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The Ambiguity of Covariation: A Conceptual Note
Author(s) -
Smedslund Jan
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9450.00006
Subject(s) - ambiguity , psychology , axiom , meaning (existential) , modal , context (archaeology) , epistemology , a priori and a posteriori , cognitive psychology , personality , fuzzy logic , social psychology , linguistics , mathematics , philosophy , paleontology , chemistry , geometry , polymer chemistry , psychotherapist , biology
Three dimensions of propositions, the factual, the epistemic and the modal, and their relationships, are described. The five factor model of personality is based on correlations between ordinary language items. The terms of this language are fuzzy and context‐dependent in meaning, and, therefore, unsuitable for epistemic/modal analysis. Hence, one cannot decide to what extent FFM is a priori versus empirical. Only a scientific language, with explicitly stated primitives, axioms, and definitions will permit such a decision.