What is a Psychological Task? The Operational Pliability of “Task” in Psychological Laboratory Experimentation

• Published in: Engaging science, technology, and society Vol. 5; pp. 61 - 85
• Main Authors: Morrison, Hazel, McBriar, Shannon, Powell, Hilary, Proudfoot, Jesse, Stanley, Steven, Fitzgerald, Des, Callard, Felicity
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Society for Social Studies of Science 23.03.2019
• Subjects: experiments; mind wandering; operational pliability; psychology; qualitative interviews; task

There has been no sustained sociological analysis of a near ubiquitous feature of psychological laboratory experimentation: the task. Yet the task is central in arranging the means by which phenomena are isolated and brought into the experimental scientist’s purview. As scientific objects, states su...