Dorothy Bishop’s work has been particularly focused on children’s communication impairments ‘specific language impairment’ or SLI. SLI is quite common, around 3% of the population, but it tends to be neglected by researchers. Using twin studies, she has shown that there is a strong genetic component to these disorders. Bishop truly was one of the first experimental psychologists who could see the value of behavioural genetics.
After five decades as a psychology researcher, Bishop had seen quite a few questionable papers and thought a great deal about the differences between deception, fraud and honest mistakes. She is actively seeking out fraudulent information and challenging sloppy science written in papermills.
“I always feel a bit sorry” for exposing people, for making them clarify, respond or retract manuscripts.
There is much to learn from this incredible figure. Listen to her story “Retraction, She Wrote: Dorothy Bishop’s life after research”