Explanation and Experiment in Social Psychological Science: Realism and the Social Constitution of A

1 Scientific Empiricism and Scientific Psychology.- Philosophy and Psychology.- Causality.- Confirmation.- Explanation.- Theory.- 2 Relativism.- Neo-empiricism.- Popper: Falsification.- Lakatos: Research of Programs.- Kuhn: Paradigms.- Paradigms and Research Programs in Psychology.- 3 Realism.- Varieties of Realism.- Realism and Agency.- 4 Causal Explanation.- Causality.- Confirmation.- Explanation.- 5 Theory.- Theory and Observation.- Observation and Theory.- Antirealism.- 6 Hermeneutical Psychology.- Explanation and Understanding.- Social Constructionism.- 7 Causal Explanation and the Meaning of Human Action.- Rules and Relations.- Explanation and Description.- 8 The Social Constitution of Action.- The Social Constitution of Action.- Ontology and Explanation.- Natural and Social Psychological Kinds.- 9 Agency, Causality, and Meaning.- Agency and Causality.- Causal Powers and Human Powers.- Causality and Meaning.- Agency and Meaning.- Indeterminacy and Explanation.- 10 Explanation, Prediction, and Control.- Explanation.- Prediction.- Control.- 11 The Experimental Analysis of Human Action.- The "Crisis" in Experimental Social Psychology.- The Artificiality of Experiments.- Experimental Isolation.- Experimental Contamination.- Experimental Alteration.- Artificiality and Reality.- 12 Intensional Simulation.- The Deception Experiment.- Experimental Simulation.- 13 The Evaluation of Psychological Therapy.- The Interminable Debate.- The Social Psychology of Therapy.- Natural Negotiation Hypothesis.- Theory and Efficacy.- Epilogue.- Notes.- References.- Author Index.