<p>The academic community quaked last August when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/21/education/21harvard.html" title="">Harvard confirmed that it had found Marc Hauser</a>, a cognitive scientist at the university, “solely responsible” for eight cases of scientific misconduct. Hauser was a rising star whose studies of primate behavior seemed to show that the foundations of language and morality are hardwired into the brains of humans and our kin. But a document provided to<em> The Chronicle of Higher Education</em> indicates that Hauser’s lab workers observed huge discrepancies between his descriptions of monkey behavior and the experimental results captured on video.</p><div class="vert-display-toggle collapsible relative flex flex-col items-center "><div class="vert-unit mt-4 mb-3 top-20"><div ad-type="mobile-desktop" class="ad-wrapper vert min-h-boombox flex items-start justify-center" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-0"></div></div><span aria-label="Advertisement" class="text-ad mt-1 text-[11px] uppercase">Advertisement</span></div><p> In October, the journal <em>Cognition</em> published a retraction of a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12208654" title="">2002 paper by Hauser</a>; two other journals announced that some raw data from two 2007 publications were missing, but both later announced that follow-up work by Hauser and co-authors replicated their earlier findings. Gerry Altmann, <em>Cognition</em>’s editor, doubts the scandal will taint the areas of inquiry in which Hauser made his name. “There have been many other important contributors to the field,” Altmann says. “He has been among the most prominent in part because of his research, but in part because of his ability to publicize.”</p><p>Although <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/health/psychology/31book.html" title="">Hauser expanded the idea of an innate moral grammar</a>, he did not originate the concept. Moreover, much related research does not rely on monkey studies, which may be particularly vulnerable to confirmation bias—the unwitting tendency to interpret observations in a way that fits preexisting beliefs.</p><div data-embedid="dcfb67aa-fdf4-4a19-b4c7-75c497a8de9c" id="insticator-embed-temp"></div><p>It is not clear if that kind of bias is what caused Hauser’s troubles; he is on leave (the psychology department <a href="http://harvardmagazine.com/2011/07/marc-hausers-return" title="">voted to bar him from teaching</a> in the upcoming school year) and not talking. Perhaps more answers will emerge in his upcoming book, tentatively titled <em>Evilicious: Explaining Our Evolved Taste for Being Bad</em>.</p>

DSC110401

The April 2011 issue of Discover Magazine

Big Bang in a Box

The institutions of science are slowly unwinding and assessing the problems that have been revealed in psychologist Marc Hauser's research.

Planet Earth

Monkeys  & Morality

Article

News

Kristin Ohlson

Science

The academic community quaked last August when Harvard confirmed that it had found Marc Hauser, a cognitive scientist at the university, “solely responsible” for eight cases of scientific misconduct. Hauser was a rising star whose studies of primate behavior seemed to show that the foundations of language and morality are hardwired into the brains of humans and our kin. But a document provided to The Chronicle of Higher Education indicates that Hauser’s lab workers observed huge discrepancies between his descriptions of monkey behavior and the experimental results captured on video. In October, the journal Cognition published a retraction of a 2002 paper by Hauser; two other journals announced that some raw data from two 2007 publications were missing, but both later announced that follow-up work by Hauser and co-authors replicated their earlier findings. Gerry Altmann, Cognition’s editor, doubts the scandal will taint the areas of inquiry in which Hauser made his name. “There have been many other important contributors to the field,” Altmann says. “He has been among the most prominent in part because of his research, but in part because of his ability to publicize.” Although Hauser expanded the idea of an innate moral grammar, he did not originate the concept. Moreover, much related research does not rely on monkey studies, which may be particularly vulnerable to confirmation bias—the unwitting tendency to interpret observations in a way that fits preexisting beliefs. It is not clear if that kind of bias is what caused Hauser’s troubles; he is on leave (the psychology department voted to bar him from teaching in the upcoming school year) and not talking. Perhaps more answers will emerge in his upcoming book, tentatively titled Evilicious: Explaining Our Evolved Taste for Being Bad.

Discover Magazine’s award-winning journalism inspires and informs, delivering thought-provoking content that sparks meaningful conversations. With a focus on groundbreaking developments in science, technology, and the world around us, Discover highlights the impact of these innovations on our daily lives.

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