Abstract
Two doubtful philosophical doctrines have contributed strongly to the development of IQ tests, and now play a major role in defending IQ tests as measures of intelligence: they are operationism and fictionalism.
I would like to thank the following persons for their comments on ea,rlier versions of this material: Richard Boyd, Susan Carey, L. J. Cronbach, Gerald Dworkin, Jerry Fodor, Paul Horwich, John Loeh1in, Tom Nagel, Hilary Putnam, and Tim Scanlon. Earlier versions of much of this material were included in my contribution to Block and Dworkin (1974).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Anastasi, A.: 1938, ‘Faculties Versus Factors: A Reply to Professor Thurstone’, Psychological Bulletin 35, 391–395.
Anastasi, A.: 1968, Psychological Testing, Macmillan, New York.
Block, N.: forthcoming, ‘A Test Case for the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes’.
Block, N. and Dworkin, G.: 1974a, ‘IQ Heritability and Inequality, Part I’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 3, 331–409.
Block, N. and Dworkin, G.: 1974b, ‘IQ, Heritability and Inequality, Part II’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 4, 40–99.
Block, N. and Fodor, J.: 1972, ‘What Psychological States are Not’, Philosophical Review 81, 159–181.
Cronbach, L. J.: 1970a, Essentials of Psychological Testing, Harper and Row, New York.
Cronbach, L. J.: 1970b, ‘Test Validation’ in R. L. Thorndike (ed.), Educational Measurement, Washington D.B., pp. 443–507.
Daniels, N.: 1975, ‘IQ, Heritability, and Human Nature’, this volume, p. 143.
Field, H.: 1973, ‘Theory Change and the Indeterminacy of Reference’, Journal of Philosophy 70, 462–487.
Fodor, J. A.: 1968, Psychological Explanation, Random House, N.Y.
Guilford, J.: 1967, The Nature of Human Intelligence, McGraw Hill, New York.
Jensen, A.: 1972, Genetics and Education, Harper and Row, New York.
Maxwell, G.: 1962, ‘The Ontological Status of Theoretical Entities’, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 3 (ed. by H. Feigl and G. Maxwell), University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, pp. 3–28.
Putnam, H.: 1965, ‘Brains and Behavior’, Analytical Philosophy, Vol. II (ed. by R. J. Butler), Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 1–20.
Putnam, H.: 1967, ‘Psychological Predicates’, in W. Capitan and D. Merrill (eds.), Art, Mind and Religion, U. of Pittsburgh Press.
Smart, J. J.: 1963, Philosophy and Scientific Realism, London, Routledge.
Thomson, G. H.: 1939, The Factorial Analysis of Human Ability, University of London Press, London.
Tyler, L.: 1965, The Psychology of Human Differences, Appleton Century Crofts, New York.
Urbach, P.: 1974, ‘Progress and Degeneration in the “IQ Debate” (1)’, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 25, 99–135.
Vernon, P. E.: 1961, The Structure of Human Abilities, London.
Wechsler, D.: 1958, The Measurement and Appraisal of Adult Intelligence, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1976 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Block, N.J. (1976). Fictionalism, Functionalism and Factor Analysis. In: Cohen, R.S., Hooker, C.A., Michalos, A.C., Van Evra, J.W. (eds) PSA 1974. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 32. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1449-6_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1449-6_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-277-0648-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-1449-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive