Are We Encouraging Open, Reproducible, and Inclusive Science? The Metascience of Developmental Science

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

It has been more than a decade since issues of replication emerged in developmental psychology (Nielsen et al., 2017), and longer since our awareness of non-inclusive, simplistic sampling (Heinrich et al., 2010; Syed, 2021) has created barriers to adopting representative, reproducible psychological science. It is important to assess where the field of developmental psychology stands on adopting and reporting inclusive, open, and replicable science practices. This symposium on the metascience of developmental science will focus on “meta” questions around openness, reproducibility, and inclusivity in developmental science research. Paper 1, presented by Caylee Cook from the University of Witwatersrand, discusses the issues of publication bias and contextual importance of developmental research. The authors provide recommendations to create more inclusive child development journals. Paper 2, presented by Jessica Logan from Vanderbilt University, addresses researchers’ positive and negative emotions towards data sharing and whether those that identify with negative attitudes towards data sharing simultaneously identify with positive attitudes toward the benefits of data sharing. Paper 3, presented by Matthew Kim from the University of Kentucky, leveraged the online posters from the 2021 SRCD conference to answer questions of diversity and replicability. The authors present findings on how diverse and inclusive developmental research is and to what extent principles of open and reproducible science are reflected in developmental research. Together, these studies highlight the idea that attention to context, replication, and diversity in developmental science is a necessity for the field moving forward. Sara Hart from Florida State University will serve as a discussant.

Sub Unit

• Methods, History, Theory

Chair

• Alexa Ellis, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

Discussant

• Sara Hart, Florida State University

Individual Presentations

• Inclusive Publishing in Developmental Science - Presenting Author: Caylee Jayde Cook, University of Witwatersrand

• Data Management and Data Sharing in Developmental Science - Presenting Author: Jessica Logan, Vanderbilt University; Busra Ceviren; Ally Hanson; Lexi Swanz

• Inclusive, open, and replicable developmental science: A descriptive study - Presenting Author: Matthew H Kim, University of Kentucky; Kristen Buford; Alexa Ellis, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Pamela Davis-Kean, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor; Chellam Antony, University of Kentucky; Claire Braun; Tabetha Hurst; Julia Todd