Assessing the replicability of Cognitive Psychology via remote experiential learning

Abstract

A recent global health crisis demanded the wholesale configuration of both teaching and research from in-person to on-line formats. This presented an opportunity to conduct an environmental sweep on the replicability of Cognitive Psychology in the context of an undergraduate course, in which portable experimental packages were written for mobile phone (Flex Labs). Students received direct experience with studies that had central implications for the discussion of Cognitive Neuroscience (Faces), Perception (Search), Attention (Doodle), Everyday Memory (House), Long-Term Memory (Object), Semantic Memory (Trivia), Decision-Making (RPS), and, Mental Imagery (Rotate). Running across Winter 2021, Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 (average n per study = 585), with the expectation of one study, data consistently produced evidence either for (Faces, Search, Object, RPS, Rotate) or against (Doodle, Trivia) the original findings. The Flex Lab scheme not only allows students to play an active role in the discussion of the replication crises within empirical science, but also provides a framework for the future implementation of experiential learning during remote and asynchronous teaching. With continued evaluation made possible via Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/kv5qp/), a central question for all future research is whether on-line data collection violates an essential auxiliary assumption for the replication of in-person data collection.