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Covert Events: The Logical Status of First-Person Reports

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Abstract

Contrary to common practice, clients’ statements about inner occurrences ought not to be treated as data reports about covert events because such statements do not, strictly speaking, refer to covert events. Instead, clients’ statements are to be interpreted as behavior from which hypothetical constructs may be inferred. When viewed in this way, clients’ statements do not narrowly restrict theorizing about covert events.

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Zuriff, G.E. Covert Events: The Logical Status of First-Person Reports. Psychol Rec 29, 125–133 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394598

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