@ARTICLE{10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02023, AUTHOR={Phaf, R. Hans}, TITLE={Replication Requires Psychological Rather than Statistical Hypotheses: The Case of Eye Movements Enhancing Word Recollection}, JOURNAL={Frontiers in Psychology}, VOLUME={7}, YEAR={2016}, URL={https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02023}, DOI={10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02023}, ISSN={1664-1078}, ABSTRACT={Can an experiment be replicated in a mechanical fashion without considering the processes underlying the initial results? Here I will consider a non-replication of Saccade Induced Retrieval Enhancement (SIRE) and argue that it results from focusing on statistical instead of on substantive process hypotheses. Particularly the theoretical integration of SIRE with Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, provides clues about when the memory enhancement should occur. A relatively large memory enhancement effect in participants with a consistent (i.e., extreme right or left) handedness should be observed, (a) when explicitly instructed to retrieve and imagine the memories during the eye manipulation, and (b) for emotionally negative material. A finer theoretical analysis may thus well explain the contrast between the original SIRE studies and the non-replication. Also the findings from preregistered confirmatory research (i.e., focusing solely on statistical hypotheses) should be considered preliminary, representing shifts on a gradual scale of evidence, and awaiting interpretation in terms of theoretical hypotheses. Stronger, but still not definitive, conclusions can better be postponed until after multi-study meta-analyses with theoretically motivated moderator variables have been performed.} }