Theory‐Refuting Findings in Psychology
How Much Should They Matter
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6431973 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Trafimow (0000-0002-0788-8044, Department of Psychology New Mexico State University Las Cruces New Mexico USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-28 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8308 • E-ISSN: 1468-5914 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/jtsb.70000 |
| OpenAlex | W4406891173 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
To a naïve falsificationist, one theory‐refuting finding falsifies a theory. In contrast, sophisticated science philosophers have emphasised larger research systems that include theories and auxiliary assumptions. Theory‐refuting findings can be accommodated by blaming poor auxiliary assumptions, refining theories, improving auxiliary assumptions, or pronouncing that the benefits of the research system render theory‐refuting findings unimportant. Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos, and Laudan have proposed research systems, with many disagreements between them. The present thesis is that each proposal is subject to two caveats. None of these philosophers sufficiently considered the opportunity costs associated with ignoring theory‐refuting findings. Secondly, it is not clear that previous pronouncements about how research systems work in the hard sciences necessarily apply well to modern psychological science. The interaction of these issues suggests that theory‐refuting findings may have more potential for mattering in modern psychology than would seem apparent from sophisticated research system perspectives
Cognitive psychology · Economics · Epistemology · Positive economics · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Cultural Differences and Values · Philosophy · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology
Relativity
The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory
Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks
Conjectures and Refutations
Proximal and Distal Defenses in Response to Reminders of One’s Mortality
Appraising and Amending Theories
Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes
Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes
A New Way to Think About Internal and External Validity
Using theoretical constraints and the Tasi taxonomy to delineate predictably replicable findings
Testing the Death Thought Suppression and Rebound Hypothesis
The Theory of Reasoned Action
The role of auxiliary assumptions for the validity of manipulations and measures
The unappreciated relevance of auxiliary assumptions for evaluating theory-based interventions in health psychology
Why is one study technique superior to another
Crediting or blaming theories or auxiliary assumptions for empirical victories or defeats
The Essential Tension
Clarifying the Function of Mortality Salience-Induced Worldview Defense
Generalizing across auxiliary, statistical, and inferential assumptions
Science of psychological phenomena and their testing
An exploration of physics envy with implications for desiderata of psychology theories
Social Psychology and Science
Science and Relativism
| Highly cited | No |
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