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Scientific progress is like doing a puzzle, not building a wall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2018

Alexa M. Tullett  and
Simine Vazire
Alexa M. Tullett
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0348. alexa.tullett@gmail.comhttp://alexatullett.com
Simine Vazire
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, California 95616. svazire@ucdavis.eduhttp://simine.com
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Abstract

We contest the “building a wall” analogy of scientific progress. We argue that this analogy unfairly privileges original research (which is perceived as laying bricks and, therefore, constructive) over replication research (which is perceived as testing and removing bricks and, therefore, destructive). We propose an alternative analogy for scientific progress: solving a jigsaw puzzle.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e154
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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References

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