Abstract
This essay reflects an ongoing dialogue between a clinician versed in mainstream psychological research and theory, and a social psychologist with experience both as a researcher and contributor to applied undertakings in various domains about the “incremental value” of research-based knowledge—that is, its value beyond that provided by the other sources of knowledge available to the practitioner. These sources include knowledge about the needs and coping strategies of all human beings, as well as knowledge both about the specific life circumstances of those one is seeking to help, and knowledge about language and culture. Examples from the clinical practice of the first author are offered, coupled with in-principle arguments about the underspecified and contingent nature of research-based generalizations. By way of rebuttal, examples of arguably useful findings are provided by the second author—especially findings that serve as correctives to biases in lay psychology (notably unwarranted “dispositionism”) and to widespread shortcomings in judgment and decision-making (particularly, Kahneman and Tversky’s work on “prospect theory” ). Both authors agree on the value of a “bricoleur” treatment strategy that relies on careful attention to the specifics of the case at hand and avoids one-size-fits-all applications of theory and prior research, and both agree that research-based findings are more useful in predicting behavior and designing intervention strategies that apply to groups and large samples of individuals rather than single actors. A concluding discussion focuses on necessary criteria and strategies for increasing the usefulness of laboratory and field research for the practitioner.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aronson, J., Fried, C. B., & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the effect of stereotype threat on African American college students by shaping theories of intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 113–125.
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: a longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, 78, 246–263.
Bryan, C. J., Walton, G. M., Rogers, T., & Dweck, C. S. (2011). Motivating voter turnout by invoking the self. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, 12653–12656.
Chapman, L. J., & Chapman, J. P. (1969). Illusory correlation as an obstacle to the use of valid psychodiagnostic signs. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 74, 271–280.
Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Apfel, N., & Brzustoski, P. (2009). Recursive processes in self-affirmation: Intervening to close the minority achievement.
Dawes, R. M., Faust, D., & Meehl, P. E. (1989). Clinical versus actuarial judgment. Science, 243, 1668–1674.
Dunning, D., Griffin, D. W., Milojkovic, J. D., & Ross, L. (1990). The overconfidence effect in social prediction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 568–581.
Dweck, C. S. (1999). Self-theories: their role in motivation, personality and development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: the new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Fischhoff, B. (1975). Hindsight is not equal to foresight: the effect of outcome knowledge on judgment under uncertainty. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1(3), 288–299.
Freud, S. (1912). Recommendations to physicians practicing psychoanalysis (12th ed.). London: Hogarth Press.
Johnson, E. J., & Goldstein, D. G. (2003). Do defaults save lives? Science, 302, 1338–1339.
Jones, E. E., & Davis, K. E. (1965). From acts to dispositions: the attribution process in social psychology. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 219–266). New York: Academic.
Hastie, R., & Dawes, R. (2010). Rational choice in an uncertain world: the psychology of judgment and decision making. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1973). On the psychology of prediction. Psychological Review, 80, 237–251.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: an analysis of decisions under risk. Econometrica, 47, 313–327.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1984). Choices, values, and frames. American Psychologist, 39, 341–350.
Kelley, H. H. (1973). The process of causal attribution. American Psychologist, 28, 107–128.
Kelly G. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs. Vol. I, II. Norton, New York. (2nd printing: 1991, Routledge, London, New York.
Levi-Strauss, C. (1966). The savage mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lord, C., Ross, L., & Lepper, M. (1979). Biased assimilation and attitude polarization: the effects of prior theories on subsequently considered evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 2098–2109.
Mac Coun, R. J. (1998). Biases in the interpretation and use of research results. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 259–87.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–53.
McNeil, B. J., Pauker, S. G., Sox, H. C., & Tversky, A. (1982). On the elicitation of preferences for alternative therapies. New England Journal of Medicine, 306, 1259–1262.
Meehl, P.E. (1954) Clinical versus statistical prediction minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Meehl, P. E. (1973). Why I do not attend case conferences. In P. E. Meehl (Ed.), Psychodiagnosis: selected papers (pp. 225–302). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Merton, R. K. (1968). Social theory and social structure. New York: Free Press.
Nisbett, R. E., & Ross, L. (1980). Human inference: strategies and shortcomings of social judgment. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Pronin, E., Gilovich, T. D., & Ross, (2004). Objectivity in the eye of the beholder: divergent perceptions of bias in self versus others. Psychology Review, 111, 781–799.
Redelmeier, D. A., Molin, J.-P., & Tibshirani, R. J. (1995). A randomised trial of compassionate care for the homeless in an emergency department. The Lancet, 345, 1131–1134.
Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: distortions in the attribution process. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 10, pp. 173–240). New York: Academic.
Ross, L., & Fetherstonehaugh, D. (1999). Framing effects and income flow preferences in decisions about social security. In H. J. Aaron (Ed.), Behavioral dimensions of retirement economics. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Ross, L., & Nisbett, R. E. (1991). The person and the situation: perspectives of social psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ross, L., Lepper, M. R., & Ward, A. (2010). A history of social psychology: insights, contributions, and challenges. In S. Fiske & D. Gilbert (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed., Vol. 1). New York: Random House.
Skjervheim, H. (1959). Objectivism and the study of man. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Smedslund, J. (2012a). The bricoleur-model of psychological practice. Theory and Psychology, 22, 643–657.
Smedslund, J. (2012b). What follows from what we all know about human beings. Theory and Psychology, 22, 658–668.
Snyder, M., & Swann, W. B. (1978). Hypothesis-testing processes in social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(11), 1202–1212.
Thaler, R. H. & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2007). A question of belonging: race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 82–96.
Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2011). A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science, 332, 1447–1451.
Wampold, B. E. (2001). The great psychotherapy-debate: models, methods, and findings. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Yeager, D. S., & Walton, G. M. (2011). Social-psychological interventions in education: they’re not magic. Review of Educational Research, 81, 267–301.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smedslund, J., Ross, L. Research-Based Knowledge in Psychology: What, if Anything, is Its Incremental Value to the Practitioner?. Integr. psych. behav. 48, 365–383 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-014-9275-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-014-9275-1