimula...Life Sciences, Medical SciencesMaxine Sherman2024-10-28 03:18:20 View
07 Mar 2025
STAGE 1

On the neural substrates of mind wandering and dynamic thought: A drug and brain stimulation study

Does dopamine availability influence the effect of brain stimulation on mind-wandering?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Chris Chambers, Jonathan Smallwood and 1 anonymous reviewer
Mind-wandering broadly refers to the phenomenon by which a person's thoughts are directed towards internally generated states as opposed to being directed towards those that are task-relevant. It has been proposed that mind-wandering and cognitive control are supported by overlapping neural systems. While neuroimaging work has implicated prefrontal cortex in both mind-wandering and cognitive control, studies testing its causal role using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been inconclusive.
 
In this study, Rasmussen and colleagues will test whether the effects of prefrontal cortex tDCS on mind-wandering are mediated by dopaminergic availablility, which is known to be important for cognitive control. Using noninvasive brain stimuluation (prefrontal cortex tDCS vs sham) and a pharmacological intervention (levodopa vs. placebo), the authors will test for a causal role of both prefrontal cortex and dopamine availability in mind-wandering, and whether dopamine availability alters the effect of tDCS on mind-wandering.
 
The Stage 1 manuscript was evaluated over two rounds of in-depth review. Based on detailed responses to the reviewers' comments, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and therefore awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/ujp7e
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA. 
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Rasmussen, T., Dux, P. E. & Filmer, H. (2024). On the neural substrates of mind wandering and dynamic thought: A drug and brain stimulation study. In principle acceptance of Version 2 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/ujp7e
 
On the neural substrates of mind wandering and dynamic thought: A drug and brain stimulation studyTara Rasmussen, Paul E. Dux and Hannah Filmer<p>The impact of mind wandering on our daily lives ranges from diminishing productivity, to facilitating creativity and problem solving. There is evidence that distinct internal thought types can be modulated by transcranial direct current stimula...Life Sciences, Social sciencesMaxine Sherman Chris Chambers, Jonathan Smallwood, Anonymous2023-11-08 05:11:42 View
06 Mar 2025
STAGE 1

The role of extra-striate areas in conscious motor behavior: a registered report with Fast-Optical Imaging

Neural underpinning of conscious perception of visual stimuli disentangled from motor confounds

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by 3 anonymous reviewers
The debate about consciousness and its neural underpinnings is a hot topic in cognitive neuroscience that has driven innovative original research and theoretical frameworks (Dehaene et al., 2006; Lamme, 2006). Consciousness itself can be defined and studied from different perspectives, such as neuropsychology (Laureys et al., 2004; Monti, 2012), applied philosophy (Blanke & Metzinger, 2009), and experimental cognitive neuroscience (Dehaene & Changeux, 2011). However, after several decades of research via different methods and from different perspectives, basic questions regarding consciousness and its neural underpinnings are still debated (Chalmers, 2010). One of the reasons for this ongoing debate is that consciousness cannot be easily disentangled from confounds, such as involvement of other cognitive processes like memory, language, and so forth (Dehaene & Changeux, 2011).
 
In the current study, Colombari et al. (2025) focus on disentangling neural markers of conscious visual perception from motoric responses. To this end, the study uses a cutting-edge neuroimaging technique, Event-Related Optical Signal (EROS), to measure the neural responses during a Go/No-Go detection task, which is especially designed to gauge visual perception regardless of response production. The study, therefore, is instrumental in addressing the neural foundation of conscious visual perception and is well situated to advance our understanding of consciousness and its neural underpinnings.
 
The Stage 1 submission was evaluated by three expert reviewers. After several rounds of revision, the recommender determined that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/8ya2t
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Blanke, O., & Metzinger, T. (2009). Full-body illusions and minimal phenomenal selfhood. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13, 7-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2008.10.003
 
2. Chalmers, D. J. (2010). Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness. In The Character of Consciousness (pp. 3-34). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311105.003.0001 
 
3. Colombari, E., Parisi, G., Mele, S., Mazzi, C., & Savazzi, S. (2025). The role of extra-striate areas in conscious motor behavior: a registered report with Fast-Optical Imaging. In principle acceptance of Version 5 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/8ya2t
 
4. Dehaene, S., & Changeux, J. P. (2011). Experimental and theoretical approaches to conscious processing. Neuron, 70, 200-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.018 
 
5. Dehaene, S., Changeux, J. P., Naccache, L., Sackur, J., & Sergent, C. (2006). Conscious, preconscious, and subliminal processing: a testable taxonomy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 204-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.03.007 
 
6. Lamme, V. A. (2006). Towards a true neural stance on consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 494-501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.09.001 
 
7. Laureys, S., Owen, A. M., & Schiff, N. D. (2004). Brain function in coma, vegetative state, and related disorders. The Lancet Neurology, 3, 537-546. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(04)00852-x 
 
8. Monti, M. M. (2012). Cognition in the vegetative state. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 8, 431-454. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032511-143050
The role of extra-striate areas in conscious motor behavior: a registered report with Fast-Optical ImagingElisabetta Colombari, Giorgia Parisi, Sonia Mele, Chiara Mazzi, Silvia Savazzi<p>Disclosing the brain areas responsible for the emergence of visual awareness and their timing of activation represents one of the major challenges in consciousness research. In particular, isolating the neural processes strictly related to cons...Life Sciences, Social sciencesAnoushiravan Zahedi 2024-04-26 22:44:25 View
05 Mar 2025
STAGE 1
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Social cognition as a matter of structural brain connections? A systematic review and diffusion weighted imaging meta-analysis

Social cognition and white matter integrity: Systematic review and diffusion weighted imaging meta-analysis

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Sebastian Ocklenburg and Katie Lavigne
Social cognition involves complex processes including empathy, mentalizing, and compassion, which rely on structural connectivity and specifically white matter (WM) integrity. Prior research suggests that deficits in social cognition are linked to deficient structural connectivity, indicating that the latter might be an essential foundation for social cognitive abilities. In the current study, Hansl et al. (2025) explore the relationship between social cognition and white matter (WM) integrity in the brain across different populations, by means of a systematic review and meta-analyses. Using diffusion-weighted imaging data, the authors aim to identify specific WM tracts most associated with social cognition. Meta-analyses of region-of-interest (ROI)-based studies will provide further insights, while meta-regression and subgroup analyses will examine differences across social cognitive constructs, imaging metrics, clinical conditions, and age groups. The findings could clarify global and specific WM contributions to social cognition, guiding future research on brain structure-function relationships in social cognition across various populations.
 
The Stage 1 submission was evaluated by two expert reviewers. After two rounds of revision, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/6n3jy (under temporary private embargo)
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 2. At least some data/evidence that will be used to answer the research question has been accessed and partially observed by the authors, but the authors certify that they have not yet observed the key variables within the data that will be used to answer the research question and they have taken additional steps to maximise bias control and rigour.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Hansl, R., Maliske, L. Z., Valk, S. L., & Kanske, P. (2025). Social cognition as a matter of structural brain connections? A systematic review and diffusion weighted imaging meta-analysis. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/6n3jy
Social cognition as a matter of structural brain connections? A systematic review and diffusion weighted imaging meta-analysisRita Hansl, Lara Z. Maliske, Sofie L. Valk, Philipp Kanske<p>Social cognition encompasses several cognitive and affective processes essential for successful social interaction and communication (e.g. empathy, mentalizing, compassion). The interplay of the various processes necessary for understanding the...Life SciencesMarietta Papadatou-Pastou2024-09-20 13:51:12 View
03 Mar 2025
STAGE 1

Shape of SNARC: How task-dependent are Spatial-Numerical Associations? A highly powered online experiment

Shedding light on task influence in the SNARC effect

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Michele Vicovaro, Christian Seegelke, Peter Wühr and 1 anonymous reviewer
The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect (Dehaene et al., 1993) is a key phenomenon in numerical cognition. It describes the tendency for individuals to respond faster to smaller numbers with a left-side key and to larger numbers with a right-side key, suggesting a mental mapping of numerical magnitudes onto space. While this effect has been widely replicated, its precise nature remains debated, particularly regarding its task dependency.
 
In this Stage 1 Registered Report, Roth et al. (2025) present a highly powered study that systematically investigates whether the SNARC effect differs in two widely used numerical cognition tasks: magnitude classification (MC) and parity judgment (PJ). In the MC task, participants determine whether a presented number is smaller or larger than a reference value (typically 5). This task explicitly requires magnitude processing, making numerical magnitude directly relevant to the response. In contrast, the PJ task requires participants to judge whether a number is odd or even, a decision that does not explicitly involve numerical magnitude.
 
The authors address a fundamental theoretical question in numerical cognition: while the SNARC effect in PJ is often considered continuous, does it follow a categorical pattern in MC? To investigate this, the study directly compares continuous and categorical representations of the SNARC effect across these two tasks, using Bayesian statistical approaches to determine the best-fitting model. By systematically analysing the SNARC effect in these widely used paradigms, this work aims to refine our understanding of how numerical magnitudes are mapped onto space and whether this mapping depends on task demands. The findings of this study will provide crucial insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying numerical-spatial associations, highlighting the extent to which task structure shapes the emergence of the SNARC effect.
 
Three expert reviewers provided valuable feedback across multiple rounds of review. Based on ​detailed responses to the reviewers’ and recommender’s comments, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and therefore awarded in-principle acceptance.​​​
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/968ad
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that will be used to answer the research question yet exists and no part will be generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Dehaene, S., Bossini, S., & Giraux, P. (1993). The mental representation of parity and number magnitude. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122(3), 371–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.122.3.371
 
2. Roth, L., Cipora, K., Overlander, A. T., Nuerk, H.-C., & Reips, U.-D. (2025). Shape of SNARC: How task-dependent are Spatial-Numerical Associations? A highly powered online experiment. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/968ad
Shape of SNARC: How task-dependent are Spatial-Numerical Associations? A highly powered online experimentLilly Roth, Krzysztof Cipora, Annika T. Overlander, Hans-Christoph Nuerk, Ulf-Dietrich Reips<p>Spatial-Numerical Associations (SNAs) are fundamental to numerical cognition. They are essential for number representation and mathematics learning. However, SNAs are highly dependent on the experimental situation and task. Understanding this d...Life SciencesMario Dalmaso Peter Wühr2024-05-27 13:14:25 View
03 Mar 2025
STAGE 2
(Go to stage 1)

Is it Worth the Hustle? A Multi-Country Replication of the Effort Moralization Effect and an Extension to Generational Differences in the Appreciation of Effort

Are people who exert more effort in a task seen as more moral?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Jared Celniker, Ignazio Ziano and Michael Inzlicht
This study seeks to understand cultural and age differences in the effort moralization effect, a phenomenon in which people who put more effort into a task are considered more moral, regardless of the quality or the morality associated with the task. This is shown in common phrases such as the “great resignation” or “quiet quitting”, which are mostly used against younger members of the population, in particular generation Z.
 
Tissot and Roth (2025) conducted a replication of a study from Celniker et al. (2023) which found evidence for this effect, with new samples from Mexico and Germany, to test potential cultural and age differences. 

The results indicated a generalization of the effort moralization effect in Germany and Mexico, with important heterogeneity in the effect found, and effects sizes that were smaller than in the original study conducted in the USA. However, no effect was found regarding age, as younger individuals judged effort as being important in the same way as older individuals. It is possible, therefore, that the effort moralization effect is a consistent bias that persists regardless of age.
 
The Stage 2 manuscript was evaluated over three rounds of in-depth review. Based on ​detailed responses to the reviewers’ and recommender’s comments, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 2 criteria and awarded a positive recommendation.
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/tvgw2
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 6. No part of the data or evidence that was used to answer the research question was generated until after IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
1. Celniker, J. B., Gregory, A., Koo, H. J., Piff, P. K., Ditto, P. H., & Shariff, A. F. (2023). The moralization of effort. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152, 60–79. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001259
 
2. Tissot, T. T. & Roth, L. H. O. (2025). Is it Worth the Hustle? A Multi-Country Replication of the Effort Moralization Effect and an Extension to Generational Differences in the Appreciation of Effort [Stage 2]. Acceptance of Version 4 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/ck4st_v4
Is it Worth the Hustle? A Multi-Country Replication of the Effort Moralization Effect and an Extension to Generational Differences in the Appreciation of EffortTassilo T. Tissot, Leopold H. O. Roth<p>Inferring moral character of individuals is an adaptive need for social decision-making. The effort moralization effect describes the finding that people who exert more effort in a task are seen as more moral, even if higher effort does not enh...Social sciencesAdrien Fillon2024-11-15 10:14:56 View
24 Feb 2025
STAGE 1

Gold in, gold out. Quality appraisal and risk of bias tools to assess non-intervention studies for systematic reviews in the behavioural sciences: A scoping review

Scoping review of quality appraisal and risk of bias tools and their relevance for behavioral sciences

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Alejandro Sandoval-Lentisco
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are becoming more popular across sciences, often influencing future research, policies, interventions, and similar. The conclusions of evidence synthesis will depend on the quality of the primary studies (i.e. evidence) included. Thus, the quality and risk of bias in these primary studies must be essential components of evidence synthesis. However, in many scientific fields, including behavioural sciences, this is rarely so.
 
In this Stage 1 manuscript, Batinović et al. (2025) propose to conduct a systematic map of the existing tools to assess methodological quality of risk of bias tools across scientific fields, and map their applicability for primary studies within the broad field of behavioral sciences. The review will provide a comprehensive overview of how existing tools can be applied to the behavioral sciences, and identify gaps for future development of relevant tools in the field. The protocol and its methods were thoroughly developed, and are suitable to reach the research aims.
 
The Stage 1 submission was evaluated by two expert reviewers. After two rounds of revision, the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria, and the manuscript was awarded in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/4gy5b

Level of bias control achieved: Level 4. At least some of the data/evidence that will be used to answer the research question already exists AND is accessible in principle to the authors (e.g. residing in a public database or with a colleague) BUT the authors certify that they have not yet accessed any part of that data/evidence.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
References
 
1. Batinović, L., Pickering, J. S., van den Akker, O. R., Bishop, D., Elsherif, M., Evans, T. R., Gibbs, M., Kalandadze, T., Staaks, J., & Topor, M., Gold in, gold out. Quality appraisal and risk of bias tools to assess non-intervention studies for systematic reviews in the behavioural sciences: A scoping review. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/4gy5b
Gold in, gold out. Quality appraisal and risk of bias tools to assess non-intervention studies for systematic reviews in the behavioural sciences: A scoping reviewLucija Batinović, Jade S. Pickering, Olmo R. van den Akker, Dorothy Bishop, Mahmoud Elsherif, Thomas Rhys Evans, Melissa Gibbs, Tamara Kalandadze, Janneke Staaks, Marta Topor<p>Systematic reviews depend critically on the methodological quality and bias levels of the studies they synthesise to provide the highest standard of evidence available for informing future research, practice, and policy. Despite the development...Social sciencesAntica Culina2024-06-30 20:24:39 View