Research as it Happens

Rolf Zwaan

What does science look like while it’s still unfolding? In Research as it Happens, we go inside a large-scale psychology project, where labs around the world collaborate to study human memory. Each episode follows the process in real time—how ideas develop, experiments are designed, evidence is evaluated, and how researchers decide what to do next. This is science before the conclusions are final. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. 17 hr ago

    The second paradigm

    With 71 participating laboratories, our project has grown beyond a single replication. In this episode of Research as it Happens, we reach an important milestone: the selection of a second experimental paradigm to study the misinformation effect. The paradigm comes from the classic 1978 study by Elizabeth Loftus, Miller, and Burns. Unlike the Loftus and Palmer (1974) experiment, this paradigm has been replicated many times and provides a robust foundation for investigating why the misinformation effect occurs, not just whether it occurs. To explore this paradigm, Rolf talks with Sera Wiechert (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Germany), a legal psychologist whose recent work has replicated and extended the original 1978 study. Together they discuss the differences between the 1974 and 1978 paradigms, the practical challenges of reconstructing classic experiments, and what these studies can teach us about the mechanisms underlying memory distortion. The conversation also explores the complementary perspectives of cognitive psychology and legal psychology, the value of replication in applied research, and how large international collaborations make it possible to ask questions that individual laboratories often cannot. ReferenceWiechert, S., Verschueren, A., Ben-Shakhar, G., Pertzov, Y., Loftus, E. F., & Verschuere, B. (2026). The misinformation effect: A contemporary replication and extension of Loftus et al. (1978) to investigate its underlying mechanisms. Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition, 52(7), 1225–1241. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001529 About the ProjectResearch as it Happens follows a large international collaboration investigating the misinformation effect—the phenomenon that information encountered after an event can influence how that event is remembered. The project currently brings together researchers from 71 laboratories across multiple countries and languages. Rather than focusing only on whether classic findings replicate, the collaboration also aims to use these paradigms to answer new theoretical questions about human memory. Music written and performed by Rolf Zwaan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    31 min

  2. 21 Jun

    Seeing the crash

    How do you replicate a classic experiment when the original materials no longer exist? In this episode of Research as it Happens, Rolf Zwaan talks with Anita Eerland (Radboud University Nijmegen), who leads the visual stimuli team for the project's replication of the famous Loftus and Palmer (1974) study. At first glance, the task seems straightforward: find a suitable traffic accident video. But as the conversation reveals, reconstructing a classic experiment raises a surprising number of questions. What begins as a discussion about finding a crash video gradually becomes a conversation about a deeper question: what exactly are we trying to replicate? The original materials, or the psychological experience they were designed to create? Music written and performed by Rolf Zwaan Comment or question? Send an email: zwaan@essb.eur.nl Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    30 min

  3. 6 Jun

    In other words

    In the previous episode, Elizabeth Loftus reminded us that a single word can influence what people remember. In this episode, we take a deep dive into language and translation. The conversation begins with Steven Verheyen (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands), who leads the translation effort in our international replication project. We discuss the practical challenges of translating research materials into multiple languages, but also the deeper theoretical questions that emerge in the process. How do you translate words such as hit and smashed? Are we translating words, meanings, or psychological effects? And why should translation be viewed as a genuine scientific contribution rather than a purely technical task? In the second half of the episode, Rolf talks with linguist Maha Godoy (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil). Together they discuss the Loftus and Palmer study from a linguistic perspective and explore what language can tell us about the mechanisms underlying the misinformation effect. The conversation also turns to the experience of conducting research in Brazil and the similarities and differences between scientific cultures across countries. A recurring theme throughout the episode is that language is not merely a vehicle for communicating research. In a study like Loftus and Palmer, language is part of the phenomenon itself. If a single word can influence memory, then translating that word becomes a scientific challenge in its own right. As the project expands across countries and languages, questions that initially seem practical often reveal deeper theoretical issues. In that sense, translation is not simply something that happens before the research begins—it is one of the ways we learn from the research itself. Further reading On translation in big team science projects: translation – Psychological Science Accelerator. On crediting translators:  Contributors | FORRT - Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training. On iconicity in language:  Winter, B., Woodin, G., & Perlman, M. (preprint). Defining Iconicity for the Cognitive Sciences. Music written and played by Rolf Zwaan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    51 min

  4. 24 May

    Back to the source

    In this episode of Research as it Happens, Rolf Zwaan talks with Elizabeth Loftus (University of California, Irvine) about one of the most influential experiments in cognitive psychology: the 1974 Loftus & Palmer study on memory and misinformation. Loftus reflects on how the original study emerged partly by chance—from a lunch conversation with her lawyer cousin and a growing desire to work on questions with clearer real-world relevance. What followed became a landmark demonstration that the wording of a question can influence what people later report remembering. In the conversation, we explore: how the original experiments were designed and conducted,what happens to the original memory after misinformation is introduced,whether the effect reflects overwriting, retrieval interference, or source-monitoring problems,and how this line of work reshaped theories of memory.We also discuss the current large-scale replication project inspired by the original studies. What aspects of the classic experiment should remain unchanged? Which elements can be modernized? Does it matter if participants watch digital videos on computers rather than projected film clips? Could culturally different vehicles—such as scooters instead of cars—produce similar effects? The episode also touches on a broader issue in replication research: how revisiting classic findings can become more than an attempt to reproduce an effect. Large collaborative projects may also provide opportunities to test alternative explanations and extend the original work in new directions. More than fifty years after the original experiment, the central question remains remarkably current: How much of what we remember is shaped by what happened afterward? Music written and played by Rolf Zwaan Further reading: Website Elizabeth Loftus: https://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/loftus/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    36 min

  5. 10 May

    Working together

    In the previous episode, we followed how a simple question about a classic finding in psychology grew into a large international research project. In this episode, we take a closer look at what that shift means in practice. What happens when research moves from a single study to a collaboration involving dozens of labs? How do you organize such a project—and what new challenges emerge along the way? I speak with Katja Pronizius (University of Vienna, Austria), one of the authors of The Advantage of Big Team Science about the structure of big team science, its advantages, and the challenges that come with working at scale. These include issues of coordination, communication across cultures, and the distribution of responsibility within large teams. In the second part of the episode, I talk to Bjørn Sætrevik (University of Bergen, Norway) about what it is like to work inside such a large-scale collaboration. The conversation turns to a question that quickly becomes central in projects like this: how to assign roles and give credit when many people contribute in different ways. Together, these conversations highlight how scaling up research changes not only how studies are conducted, but also how contributions are organized, recognized, and made meaningful. At this stage of the project, labs are still joining and working groups are being formed. The structure of the collaboration is taking shape—and many of the questions discussed in this episode are becoming directly relevant. Mentioned in the episode: Article Katja Pronizius: https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/12/1/160129/218054/The-Advantage-of-Big-Team-Science-Lessons-Learned Preprint Bjørn Sætrevik: https://osf.io/preprints/metaarxiv/9kwnq_v1 Music written and played by Rolf Zwaan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min

  6. 26 Apr

    Where it starts

    In Research as it Happens, we go inside a large-scale psychology project, where labs around the world collaborate to study human memory. Each episode follows the process in real time—how ideas develop, experiments are designed, evidence is evaluated, and how researchers decide what to do next. In this first episode of Research as it Happens, we go back to where the project began. What starts as a simple question—how robust is a well-known finding?—quickly opens up a much larger set of issues about how research is done, how evidence is evaluated, and how scientific knowledge develops over time. The project itself grew out of a conversation between Rolf Zwaan and Anita Eerland about a classic study in psychology: Loftus and Palmer (1974) The study showed that the way a question is phrased can influence what people remember about an event—a finding that has become a staple in psychology textbooks. In this episode: Rolf talks with Anita Eerland (Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands) about how that initial conversation at the kitchen table developed into a large-scale, international research project that they are now leading.He also speaks with Massimo Grassi (University of Padua, Italy) about how he uses the Loftus study in his teaching, and what he expects from a project that revisits such a well-established finding.Together, these conversations highlight how even familiar results can raise new questions when examined more closely—and how different researchers bring different perspectives to the same problem. At the time of recording, the project is still in its early stages, with researchers joining from labs around the world and smaller teams forming to develop materials and plan the first studies. This is where it starts. Music written and played by Rolf Zwaan Mentioned in the episode: Target study: Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction between Language and Memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 13, 585-589. Blog posts Rolf: Memory, Misinformation, and the Need to Replicate https://rolfzwaan.substack.com/p/memory-misinformation-and-the-need Memory, Misinformation, and Loftus and Palmer, Revisited https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(74)80011-3 https://rolfzwaan.substack.com/p/memory-misinformation-and-loftus Multilab studies by Massimo Grassi: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/25152459251379432 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-026-06654-0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    36 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

What does science look like while it’s still unfolding? In Research as it Happens, we go inside a large-scale psychology project, where labs around the world collaborate to study human memory. Each episode follows the process in real time—how ideas develop, experiments are designed, evidence is evaluated, and how researchers decide what to do next. This is science before the conclusions are final. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Rolf Zwaan
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Rolf Zwaan
  • Show Website
    Research as it Happens