Scott Alexander critiques psychological studies claiming large effects from simple interventions, suggesting their impressive results may be due to flawed research rather than genuinely effective treatments. Longer summary

Scott Alexander examines three psychological studies that claim significant improvements in academic performance and behavior from simple interventions. He contrasts these with a large, expensive early intervention program for troubled youth that showed only modest effects. This leads him to question whether psychological research is flawed or if other interventions are ineffective. After closer examination, he finds potential issues with each study's methodology or reporting, suggesting that the impressive results may be due to poor research standards rather than genuinely effective interventions. He concludes by comparing this situation to an XKCD comic about economic theories, implying that if these psychological interventions truly worked as claimed, we would see much more significant improvements in education, rehabilitation, and mental health. Shorter summary