What determines whether groups of people can come up with ideas that are both original and useful? Since the 1960s, this question has been intensively studied with the help of more or less structured group creativity activities such as brainstorming or creative problem solving, with subsequent rating of the generated ideas.

In this line of research, personal factors—such as personality traits, and other interindividual differences in emotion and cognition—have received substantial attention as potential correlates of creative outcomes of group activities. This has spawned a sprawling literature that, to date, has not yet been synthesized. Thus, empirical findings in this literature, which are also sometimes contradictory, have not yet been well-integrated.

In the present study, Fillon et al. (2022) conducted the first meta-analysis of correlations between personal factors and group creativity outcomes. The authors searched and synthesized the existing published literature according to predetermined criteria to (1) assess the overall relationship between a broad list of personal factors and creativity outcomes in group settings and (2) explore potential moderators of these relationships. 

In total, 11 studies could be included in the meta-analysis. They provided weak support for a positive correlation between self-efficacy and the three investigated group creative outcomes, number of ideas, originality of ideas, and usefulness of ideas. With respect to moderators, many of the planned analyses could not be conducted due to the low number of studies. The only finding that arose was weak evidence for the idea that time constraint moderates associations: relationships between personal factors and group creativity outcomes were slightly stronger for tasks limited to 20 minutes rather than 10 minutes. Statistical power overall was low across studies.

The authors conclude their meta-analysis with the observation that the available data on the topic are very limited. They suggest that to improve our knowledge of the topic, future studies should adhere to standardized creativity methods and protocols and implement expert ratings of creativity. They also call for increasing the availability of raw data in this field of study to improve the accumulation of knowledge about links between personal factors and the creative performance of groups.

The Stage 2 manuscript was evaluated over one round of in-depth review provided by the recommender and Chris Chambers, as the original reviewers were no longer available. Based on additional changes to the manuscript, 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/nybg6
 
Level of bias control achieved: Level 3. At least some data/evidence that was used to answer the research question had been previously accessed by the authors (e.g. downloaded or otherwise received), but the authors certified that had not yet observed ANY part of the data/evidence prior to IPA.
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 

Decisions to give to charities are affected by numerous external and internal factors. Understanding the elements that influence donation decisions is of first-order importance for science and society. On the scientific side, understanding the determinants of charity giving contributes to the knowledge of altruistic behaviors in the presence of collective problems such as poverty, climate change, or animal welfare. On the social side, pointing out which factors affect donations can help increase pro-social behaviors and might facilitate collective actions in the case of public goods. 

 

Previous work identified multiple mechanisms affecting altruistic donations to charities (Bekkers and Weeping, 2011). Importantly, Baron and Szymanska (2011) collected empirical evidence suggesting that people prefer (i) their donations to be directly used for projects rather than organizational costs, (ii) when charities have low past costs, (iii) to diversity their donations into several NGOs, (iv) to favor charities that deal with close peers like nationals, and (v) to give voluntarily rather than through taxes. 

 

In the current study, Chan and Feldman seek to replicate the results of Baron and Szymanska (2011). They propose a close replication of the original study using a large sample of online participants (1,400 participants). In addition to the five mechanisms identified by the original study, they will further explore whether public donation increases contributions and whether individuals are more likely to donate when the charities’ overhead costs are paid for by other donors. 

 

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/gmswz
 
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:

 

 

 

1. Baron, J. & Szymanska, E. (2011). Heuristics and Biases in Charity. In D. M. Oppenheimer & C. Y. Olivola (Eds.), The Science of Giving: Experimental Approaches to the Study of Charity (pp. 215–235). Psychology Press. 

 

2. Bekkers, R. & Wiepking, P. (2011). A Literature Review of Empirical Studies of Philanthropy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40, 924–973.

 

3. Chan, M. & Feldman, G. (2023). Factors impacting effective altruism: Revisiting heuristics and biases in charity in a replication and extensions Registered Report of Baron and Szymanska (2011), in principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/gmswz

Human meat consumption is associated with a variety of risks to health, animal welfare, sustainability, and the environment (including greenhouse gas emissions and loss of biodiversity), prompting a growing research effort to develop psychological interventions to reduce it and encourage alternative diets. At the same time, although meat consumption remains the majority choice in the UK, its prevalence is declining, with the proportion of vegetarians and vegans increasing substantially over the last two decades.

 

One potential tool to accelerate behaviour change is to expose people to “dynamic norm” messaging, which, rather than providing static descriptive information about the prevalence of a desired behaviour, emphasises how the desired behaviour is changing over time so that people can begin to conform to the emerging trend. Although promising in theory, previous research offers mixed evidence on the effectiveness of dynamic norms in encouraging a reduction in meat consumption, with some studies suggesting benefits and others showing no effect or even counterproductive effects. The methodological rigour of some studies is also in question.

 

In the present study, Aldoh et al. (2023) investigated the effectiveness of dynamic norm information (compared to static norms) on several indicators of meat consumption, including interest, attitudes, and intentions toward reducing meat consumption, as well as self-reported meat consumption itself. Using an online sample of ~1500 participants, the authors also tested the role of visual cues (including data trend graphics) in causing any effects and explored the potential longevity of the intervention over a period of 7 days. Results revealed moderate evidence for no net effect of dynamic (compared to static) norm information on meat consumption outcomes, nor any positive change over the 7-day period. However, the addition of visual cues enhanced the effect of dynamic norm messages, suggesting potential avenues for increasing the potency of future messaging interventions.

 

The Stage 2 manuscript was evaluated over one round of in-depth review, following which the recommender judged that the manuscript met the Stage 2 criteria and awarded a positive recommendation.

 

 

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. 

 

 

  

1. Aldoh, A., Sparks, P. & Harris, P. R. (2023). Communicating dynamic norm information [Stage 2]. Acceptance of Version 1 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/tac3j

How does emotion influence item memory (what?) temporal memory (when?) and associative memory (in which context?), and does this differ for younger and older adults? Previous research has found inconsistent results, possibly due to small sample sizes. In this study, Laulan and Rimmele (2024) and will build on the paradigm in Palombo et al. (2021) in which participants see images embedded in videos and are asked to remember the images (what?), their temporal position within the videos (where?), and the association between the images and the videos (in which context?). Image valence (positive vs negative vs neutral) and participant age-group (18-30 vs 60-80 yr olds) are manipulated. Pre-registered analyses will first look at the two age groups separately to test for an effect of valence for each of the memory components, and second test for modulating effects of age-group. To be cost-effective, a sequential analysis approach with statistical analyses conducted at three time points and a maximum sample size of 150 younger and 150 older adults is planned.

 

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/ac4rf
 
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. Laulan, P. & Rimmele, U. (2024). The role of positive and negative emotions on multiple components of episodic memory (“what”, “when”, “in which context”) in older compared to young adults: a pre-registered study. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/ac4rf

 

2. Palombo, D. J., Te, A. A., Checknita, K. J. & Madan, C. R. (2021). Exploring the Facets of Emotional Episodic Memory: Remembering “What,” “When,” and “Which”. Psychological Science, 32, 1104–1114. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621991548

The positive relation between word reading and children’s vocabulary development has been extensively documented. That said, like most research in psychology and the behavioral sciences, the available evidence comes predominantly from majority populations. In the context of language learning, that means monolingual speakers or multilingual speakers where there is close alignment between home and school language learning. But what does the relation between word learning and vocabulary knowledge look like when the learning contexts are discordant?

 

In the current study, Pamei et al. (2024) propose to examine this question by investigating word learning and vocabulary development in two languages, English and Meetei Mayek, among a sample of Grade 3 (approximate age 10), students in Manipur, India. In this context, formal literacy education begins in English rather than in students’ regional home language of Meetei Mayek. This fact provides an innovative context in which to understand how a) whether the relation between word reading and vocabulary looks different in the two languages, and b) whether there is linguistic interdependence between learning in the two languages. This study is poised to bring important underrepresented data that goes beyond the dominant contexts from which our knowledge of language learning has been generated, and thus has the potential to contribute to new lines of empirical and theoretical work that is inclusive of global variations. 

 

The Stage 1 manuscript was evaluated over three rounds of in-depth peer review, the first two consisting of substantial comments from two scholars with relevant expertise, and the third consisting of a close review by the recommender. 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/7htv2
 
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:
 

 

 

1. Pamei, G., McBride, C. & Inoue, T. (2024). Reading and vocabulary knowledge in English-Meetei Mayek biliterates. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/7htv2