This viewpoint article discusses the utility of high-dosage experiments (HDEs) in everyday life to test theories in clinical science. HDEs involve experimental manipulations and assessments that occur over much longer periods of time than traditional experiments-generally days or even weeks. By nature, they also occur outside the lab, in the everyday environments of participants. Additionally, as with other experiments, the purpose of the study is concealed from participants. Experimental design is one of the most distinguishable characteristics of psychology that separates it from other behavioral sciences. Studies that rely on experiments are essential for theory testing and establishing the potential causal role of mechanisms that underlie psychopathology. Yet despite the value of experimental research, experimental studies are not currently given special prominence in clinical psychological science. For example, in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, of all the empirical studies in the most recent year (2023), only three of 77 incorporated an experimental manipulation. Experimental research appears to be less popular in clinical psychology than in other fields, such as social psychology. What might account for this discrepancy? First, clinical samples are more difficult to recruit. This is important because experimental manipulations may produce small effects that require large samples for detection. Additionally, mechanisms hypothesized to underlie psychopathology are often chronic and intransigent. For example, cognitive factors (e.g., perfectionistic beliefs) could require an especially strong manipulation to modify in isolation. Researchers have argued that psychology has been experiencing a crisis in theory development. Eronen and Bringmann (2021) stated that one major reason for this crisis is the difficulty in establishing causal relationships between psychological constructs. The replication crisis has garnered even more attention (Open Science Collaboration, 2015). HDEs would help address these two crises and provide stronger and more replicable tests of theory. This could allow us to more precisely identify important mechanisms underlying psychopathology, potentially enhancing treatment efficacy, and enabling us to move the field forward. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

---

日常生活中高剂量实验用于检验临床科学理论的效用。


这篇观点文章讨论了日常生活中高剂量实验 （HDE） 对临床科学理论的效用。HDE 涉及实验操作和评估，这些操作和评估发生的时间比传统实验长得多——通常为几天甚至几周。从本质上讲，它们也发生在实验室之外，参与者的日常环境中。此外，与其他实验一样，该研究的目的对参与者是隐藏的。实验设计是心理学最明显的特征之一，将其与其他行为科学区分开来。依赖于实验的研究对于理论检验和确定精神病理学基础机制的潜在因果作用至关重要。然而，尽管实验研究具有价值，但实验研究目前在临床心理学中并没有得到特别重视。例如，在《精神病理学与临床科学杂志》中，在最近一年（2023 年）的所有实证研究中，77 项研究中只有 3 项纳入了实验操作。实验研究在临床心理学中似乎不如其他领域（例如社会心理学）受欢迎。造成这种差异的原因可能是什么？首先，临床样本更难招募。这很重要，因为实验操作可能会产生需要大量样本进行检测的小效应。此外，假设的精神病理学基础机制通常是慢性和顽固的。例如，认知因素（例如，完美主义信念）可能需要特别强大的操纵才能孤立地进行修改。研究人员认为，心理学一直在经历理论发展的危机。 Eronen 和 Bringmann （2021） 指出，这场危机的一个主要原因是难以在心理结构之间建立因果关系。复制危机引起了更多关注（Open Science Collaboration，2015）。HDE 将有助于解决这两个危机，并提供更强大、更具可复制性的理论测试。这可以让我们更准确地识别精神病理学的重要机制，有可能提高治疗效果，并使我们能够推动该领域向前发展。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 （c） 2024 APA，保留所有权利）。