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Something similar happened with models for addiction in rats (which were extrapolated to humans) It turned out that rats that live in a nice environment, with

by nico 2y ago

Something similar happened with models for addiction in rats (which were extrapolated to humans) It turned out that rats that live in a nice environment, with plenty of activities and social spaces (not an ugly, mostly empty cage), don’t become addicted Ref: Rat Park experiment

Analemma_ 2y ago
The Internet loves the Rat Park experiment, but it never replicated and should be considered just as bogus as all the other stuff in social psych which hasn't survived the replication crisis. It's fitting for this thread though, because it survives for the exact reason the alpha wolf stuff survives: people love the story so they hang on to it irrespective of the science.
- nradov 2y ago
  Right, and we've seen plenty of people who lead the "Rat Park" equivalent of human lives and yet still get addicted to opioids. There's clearly no single cause.
- sunjieming 2y ago
  I think 90% of my HS psych class didn't replicate
  - layman51 2y ago
    Can you elaborate more on this? I did not take psychology in high school, but I would imagine that such a course would focus on fundamental concepts where “replicating” wouldn’t even be an issue. There might be teachers who might bring up the pop-sci topics, but wouldn’t the meat of the class just be learning about theories or frameworks?
    - throwup238 2y ago
      Not the OP and I didn’t take psych but here’s an example syllabus for AP Psychology from the College Board: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-psychology-sample-syllabus-1.pdf https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-psychology-s... The first two units on neurology and cognition seem sensible, but I can see how it’ll quickly go off the rails after that.
      - disgruntledphd2 2y ago
        This seems entirely fine, after a brief review of the contents. Where do you think it goes off the rails?
- throwaway2037 2y ago
  > never replicated Not exactly. Wiki says: Studies that followed up on the contribution of environmental enrichment to addiction produced mixed results. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park#Further_experiments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park#Further_experiments
- mmooss 2y ago
  > it never replicated and should be considered just as bogus Did someone try to replicate it? What were the results? What were their conclusions about its credibility? > all the other stuff in social psych which hasn't survived the replication crisis. Replication isn't black and white: Most of the experiments - at least in the early widely reported phase - did replicate but with less statistically strong results.

by nico 2y ago

Analemma_ 2y ago

The Internet loves the Rat Park experiment, but it never replicated and should be considered just as bogus as all the other stuff in social psych which hasn't survived the replication crisis. It's fitting for this thread though, because it survives for the exact reason the alpha wolf stuff survives: people love the story so they hang on to it irrespective of the science.

nradov 2y ago
Right, and we've seen plenty of people who lead the "Rat Park" equivalent of human lives and yet still get addicted to opioids. There's clearly no single cause.
sunjieming 2y ago
I think 90% of my HS psych class didn't replicate
- layman51 2y ago
  Can you elaborate more on this? I did not take psychology in high school, but I would imagine that such a course would focus on fundamental concepts where “replicating” wouldn’t even be an issue. There might be teachers who might bring up the pop-sci topics, but wouldn’t the meat of the class just be learning about theories or frameworks?
  - throwup238 2y ago
    Not the OP and I didn’t take psych but here’s an example syllabus for AP Psychology from the College Board: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-psychology-sample-syllabus-1.pdf https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-psychology-s... The first two units on neurology and cognition seem sensible, but I can see how it’ll quickly go off the rails after that.
    - disgruntledphd2 2y ago
      This seems entirely fine, after a brief review of the contents. Where do you think it goes off the rails?
throwaway2037 2y ago
> never replicated Not exactly. Wiki says: Studies that followed up on the contribution of environmental enrichment to addiction produced mixed results. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park#Further_experiments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park#Further_experiments
mmooss 2y ago
> it never replicated and should be considered just as bogus Did someone try to replicate it? What were the results? What were their conclusions about its credibility? > all the other stuff in social psych which hasn't survived the replication crisis. Replication isn't black and white: Most of the experiments - at least in the early widely reported phase - did replicate but with less statistically strong results.