David Peterson featured in Behavioral Scientist’s Notable Books of 2025
Assistant Sociology Professor David Peterson's book, The Unbuilt Bench, was recently featured among Behavioral Scientist's Notable Books of 2025. The book tackles an intriguing puzzle: why hasn't psychology developed the same kind of reliable, practical tools that we see in fields like biology or chemistry? To answer this question, Peterson spent four years observing researchers at work in both experimental psychology labs and molecular biology labs. He found a striking difference. In biology, scientists constantly tinker with and improve their research equipment and techniques—a process Peterson calls "bench-building." But psychology labs operate differently, focusing less on perfecting their measurement tools and more on other aspects of research.