Modeling a theory without a model theory, or, computational modeling "after Feyerabend" Arthur M. Jacobs" and Jonathan Graingerb aFachbereich
Psychologie,
Philipps-University
Marburg, 0-35032
GelTTlany; bCREPCO-CNRS, Université de Provence, Provence, France.
[email protected]
Marburg,
13621 Aix-en-
staff-www.uni-marburg.de/-agjacobs/
[email protected] It i~ the principle: 'Ut~tl1ing gex'~ l F('~ crabcud 1975 p. 191 Abslract: 1R\elt et al. atte-mpt to "model their theo!') .. with \\'E.\\ ER+ +. :'.Iexll»ing theorie requires a 111(){)t') thcorv, The timc is ripe for a methodo)o~ for building, tl'sUng, and t'\'all1atingcomputational mode-ls. \\'(' pro)xIse a tentative. live-stt-p [ramework (or tackliug titis probk-m. within \\ lticl1 \\(' discuss the poteutial sm-ngrhs and weaknesscx or Lcvclt et al.s nlOdt'ling approach.
The co~nitÏ\ e science Iite rature provides no generally aecepted polit)' for huikling. testing; and evaluanng computational models such as \\"E.,\\'ER+ +. which Levelt et al. lise to "mode! their theory." The situation is anarchie, re 'embün~ Feyerabcnds (1975) "an~thing goes" principle. and bacllv nceds a model theory or methodology to organize the plethora of computational models (Jacohs & Crainger 19W l. Whereas mathemuttcal leaming theorv provides a wealth of testing pnuciples. computational modelers todav seem little concerned with this issue (Prechelt 1996). H~re, we di cuss the strengths and weaknesses of Lcvclt et al.s modeling approach in a tentative five-step framework for building, testing, and evalnuting computational models inspired by psychometrics and test theorv (Jacobs et al. 1998). A1thongh we do not daim that this [ramework is optimal, su ch an explicit approuch e,ID be constructivelv criticized and thu advances the enterprise of computanonal modcling. tep 1. Parameter-tuniug studie: check the glohal appropriateness orthe architectural and parametric assumptions ùuring the initial phase of mode! construction to uncover fundamental flaws (e.C1 •• parameterconfigurations producing catastrophic behavior). ln Levelt et al.s original 12-noùe/ï-p,U'
