What's in a Taxon?

2004/02/01 by Paul E. Meehl · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Psychology · Mathematics · #Philosophy and History of Science #Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods #Mental Health Research Topics #Psychology #Meaning (existential) #Latent variable #Latent class model #Formalism (music) #Cognitive psychology #Social psychology #Epistemology #Mathematics #Statistics #Philosophy

paper · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.113.1.39

openalex publication_date 2004/02/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11

Abstract

Whether taxometrics yields inferential knowledge to something latent is partly but not wholly a semantic question. Although the single variables are manifest indicator scores of individuals, the statistics computed from them via postulates of the formalism are not mere data summaries and will be incorrect or meaningless if the structural conjectures are false. The unidirectional derivability from postulates to data relations supplies the taxonic inferences' surplus meaning that constitutes conventional psychometric meaning of latency (e.g., latent class analysis). Surplus meaning beyond the purely mathematical may be provided by interpretive text attributing unobserved attributes or causal origin to taxon members.

Citations

• Specific Genetic Etiology, Psychodynamics, and Therapeutic Nihilism
• Construct validity in psychological tests.
• Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow progress of soft psychology.
• Schizotaxia, schizotypy, schizophrenia.
• Objective Tests as Instruments of Psychological Theory
• Factors and Taxa, Traits and Types, Differences of Degree and Differences in Kind
• Appraising and Amending Theories: The Strategy of Lakatosian Defense and Two Principles that Warrant It
• Taxometric Analysis: II. Detecting Taxonicity Using Covariance of Two Quantitative Indicators in Successive Intervals of a Third Indicator (Maxcov Procedure)

Cited by

• Paul E. Meehl [wikipedia]