Chapter 3 Flashcards
Metrology (def)
The systematic study of measurement
Where did measurement grow out of?
Agriculture and commerce (how do we define the price of a tomato?)
When was Treaty of the Metre?
1875
What’s the remaining problem in measurement even after the meter was a systematic thing?
Measurement for the non-physical
What are some features across disciples for the definition of measurement?
1) Ascribes attributes to objects in particular situations. 2) Input to output process. 3) Have conceptual components (and empirical components for factual sciences)
What are objects?
Things that we think of or perceive
What are attributes?
Concepts that we ascribe to properties
How are properties different to attributes?
Properties are part of objects. Attributes are what we ascribe. Attributes can be T/F, but properties cannot
How does measurement differ in factual and formal sciences?
Factual sciences: measurement is empirical
Formal sciences: measurement is purely rational
Measurand
The property of interest (or target property)
Focal object
the object with the target property
What are inputs and outputs of measurement?
Inputs = properties of an object
Output = the values we ascribe to objects
What is the necessary starting point of measuring a target property?
Comprehending the target property (the conceptual component)
What are some features of concepts?
They are part of language (not reality), they cannot be true or false (just employed correctly or incorrectly)
Intension of a concept
The meaning, set of rules for use
Extension of a concept
The manifestations of the meaning, the things that the concept refer to
Can you change meaning of concept based on extensions?
Yes, but not other way around. Can’t change facts of extensions based on the meaning
What differs terms and concepts?
Terms are meanings or definitions while concepts sometimes defy definitions (ex: a game)
Theoretical Definitions
Definitions applied to specific theories (strict rules)
Lexical Definitions
How people in society use the terms (loose rules)
Abstract (define)
“pulls away”. Not part of natural world and heterogeneous in extensions
Concrete (define)
Narrow criteria. Homogeneous in extensions and part of natural world
Umbrella concepts
Meaning comes from what’s common in 2 or more concepts
Heterogeneous concepts meaning
A wide meaning or disjunctive rules
Fictive, Genuinely fictive, and Semi-fictive concepts
1) Extensions are in the imaginary world
2) Most abstract, to a point where it might contradict with the natural world (ex: a married bachelor)
3) Unobservables that don’t contradict, but don’t correspond with the natural world (yet)
2 Parts of Semi-fictive concepts
1) Hypothetical: refers to something but not yet observed
2) Observation-referenced: no observable extensions, but has indicators to attribute values (ex: socioeconomic status)
Formal Concepts
The literal or figurative appearance
Structures: how elements are organized (ex: skin’s structure)
Processes: succession of events that make particular outcomes (ex: change in something)
Functional Concepts
Have a purpose; involves systems
What can be both formal and functional?
ex: pain. The nociceptive system activating and the unwanted state from injury.
Technical knowledge vs. Folk Concepts
Technical has little disagreement and a clear intension (which entails clear extensions).
Folk has ambiguous meanings and imprecise rules (less easy to measure)
3 Reasons that Mental Attributes are Hard to Observe
1) They are attributes of persons, 2) They are based on behavior, and 3) Mental attributes are often folk concepts
Universal Attributes
Manifests in some way to all objects of a population across situations
What are the difficulties with attributing to persons?
Persons are not inanimate, so attributes are mostly not universal. They are also conscious of their own attributes, making it less steady.
Transient vs. Non-Transient Attributes
Transient = Attributes that are situational (mental state, arousal)
Non-transient = Somewhat Permanent (dispositions, abilities, etc.)
What makes even non-transient attributes unstable?
The choice to not exercise makes it unpredictable
How does unsteadiness relate to non-universality?
They are not the same. Something can be universal (like memory) but be unsteady
What’s the opposite of universal
Relative
Relative attributes (meaning)
Meanings depend on situations
What 2 things are needed to ascribe values to objects?
Knowing the meaning and knowing its extensions (or manifestations)
What do doings include?
Not just bodily (thinking counts), Voluntary/Involuntary, Reactionary/Initiated, Performing/Refraining are all doings
Self-Ascription
Ascribing attributes to self
Does the book focus on self-ascription or ascribing to others? How does this change the definition of doings?
Focus on ascribing to others and doings is limited to behavior (bodily movements)
Critical Behavior
Doings that are observable and follow the rules of a concept
Why might the attribute-behavior relationship not be guaranteed?
Behavioral criteria may be defeasible (people might not know what they’re doing, people might be deceiving with their behavior) and behavior might fit multiple attributes (ex: why give a sandwich? consideration? remorse?)
Behaviorism
A philosophical system that studies behavior. Focusing on behavior is more behaviorism than it is Psychology
Jargon
Specialized vocabulary
Neologisms
New or modified terms. Usually assigns new definitions to existing terms rather than making new terms
Which fields are Psychology terms usually from?
Philosophy and Biology, and also public-at-large (majority)
What do Psychologists do instead of redefining folk concepts?
They use folk meanings by understanding all of its meanings, and create meanings on top of popular wisdom
Operationism
Concept is only useful if there’s an operational definition
Structure
Also called internal structure; The instances (extensions) and relations between them
2 Classes of Philosophies of Measurement (and their definitions)
Realist and Anti-Realist.
Realists believe theres a structure and an attribute value regardless of whether or not we know it
Anti-realists believe that there is no structure other than what we assign
Classical Theory of Measurement
Measurement is the estimation or discovery of the true ratio of some quantitative attribute to a unit of the same attribute. (a realist theory)
Representational Measurement Theory
Anti-Realist. What we know about specific instances through the assignment of numerals or symbols. It is constructed, not discovered
5 Empirical Problems of Measurement
Representation, Uniqueness, Meaningfulness, Scaling, and Uncertainty
How is the representation problem of measurement solved?
Justify the measurement scale by how well values represent the attribute structure
Concatenation-relation
Combined attribute manifestations equal one another
What are the additive properties?
Commutativity (order doesn’t matter) and Associativity (how we group doesn’t matter)
Equation for manifestation
(Real number) times (measurement unit)
Only what can have a measurement unit?
Attributes with an additive structure (quantitative)
Ordinal vs. Interval vs. Ratio
Interval has equivalence, ordering, and additive. Ratio is same but with ratios. Ordinal has no additive (i think)
How does counting inch towards measurement?
When units become more indistinguishable (more the same?)
In general, what’s a meaningful statement?
A proposition that can be empirically or logically verified
What’s a meaningful statement in context of measurement?
Truthfulness that is consistent with any units
What are the 2 types of errors in measurement? Which can or can’t be controlled?
Systemic error (bias) and Random error (imprecision). Bias can be controlled. Imprecision cannot (but can be reduced
Psychometrics
Measurement of mental attributes
Psychometrics vs. Metrology
Focus on mental attributes. Focus more on empirical. Scaling and accuracy is more important than meaningfulness/uniqueness/representation
What’s the traditional view in Psych about attributes and whether or not they can be measured if they’re qualities?
Yes.
What is utility in measurement?
If it predicts outcomes. Empirical issue
Is validity a conceptual or empirical problem now?
Conceptual. Definitions of valid. Measurement tools.
