(Presented with the Gibbon file)
Killeen, P. R. (1999).
Modeling modeling.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
71, 275-280.
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.
Key words: models, pacemakers, theories