Abstract
To bridge the gap between psychology and engineering, human factors research routinely engages in a kind of ontological alchemy which turns putative mental constructs into measurable numbers. We should not overestimate the ontological status of our constructs, nor underestimate the extent to which our own research that makes them “real.”
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Dekker, S.W.A., Nyce, J.M. From figments to figures: ontological alchemy in human factors research. Cogn Tech Work 17, 185–187 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-015-0321-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-015-0321-7