Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Ole Isacson: Development of New Therapies for Parkinson's Disease
Published on: April 29, 2007
Yes, but what's the mechanism? (don't expect an easy answer)
John G Bullock1, Donald P Green, Shang E Ha
1Department of Political Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. john.bullock@yale.edu
Abstract:
Psychologists increasingly recommend experimental analysis of mediation. This is a step in the right direction because mediation analyses based on nonexperimental data are likely to be biased and because experiments, in principle, provide a sound basis for causal inference. But even experiments cannot overcome certain threats to inference that arise chiefly or exclusively in the context of mediation analysis-threats that have received little attention in psychology. The authors describe 3 of these threats and suggest ways to improve the exposition and design of mediation tests. Their conclusion is that inference about mediators is far more difficult than previous research suggests and is best tackled by an experimental research program that is specifically designed to address the challenges of mediation analysis.
Related Concept Videos
Reaction Mechanisms
For instance, the decomposition of ozone appears to follow a mechanism with two steps:
Multi-Step Reactions
Mechanistic Models: Overview of Compartment Models
Rate-Determining Steps
In a multistep reaction mechanism, one of the elementary steps progresses significantly slower than the others. This slowest step is called the rate-limiting step (or rate-determining step). A reaction cannot proceed faster than its slowest step, and hence, the rate-determining step limits the overall reaction rate.
The concept of rate-determining step can be understood from the analogy of a 4-lane freeway with a short-stretch of traffic-bottleneck caused due to...
Mechanism of Ciliary Motion
The cilia are made up of microtubules in a 9+2 arrangement, with nine microtubule doublet ring bundles, surrounding a pair of central singlet microtubule bundles. The doublet microtubule bundles are...
Cell-matrix's Response to Mechanical Forces
Anchoring junctions mechanically attach a cell to the...

