The Marc Hauser Scandal: An Overview

I haven't had a huge amount of time to devote to this blog at the moment, primarily thanks to an impending dissertation deadline. At some point I'll finish writing a review of the London Reasoning Workshop (the basic gist being that it's well worth attending if you're at all interested in the psychology of reasoning).

Something appearing frequently in the news at the moment is the story about Harvard professor Marc Hauser having some of his research retracted due to allegations of misconduct. This is a good overview of news reports about the case so far;

• Harvard Finds Scientist Guilty of Misconduct (includes Hauser's first comment about the story)
• Harvard acknowledges misconduct findings against Marc Hauser
• Harvard Finds Psychology Researcher 'Solely Responsible' for Scientific Misconduct
• Hauser found 'responsible' for eight instances of misconduct
• Inquiry on Harvard Lab Threatens Ripple Effect
• Harvard Faculty Dean Confirms Misconduct in Hauser's Lab
• Document Sheds Light on Investigation at Harvard
• Harvard probe kept under wraps
• In Harvard Lab Inquiry, a Raid and 3-Year Wait
• Expert on Morality Is on Leave After Research Inquiry
• Author on leave after Harvard inquiry

Most of these links, it must be noted, were taken from Brian Leiter's rather excellent blog.

The most worrying potential consequence of Hauser's misconduct, I think, is the "ripple effect" that the New York Times' headline refers to; Hauser's co-authors' research may now also be placed under suspicion, and then their co-authors' research may be viewed with suspicion, et cetera, et cetera... For the most part, however, the declaration by Harvard that Hauser is "solely responsible" for the misconduct may serve to quell such doubts.