Practicing Theory Building in a Many Modelers Hackathon

A Proof of Concept

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Authors

  • Noah van Dongen University of Amsterdam
  • Adam Finnemann Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
  • Jill de Ron Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
  • Leonid Tiokhin Human Technology Interaction, Eindhoven University of Technology
  • Shirley B. Wang Department of Psychology, Harvard University
  • Johannes Algermissen Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen
  • Elena C. Altmann Department of Psychology, Lancaster University
  • Štěpán Bahník Department of Management, Prague University of Economics
  • Li-Ching Chuang Department of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg
  • Andrei Dumbravă George I.M. Georgescu Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Iași Medical Center
  • Jens H. Fünderich Department of Psychology, University of Erfurt
  • Sandra J. Geiger Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna
  • Daria Gerasimova Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities, University of Kansas City
  • Aidai Golan The School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University
  • Judith Herbers Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden
  • Marc Jekel Department of Psychology, University of Cologne
  • Anton Kunnari Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki
  • Yih-Shiuan Lin Institute of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg
  • David Moreau Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland
  • Yvonne Oberholzer Cognition and Consumer Behavior Lab, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • Hannah K. Peetz Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen
  • Julia Rohrer Wilhelm Wundt Institute for Psychology, Leipzig University
  • Adrian Rothers Department of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg
  • Felix Schönbrodt Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
  • Yashvin Seetahul Institute For Psychology, University of Innsbruck
  • Anna Szabelska Institute of Cognition and Culture, Queen's University Belfast
  • Natasha Tonge Department of Psychology, Notre Dame of Maryland
  • Nicole Walasek Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen
  • Marlene Werner Department of Sexology and Psychosomatic Gynaecology, Amsterdam University Medical Center
  • Denny Borsboom Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15626/MP.2023.3688

Keywords:

Modeling, formal theory, theory development, hackathon, team science, education

Abstract

Scientific theories reflect some of humanity's greatest epistemic achievements. The best theories motivate us to search for discoveries, guide us towards successful interventions, and help us to explain and organize knowledge. Such theories require a high degree of specificity, which in turn requires formal modeling. Yet, in psychological science, many theories are not precise and psychological scientists often lack the technical skills to formally specify existing theories. This problem raises the question: How can we promote formal theory development in psychology, where there are many content experts but few modelers? In this paper, we discuss one strategy for addressing this issue: a Many Modelers approach. Many Modelers consists of mixed teams of modelers and non-modelers that collaborate to create a formal theory of a phenomenon. Here, we report a proof of concept of this approach, which we piloted as a three-hour hackathon at the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science conference in 2021. After surveying the participants, results suggest that (a) psychologists who have never developed a formal model can become (more) excited about formal modeling + and theorizing; (b) a division of labor in formal theorizing is possible where only one or a few team members possess the prerequisite modeling expertise; and (c) first working prototypes of a theoretical model can be created in a short period of time. These results show some promise for the many modelers approach as a team science tool for theory development.

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Published

2025-02-07 — Updated on 2025-04-15

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Issue

Vol. 9 (2025)

Section

Original articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Noah van Dongen, Adam Finnemann, Jill de Ron, Leonid Tiokhin, Shirley B. Wang, Johannes Algermissen, Elena C. Altmann, Štěpán Bahník, Li-Ching Chuang, Andrei Dumbravă, Jens H. Fünderich, Sandra J. Geiger, Daria Gerasimova, Aidai Golan, Judith Herbers, Marc Jekel, Anton Kunnari, Yih-Shiuan Lin, David Moreau, Yvonne Oberholzer, Hannah K. Peetz, Julia Rohrer, Adrian Rothers, Felix Schönbrodt, Yashvin Seetahul, Anna Szabelska, Natasha Tonge, Nicole Walasek, Marlene Werner, Denny Borsboom

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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