UC Berkeley

This article discusses, from various vantages, Ryan Tweney's (this issue) pedagogical technique of employing historical replications of psychological experiments with graduate students in psychology. A prima facie perspective suggests great promise for this sort of academic "ancestor analysis," particularly given the enthusiasm and skill represented in the activities that culminated in the replicators' articles. It is suggested that such activities might be enhanced by requiring a contextualization that makes contact with more modern psychological research-particularly regarding expositions of the replications. From a scientific/cognitive methods perspective, the original experimenters' inexplicit, ambiguous, descriptions provide both challenges and opportunities for students seeking to improve their understandings of their field. Three practical questions are posed herein regarding the general utility of this-or any-proposed instructional intervention. Ultimately, determining and integrating the diverse objectives that essential stakeholders have in graduate psychological training represent critical prerequisites in comprehensively assessing the relative advantages of such historical replications with respect to alternative experiences. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.