2026-05-07 –, Track 1
Psychology's replicability crisis reflects methodological failures andt fundamental fragmentation rooted in the discipline's history. Unlike physics or biology, psychology never unified its three incompatible foundational programs maintaining isolated research communities throughout 150 years. Successive theoretical schisms from behaviorism-cognitivism conflicts to neuroscientific reductionism during the Decade of the Brain deepened this fragmentation, creating conditions where weak theories, divergent methodological standards, and insufficient cross-disciplinary dialogue enabled questionable practices to proliferate. Large-scale replication attempts confirmed the consequences as only 36% of findings reproduced. We distinguish fragmentation from legitimate theoretical pluralism and propose programmatic solutions based on interdisciplinary testing through multi-method scrutiny, mathematical formalization constraining predictions, and open science infrastructure enabling collaborative evaluation. These strategies preserve necessary diversity while building integrative bridges between subdisciplines, transforming psychology into a cumulative science where theory guides replication interpretation and predicts boundary conditions.
Keywords: replicability crisis, replication, reproducibility, scientific fragmentation, psychological science
Professor of Psychology on Behavioral Genetics and BIopsychology, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Santa Casa de São Paulo. Associate Professor of PSychology and the Graduate Program In Health Psychology (Biopsychology) at the Methodist University, Brazil.