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Browse the failure-mode index

299 real negative results, null findings, and replication failures in Psychology. Search the index →

WASTE indexes published research — it does not host or republish full papers. Each entry is a metadata record compiled from open scholarly databases; the abstract is shown in full only where the paper is openly licensed, otherwise a short excerpt under fair use. Classifications are automated and approximate.

Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Towards implementation of cognitive bias modification in mental health care: State of the science, best practices, and ways forward

Janna N. Vrijsen, Ben Grafton, Ernst H. W. Koster et al. · 2024 · Behaviour Research and Therapy

Cognitive bias modification (CBM) has evolved from an experimental method testing cognitive mechanisms of psychopathology to a promising tool for accessible digital mental health care. While we are still discovering the conditions under which clinically relevant effects occur, the dire need for accessible, effective, and low-cost mental health tools underscores the need for implementation where such tools are available. Providing our expert opinion as Association for Cognitive Bias Modification members, we first discuss the readiness of different CBM approaches for clinical implementation, the

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Dyslexia and language impairment associated genetic markers influence cortical thickness and white matter in typically developing children

on behalf of the Pediatric Imaging Neurocognition Genetics study, John D. Eicher, Angela Montgomery et al. · 2015 · Brain Imaging and Behavior

Dyslexia and language impairment (LI) are complex traits with substantial genetic components. We recently completed an association scan of the DYX2 locus, where we observed associations of markers in DCDC2, KIAA0319, ACOT13, and FAM65B with reading-, language-, and IQ-related traits. Additionally, the effects of reading-associated DYX3 markers were recently characterized using structural neuroimaging techniques. Here, we assessed the neuroimaging implications of associated DYX2 and DYX3 markers, using cortical volume, cortical thickness, and fractional anisotropy. To accomplish this, we examin

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Network integration and limits to social inheritance in vervet monkeys

Jonathan Jarrett, Tyler R. Bonnell, Christopher Young et al. · 2018 · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

, 12084 (doi:10.1038/ncomms12084)) has demonstrated that network structure can be maintained by a simple process of social inheritance. Here, we ask how juvenile vervet monkeys integrate into their adult grooming networks, using the model…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Let’s Play Cards: Multi-Component Cognitive Training With Social Engagement Enhances Executive Control in Older Adults

Chun-Yu Kuo, Yang-Ming Huang, Yei‐Yu Yeh · 2018 · Frontiers in Psychology

Cognitive training and social engagement are two of the routes that potentially improve cognitive functions in older adults. The former targets specific functions so that an intervention can trigger the plasticity and efficiency of the underpinning neural systems, and the latter also provides an environment supportive of social and emotional needs. We investigated whether an integration of the two routes could enhance cognitive functions related to executive control, because no prior research has adopted a theory-driven approach to design a group-based cognitive training program for executive

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Negative / Null Result ReportPsychology

An Internet-based controlled trial of interpretation bias modification versus progressive muscle relaxation for body dysmorphic disorder.

Natalie L. Wilver, Jesse R. Cougle · 2018 · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

OBJECTIVE: The current study extended upon previous research efforts by evaluating the utility and feasibility of an 8-session Internet-based interpretation bias modification (IBM) training protocol targeting evaluation- and…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Subpopulations of Addictive Behaviors in Different Sample Types and Their Relationships with Gender, Personality, and Well-Being: Latent Profile vs. Latent Class Analysis

Paweł A. Atroszko, Bartosz Atroszko, Edyta Charzyńska · 2021 · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Background: Relatively strong theoretical assumptions and previous studies concerning co-occurring addictive behaviors suggest a subpopulation representing general proclivity to behavioral addictions (BAs), and there are gender-specific subpopulations. This study aimed to compare latent profile analysis (LPA) and latent class analysis (LCA) as the methods of investigating different clusters of BAs in the general student population and among students positively screened for at least one BA. Participants and procedure: Analyses of six BAs (study, shopping, gaming, Facebook, pornography, and food

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Automatic avoidance tendencies for alcohol cues predict drinking after detoxification treatment in alcohol dependence.

Matt Field, Lisa Di Lemma, Paul Christiansen et al. · 2016 · Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

Alcohol dependence is characterized by conflict between approach and avoidance motivational orientations for alcohol that operate in automatic and controlled processes. This article describes the first study to investigate the predictive validity of these motivational orientations for relapse to drinking after discharge from alcohol detoxification treatment in alcohol-dependent patients. One hundred twenty alcohol-dependent patients who were nearing the end of inpatient detoxification treatment completed measures of self-reported (Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol Questionnaire; AAAQ) and auto

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Issues and advances in research methods on video games and cognitive abilities

Bartosz Sobczyk, Paweł Dobrowolski, Maciek Skorko et al. · 2015 · Frontiers in Psychology

The impact of video game playing on cognitive abilities has been the focus of numerous studies over the last 10 years. Some cross-sectional comparisons indicate the cognitive advantages of video game players (VGPs) over non-players (NVGPs) and the benefits of video game trainings, while others fail to replicate these findings. Though there is an ongoing discussion over methodological practices and their impact on observable effects, some elementary issues, such as the representativeness of recruited VGP groups and lack of genre differentiation have not yet been widely addressed. In this articl

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Non-replication of the association between 5HTTLPR and response to psychological therapy for child anxiety disorders

Kathryn J. Lester, Susanna Roberts, Robert Keers et al. · 2015 · The British Journal of Psychiatry

BACKGROUND: We previously reported an association between 5HTTLPR genotype and outcome following cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) in child anxiety (Cohort 1). Children homozygous for the low-expression short-allele showed more positive…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Test-retest reliability of a smartphone-based approach-avoidance task: Effects of retest period, stimulus type, and demographics

Hilmar Zech, Philip A. Gable, W. van Dijk et al. · 2022 · Behavior Research Methods

The approach-avoidance task (AAT) is an implicit task that measures people's behavioral tendencies to approach or avoid stimuli in the environment. In recent years, it has been used successfully to help explain a variety of health problems (e.g., addictions and phobias). Unfortunately, more recent AAT studies have failed to replicate earlier promising findings. One explanation for these replication failures could be that the AAT does not reliably measure approach-avoidance tendencies. Here, we first review existing literature on the reliability of various versions of the AAT. Next, we examine

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Opening Pandora’s Loot Box: Weak Links Between Gambling and Loot Box Expenditure in China, and Player Opinions on Probability Disclosures and Pity-Timers

Leon Y. Xiao, Tullia C. Fraser, Philip Newall · 2022 · Journal of Gambling Studies

Loot boxes are quasi-gambling virtual products in video games that provide randomised rewards of varying value. Previous studies in Western contexts have identified a positive correlation between loot box purchasing and problem gambling severity. A preregistered survey of People's Republic of China (PRC) video game players (N = 879) failed to replicate this correlation. We observed statistically significant but weak positive correlations between loot box expenditure and past-year gambling participation, and between loot box expenditure and impulsiveness. This study cannot prove that loot boxes

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Community-based randomized controlled trial of psychological first aid with crime victims.

Michael R. McCart, Jason E. Chapman, Kristyn Zajac et al. · 2020 · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

OBJECTIVE: The first randomized controlled trial of psychological first aid (PFA) was conducted, using crime victims as participants. For study Aim 1, investigators tested whether paraprofessional victim advocates could be trained to…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Published estimates of group differences in multisensory integration are inflated

John F. Magnotti, Michael S. Beauchamp · 2018 · PLoS ONE

A common measure of multisensory integration is the McGurk effect, an illusion in which incongruent auditory and visual speech are integrated to produce an entirely different percept. Published studies report that participants who differ in age, gender, culture, native language, or traits related to neurological or psychiatric disorders also differ in their susceptibility to the McGurk effect. These group-level differences are used as evidence for fundamental alterations in sensory processing between populations. Using empirical data and statistical simulations tested under a range of conditio

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Performance similarities predict collective benefits in dyadic and triadic joint visual search

Basil Wahn, Artur Czeszumski, Peter König · 2018 · PLoS ONE

When humans perform tasks together, they may reach a higher performance in comparison to the best member of a group (i.e., a collective benefit). Earlier research showed that interindividual performance similarities predict collective benefits for several joint tasks. Yet, researchers did not test whether this is the case for joint visuospatial tasks. Also, researchers did not investigate whether dyads and triads reach a collective benefit when they are forbidden to exchange any information while performing a visuospatial task. In this study, participants performed a joint visual search task e

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

To interact or not to interact: The pros and cons of including interactions in linear regression models

Aljoscha Rimpler, Henk A. L. Kiers, Don van Ravenzwaaij · 2025 · Behavior Research Methods

Interaction effects are very common in the psychological literature. However, interaction effects are typically very small and often fail to replicate. In this study, we conducted a simulation comparing the generalizability and estimability of two linear regression models: one correctly specified to account for interaction effects and one misspecified including simple effects only. We manipulated noise levels, predictor variable correlations, and different sets of regression weights, resulting in 9216 different conditions. From each dataset, we drew 1000 samples of N = 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, a

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Perinatal and psychosocial circumstances associated with risk of attempted suicide, non-suicidal self-injury and psychiatric service use. A longitudinal study of young people

Robert Young, Daniel Vincent Riordan, Cameron Stark · 2011 · BMC Public Health

BACKGROUND: Past studies using large population based datasets link certain perinatal circumstances (birth weight, parity, etc) with mental health outcomes such as suicide, self-harm and psychiatric problems. Problematically, population datasets omit a number of social confounds. The aim of this study is to replicate past research linking perinatal circumstances and mental health (suicidality and use of psychiatric services) and to determine if such associations remain after adjusting for social circumstances. METHODS: A longitudinal school-based survey of 2157 young people (surveyed at age 11

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Sequential Bayes Factor designs in developmental research: Studies on early word learning

Nivedita Mani, Melanie S. Schreiner, Julia Brase et al. · 2021 · Developmental Science

Developmental research, like many fields, is plagued by low sample sizes and inconclusive findings. The problem is amplified by the difficulties associated with recruiting infant participants for research as well as the increased variability in infant responses. With sequential testing designs providing a viable alternative to paradigms facing such issues, the current study implemented a Sequential Bayes Factor (SBF) design on three findings in the developmental literature. In particular, using the framework described by Schönbrödt and colleagues (2017), we examined infants' sensitivity to mis

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Limited generalisation of changes in attentional bias following attentional bias modification with the visual probe task

Bram Van Bockstaele, Elske Salemink, Susan M. Bögels et al. · 2015 · Cognition & Emotion

Although attentional bias modification (ABM) can change anxiety, recent studies failed to replicate such effects, possibly because the visual probe ABM failed to induce changes in attentional bias (AB). We investigated whether visual probe…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

“Can You Remember What Was in Your Pocket When You Were Stung by a Bee?”: Eliciting Cues to Deception by Asking the Unanticipated

Meiling Liu, Pär Anders Granhag, Sara Landström et al. · 2010 · The Open Criminology Journal

In this paper we focused on children's deception (10-12 years, Experiment 1), and adult's ability detect deception in children (Experiment 2). The self-presentational perspective By asking unanticipated questions we put the liars in the…

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Replication FailureOpen accessPsychology

Genome-Wide Association Study of Receptive Language Ability of 12-Year-Olds

Nicole Harlaar, Emma L. Meaburn, Marianna E. Hayiou‐Thomas et al. · 2014 · Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research

PURPOSE: Researchers have previously shown that individual differences in measures of receptive language ability at age 12 are highly heritable. In the current study, the authors attempted to identify some of the genes responsible for the…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Can a Commercial Video Game Prevent Depression? Null Results and Whole Sample Action Mechanisms in a Randomized Controlled Trial

Marlou Poppelaars, Anna Lichtwarck‐Aschoff, Roy Otten et al. · 2021 · Frontiers in Psychology

Depressive symptoms and disorders are major public health concerns, affecting many adolescents and young adults. Despite extensive research, depression prevention programs for youth show limited effectiveness. Moreover, the maximal potential of youth psychotherapy — on which depression prevention programs are based — may have been reached. Commercial video games may offer an engaging alternative vehicle for youth to practice emotional and social skills vital to mental health. The current study investigated the potential for the commercial video game Journey to prevent the exacerbation of depre

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Social Support Predicts Differential Use, but not Differential Effectiveness, of Expressive Suppression and Social Sharing in Daily Life

Lisanne S. Pauw, Hayley Medland, Sarah J. Paling et al. · 2022 · Affective Science

Abstract While emotion regulation often happens in the presence of others, little is known about how social context shapes regulatory efforts and outcomes. One key element of the social context is social support. In two experience sampling studies ( N s = 179 and 123), we examined how the use and affective consequences of two fundamentally social emotion-regulation strategies—social sharing and expressive suppression—vary as a function of perceived social support. Across both studies, we found evidence that social support was associated with variation in people’s use of these strategies, such

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

The role of goal-directed and habitual processes in food consumption under stress after outcome devaluation with taste aversion.

Eike Kofi Buabang, Yannick Boddez, Oliver T. Wolf et al. · 2022 · Behavioral Neuroscience

People are more likely to engage in various suboptimal behaviors such as overeating, addictive behaviors, and short-sighted financial decision-making when they are under stress. Traditional dual-process models propose that stress can…

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Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPsychology

Association Between Care Utilization and Anxiety Outcomes in an On-Demand Mental Health System: Retrospective Observational Study

Sarah Kunkle, Manny Yip, Justin Hunt et al. · 2020 · JMIR Formative Research

BACKGROUND: Anxiety is an extremely prevalent condition, and yet, it has received notably less attention than depression and other mental health conditions from a research, clinical, and public health perspective. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated growing concerns about the burden of anxiety due to the confluence of physical health risks, economic stressors, social isolation, and general disruption of daily activities. OBJECTIVE: This study examines differences in anxiety outcomes by care modality (coaching, teletherapy and telepsychiatry, and combined care) within an on-demand mental

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