Uses of uncertain statistical power: Designing future studies, not evaluating completed studies.

tatistical power is a topic of intense interest as part of proposed methodological reforms to improve the defensibility of psychological findings. Power has been used in disparate ways-some that follow and some that do not follow from definitional features of statistical power. We introduce a taxonomy on three uses of power (comparing the performance of different procedures, designing or planning studies, and evaluating completed studies) in the context of new developments that consider uncertainty due to sampling variability.

Accumulating evidence across studies: Consistent methods protect against false findings produced by p-hacking.

Much empirical science involves evaluating alternative explanations for the obtained data. For example, given certain assumptions underlying a statistical test, a "significant" result generally refers to implausibility of a null (zero) effect in the population producing the obtained study data. However, methodological work on various versions of p-hacking (i.

More than meets the gut: a prototype analysis of the lay conceptions of intuition and analysis.

Using a prototype approach, we assessed people's lay conceptions of intuition and analysis. Open-ended descriptions of intuition and analysis were generated by participants (Study 1) and resulting exemplars were sorted into features subsequently rated in centrality by independent participants (Study 2). Feature centrality was validated by showing that participants were quicker and more accurate in classifying central (as compared to peripheral) features (Study 3).

Uncertainty limits the use of power analysis.

The calculation of statistical power has been taken up as a simple yet informative tool to assist in designing an experiment, particularly in justifying sample size. A difficulty with using power for this purpose is that the classical power formula does not incorporate sources of uncertainty (e.g.

Belief-consistent information is most shared despite being the least surprising.

In the classical information theoretic framework, information "value" is proportional to how novel/surprising the information is. Recent work building on such notions claimed that false news spreads faster than truth online because false news is more novel and therefore surprising. However, another determinant of surprise, semantic meaning (e.

How research on persuasion can inform dual-process models of judgment.

De Neys makes some useful points regarding dual-process models, but his critique ignores highly relevant theories of judgment from the persuasion literature. These persuasion models predate and often circumvent many of the criticisms he makes of the dual-process approaches he covers. Furthermore, the persuasion models anticipated some of the correctives to dual-process models that he proposes.

A Pilot Goal-Oriented Episodic Future Thinking Weight Loss Intervention for Low-Income Overweight or Obese Young Mothers.

Background: Episodic future thinking (EFT) has shown efficacy in laboratory settings. We conducted a pilot goal-oriented EFT (GoEFT) intervention in a real-world setting to help low-income overweight or obese mothers lose weight. This paper presents intervention acceptability and efficacy.

Mechanisms in continued influence: The impact of misinformation corrections on source perceptions.

Research on the continued influence effect (CIE) of misinformation has demonstrated that misinformation continues to influence people's beliefs and judgments even after it has been corrected. Although most theorizing about the CIE attempts to explain why corrections do not eliminate belief in and influences of the misinformation, the present research takes a different approach and focuses instead on why corrections do reduce belief in misinformation (even if not entirely). We examined how a correction can change perceptions of the original source of the misinformation and how these changes in perceptions can mediate continued influence effects.

Psychosocial Factors Associated With Physical Activity Among Low-Income Overweight or Obese Mothers with Young Children.

Purpose: Investigate the associations between psychosocial factors and physical activity.

Design: Secondary data analysis utilizing baseline data of a large-scale community-based randomized controlled lifestyle behavior intervention.

Setting: The Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children in Michigan, USA.

Effects of Message-Sidedness on Perceived Source Bias: When Presenting Two Sides Does Versus Does Not Alleviate Concerns About Bias.

Communicators commonly present two-sided messages to avoid being perceived as biased. This approach equates bias with one-sidedness rather than divergence from the position supported by available data. Messages often concern topics with mixed qualities: a product is exceptional but expensive; a politician is inexperienced but ethical.

A Pilot Lifestyle Behavior Intervention for Overweight or Obese Pregnant Women: Results and Process Evaluation.

Introduction: This paper presents a pilot lifestyle behavior intervention effect on gestational weight gain and maternal and neonatal outcomes and intervention acceptability.

Materials And Methods: Overweight or obese pregnant participants (N = 70) were randomized to the intervention or usual care group. The 20-week intervention integrated Hope theory and goal-oriented episodic future thinking (GoEFT) to prevent excessive gestational weight gain through stress and emotion management, healthy eating, and physical activity.

Dietary Intake of Micronutrients and Essential Fatty Acids among Overweight or Obese Pregnant Women during Early Pregnancy.

Background: Dietary intake of micronutrients and essential fatty acids in overweight or obese pregnant women during early pregnancy is unknown. We investigated the proportion of pregnant women meeting recommendations for dietary intake of micronutrients and essential fatty acids and compared stress and depressive symptoms between those meeting and below recommendations.

Methods: Participants (N = 70) were overweight or obese pregnant women ≤16 weeks gestation.

Pilot Lifestyle Intervention Effect on Lifestyle Behaviors, Psychosocial Factors, and Affect.

Background: This paper presents results of a pilot intervention effect on lifestyle behaviors, psychosocial factors, and affect among overweight or obese pregnant women.

Methods: 70 participants were randomized to the intervention or usual care group. During the 20-week intervention, participants completed a weekly online intervention module and joined individual online health coaching.

The independent effects of source expertise and trustworthiness on retraction believability: The moderating role of vested interest.

Past research suggests that the trustworthiness of a source issuing a retraction of misinformation impacts retraction effectiveness, whereas source expertise does not. However, this prior research largely used expert sources who had a vested interest in issuing the retraction, which might have reduced the impact of those expert sources. We predicted that source expertise can impact a retraction's believability independent of trustworthiness, but that this is most likely when the source does not have a vested interest in issuing a retraction.

How Attitudes Impact the Continued Influence Effect of Misinformation: The Mediating Role of Discomfort.

Past research suggests that people continue believing retracted misinformation more when it is consistent versus inconsistent with their attitudes. However, the psychological mechanism responsible for this phenomenon remains unclear. We predicted that retractions of attitude-consistent misinformation produce greater feelings of discomfort than retractions of attitude-inconsistent misinformation and that this discomfort predicts continued belief in and use of the misinformation.

Factors Associated with Home Food Environment in Low-Income Overweight or Obese Pregnant Women.

Limited research has examined factors associated with home food availability. This study investigated the associations among demographics, body mass index category, stress, and home food availability among low-income overweight or obese pregnant women. This cross-sectional study enrolled 332 participants who were non-Hispanic black or white.

Factors Associated with Beverage Intake in Low-Income, Overweight, or Obese Pregnant Women.

This study examined consumption proportions and factors associated with sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs), and 100% fruit juice (FJ) consumption. We recruited Non-Hispanic Black ( = 136) and White ( = 192) low-income overweight or obese pregnant women aged 18 to 46 years (mean = 25.7 years) from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children clinics in Michigan, USA.

Changes in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Black and White Individuals in the US.

Importance: COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Black individuals in the US; however, vaccination rates among Black individuals trail those among other racial groups. This disparity is often attributed to a high level of vaccine hesitancy among Black individuals, but few studies have examined changes in vaccine hesitancy over time.

Objectives: To compare changes in vaccine hesitancy between Black and White individuals in the US and to examine mechanisms that might help explain the observed differences.

Mediation by Executive Functions in the Associations Between Perceived Stress, Prenatal Distress, Emotional Control, and Dietary Intake in Overweight or Obese Pregnant Women.

Background: The study explored potential mediation by executive functions (behavioral regulation index [BRI] and metacognition index [MI]) in association between perceived stress, prenatal distress, emotional control, and dietary intake (total calorie, total fat, added sugar, fruits, and vegetables).

Methods: 70 overweight or obese pregnant women completed validated online surveys and two 24-hour dietary recalls. Path analyses were performed.

The role of discomfort in the continued influence effect of misinformation.

Research examining the continued influence effect (CIE) of misinformation has reliably found that belief in misinformation persists even after the misinformation has been retracted. However, much remains to be learned about the psychological mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon. Most theorizing in this domain has focused on cognitive mechanisms.

Evaluating Research in Personality and Social Psychology: Considerations of Statistical Power and Concerns About False Findings.

Traditionally, statistical power was viewed as relevant to research planning but not evaluation of completed research. However, following discussions of high false finding rates (FFRs) associated with low statistical power, the assumed level of statistical power has become a key criterion for research acceptability. Yet, the links between power and false findings are not as straightforward as described.

Perceived stress linking psychosocial factors and depressive symptoms in low-income mothers.

Background: Little is known about associations between perceived stress, psychosocial factors (social support, emotional coping, coping self-efficacy, and autonomous motivation), and depressive symptoms in low-income overweight or obese mothers of young children. Using baseline data of a lifestyle intervention study, this secondary analysis investigates whether perceived stress might mediate the associations between the psychosocial factors and depressive symptoms.

Methods: Convenience sampling was applied.

Perceived Stress Can Mediate the Associations between a Lifestyle Intervention and Fat and Fast Food Intakes.

This secondary analysis study addressed a gap of knowledge: whether perceived stress reduction created by a lifestyle intervention might serve as a mediator for reducing fat and fast food intakes in low-income overweight or obese mothers of young children. This analysis included 338 low-income overweight or obese mothers of young children who completed a phone interview immediately after the 16-week lifestyle intervention. Valid surveys were used to assess perceived stress and fat and fast food intakes.

Influences of Position Justification on Perceived Bias: Immediate Effects and Carryover Across Persuasive Messages.

The current research examined how people infer whether novel sources are biased based on their ability to justify their position. Across nine studies, when sources provided weak versus strong arguments, message recipients perceived the source as more biased. This effect held controlling for other possible inferences, such as lack of expertise or untrustworthiness.

Lay concepts of source likeability, trustworthiness, expertise, and power: A prototype analysis.

Previous research on persuasion has used researcher-generated exemplars to manipulate source characteristics such as likeability, trustworthiness, expertise, or power. This approach has been fruitful, but it relies to some degree on an overlap between researcher understanding of these variables and lay understanding of these variables. Additionally, these exemplar manipulations may have unintentionally affected multiple characteristics and may be limited to certain topics or time periods.