Some Theories are Unfalsifiable

Autor:	Lise Wallach, Michael A. Wallach
Rok vydání:	2010
Předmět:	media_common.quotation_subject Poison control Human factors and ergonomics Creativity Suicide prevention Confidence interval Epistemology Test (assessment) Theory of reasoned action History and Philosophy of Science Psychology Set (psychology) General Psychology media_common
Zdroj:	Theory & Psychology. 20:703-706
ISSN:	1461-7447 0959-3543
DOI:	10.1177/0959354310373676
Popis:	Trafimow (2009) claims that there are no unfalsifiable theories: To test any theory, one must make auxiliary assumptions, and with sufficient creativity about auxiliary assumptions one could always arrive at reasonably risky predictions. We argue that a prediction from a theory plus a given set of auxiliary assumptions will not be risky for the theory when the initial level of confidence in the theory is greater than the initial level of confidence in one or more of the auxiliary assumptions. Some theories, we claim, are so basic that initial confidence in these theories will be greater than initial confidence in any set of auxiliary assumptions with which they could be tested, and such theories are unfalsifiable. We illustrate this with a principle that forms part of the theory of reasoned action.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::c2d332bba54acbfe4a21465556b7d6bb https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354310373676 Zobrazit plný text záznamu