Brailas Alexios
Department of Psychology, Panteion University, Athens, Greece.
Athenian Institute of Anthropos, Athens, Greece.
Integr Psychol Behav Sci. 2025 Jan 8;59(1):14. doi: 10.1007/s12124-024-09867-3.
This article aims to reconceptualize the replication crisis as not merely a problem of flawed methods, lack of scientific rigor, or questionable researcher conduct, but as a fundamentally epistemological and philosophical issue. While improved methodologies and scientific practices are necessary, they must be considered through the lens of the underlying epistemologies. Toward this end, a new paradigm for psychological research and practice, grounded in second-order cybernetics and transactional causality, is proposed as instrumental. Second-order cybernetics, as introduced by Heinz von Foerster, challenges traditional scientific methodologies that assume a strict separation between the observer and the observed. The core idea is that the observer, through the very act of observing, inevitably becomes part of the system they study, leading to a shift from linear to transactional causality. This epistemological shift has profound implications for the research practice and the responsibility of the psychology practitioner. Foerster's ethical imperative -act always so as to increase the number of choices- combined with the aesthetic imperative -If you desire to see, learn how to act- illuminates an alternative methodological landscape for the clinical practice. The replication crisis in psychology is examined in light of these theoretical shifts, allowing for a new constructive vision which integrates basic research with applied psychological practice. Second-order cybernetics encourages a participatory approach to research, emphasizing the catalyzing role of the observing practitioner. The article concludes by advocating for an epistemological superposition, where psychologists navigate multiple perspectives to enhance the integrity and applicability of their findings in the real world.
本文旨在重新认识复制危机，它不仅仅是一个方法有缺陷、缺乏科学严谨性或研究者行为有问题的问题，而是一个根本的认识论和哲学问题。虽然改进方法和科学实践是必要的，但必须从潜在认识论的角度来考虑它们。为此，提出了一种以二阶控制论和交互因果关系为基础的心理学研究与实践新范式，认为其具有重要作用。由海因茨·冯·弗尔斯特引入的二阶控制论，挑战了那种假定观察者与被观察者严格分离的传统科学方法。其核心观点是，观察者通过观察这一行为，不可避免地成为他们所研究系统的一部分，从而导致从线性因果关系向交互因果关系的转变。这种认识论的转变对研究实践和心理学从业者的责任具有深远影响。弗尔斯特的伦理命令——行事时始终要增加选择的数量——与审美命令——如果你渴望看见，那就学习如何行动——为临床实践勾勒出了另一种方法论图景。本文根据这些理论转变审视了心理学中的复制危机，从而形成了一种将基础研究与应用心理学实践相结合的新的建设性愿景。二阶控制论鼓励采用参与式研究方法，强调观察性从业者的催化作用。文章最后倡导一种认识论叠加，即心理学家从多个视角进行研究，以提高其研究结果在现实世界中的完整性和适用性。
