Replication failure can drive theory revision...really.

This one is a little personal for me. A few years ago I became co-editor, with the fabulous Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia, of the journal Educational Psychologist. Our journal publishes “theoretical and conceptual articles as well as reviews and meta-analyses that make significant contributions to theory or the methods used to explore such theory” - so, I’ve been reading a lot of theoretical pieces these last few years. And I’ve been struck by how many people, including some prolific scholars, didn’t seem to have a good grasp of how to develop theory. I’ve had many wonderful scholars say to me, “Oh no, I could never write a manuscript for Educational Psychologist. I have no idea how to do that.” It seems like we could and should do a better job helping people theorize.

I dove into the literature and was delighted to find a whole area of scholarship on theory development (see here for a special issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science that serves as a wonderful introduction to this area). That inspired me to write this article on theory development in education and educational psychology. And that article has led to a whole topical collection (like a special issue, but spread out over many issues) on The Past, Present, and Future of Theory Development in Educational Psychology, which I am co-editing with the fabulous Kristy Robinson. Welp, the first article from the topical collection is out, and it’s a doozy!

John Sweller (2023) has written a really intriguing article on how failed attempts to replicate Cognitive Load Theory led to productive revisions to that theory, making it better and more expansive over time. He also discussed how the integration of ideas from other theories (e.g., evolutionary psychology) has further developed and enhanced Cognitive Load Theory. It’s a great example of how to create and develop theory, over time. I hope this article, and the other articles forthcoming in the topic collection, help people better understand how to create and develop their own theories. I encourage you to check it out - both to learn about theory development and also to learn more about a really influential line of thinking on how to design instruction: Cognitive Load Theory.