عنوان

Psychology's misuse of statistics and persistent dismissal of its critics /

3030121313

9783030121310

3030121305

9783030121303

Psychology's misuse of statistics and persistent dismissal of its critics /

[Book]

James T. Lamiell.

Cham, Switzerland :

Palgrave Macmillan,

[2019]

1 online resource

Palgrave studies in the theory and history of psychology

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Intro; Foreword; Preface; Contents; List of Figures; 1 Introduction: Mainstream Psychology's Worrisome Incorrigibility; Some Orienting Historical Context; The General and the Aggregate; A "Troublesome Paradox"; The Blurring of a Crucial Distinction; Psychology's Struggle for Existence; On Wundt's (1913) Prescience; Whither Psychology?; References; 2 Challenging the Canon: The Critique and Its Aftermath in Autobiographical Perspective; Eureka!; Facing Students' Vexing Questions; An Empirical Illustration of a Conceptual Problem; From the Lecture Hall to the Professional Literature

E.L. Thorndike's Perspective on the Study of IndividualitiesHugo Münsterberg on the Practical Use of Statistical Knowledge in Psychotechnics; Consequent Developments; Countering an Origin Myth: William Stern as Critic of Differential Psychology; The Stuff of the Origin Myth; A Fuller View; A Concluding Observation; References; 4 The Failure of Critical Thinking in the Statistization of Experimental Psychology; Experimental Psychology's Two Disciplines; The Two Disciplines of Experimental Psychology Briefly Described; The Historic Failure of Critical Reflection

Reception of the Critique Within the MainstreamInsufficient Reflection Within the Mainstream on the Logic of Basic Statistical Concepts and Methods; Insufficiently Careful Readings of the Critique's Assertions; Conclusion; References; 3 The Entrenchment of Statistical Thinking in Early Twentieth Century Differential Psychology; William Stern and the Establishment of Differential Psychology; Developments in Stern's Vision of Differential Psychology's Mission; Stern's View in 1900; Stern's View in 1911; Differential Psychology Diverges from Stern

The Implicit Epistemic Commitments of Treatment Group Psychological ExperimentationAn Illustrative Hypothetical Experiment; The Boundless Largesse of Ceteris Paribus; Concluding Comment; References; 5 Statistical Thinking in Psychology: Some Needed Critical Perspective on What 'Everyone Knows'; An Illustration of the Opacity of Aggregate Statistics with Respect to Individual-Level Phenomena: The Case of Inter-trait Correlations; Looking More Closely; A Cautionary Note; The Statistical Conception of Prediction and Explanation in Contemporary Mainstream Psychology

The Inadequacy of Appeals to Probabilistic ThinkingSome Additional Perspective; Probability on a Subjectivist Understanding; References; 6 Statisticism in Psychology as a Socio-ethical Problem; Specific Examples of Problematic Practices; Advocacy of Randomized Controlled Trials as the 'Gold Standard' for Evidence-Based Practice in Psychology; Socio-ethical Implications; The Use of Psychological Tests as Instruments of Preemployment Screening; Broader Socio-cultural Considerations; References; 7 In Quest of Meaningful Change

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This book is a strenuous critique of the misinterpretation of statistical knowledge of populations in mainstream psychology, exploring the implications of assuming that those statistics constitute scientific knowledge of individuals. It investigates the essential nature and historical roots of this interpretive practice, and documents the lack of change in mainstream thinking despite previous critiques of the practice. The author contends that prevailing interpretive traditions result in bad science, in that invalid claims are made to knowledge of individuals. He also discusses the socio-ethical problems resulting from this misinterpretation of statistics, where psychological practitioners unjustifiably endorse interventions in the lives of individuals. Lamiell urges psychologists to abandon the aggregate statistical methods which he argues have transformed the field into 'psycho-demography, ' and to embrace instead alternative research methods that are logically suited to gaining scientific knowledge about the psychological functioning of individuals. This book concludes by highlighting some of the currently available methodological alternatives, as well as discussing some enduring conceptual impediments to the serious consideration of those alternatives.

Springer Nature

com.springer.onix.9783030121310

Psychology's misuse of statistics and persistent dismissal of its critics.

9783030121303

Psychology-- Statistical methods.

Psychometrics.

PSYCHOLOGY-- Reference.

Psychology-- Statistical methods.

Psychometrics.

PSY-- 029000

Lamiell, James T.

20200823082836.0

pn

[Book]

Y