Stephen Want
@stephenwant.bsky.social
Associate Professor, Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University. Interests in Social, Developmental, and Media Psychology, as well as Psychological Methods.
Pinned
Stephen Want
@stephenwant.bsky.social
· Sep 24
Visual Analogue Scales are often used to measure short-term changes in body dissatisfaction. But how much change (out of 101 points) represents a meaningful change? 20 points? 10? 5?
In our new (open access) paper, we try to find out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In our new (open access) paper, we try to find out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Stephen Want
Overall, our findings point to a simpler explanation:
Learning with others may be effective because the human mind treats live social contexts as special, even when interaction is minimal. Interactivity can help, but it may not be the central ingredient to boost learning.
Learning with others may be effective because the human mind treats live social contexts as special, even when interaction is minimal. Interactivity can help, but it may not be the central ingredient to boost learning.
December 1, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Overall, our findings point to a simpler explanation:
Learning with others may be effective because the human mind treats live social contexts as special, even when interaction is minimal. Interactivity can help, but it may not be the central ingredient to boost learning.
Learning with others may be effective because the human mind treats live social contexts as special, even when interaction is minimal. Interactivity can help, but it may not be the central ingredient to boost learning.
Reposted by Stephen Want
Are you looking for opportunities to teach university courses in psychology?
We need contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for January 2026 at TMU
To apply (by Nov. 7th) see:
www.torontomu.ca/careers/sear...
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
We need contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for January 2026 at TMU
To apply (by Nov. 7th) see:
www.torontomu.ca/careers/sear...
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
Search Available Career Opportunities
Explore Career Opportunities at Toronto Metropolitan University.
www.torontomu.ca
October 30, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Are you looking for opportunities to teach university courses in psychology?
We need contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for January 2026 at TMU
To apply (by Nov. 7th) see:
www.torontomu.ca/careers/sear...
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
We need contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for January 2026 at TMU
To apply (by Nov. 7th) see:
www.torontomu.ca/careers/sear...
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
Are you looking for opportunities to teach university courses in psychology?
We need contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for January 2026 at TMU
To apply (by Nov. 7th) see:
www.torontomu.ca/careers/sear...
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
We need contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for January 2026 at TMU
To apply (by Nov. 7th) see:
www.torontomu.ca/careers/sear...
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
Search Available Career Opportunities
Explore Career Opportunities at Toronto Metropolitan University.
www.torontomu.ca
October 30, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Are you looking for opportunities to teach university courses in psychology?
We need contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for January 2026 at TMU
To apply (by Nov. 7th) see:
www.torontomu.ca/careers/sear...
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
We need contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for January 2026 at TMU
To apply (by Nov. 7th) see:
www.torontomu.ca/careers/sear...
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
Reposted by Stephen Want
Our posting is now up for a Lecturer (Asst prof) in Social Psych at the University of Auckland
Please apply! Portal closes 20 Oct NZT. That's the 19th stateside bc here in New Zealand we live in the future
I'm not on the committee so am unconflicted and happy to chat with interested folks
Please apply! Portal closes 20 Oct NZT. That's the 19th stateside bc here in New Zealand we live in the future
I'm not on the committee so am unconflicted and happy to chat with interested folks
August 31, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Our posting is now up for a Lecturer (Asst prof) in Social Psych at the University of Auckland
Please apply! Portal closes 20 Oct NZT. That's the 19th stateside bc here in New Zealand we live in the future
I'm not on the committee so am unconflicted and happy to chat with interested folks
Please apply! Portal closes 20 Oct NZT. That's the 19th stateside bc here in New Zealand we live in the future
I'm not on the committee so am unconflicted and happy to chat with interested folks
Reposted by Stephen Want
Into the afternoon now, Elisabeth Bik makes case that peer review cannot really detect fraud, because researchers don't know how to recognize it. Need professional fraud detectors. Elsevier rep in morning said they see more and more fraudulent submissions. Becoming a stress on system.
July 14, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Into the afternoon now, Elisabeth Bik makes case that peer review cannot really detect fraud, because researchers don't know how to recognize it. Need professional fraud detectors. Elsevier rep in morning said they see more and more fraudulent submissions. Becoming a stress on system.
Reposted by Stephen Want
🎉 Congratulations 2025 CGDA Finalists 🎉
🍺 Brewmaster's Guild by Carlo Prospero
👑 Drag Debutante by Duncan Hecht
⚗️ Flask by Adam Wyse & Gavin Brown
🐙 Takoyaki by Ben Dyson
Join us for the FallCon 38 Live Auction on August 23rd to learn who will take home the top prize!
🍺 Brewmaster's Guild by Carlo Prospero
👑 Drag Debutante by Duncan Hecht
⚗️ Flask by Adam Wyse & Gavin Brown
🐙 Takoyaki by Ben Dyson
Join us for the FallCon 38 Live Auction on August 23rd to learn who will take home the top prize!
July 2, 2025 at 7:32 AM
🎉 Congratulations 2025 CGDA Finalists 🎉
🍺 Brewmaster's Guild by Carlo Prospero
👑 Drag Debutante by Duncan Hecht
⚗️ Flask by Adam Wyse & Gavin Brown
🐙 Takoyaki by Ben Dyson
Join us for the FallCon 38 Live Auction on August 23rd to learn who will take home the top prize!
🍺 Brewmaster's Guild by Carlo Prospero
👑 Drag Debutante by Duncan Hecht
⚗️ Flask by Adam Wyse & Gavin Brown
🐙 Takoyaki by Ben Dyson
Join us for the FallCon 38 Live Auction on August 23rd to learn who will take home the top prize!
Reposted by Stephen Want
We have a new paper on interpreting regional attitudes out in JPSP, led by Jennifer Suliteanu @jensulite.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1037/pspa...
This is her first paper 🫶
Few comments
doi.org/10.1037/pspa...
This is her first paper 🫶
Few comments
December 12, 2024 at 5:47 PM
We have a new paper on interpreting regional attitudes out in JPSP, led by Jennifer Suliteanu @jensulite.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1037/pspa...
This is her first paper 🫶
Few comments
doi.org/10.1037/pspa...
This is her first paper 🫶
Few comments
Are you looking for teaching experience in psychology?
We are looking for contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for September 2025 at TMU.
To apply, see: torontomu.ca/careers/sear... by May 30th
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
We are looking for contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for September 2025 at TMU.
To apply, see: torontomu.ca/careers/sear... by May 30th
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
Search Available Career Opportunities
Explore Career Opportunities at Toronto Metropolitan University.
torontomu.ca
May 20, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Are you looking for teaching experience in psychology?
We are looking for contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for September 2025 at TMU.
To apply, see: torontomu.ca/careers/sear... by May 30th
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
We are looking for contract lecturers (MA or PhD in psychology required) for September 2025 at TMU.
To apply, see: torontomu.ca/careers/sear... by May 30th
Please share! See the thread below for the courses that are available:
Reposted by Stephen Want
Postdoctoral Position, full ad here: hehmanlab.org/ad
Drs. Jordan Axt and Eric Hehman are seeking applications for a jointly funded Post-Doctoral Researcher, beginning Fall 2025.
Topic area would broadly be centered on intergroup dynamics and prejudice.
1/2
Drs. Jordan Axt and Eric Hehman are seeking applications for a jointly funded Post-Doctoral Researcher, beginning Fall 2025.
Topic area would broadly be centered on intergroup dynamics and prejudice.
1/2
ad
hehmanlab.org
April 1, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Postdoctoral Position, full ad here: hehmanlab.org/ad
Drs. Jordan Axt and Eric Hehman are seeking applications for a jointly funded Post-Doctoral Researcher, beginning Fall 2025.
Topic area would broadly be centered on intergroup dynamics and prejudice.
1/2
Drs. Jordan Axt and Eric Hehman are seeking applications for a jointly funded Post-Doctoral Researcher, beginning Fall 2025.
Topic area would broadly be centered on intergroup dynamics and prejudice.
1/2
Reposted by Stephen Want
New blog post! In which I explain the issue with mediation analysis and sketch out one way to deal with the underlying causal inference problem -- in just a bit over 1,000 words!
If you have never found the time to read up on this, now is your chance.
www.the100.ci/2025/03/20/r...
If you have never found the time to read up on this, now is your chance.
www.the100.ci/2025/03/20/r...
Reviewer notes: That’s a very nice mediation analysis you have there. It would be a shame if something happened to it.
Mediation analysis has gotten a lot of flak, including classic titles such as “Yes, but what’s the mechanism? (Don’t expect an easy answer)” (Bullock et al., 2010), “What mediation analysis can (not) ...
www.the100.ci
March 20, 2025 at 1:40 PM
New blog post! In which I explain the issue with mediation analysis and sketch out one way to deal with the underlying causal inference problem -- in just a bit over 1,000 words!
If you have never found the time to read up on this, now is your chance.
www.the100.ci/2025/03/20/r...
If you have never found the time to read up on this, now is your chance.
www.the100.ci/2025/03/20/r...
Reposted by Stephen Want
A bad day for Nicolas Guéguen as he scores five retractions, including the evolutionary psychology tour de force "Bust Size and Hitchhiking".
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2...
RETRACTED: Women's Eye Contact and Men's Later Interest: Two Field Experiments - Nicolas Guéguen, Jacques Fischer-Lokou, Liv Lefebvre, Lubomir Lamy, 2008
journals.sagepub.com
February 27, 2025 at 4:08 AM
A bad day for Nicolas Guéguen as he scores five retractions, including the evolutionary psychology tour de force "Bust Size and Hitchhiking".
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2...
Reposted by Stephen Want
Help needed with power analysis! We plan a study where the predicted results are as shown. What tools can I use to figure out the necessary N to find this 2 x 2 interaction? One complication is that the d values we are expecting come from between-participant studies, but ours will be entirely within
November 26, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Help needed with power analysis! We plan a study where the predicted results are as shown. What tools can I use to figure out the necessary N to find this 2 x 2 interaction? One complication is that the d values we are expecting come from between-participant studies, but ours will be entirely within
Reposted by Stephen Want
New blogpost:
deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-...
deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-...
Why I have resigned from the Royal Society
The Royal Society is a venerable institution founded in 1660, whose original members included such eminent men as Christopher Wren, Robert H...
deevybee.blogspot.com
November 25, 2024 at 7:49 AM
New blogpost:
deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-...
deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-...
Reposted by Stephen Want
ISCON is excited to announce that the 2023 Best Social Cognition Paper Award goes to Hester, N., & Hehman, E. (2023). Dress is a fundamental component of person perception. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 27(4), 414-433! Congrats @neilrhester.bsky.social and @erichehman.bsky.social!
November 21, 2024 at 8:25 PM
ISCON is excited to announce that the 2023 Best Social Cognition Paper Award goes to Hester, N., & Hehman, E. (2023). Dress is a fundamental component of person perception. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 27(4), 414-433! Congrats @neilrhester.bsky.social and @erichehman.bsky.social!
Reposted by Stephen Want
New in NHB: We systematically replicated 26 of 41 PNAS social science studies that used MTurk. The approach provides a proof-of-concept for using decision markets to select findings to replicate.
Replication effect sizes were 45% of original effect sizes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Replication effect sizes were 45% of original effect sizes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Examining the replicability of online experiments selected by a decision market - Nature Human Behaviour
This study finds that decision markets can be a useful tool for selecting studies for replication. For a sample of 26 online experiments published in PNAS selected by a decision market, the authors fi...
www.nature.com
November 19, 2024 at 11:59 AM
New in NHB: We systematically replicated 26 of 41 PNAS social science studies that used MTurk. The approach provides a proof-of-concept for using decision markets to select findings to replicate.
Replication effect sizes were 45% of original effect sizes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Replication effect sizes were 45% of original effect sizes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A fun fact about me is that I once bought a bag of wine gums for the Queen of Denmark.
A fun fact about me is that I once played poker with the comedian Kevin James.
A fun fact about me is that I made a mix CD for Howard Zinn once.
November 10, 2024 at 10:01 PM
A fun fact about me is that I once bought a bag of wine gums for the Queen of Denmark.
Reposted by Stephen Want
We're working on VAS slider accuracy. Did anyone collect data on this, i.e. did anyone ask participants to score a specific number on VAS (e.g. as attention check or for any other reason)? Thx (w @omidvebrahimi.bsky.social @marilynpicciri1.bsky.social @shirleybwang.bsky.social @bsiepe.bsky.social)
November 5, 2024 at 10:37 AM
We're working on VAS slider accuracy. Did anyone collect data on this, i.e. did anyone ask participants to score a specific number on VAS (e.g. as attention check or for any other reason)? Thx (w @omidvebrahimi.bsky.social @marilynpicciri1.bsky.social @shirleybwang.bsky.social @bsiepe.bsky.social)
Toronto Metropolitan University is hiring for a tenure track (Assistant Professor) position in Quantitative Psychology.
hr.cf.torontomu.ca/ams/faculty/...
Candidates can have research interests in any field, but must provide evidence of (potential for) excellence in teaching quantitative methods.
hr.cf.torontomu.ca/ams/faculty/...
Candidates can have research interests in any field, but must provide evidence of (potential for) excellence in teaching quantitative methods.
Career Opportunities
hr.cf.torontomu.ca
October 8, 2024 at 6:15 PM
Toronto Metropolitan University is hiring for a tenure track (Assistant Professor) position in Quantitative Psychology.
hr.cf.torontomu.ca/ams/faculty/...
Candidates can have research interests in any field, but must provide evidence of (potential for) excellence in teaching quantitative methods.
hr.cf.torontomu.ca/ams/faculty/...
Candidates can have research interests in any field, but must provide evidence of (potential for) excellence in teaching quantitative methods.
I admit that I didn't need much convincing (I still frequently think about Uri Simonsohn's words from the screenshot below) but this pre-print has further convinced me that the rate of fraud and fabrication in science is alarmingly high.
September 25, 2024 at 4:44 PM
I admit that I didn't need much convincing (I still frequently think about Uri Simonsohn's words from the screenshot below) but this pre-print has further convinced me that the rate of fraud and fabrication in science is alarmingly high.
Reposted by Stephen Want
Another shoe just dropped in the ongoing Dan Ariely scandal: JMR, a top 4 marketing journal, has issued a formal “Expression of Concern” for Mazar, Amir, & Ariely (2008), the infamous Ten Commandments study
🧵
🧵
September 25, 2024 at 4:22 AM
Another shoe just dropped in the ongoing Dan Ariely scandal: JMR, a top 4 marketing journal, has issued a formal “Expression of Concern” for Mazar, Amir, & Ariely (2008), the infamous Ten Commandments study
🧵
🧵
Visual Analogue Scales are often used to measure short-term changes in body dissatisfaction. But how much change (out of 101 points) represents a meaningful change? 20 points? 10? 5?
In our new (open access) paper, we try to find out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In our new (open access) paper, we try to find out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
September 24, 2024 at 4:02 PM
Visual Analogue Scales are often used to measure short-term changes in body dissatisfaction. But how much change (out of 101 points) represents a meaningful change? 20 points? 10? 5?
In our new (open access) paper, we try to find out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In our new (open access) paper, we try to find out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
They Might Be Giants come out in support of Popperian falsificationism: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KodW...
"If it's possible to prove it wrong
You're going to want to know before too long
...
"Find a way to show what would happen
If you were incorrect
A fact is just a fantasy
Unless it can be checked"
"If it's possible to prove it wrong
You're going to want to know before too long
...
"Find a way to show what would happen
If you were incorrect
A fact is just a fantasy
Unless it can be checked"
Put It to the Test - They Might Be Giants
YouTube video by TMBGkids
www.youtube.com
September 21, 2024 at 5:35 PM
They Might Be Giants come out in support of Popperian falsificationism: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KodW...
"If it's possible to prove it wrong
You're going to want to know before too long
...
"Find a way to show what would happen
If you were incorrect
A fact is just a fantasy
Unless it can be checked"
"If it's possible to prove it wrong
You're going to want to know before too long
...
"Find a way to show what would happen
If you were incorrect
A fact is just a fantasy
Unless it can be checked"
Reposted by Stephen Want
James Heathers @jamesheathers.bsky.social has started a peer review Subreddit.
I kicked it off with a post about some VERY viral and VERY dodgy research on rosemary oil for hair loss.
See if there's anything I've missed. I think this study may require retraction:
www.reddit.com/r/PeerReview...
I kicked it off with a post about some VERY viral and VERY dodgy research on rosemary oil for hair loss.
See if there's anything I've missed. I think this study may require retraction:
www.reddit.com/r/PeerReview...
Reddit - Dive into anything
However, there are also some major red flags in this study that are similar to previous pieces of research which have been retracted due to misconduct:
www.reddit.com
September 18, 2024 at 3:25 AM
James Heathers @jamesheathers.bsky.social has started a peer review Subreddit.
I kicked it off with a post about some VERY viral and VERY dodgy research on rosemary oil for hair loss.
See if there's anything I've missed. I think this study may require retraction:
www.reddit.com/r/PeerReview...
I kicked it off with a post about some VERY viral and VERY dodgy research on rosemary oil for hair loss.
See if there's anything I've missed. I think this study may require retraction:
www.reddit.com/r/PeerReview...
Reposted by Stephen Want
Apparently the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test can be used to report "how many" people did show the effect, a concrete way some folks have suggested reporting effect sizes
Want to know how many people show an effect in a between-subjects study? Consider this off-label use of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test
datacolada.org/120
datacolada.org/120
[120] Off-Label Smirnov: How Many Subjects Show an Effect in Between-Subjects Experiments? - Data Colada
There is a classic statistical test known as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test (Wikipedia). This post is about an off-label use of the KS-test that I don’t think people know about (not even Kolmogorov ...
datacolada.org
September 16, 2024 at 5:32 PM
Apparently the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test can be used to report "how many" people did show the effect, a concrete way some folks have suggested reporting effect sizes