| 2025 |
| Tamás Nagy, Jane Hergert, Mahmoud Elsheriff, Lukas Wallrich, Kathleen Schmidt, Tal Waltzer, Jason Payne, Biljana Gjoneska, …, Eva Rubínová (2025). Bestiary of questionable research practices in psychology. Advances In Methods And Practices In Psychological Science, 8 (3) |
Questionable research practices (QRPs) pose a significant threat to the quality of scientific research. However, historically, they remain ill-defined, and a comprehensive list of QRPs is lacking. In this article, we address this concern by defining, collecting, and categorizing QRPs using a community-consensus method. Collaborators of the study agreed on the following definition: QRPs are ways of producing, maintaining, sharing, analyzing, or interpreting data that are likely to produce misleading conclusions, typically in the interest of the researcher. QRPs are not normally considered to include research practices that are prohibited or proscribed in the researcher’s field (e.g., fraud, research misconduct). Neither do they include random researcher error (e.g., accidental data loss). Drawing from both iterative discussions and existing literature, we collected, defined, and categorized 40 QRPs for quantitative research … |
Link |
| Atakan M Akil, Renáta Cserjési, Dezső Németh, Tamás Nagy, Zsolt Demetrovics, HN Alexander Logemann (2025). The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on frontal alpha asymmetry and visuospatial attention in food-reward contexts: a triple-blind randomized sham-controlled study. Bmc Psychology, 13 (1), 695 |
BackgroundResearch indicates a connection between right frontal brain activity dominance and the inhibitory system. However, the underlying brain mechanism regarding attentional control remains unclear. In this preregistered experiment, we explored the association between frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) — which is an electrophysiological measure of the difference in alpha power between the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — and the behavioral and brain activity components of attentional bias and disengagement, as observed in a visuospatial cueing (VSC) task.MethodWe used a triple-blind randomized sham-controlled design with 65 (Mage = 23.93; SDage = 6.08; 46 female) healthy humans. Participants’ resting-state EEG was recorded to calculate FAA scores before and after 2 mA anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the right frontal site for 20 min. They also completed a … |
Link |
| 2024 |
| Luca Csirmaz, Tamás Nagy, Fanni Vikor, Krisztian Kasos (2024). Cognitive behavioral digital interventions are effective in reducing anxiety in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal Of Prevention, 45 (2), 237-267 |
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health issues in childhood, yet most children do not receive treatment. With recent advances in technology, a growing number of digital anxiety interventions are becoming accessible. This study is the first meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of digital cognitive-behavioral anxiety interventions for individuals under the age of 18. Five electronic databases (PsycNET, Web of Science, Science Direct, Pub Med, SAGE Journals.) were systematically searched in 2021. Inclusion criteria were: randomized control trials with a wait list no treatment control, standalone to blended care with minimal therapist involvement, diagnosed anxiety disorder or elevated levels of anxiety, outcome anxiety levels had to be assessed by a clinician, or the patients themselves by a validated anxiety measure. We assessed and controlled for publication bias, and considered … |
Link |
| Briana Oshiro, William HB McAuliffe, Raymond Luong, Anabela C Santos, Andrej Findor, Anna O Kuzminska, Anthony Lantian, Asil A Özdoğru, …, Jessica Kay Flake (2024). Structural validity evidence for the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale across 15 languages. Psychological Test Adaptation And Development, |
Background: The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) recently completed a large-scale moral psychology study using translated versions of the Oxford Utilitarianism Scale (OUS). However, the translated versions have no validity evidence. Objective: The study investigated the structural validity evidence of the OUS across 15 translated versions and produced version-specific validity reports. Methods: We analyzed OUS data from the PSA, which was collected internationally on a centralized online questionnaire. We also collected qualitative feedback from experts for each translated version. Results: For each version, we produced version-specific psychometric reports which include the following:(1) descriptive item and demographics analyses,(2) factor structure evidence using confirmatory factor analyses,(3) measurement invariance testing across languages using multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses … |
Link |
| Tamás Nagy, Jane Hergert, Mahmoud Elsherif, Lukas Wallrich, Kathleen Schmidt, Tal Waltzer, Jason W Payne, Biljana Gjoneska, …, Eva Rubínová1 (2024). Bestiary of Questionable Research Practices in Psychology. Osf, |
Questionable research practices (QRPs) pose a significant threat to the integrity and credibility of scientific research. However, historically, they remain ill-defined and a comprehensive list of QRPs is lacking. The article addresses this concern by defining, collecting, and categorizing QRPs using an expert consensus method. Collaborators of the study agreed on the following definition:“Questionable research practices (QRPs) are ways of producing, maintaining, sharing, analyzing, or interpreting data that are likely to produce misleading conclusions, typically in the interest of the researcher. QRPs are not normally considered to include research practices that are prohibited or proscribed in the researcher’s field (eg, fraud, research misconduct). Neither do they include random/non-motivated researcher error (eg, accidental data loss).” Drawing from both iterative discussions and existing literature, we collected, defined and categorized 40 QRPs. We also considered attributes such as potential harms, detectability, clues, and remedies for each QRP. The results suggest that QRPs are pervasive and versatile, and have the potential to undermine all stages of the scientific enterprise. This work contributes to the maintenance of research integrity, transparency, and reliability by raising awareness for and improving the understanding of QRPs. |
Link |
| Tamas Nagy, Henriett Ipacs, Eszter Ferentzi, Ferenc Köteles (2024). Heart rate perception and expectation impact laboratory-induced perceived stress. International Journal Of Psychophysiology, 199, 112326 |
Previous studies have shown that the human capacity to gauge one's own physiological state is notoriously flawed. The cause for the mismatch between perceived and physiological stress has not yet been properly identified. In this study, we assumed that cardioceptive accuracy (CAc) is positively associated with cardiovascular reactivity, and CAc and expectation about stress might account for the discrepancy between perceived and physiological stress. In a crossover experiment, we assessed cardioceptive accuracy in two ways (mental heartbeat tracking task and perception of heart rate), and induced physiological (handgrip exercise) and mental (N-back task) stress in 64 university students (51 % male, mean age 22.2). We assessed cardiac and electrodermal activity, and expected and perceived stress. We found that indicators of cardioceptive accuracy were not associated with cardiovascular reactivity … |
Link |
| Atakan M Akil, Renáta Cserjési, Tamás Nagy, Zsolt Demetrovics, Dezső Németh, HN Alexander Logemann (2024). The relationship between frontal alpha asymmetry and behavioral and brain activity indices of reactive inhibitory control. Journal Of Neurophysiology, 132 (2), 362-374 |
Reactive inhibitory control plays an important role in phenotype of different diseases/different phases of a disease. One candidate electrophysiological marker of inhibitory control is frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA). FAA reflects the relative difference in contralateral frontal brain activity. However, the relationship between FAA and potential behavioral/brain activity indices of reactive inhibitory control is not yet clear. We assessed the relationship between resting-state FAA and indicators of reactive inhibitory control. Additionally, we investigated the effect of modulation of FAA via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). We implemented a randomized sham-controlled design with 65 healthy humans (Mage = 23.93, SDage = 6.08; 46 female). Before and after 2-mA anodal tDCS of the right frontal site (with the cathode at the contralateral site) for 20 min, we collected EEG data and reactive inhibitory performance in … |
Link |
| Nándor Hajdú, Barnabás Szászi, Balázs Aczél, Tamás Nagy (2024). Felügyelt gépi tanulási módszerek alkalmazása a pszichológiai kutatásokban. Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle, 79 (2), 171-193 |
A pszichológiai kutatások számos területén hasznosítható a felügyelt gépi tanulás, amelynek alkalmazásával összetettebb adatok elemzése válik lehetségessé. Célunk, hogy bemutassuk a felügyelt gépi tanulás fajtáit, működését és használatát a pszichológiai kutatásokban. Áttekintjük a gépi tanulás előnyeit, valamint a túlillesztés, torzítási hiba és adatvariabilitás fogalmait, amelyek segítenek a modellválasztásban, és az eredmények robusztusságának biztosításában. Röviden bemutatjuk továbbá a legfontosabb felügyelt gépi tanulási algoritmusokat, és leírjuk a változók és adatok előkészítésének legfontosabb lépéseit. Egy példaelemzés keretében bemutatjuk, hogyan modellezhető egyetemi hallgatók lépcső és lift közötti választása felügyelt gépi tanulással. A cikk végén kitérünk a gépi tanulás korlátaira és annak helyére a pszichológusok oktatásában. Reméljük, hogy a bemutatott ismeretek segítenek a … |
Link |
| Atakan M Akil, Renáta Cserjési, Tamás Nagy, Zsolt Demetrovics, HN Alexander Logemann (2024). The effect of unilateral hand muscle contraction on frontal alpha asymmetry and inhibitory control in intrinsic reward contexts, a randomized controlled trial. Scientific Reports, 14 (1), 27289 |
Challenged inhibitory control has been implicated in various disorders, including addiction. Previous research suggests that asymmetry of frontal brain activity, indexed by frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), is associated with inhibitory control and could be a target for neuromodulatory intervention. Some evidence suggests that unilateral muscle contraction (UMC) can modulate FAA; however, experimental evidence is scarce. We conducted a randomized controlled trial, with 65 participants (Mage = 26.6; SD = 7.4), 37 of whom were females. We collected EEG data to calculate FAA and assessed inhibitory performance using the Stop Signal Task (SST) in neutral and intrinsic reward (palatable food) conditions, both before and after a unilateral left-hand muscle contraction task aimed at enhancing right relative to left frontal activity. We found a significant main effect of group on FAA. Specifically, UMC group was … |
Link |
| Levente Rónai, Flóra Hann, Szabolcs Kéri, Ulrich Ettinger, Bertalan Polner (2024). Emotions under control? Better cognitive control is associated with reduced negative emotionality but increased negative emotional reactivity within individuals.. Behaviour Research And Therapy, 173, 104462 |
Associations between impaired cognitive control and maladaptive emotion regulation have been extensively studied between individuals. However, it remains unclear if this relationship holds within individuals. In this study, we tested the assumption that momentary within-person fluctuation in cognitive control (working memory updating and response inhibition) is associated with emotional reactivity in everyday life. We conducted an experience sampling study (eight two-hourly prompts daily) where participants repeatedly performed short 2-back and Go/no-go tasks in daily life. We assessed negative and positive affective states, and unpleasantness of a recent event to capture emotional reactivity. We analyzed two overlapping samples: a Go/no-go and a 2-back dataset (N = 161/158). Our results showed that better momentary working memory updating was associated with decreased negative affect if the recent … |
Link |
| 2023 |
| Suzanne Hoogeveen, Alexandra Sarafoglou, Balazs Aczel, Yonathan Aditya, Alexandra J Alayan, Peter J Allen, Sacha Altay, Shilaan Alzahawi, …, Gustav Nilsonne (2023). A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 13 (3), 237-283 |
The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset ( participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported … |
Link |
| Patrik Koncz, Zsolt Demetrovics, Zsofia K Takacs, Mark D Griffiths, Tamás Nagy, Orsolya Király (2023). The emerging evidence on the association between symptoms of ADHD and gaming disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 106, 102343 |
The co-existence of gaming disorder (GD) with other mental health problems has been widely reported. Despite the growing research interest in the comorbidity of GD with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), to date, no quantitative synthesis has been performed. The present study comprised a systematic literature search using Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. Three types of studies were included in the analyses: studies reporting (i) correlation coefficients between the symptoms of GD and ADHD, (ii) means, and standard deviations for comparison of GD severity between ADHD/non-ADHD individuals, and (iii) comparison of ADHD severity between GD/non-GD individuals. The results indicated a moderate relationship between GD and ADHD symptom severity when both subdomains of ADHD were combined (r = 0.296), and also when only inattention (r = 0.306) or … |
Link |
| Janos Salamon, Brian D Blume, Gábor Orosz, Tamás Nagy (2023). The moderating effect of coworkers’ training participation on the influence of peer support in the transfer process. European Journal Of Training And Development, 47 (10), 15-36 |
PurposeThe impact of the number of coworkers participating in training on transfer outcomes has largely been overlooked. This paper aims to examine whether the number of coworkers participating in training interacts with peer support (PS) to influence training motivation and transfer. |
Link |
| Jenny Terry, Robert M Ross, Tamás Nagy, Mauricio Salgado, Patricia Garrido-Vásquez, Jacob O Sarfo, AH van Hoogmoed, SHG van der Ven, …, AP Field (2023). Data from an international multi-centre study of statistics and mathematics anxieties and related variables in university students (the SMARVUS dataset). __, |
This large, international dataset contains survey responses from N= 12,570 students from 100 universities in 35 countries, collected in 21 languages. We measured anxieties (statistics, mathematics, test, trait, social interaction, performance, creativity, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation), self-efficacy, persistence, and the cognitive reflection test, and collected demographics, previous mathematics grades, self-reported and official statistics grades, and statistics module details. Data reuse potential is broad, including testing links between anxieties and statistics/mathematics education factors, and examining instruments’ psychometric properties across different languages and contexts. |
Link |
| Tamás Nagy, Kata Sik, Lilla Török, Beáta Bőthe, Zsofia K Takacs, Gabor Orosz (2023). Brief growth mindset and mindfulness inductions to facilitate task persistence after negative feedback. Collabra: Psychology, 9 (1), 74253 |
Negative feedback in academic settings is often unavoidable, although it may directly interfere with the ultimate goal of education, as setbacks can diminish motivation, and may even lead to dropping out of school. Previous research suggests that certain predispositions, inductions, and interventions might mitigate the harmful effects of negative feedback. Among others, growth mindset beliefs and mindfulness meditation were proposed as the most promising candidates that may help students to retain motivation. In a pre-registered, randomized experiment, we gave a disappointing evaluation to 383 university students in a bogus laboratory IQ test situation. Half of the participants previously received a growth mindset induction referring to intelligence as a malleable characteristic, while the other half received a fixed mindset induction referring to intelligence as a stable characteristic that cannot be changed. Then … |
Link |
| Nandor Hajdu, Barnabás Szászi, Aczél Balázs, Tamás Nagy (2023). Using supervised machine learning methods in psychological research. Psyarxiv, |
Supervised machine learning can be used in many areas of psychological research, enabling the analysis of more complex data. Our aim is to describe the types, operation and use of supervised machine learning in psychological research. We review the benefits of machine learning, as well as the concepts of overfitting, bias, and variance that help in model selection and ensure robustness of the results. We also briefly describe the most important supervised machine learning algorithms and describe the key steps in the preparation of variables and data. An example analysis is presented to illustrate how the choice between stairs and elevator of university students can be modelled using supervised machine learning. At the end of the paper, we discuss the limitations of machine learning and its place in the education of psychologists. We hope that the knowledge presented will help psychologists to use machine learning more effectively and creatively. |
Link |
| Levente Rónai, Flóra Hann, Szabolcs Kéri, Bertalan Polner (2023). Thoughts Falling Apart: Disorganized Schizotypy Specifically Predicts Both Psychotic‐and Stress‐Reactivity in Daily Life. Journal Of Personality, |
Objective Schizotypal personality traits, such as unusual experiences, odd beliefs, or social anhedonia, predict psychotic‐like experiences (PLEs) and heightened stress‐reactivity in daily life. Yet, in previous studies, stressor appraisal, but not exposure, was used to predict stress‐reactivity, which might be a consequence of behavioral sensitization rather than a valid predictor of it. Method We conducted an experience sampling study where 126 participants reported PLEs, event appraisals, and exposure to stressors, yielding 4611 observations. We tested the association of schizotypal traits with PLEs and event‐unpleasantness in interaction with stressor exposure. Results Disorganized (but not positive or negative) schizotypy predicted not only more intense PLEs but also higher PLEs in periods when stressor exposure had risen. However, in higher negative schizotypy, such PLE‐reactivity to stressors was … |
Link |
| Flóra Hann, Levente Rónai, Szabolcs Kéri, Bertalan Polner (2023). Usually, I don’t ruminate, only from time to time: the predictive value of trait and state measures of rumination for the intensity of affective states. Psyarxiv. January, 9 |
Emotions and their regulation are essential in adapting to our environment. Individuals differ in their ability to regulate emotions, and this ability fluctuates over time. Repeated measures designs appear suitable to capture this variability within individual. Rumination is the cognitive process of passively dwelling on negative feelings and their consequences. Recent results suggest only a weak correlation between state and trait rumination. Also, increased state (but not trait) rumination is associated with higher emotional reactivity, the emotional reactions experienced in response to a negative occurrence. However, the temporal, within-person examination of rumination may predict emotional reactivity even more accurately. |
Link |