Miguel Vadillo
Psychologist and methodologist who applied p-curve analysis to the sugar-and-willpower literature and found it wanting.
Who they are
Vadillo, with Natalie Gold and Magda Osman, examined whether glucose could be the limited resource behind ego depletion, which was the claim that let the depletion metaphor be presented as physiology.
Rather than testing one study, they examined the distribution of results across the literature.
Key papers
Vadillo, M. A., Gold, N., & Osman, M. (2016). The bitter truth about sugar and willpower. Psychological Science, 27(9), 1207-1214.
Key ideas
The effect sizes reported in this literature are possibly influenced by publication or reporting bias.
Even within studies yielding significant results, the evidential value is weak.
Their recommendation is that researchers and policymakers refrain from drawing conclusions about the role of glucose in self-control pending further evidence.
Concepts on this site
Sources
- doi:10.1177/0956797616654911