Publication Bias in Action: The Case of Oxytocin and Trust

[From the article, “How scientists fell in and out of love with the hormone oxytocin” in Vox:Science & Health]  This article recounts how initial laboratory research showing the hormone oxytocin induced trust between people eventually was demonstrated to be mostly Type I error.  In this case, it was the original research team (lead by psychologist ANTHONY LANE) who came to realize that that their own lab had focused on statistically significant findings while ignoring insignificant experiments.  Of particular interest is when Lane and colleagues tried to publish their revised, null results, they found that journals were unreceptive to the new, less sensational evidence.  To read more, click here.  To read a previous, related post from The Replication Network, click here.

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