SURROGATES FOR THEORIES

I first discuss several strategies that serve as surrogates for theori es in psychology: one-word explanation, redescription, drawing vague d ichotomies, and data fitting. I then identify two conventions that all ow these surrogates to flourish and multiply: null hypothesis testing, which makes precise hypotheses irrelevant, and the isolation of resea rch in different disciplines, which prevents the exchange of positive metaphors between fields.