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Lessons from behaviorism: The problem of construct-led science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2022

Thomas E. Dickins Open the ORCID record for Thomas E. Dickins [Opens in a new window]  and
Qazi Rahman Open the ORCID record for Qazi Rahman [Opens in a new window]
Thomas E. Dickins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Middlesex University, London NW4 4BT, UK. t.dickins@mdx.ac.uk; http://tomdickins.net/
Qazi Rahman
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Kings College London, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK. qazi.rahman@kcl.ac.uk; https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/qazi-rahman
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Abstract

Yarkoni makes a number of valid points in his critical analysis of psychology, but he misses an opportunity to expose the root of its problems. That root is the poor practice around the derivation of explanatory constructs. We make comment on this with an example from behaviorist history and relate this to the recent discussion of scientific understanding in the philosophy of science.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e12
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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