Explaining Behavior With Mental Attributes

Abstract: Replicability is one essential aspect of genuine explanations in empirical science, whereas valid measurement is another. Particularly when people seek strong evidence that some leverage can be applied to change behavior the measurement of the attribute supposedly operating as the cause needs to be valid. Thus, before attitudes can be tested as causes of behavior, measurements of the strength of these attitudes must be empirically validated to an extent that goes beyond what is conventionally done in psychology. Because attitude is a mental attribute, the numbers assigned to people through measurement cannot be validated with some manifest reference point, as is typically the case in physical measurement (e.g., freezing point of water). We demonstrate how measurements of people’s mental attributes can be substantiated. Only when equipped with valid measures is the stage finally set to build a cumulative network of replicable knowledge.