More than 40 years ago, Paul Meehl (1978) published a seminal critique of the state theorizing in psychological science. According to Meehl, quality theories had diminished preceding decades, resulting statistical methods standing for theoretical rigor. In this introduction special issue Theory Psychological Science, we apply Meehl’s account contemporary We suggest that by time writing, psychol...

The mathematical framework of psychological game theory is useful for describing many forms motivation where preferences depend directly on one’s own or others’ beliefs. It allows incorporating, example, emotions, reciprocity, image concerns, and self-esteem in economic analysis. We explain how why, discussing basic theory, experiments, applied work, methodology. (JEL C70, D83, D91)

This paper examines John Stuart Mill’s ‘psychological theory’ of the mind, as he set it out in his Examination Sir William Hamilton’s Philosophy. After outlining theory and problem finds with it, discusses four different interpretations that have been suggested, before proposing a new alternative reading. The matter is intrinsic interest to anyone who sees value trying get bottom tricky texts a...

According to the theory theory of folk psychology, our engagement in the folk psychological practices of prediction, interpretation and explanation draws on a rich body of knowledge about psychological matters. According to the simulation theory, in contrast, a fundamental role is played by our ability to identify with another person in imagination and to replicate or re-enact aspects of the ot...

A psychological perspective has been largely absent in the multidisciplinary discourse surrounding globalization. In this commentary, we highlight the unique contributions that the articles in this special issue have made in advancing a new psychological science of globalization. We discuss the critical role that psychological theory plays in understanding reactions to globalization, and in tur...

BACKGROUND Evidence-based guidelines are often not implemented effectively with the result that best health outcomes are not achieved. This may be due to a lack of theoretical understanding of the processes involved in changing the behaviour of healthcare professionals. This paper reports the development of a consensus on a theoretical framework that could be used in implementation research. Th...

We examine whether psychological contract theory and social response theory can explain users’ responses to e-commerce recommendation agents (RAs). Theories of social response to technology, trust in technology, and technology adoption are used to adapt psychological contract theory to explain user-RA relationship. We theorize that a psychological contract breach will cause a negative emotional...

In this thesis I argue that the psychological study of concepts and categorisation, and the philosophical study of reference are deeply intertwined. I propose that semantic intuitions are a variety of categorisation judgements, determined by concepts, and that because of this, concepts determine reference. I defend a dual theory of natural kind concepts, according to which natural kind concepts...