On the Decline Effect- based on the article by Jonah Lehrer (2010) - Thesis Example

The Decline Effect The decline effect, an event being seen more and more in today’s scientific research, occurs when scientific results decrease over time. Results and findings that may have been positive years ago when the tests were first conducted are revealing a steady decline as the experiments are being replicated. This decline effect has shaken up the scientific community, causing many researchers to doubt the purpose of conducting research if the results are only going to drastically change in the future.

However, regardless of the confusion and discouragement presented with the decline effect, scientists should not worry about the decline effect, but continue to conduct their research with the hopes of understanding the functioning of the decline effect. Changes may be seen in experiments when they are replicated, but at one point in time the results were accurate, such as the case involving the antipsychotic medications. The medications did the job they were originally intended to when they were first created and prescribed to patients, despite the fact that the opposite proved to be true further into the future.

The symptoms of these patients, as well as new patients, started to increase or even come back (Lehrer, 2010). Even if the results were random, or else based on illusion of the researcher, what was discovered or determined had been true. In some cases, the results might have been coincidental, but then the study needs to be altered accordingly to reduce the chance of coincidence. Part of the issue that has arisen with the decline effect is that scientists are becoming discouraged. Like Schooler, they find themselves doubting their original experiments and outcomes, and they wrack their brains trying to understand what could have changed between the original study and its replications.

Instead of being discouraged by the declining effect, though, the failing factor needs to be determined. If an experiment was undergone ten years ago, but is now providing different results, then it needs to be considered that a vital factor could have changed in that decade. People change over the years as they become more resilient to certain medications or experiments, or they become immune to specific cures and medications. As such, the results could have also changed. The experiments need to be altered to accommodate these changes before it is automatically assumed that the experiment was never right (Paulos, 2011).

Finally, all results of experiments need to be published or at least made known, regardless of their outcomes, so that inconsistencies can be traced and eventually understood. Scientific journals and magazines are more keen to publish experiments that have turned out positive results, which means that the experiments with negative results are often ignored (Schooler, 2011). It is because of this that researchers cannot track what has happened with their experiment to know if there have been other failures or if something is inaccurate or being done wrong.

The decline effect is very worrisome for scientists and researchers. It is also making people question the validity of the scientific method and the reasoning of adhering to some of the discoveries found by implementing the scientific method. Regardless of the uncertainty connected with the decline effect, scientists should create their own reality with the outcomes of their experiments. If an experiment proves true, the scientist can either accept it as it is or realize that at some point the results might be useless and brush off their discovery.

However, they need to also take into consideration that the results might not change and that their discovery can be beneficial to humankind. References Lehrer, J. (2010, December 13). The decline effect and the scientific method. The New Yorker. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/12/13/101213fa_fact_lehrer Paulos, J. (2011, January 2). The decline effect and why scientific 'truth' so often turns out wrong. ABC News. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCounting/decline-effect-scientific-truth-turns-wrong/story?

id=12510202 Schooler, J. (2011). Unpublished results hide the decline effect. Nature, 470(7335), 437.