Skip to main content
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1999 Mar;71(2):275–301. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1999.71-275

Modeling modeling.

P R Killeen 1
PMCID: PMC1284704  PMID: 10220934

Abstract

Models are tools; they need to fit both the hand and the task. Presence or absence of a feature such as a pacemaker or a cascade is not in itself good. Or bad. Criteria for model evaluation involve benefit-cost ratios, with the numerator a function of the range of phenomena explained, goodness of fit, consistency with other nearby models, and intangibles such as beauty. The denominator is a function of complexity, the number of phenomena that must be ignored, and the effort necessary to incorporate the model into one's parlance. Neither part of the ratio can yet be evaluated for MTS, whose authors provide some cogent challenges to SET.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (114.0 KB).


Articles from Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES