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Generalizability, transferability, and the practice-to-practice gap

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2022

Joshua R. de Leeuw
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Science, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY12604, USAjdeleeuw@vassar.edu; https://www.vassar.edu/faculty/jdeleeuw/
Benjamin A. Motz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN47405, USAbmotz@indiana.edu; efyfe@indiana.edu; rgoldsto@indiana.edu; https://motzweb.sitehost.iu.edu/; https://psych.indiana.edu/directory/faculty/fyfe-emily.html; https://psych.indiana.edu/directory/faculty/goldstone-robert.html
Emily R. Fyfe
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN47405, USAbmotz@indiana.edu; efyfe@indiana.edu; rgoldsto@indiana.edu; https://motzweb.sitehost.iu.edu/; https://psych.indiana.edu/directory/faculty/fyfe-emily.html; https://psych.indiana.edu/directory/faculty/goldstone-robert.html
Paulo F. Carvalho
Affiliation:
Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA15213, USA. pcarvalh@andrew.cmu.edu; https://sites.google.com/view/paulocarvalho
Robert L. Goldstone
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN47405, USAbmotz@indiana.edu; efyfe@indiana.edu; rgoldsto@indiana.edu; https://motzweb.sitehost.iu.edu/; https://psych.indiana.edu/directory/faculty/fyfe-emily.html; https://psych.indiana.edu/directory/faculty/goldstone-robert.html

Abstract

Emphasizing the predictive success and practical utility of psychological science is an admirable goal but it will require a substantive shift in how we design research. Applied research often assumes that findings are transferable to all practices, insensitive to variation between implementations. We describe efforts to quantify and close this practice-to-practice gap in education research.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

*

Co-first authors.

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