Submit a report

Announcements

We are recruiting recommenders (editors) from all research fields!

Your feedback matters! If you have authored or reviewed a Registered Report at Peer Community in Registered Reports, then please take 5 minutes to leave anonymous feedback about your experience, and view community ratings.

Latest recommendations

IdTitle * Authors * Abstract * PictureThematic fields * RecommenderReviewersSubmission date
07 Apr 2023
STAGE 1

The WEIRD problem in a “non-WEIRD” context: A meta-research on the representativeness of human subjects in Chinese psychological research

How well do "non-WEIRD" participants in multi-lab studies represent their local population?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Zoltan Dienes, Patrick Forscher and Kai Hiraishi
In this protocol, Yue et al. (2023) aim to clarify whether the sample of non-WEIRD countries included in multi-lab studies is actually representative of those countries and cultures. Focusing on China, this study will compare Chinese samples in several multi-lab studies with participants in studies published in leading national Chinese journals on various aspects, including demographic data and geographic information. This work will provide useful information on the extent to which multi-lab studies are able to deal with generalizability, especially as they intend to address the generalizability problem.
 
The Stage 1 manuscript was reviewed by three experts, including two with an interest in the WEIRD problem and a wealth of experience in open science and multi-lab research, plus an expert in Bayesian statistics, which this manuscript uses. Following multilpe rounds of peer review, and 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/ehw54
 
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
 
Yue, L., Zuo, X.-N., & Hu, C.-P. (2023) The WEIRD problem in a “non-WEIRD” context: A meta-research on the representativeness of human subjects in Chinese psychological research, in principle acceptance of Version 7 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/ehw54
The WEIRD problem in a “non-WEIRD” context: A meta-research on the representativeness of human subjects in Chinese psychological researchYUE Lei, ZUO Xi-Nian, HU Chuan-Peng<p><strong>​​​​</strong><strong>​Psychological science aims at understanding human mind and behavior, but it primarily relies on subjects from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic regions, i.e., the WEIRD problem. This lack of d...Social sciencesYuki Yamada Zoltan Dienes2021-09-07 11:25:52 View
30 Oct 2023
STAGE 1

The role of spatial location in irrelevant speech revisited: A pre-registered replication

Does auditory stream segregation reduce the irrelevant speech effect?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Massimo Grassi and 2 anonymous reviewers
The irrelevant-speech effect (ISE) is a laboratory phenomenon in which performance at memory recall is impaired by the presence of irrelevant auditory stimuli during the initial encoding phase. In a typical ISE experiment, participants are asked to remember a sequence of letters presented visually (e.g. F, K, L, M, Q, R, Y in a shuffled random order between trials) while irrelevant speech is played over headphones. The typical finding is that recall performance is impaired by the presentation of speech compared with silence. The ISE has been influential in cognitive psychology, prompting the advancement of two broad classes of competing explanations: one in which the irrelevant sounds gain automatic access to memory processes without any specified role for attentional selection, and another in which the ISE is explained by irrelevant speech drawing attention away from the relevant items to be recalled.
 
In the current study, Kattner et al. (2023) propose a replication of a seminal study by Jones and Macken (1995) that provided a foundation for the automatic access (or ‘interference-by-process’) class of theories. In their original set of experiments, Jones and Macken reported that the segregating individual components of the irrelevant speech (the spoken letters V, J, and X) into different lateralized locations reduced the magnitude of the ISE by converting a single ‘changing-state’ stream three separate ‘steady-state’ streams. Here, Kattner et al. ask firstly whether this classic finding can be successfully replicated in a well-powered sample, and secondly whether the streaming-by-location effect in Jones and Macken reduces the ISE to the same level as observed during a steady-state baseline condition in which a single letter is repeated from each location. If the answer to either question is No then doubts will have been raised about interference-by-process theories, opening the door (even more) to alternative theoretical explanations of the ISE.
 
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/2tb8e
 
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. Jones, D. M. & Macken, W. J. (1995). Organizational factors in the effect of irrelevant speech: The role of spatial location and timing. Memory & Cognition, 23, 192–200. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197221 
 
2. Kattner, F., Hassanzadeh, M. & Ellermeier, W. (2023). The role of spatial location in irrelevant speech revisited: A registered replication of Jones and Macken (1995). In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/2tb8e
The role of spatial location in irrelevant speech revisited: A pre-registered replicationFlorian Kattner, Mitra Hassanzadeh, & Wolfgang Ellermeier<p>The goal of the present investigation is to perform a preregistered replication of Jones and Macken’s (1995b) study, which showed that the segregation of a sequence of sounds to distinct spatial locations reduced the detrimental effects of irre...Social sciencesChris Chambers2023-04-26 17:01:57 View
27 Oct 2024
STAGE 1

The role of semantic encoding in production-enhanced memory

Does reading out loud influence semantic encoding?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Miguel Vadillo and 2 anonymous reviewers
The production effect is an intriguing memory phenomenon in which recall and recognition are improved when people read and study words aloud rather than silently. Although robust to a range of contexts, materials and manipulations, the underlying mechanisms that cause the production effect remain to be fully understood, largely due to the wide range of processes that are engaged during speaking compared to silent reading.
 
In the current study, Roembke and Brown (2024) ask whether semantic encoding – the encoding of new information based on its meaningful characteristics rather than sensory/perceptual characteristics – is a driving factor in production-enhanced memory. Across two carefully-controlled experiments in bilingual participants, the authors will test the hypothesis that the production effect should persist when items are matched in semantic but not other features at learning and recognition stages. If semantic encoding at least partially underpins the production effect, then they expect to observe it both when recognition items are presented as pictures or translations (their semantic recognition condition), and when recognition items match those at learning (their veridical recognition condition in which the same written words are presented at learning and recognition). Assuming also that the production effect does not rely exclusively on semantic encoding, the authors expect the production effect to be reduced in the semantic recognition conditions relative to veridical conditions in which words are matched on multiple linguistic features. 
 
The results of these experiments hold important implications for theoretical models of production-enhanced memory. If the authors find that the production effect persists when studied words can be recognised on their semantic features then this would suggest that production influences semantic encoding, which would in turn support theoretical models proposing that speaking engages modality-independent associations with semantic features. On the other hand, if no production effect is observed when participants are asked to recognise pictures or translations, this would raise the possibility that production may have little or no influence on semantic encoding, which would instead support alternative theories suggesting that speaking adds only modality-dependent features to memory traces.
 
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/qc6rz
 
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
 
Roembke, T. C. & Brown, R. M. (2024). The role of semantic encoding in production-enhanced memory: A registered report. In principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/qc6rz
The role of semantic encoding in production-enhanced memoryRoembke, Tanja C; Brown, Rachel M<p>Words that are read aloud are recognized and recalled more accurately than words that are read silently (the production effect). The production effect is a robust memory phenomenon that has been found with a range of materials and manipulations...Social sciencesChris Chambers2023-01-30 13:06:05 View
30 May 2024
STAGE 1
article picture

The role of resource dynamics in the distribution of life cycles within a female human population

An agent-based model of the role of resource dynamics and the environment in human female life cycles

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias and 1 anonymous reviewer
Among primates, the human female life cycle appears special. Aspects of these life cycles have been linked to the acquisition and distribution of resources and to environmental factors, as well as to individual differences across human females. Many questions remain regarding the causal roles that these (or also other) factors might have played in the evolution of human female life cycles – and also whether generalizing statements about these life cycles can adequately capture the wide range of the observed phenomena.
 
In the current study, Varas Enriquez et al. (2024) outline a plan for an agent-based model approach to study the factors that guide and channel variability in female life cycles in humans (within biological constraints), via the effects that their model will capture. The authors’ model has a particular eye towards the effects of resource dynamics (resource production and resource transfers) and environmental conditions – and their interplay. The results of this agent based model will be thoroughly analysed to better understand the evolution of the specific female human life cycle range.
 
The study plan was refined after one round of review, which led to input from two external reviewers and the recommender. The revised (second) version was judged to satisfy the Stage 1 criteria for in-principle acceptance.
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/24c7z
 
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 (e.g. conservative statistical threshold; recruitment of a blinded analyst; robustness testing, multiverse/specification analysis, or other approach)
 
List of eligible PCI RR-friendly journals:
 
 
References
 
Varas Enríquez, P. J., Lukas, D., Colleran, H, Mulder, M. B., & Redhead, D. (2024) The role of resource dynamics in the distribution of life cycles within a female human population. In principle acceptance of Version 2 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/24c7z
The role of resource dynamics in the distribution of life cycles within a female human populationPablo J. Varas Enríquez, Daniel Redhead, Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, Heidi Colleran, Dieter Lukas<p>The evolution of the female human life cycle, which is characterised by having a reproductive career nested within juvenile and post-reproductive periods, has been linked to the surplus of adult resource production and downwards inter-generatio...Life Sciences, Medical Sciences, Social sciencesClaudio Tennie2023-11-13 15:45:52 View
25 Mar 2024
STAGE 1

The role of positive and negative emotions on multiple components of episodic memory (“what”, “when”, “in which context”) in older compared to younger adults: a pre-registered study

The role of emotion and age on different facets of episodic memory (“what”, “when”, “in which context”) 

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Mara Mather and 1 anonymous reviewer
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/z4e8j
 
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 4 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/z4e8j
 
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 role of positive and negative emotions on multiple components of episodic memory (“what”, “when”, “in which context”) in older compared to younger adults: a pre-registered studyPierrick Laulan, Ulrike Rimmele<p>Emotion and age modulate episodic memory. In both young and older adults, emotion has a beneficial effect on item memory, with an advantage for positive vs. negative stimuli in older adults. In young adults, emotion has also been shown to enhan...Social sciencesElizabeth Wonnacott2023-04-12 16:58:21 View
06 Sep 2024
STAGE 1

The Role of Offender Identifiability in Second- and Third-Party Punishment

Punishing Offenders

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Gilad Feldman and Rajarshi Majumder
When people are less-well-known to us, it can impact how we treat them. People outside our communities may feel more anonymous or de-personalized to us, and this could impact the empathy we feel for them. Indeed, past research shows that people seem to care more for those who are who are identified to us, especially when they are victims of a crime (Small & Loewenstein, 2003). In addition, past research also shows that anonymizing victims can influence criminal behavior (Walters, 2022).  Thus, social cognitive factors related to anonymity appear to affect both positive feelings (engaging in empathy) and negative activities (criminal activity) related to victims. It seems likely that anonymity can also affect how people judge criminals themselves.
 
This paper by Blanke and Twardawski (2024) examines how even minor identifying features can make individuals react differently to a perpetrator of a crime. A picture or name (information that may appear in the press) may impact how people perceive criminals in terms of punishment, empathy, outrage, and blame.
 
How people respond to anonymous or identified criminals may depend on whether the impact of the crime on the victim is made salient. Similar to the Black Sheep Effect (Marques & Paez,1994), the current paper expects that people who identify with victims are expected to punish a perpetrator more when the perpetrator’s name and image are known. This is similar to the case with an ingroup member in The Black Sheep Effect, where ingroup members are punished more for transgressions than outgroup members. For people who view the situation as a third party (and are thus less connected to the victim), an identified perpetrator is expected to lead to less punishment (and also less outrage and blame, and more empathy).
 
The current study focuses on pickpocketing since it is a crime that can be committed without identifying oneself to the victim. Future research should examine how the type of event impacts judgments, especially given the stigma of being a victim of some crimes. Littering and other minor violations may be seen as understandable when you see someone as a person, rather than a anonymous, impersonal criminal.  On the other hand, there can be stigma to being a victim in some cases, such as the case of sexual harassment, where, research shows, perpetrators are judged more positively if they are identified, and victims, especially women, are judged more negatively if they are identified (Barak-Corren & Lewinsohn-Zamir, 2019).
 
People around the world engage in moral and legal transgressions, and if our judgments of them are influenced by minor features such as a photo or name, we should take action to treat people more fairly. This research will help to determine if people are influenced by these factors.
 
The Stage 1 manuscript underwent one round of thorough review. After considering the detailed responses to the reviewers' comments, the recommender determined that the manuscript met the Stage 1 criteria and granted in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/7qzva
 
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. Barak‐Corren, N., & Lewinsohn‐Zamir, D. (2019). What's in a Name? The Disparate Effects of Identifiability on Offenders and Victims of Sexual Harassment. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 16, 955-1000. https://doi.org/10.1111/jels.12233
 
2. Blanke, T. & Twardawski, M. (2024). The Role of Offender Identifiability in Second- and Third-Party Punishment. In principle acceptance of Version 2 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/7qzva
 
3. Marques, J. M., & Paez, D. (1994). The ‘black sheep effect’: Social categorization, rejection of ingroup deviates, and perception of group variability. European Review of Social Psychology, 5, 37-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779543000011
 
4. Small, D. A., & Loewenstein, G. (2003). Helping a victim or helping the victim: Altruism and identifiability. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 26, 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022299422219
 
5. Walters, G. D. (2022). Crime and social cognition: A meta-analytic review of the developmental roots of adult criminal thinking. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 18, 183-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-020-09435-w
The Role of Offender Identifiability in Second- and Third-Party PunishmentTheresa Blanke, Mathias Twardawski<p>The identifiability effect describes humans' tendency to exhibit different emotional and behavioral responses toward identified as compared to anonymous individuals. This phenomenon has been extensively studied within the identifiable victim ef...Social sciencesClare Conry-Murray Gilad Feldman, Rajarshi Majumder2024-03-23 11:02:30 View
20 Apr 2023
STAGE 1

The relationship of memory consolidation with task incorporations into dreams – A registered report

Are dreams important for memory consolidation?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by 1 anonymous reviewer
Sleep is known to be crucial for human memory, but what about dreams? Previous research has shown that the content of dreams can be manipulated by specific stimuli or tasks prior to sleep, but whether incorporating tasks into dreams influences memory consolidation is less clear. Some studies have shown an association between incorporating memory tasks into dreams and later memory performance, while others show either no effect or weaker effects. Potential reasons for this variation include the targeting of different stages of sleep – including rapid eye moment (REM) and non-REM stages (NREM) – small sample sizes, and the fact that many previous studies do not employ declarative memory tasks, which have been found to benefit more from sleep compared with tasks that target procedural memory.
 
In the current study. Schoch et al. (2023) ask whether dreams are an epiphenomenon of sleep-dependent memory processing or, instead, whether they play a key role in memory consolidation – and if so, whether that role differs for subjective experiences during NREM and REM sleep stages. Using a declarative memory task, a serial awakening paradigm (in which participants are woken and tested during NREM or REM stages), and targeted memory reactivation (TMR), the authors will test two main hypotheses: that incorporating picture categories of a declarative memory task leads to immediate (next morning) and sustained (4 days later) improvement in memory performance (especially for NREM dreams); and second, whether TMR influences the reported content of dreams. The authors also build in a range of control analyses to confirm that the task was incorporated successfully into dreams and that TMR benefited memory performance.
 
The Stage 1 manuscript was evaluated over two rounds of in-depth review, initially at Nature Communications before being transferred to PCI RR for further evaluation (see review history below for details). 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/7dwjz
 
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. Schoch, S. F., Ataei, S., Salvesen, L., Schredl, M., Windt, J., Bernadi, G., Rasch, B., Axmacher, N., & Desler, M. (2023). The relationship of memory consolidation with task incorporations into dreams – A registered report, in principle acceptance of Version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/7dwjz
The relationship of memory consolidation with task incorporations into dreams – A registered reportSarah F. Schoch, Somayeh Ataei, Leila Salvesen, Michael Schredl, Jennifer Windt, Giulio Bernardi, Björn Rasch, Nikolai Axmacher, and Martin Dresler<p>Sleep is crucial for memory consolidation, but whether dreams play an essential role in memory consolidation is still unknown. This research will examine if incorporating a memory task into dreams benefits memory strength in a sleep-stage-depen...Social sciencesChris Chambers2022-03-23 13:49:52 View
09 Sep 2024
STAGE 1

The origin of symbolic numerical knowledge in early development – an fNIRS Registered Report

An fNIRS test of the neural correlates of the Cardinality Principle in typically-developing children

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Ed Hubbard and 1 anonymous reviewer
The cardinality principle (CP) is a key concept in numerical cognition, which children typically acquire by the age of five. This is the understanding that each number in a counted sequence refers to a specific set of items, and that the final number represents the total size of the set. Here, Ivanova and colleagues (2024) propose an experiment to study the changes in neural activity that accompany the acquisition of this concept, focusing on activity within the parietal lobes as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
 
Typically-developing children aged from 2 years 9 months to 4 years 9 months will be assessed for their ability to give a specific number of balls from a pile: those who can give five or more correctly will be classified as CP-knowers, and those who can only give lower set sizes will be classified as subset-knowers. All children will then perform an auditory number word adaptation task while undergoing fNIRS. The adaptation task involves hearing the number word ‘two’ repeated, interspersed with deviant number words (‘four’ or ‘eight’) or a non-number word (‘rin’). The experimental hypotheses are that left parietal activations and bilateral parietal functional connectivity will be differentially greater for number than non-number deviants amongst CP-knowers than amongst subset-knowers. Each hypothesis will be tested by sequential Bayes factor analysis, with a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 46 participants per group, providing high sensitivity to detect a smallest effect size of d = .35. This study aims to provide insights into the neural underpinnings of the CP, informing theoretical models of symbolic knowledge acquisition.

The study plan was refined over four rounds of review, with input from two external reviewers, after which the recommender judged that the Stage 1 manuscript met the criteria for in-principle acceptance (IPA).
 
URL to the preregistered Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/gzpk5

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
 
Ivanova, E., Joanisse, M., Ansari, D., & Soltanlou, M. (2024). The origin of symbolic numerical knowledge in early development – an fNIRS Registered Report. In principle acceptance of Version 7 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/gzpk5
The origin of symbolic numerical knowledge in early development – an fNIRS Registered ReportElizaveta Ivanova, Marc Joanisse, Daniel Ansari, Mojtaba Soltanlou<p>The ability to understand that each number word in the count sequence refers to a specific set of items (e.g., ‘two’ means ‘two things’) is a milestone in cognitive development. When children reach this milestone, they are said to understand th...Social sciencesRobert McIntosh2023-03-14 17:25:27 View
09 Feb 2023
STAGE 1

The Medusa effect: A registered replication report of Will, Merritt, Jenkins, and Kingstone (2021)

Looking (again) at Medusa: does pictorial abstraction influence mind perception?

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Alan Kingstone, Brittany Cassidy and 3 anonymous reviewers
The Medusa effect is a recently described phenomenon in which people judge a person to be more mindful when they appear as a picture than as a picture within a picture. Across a series of experiments, Will et al. (2021) reported that at higher levels of abstraction, images of people were judged lower in realness (how real the person seemed), experience (the ability to feel) and agency (the ability to plan and act), and also benefited less from prosocial behaviour. The findings provide an intriguing window into mind perception – the extent to which we attribute minds and mental capacities to others.
 
In the current study, Han et al. (2023) propose a close replication of two experiments from the original report by Will et al. (2021), asking first, whether the level of pictorial abstraction influences ratings of realness, agency and experience, and second, whether it also influences prosocial behaviour as measured in the dictator game (with participants predicted to allocate more money to recipients presented as pictures than as pictures within pictures). In the event of a non-replication using the original materials, the authors will further repeat the experiments using newly generated stimuli that are better matched for cultural context and more tightly controlled along various dimensions.
 
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/xj46z
 
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. Will, P., Merritt, E., Jenkins, R., & Kingstone, A. (2021). The Medusa effect reveals levels of mind perception in pictures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(32), e2106640118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106640118
 
2. Han, J., Zhang, M., Liu, J., Song, Y. & Yamada, Y. (2023).The Medusa effect: A registered replication report of Will, Merritt, Jenkins, and Kingstone (2021), in principle acceptance of Version 2 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/xj46z
The Medusa effect: A registered replication report of Will, Merritt, Jenkins, and Kingstone (2021) Jing Han, Minjun Zhang, Jiaxin Liu, Yu Song, Yuki Yamada<div>The medusa effect refers to the tendency of people to evaluate a "picture of a person" as more mindful than a "picture of a picture of a person". This phenomenon is strikingly intriguing because it suggests that when people evaluate the human...Social sciencesChris ChambersAnonymous, Anonymous, Anonymous, Alan Kingstone2022-08-18 09:50:35 View
23 Nov 2023
STAGE 2
(Go to stage 1)

The Medusa effect: A registered replication report of Will, Merritt, Jenkins, and Kingstone (2021)

Looking (again) at Medusa: Evidence that pictorial abstraction influences mind perception

Recommended by ORCID_LOGO based on reviews by Alan Kingstone and 1 anonymous reviewer
The Medusa effect is a recently described phenomenon in which people judge a person to be more mindful when they appear as a picture (termed L1) than as a picture within a picture (L2). Across a series of experiments, Will et al. (2021) reported that at higher levels of abstraction, images of people were judged lower in realness (how real the person seemed), experience (the ability to feel) and agency (the ability to plan and act), and also benefited less from prosocial behaviour. The findings provide an intriguing window into mind perception – the extent to which we attribute minds and mental capacities to others.
 
In the current study, Han et al. (2023) undertook a close replication of two experiments from the original report by Will et al. (2021), asking first, whether the level of pictorial abstraction influences ratings of realness, agency and experience, and second, whether it also influences prosocial behaviour as measured in the dictator game (with participants predicted to allocate more money to recipients presented as pictures than as pictures within pictures). In the event of a non-replication using the original materials, the authors planned to further repeat the experiments using newly generated stimuli that are better matched for cultural context and more tightly controlled along various dimensions.
 
Results supported all pre-registered hypotheses. Participants rated and perceived L1 stimuli as having significantly higher levels of realness, agency, and experience than L2, and they also allocated significantly more money to L1 recipients than L2 recipients in a dictator game. Furthermore, participants who judged L1 as higher than L2 on all three dimensions also differentiated significantly between L1 and L2 in the dictator game, indicating a relationship between mind perception and prosociality. Overall, the findings confirm that pictures with lower levels of abstraction are perceived as more mindful and are associated with higher levels of prosocial behavior. Consequently, the results suggest that the Medusa effect is a reproducible phenomenon.
 
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/xj46z
 
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. Will, P., Merritt, E., Jenkins, R., & Kingstone, A. (2021). The Medusa effect reveals levels of mind perception in pictures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(32), e2106640118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106640118
 
2. Han, J., Zhang, M., Liu, J., Song, Y. & Yamada, Y. (2023).The Medusa effect: A registered replication report of Will, Merritt, Jenkins, and Kingstone (2021). Acceptance of Version 2 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. https://osf.io/yqnu8
The Medusa effect: A registered replication report of Will, Merritt, Jenkins, and Kingstone (2021)Jing Han, Minjun Zhang, Jiaxin Liu, Yu Song, Yuki Yamada<p>Will et al.'s (2021) found the Medusa effect, which refers to the tendency that people evaluate a “person in picture” more mindful than a “person in picture of a picture”. The present study tried to directly replicate the Experiments 2 and 5 of...Social sciencesChris Chambers2023-10-24 03:42:14 View