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Observing effects in various contexts won't give us general psychological theories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2022

Chris Donkin Open the ORCID record for Chris Donkin [Opens in a new window] ,
Aba Szollosi  and
Neil R. Bramley
Chris Donkin
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, 2052 Sydney, Australia christopher.donkin@gmail.com
Aba Szollosi
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Edinburgh EH8, Scotland, aba.szollosi@gmail.com, neil.bramley@ed.ac.uk
Neil R. Bramley
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Edinburgh EH8, Scotland, aba.szollosi@gmail.com, neil.bramley@ed.ac.uk
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Abstract

Generalization does not come from repeatedly observing phenomena in numerous settings, but from theories explaining what is general in those phenomena. Expecting future behavior to look like past observations is especially problematic in psychology, where behaviors change when people's knowledge changes. Psychology should thus focus on theories of people's capacity to create and apply new representations of their environments.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e13
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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