Peer review & the economy

What is the definition of peer review?

The assessment of scientific work by others who are specialists in the same field, to ensure that any research published is of high quality

How is peer review conducted?

1. Researcher conducts scientific work & writes it up as a journal article

2. Researcher submits the paper to an academic journal → journal then sends paper to independent experts (‘peers’)

3. Peers consider the quality of the paper (including research design & methodology) → considers if there were uncontrolled extraneous variables

4. The data analysis is also checked, as well as deciding if the results actually support the conclusions drawn by the researcher

5. Peers decide if they can recommend the paper for publication → if rejected, changes are suggested or if completely flawed, there is no possibility of re-submission

What are the aims of peer review?

• To allocate research funding

• To validate the quality & relevance of research

• To suggest amendments or improvements

What are the different types of peer review?

• Open review: researchers & reviewers are known to each other (believed to reduce plagiarism)

• Single-blind review: the researcher’s name is not revealed to the reviewers (most common form)

• Double-blind review: the researcher & the reviewers are anonymous to each other

What are the strengths of peer review?

Strengths:

• Encourages researchers to be honest & careful, as their work is checked by experts

• Helps the media & public judge whether scientific findings are trustworthy

• The quality & quantity of peer-reviewed research contributes to institutional ratings, attracting students & government funding

What are the limitations of peer review?

• Can be limited by a lack of suitable experts in specialised fields

• Professional rivalry can cause unfair rejection of research & reluctance to challenge leading academics

• Blinding is also imperfect, as authors may be identifiable & anonymous reviewers may steal ideas or be overly harsh

• Publication bias towards positive findings creates the file-drawer problem, where negative findings are not published

What are the economic implications of Schaffer & Emerson’s research?

Psychological research:

• found babies form 5 attachments by age 18 months with adults who are show sensitive responsiveness

• the father is a key attachment figure

Economic implications:

• both parents can take it in turns to look after the baby initially (saving money on nursery fees)

• the mother can return to work knowing the child is happy to attach to others (e.g. father, nursery workers, etc)

• both parents are then contributing to the workplace & the family unit financially

What are the economic implications of Harlow, Bowlby, Ainsworth & Rutter’s research?

Psychological research:

• Harlow → contact comfort is more important for attachment development than food

• Bowlby → critical period (2-2.5yrs) is vital for attachment formation

• Ainsworth → found type of attachment is largely dependent on sensitive responsiveness

• Rutter → institutionalisation can have adverse on intellectual development

Economic implications:

• Midwives use their understanding of young children’s developmental needs to give informed advice to expectant mothers → reduces later spending on health & social care services

• Visiting policies in hospitals have changed & early contact (skin-to-skin after birth) is encouraged → reduces long-term healthcare costs linked to attachment issues

• Adoption agencies prioritise early placement (ideally before 6 months) which reduces financial burden of long-term institutional care & later mental health interventions

• Securely attached children are more likely to grow into productive adults, reducing future welfare dependency & costs to mental health services

What are the economic implications of Milgram & Asch’s research?

Psychological research:

• Milgram → people obey authority figures even when actions conflict with personal ethics (moral strain)

• Asch → people often conform to the group opinion (majority) even when it’s unambiguous

Economic implications:

• Governments use psychological research to influence behaviour

• The UK’s Behavioural Insights Team (nudge unit) worked with HMRC to send reminder letters stating most people pay their tax on time

• This increased tax payments by over £1.6 million in 23 days, providing more government funding for public services & benefiting the economy

What are the economic implications of Pavlov & Skinner’s research?

Psychological research:

• Pavlov → learning can occur through association (classical conditioning)

• Skinner → behaviour is reinforced through consequences (operant conditioning)

Economic implications:

• Social media & computer game companies use operant conditioning by providing virtual rewards (e.g. likes, followers & levels) → act as social rewards & result in compulsive use

• Increased engagement allows companies to show more advertisements, increasing profits, tax revenue & economic growth

• Businesses use reinforcement principles to increase consumer spending (e.g. loyalty cards, reward schemes)

• Employers use bonuses & performance-related pay to increase productivity

• Governments use incentives (e.g. tax breaks) to shape economic behaviour

What are the economic implications of research into neurotransmitters & drug therapy?

Psychological research:

• The action & imbalance of neurotransmitters are linked to mental health conditions (e.g. anxiety, depression, OCD & schizophrenia)

• Drug therapies can act on neurotransmitters, altering how they function in the brain, reducing symptoms

Economic implications:

• The development of cheap & effective drug treatments has allowed people to reduce symptoms & return to everyday life (e.g. work)

• As such, this reduces the cost to the NHS, improves workers’ productivity & increases the number of workers paying taxes

What are the economic implications of research into the justice system & memory?

Psychological research:

Researchers (e.g. Loftus) have shown memory & its use in EWT in court has serious limitations:

• cases that depend on EWT alone can result in miscarriages of justice due to misidentification

• police are now trained to avoid leading questions & post-event contamination; some can conduct the cognitive interview

Economic implications:

• Reduces wrongful imprisonment, lowering high financial costs of miscarriages of justice → taxes can be spent elsewhere

• Accurate convictions reduces costs by ensuring guilty individuals are imprisoned, preventing further crimes (e.g. theft, fraud & killing productive members of the workforce)

• Miscarriages of justice are expensive for society due to costs of initial trial & re-trial, imprisonment & appeals & potential financial compensation for the wrongly accused

What are the economic implications of Soomro et al.’s research?

Psychological research:

• Biological approach to treating OCD → conducted a review of research examining the effectiveness of SSRIs

• Found they were significantly more effective than placebos in the treatment of OCD, across 17 different trials

Economic implications:

Development of effective treatments for mental health disorders (e.g. OCD) will restore quality of life for the sufferer:

• this will improve their ability to work, meaning less time off work due to ill health & less reliance on government funded incapacity benefits

• NHS will save money if treatments are successful as fewer incidents of relapse, requiring medical attention, are likely to occur

What are the economic implications of Fisher et al.’s research?

Psychological research:

• Examined the effectiveness of the cognitive interview in real police interviews

• 16 experienced detectives were split into two groups: one trained in the cognitive interview & a control group using standard interviews

• After training, recorded interviews showed trained detectives obtained 46% more information, with over 90% of the information confirmed as accurate

Economic implications:

• More accurate recall increases the likelihood the correct suspect is identified & prosecuted, reducing likelihood of miscarriage of justice

• By decreasing wrongful arrests, unnecessary questioning & court proceedings, this can save significant financial resources for the criminal justice system & limited police resources

What are the economic implications of Bandura’s research?

Psychological research:

• Demonstrated learning can occur through observation & imitation of others’ behaviour, especially if the model is older, attractive & has high status

Economic implications:

• Celebrity endorsements & social media influencers can significantly shape consumer behaviour → increasing demand for products & driving sales

• Workplace behaviour & productivity are influenced by role models, meaning effective leadership & positive modelling can enhance efficiency & reduce training or supervision costs

• Marketing strategies can leverage observational learning to improve brand loyalty & maximise return on investment

What are the economic implications of Maslow’s research?

Psychological research:

• Hierarchy of needs proposes supporting employee wellbeing benefits economic productivity

Economic implications:

• Employees whose physiological & safety needs are met tend to be more motivated, engaged & productive → benefiting overall organisational performance

• Workplace motivation & management strategies can apply Maslow’s hierarchy to improve employee satisfaction & efficiency

• Meeting employees’ needs reduces staff turnover & associated recruitment & training costs → resulting in significant financial savings for organisations

• Enhanced employee wellbeing can lead to lower absences & higher long-term profitability

What are the economic implications of Raine et al.’s research?

Psychological research:

• Found murderers had lower prefrontal cortex brain activity, suggesting neural differences may contribute to violent behaviour

Economic implications:

• Early identification & intervention targeting biological risk factors could reduce future offending & associated societal costs

• Prevention through understanding & addressing biological vulnerabilities is likely more economically efficient than relying solely on punishment after crime occurs

What are the economic implications of Bem’s research?

Psychological research:

• Found people with both masculine & feminine traits (androgyny) are more psychologically adaptable than those who conform strictly to traditional gender roles

Economic implications:

• Gender schemas can discourage women from pursuing STEM & other high-paying careers → contributes to occupational segregation, gender pay gap & skill shortages in key industries

• As such, economic efficiency & innovation are reduced, since talent is underutilised & diversity in problem-solving is limited

What are the economic implications of Eysenck’s research?

Psychological research:

• Proposed crime is linked to biological personality traits (i.e. extraversion, neuroticism & psychoticism)

Economic implications:

• Eysenck’s findings on personality traits linked to criminality support the early identification of at-risk individuals

• Targeted prevention programs addressing these traits are more cost-effective than later incarceration

• Reducing offending through early intervention can lower long-term societal costs, including policing, court proceedings & imprisonment

What are the economic implications of treatment programmes & reduced re-offending research?

Psychological research:

• Cognitive explanations (e.g. hostile attribution bias) → criminals misinterpret situations as threatening

Economic implications:

• Effective rehabilitation & treatment programs can lower re-offending rates by addressing underlying causes of criminal behaviour

• This reduces long-term costs for society, including policing, courts & imprisonment

• Investing in treatment is more economically efficient than repeated incarceration, as it prevents the cycle of crime & associated financial burdens

What are the economic implications of custodial sentencing vs rehabilitation research?

Psychological research:

• Psychological interventions reduce recidivism more than punishment alone

Economic implications:

• Custodial sentencing is extremely costly, placing a heavy burden on public finances

• Rehabilitation programs reduce re-offending, which decreases the prison population over time

• This frees up government resources for investment in other areas, improving overall economic efficiency