The Creativity-Verification Cycle in Psychological Science: New Methods to Combat Old Idols

Over the years, researchers in psychological science have documented and investigated a host of powerful cognitive fallacies, including hindsight bias and confirmation bias. Researchers themselves may not be immune to these fallacies and may unwittingly adjust their statistical analysis to produce an outcome that is more pleasant or better in line with prior expectations. To shield researchers from the impact of cognitive fallacies, several methodologists are now advocating preregistration—that is, the creation of a detailed analysis plan before data collection or data analysis. One may argue, however, that preregistration is out of touch with academic reality, hampering creativity and impeding scientific progress. We provide a historical overview to show that the interplay between creativity and verification has shaped theories of scientific inquiry throughout the centuries; in the currently dominant theory, creativity and verification operate in succession and enhance one another’s effectiveness. From this perspective, the use of preregistration to safeguard the verification stage will help rather than hinder the generation of fruitful new ideas.