#1234 Uljana Feest - Operationism in Psychology: An Epistemology of Exploration

Mar 30, 2026

Uljana Feest, philosopher of science and professor at the University of Hannover, explores how experiments and concepts co-evolve in psychology. She discusses operationism, implicit memory studies, the multiple epistemic roles of experiments, discovery versus justification, and how conceptual work shapes replication and generalization across sciences.

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INSIGHT

Psychological Objects Are Blurry Phenomena Clusters

Objects of psychological research are epistemically blurry clusters of phenomena, not single phenomena.
Terms like implicit memory or working memory bundle multiple phenomena (behavioral regularities, mechanisms, experiences) that need empirical unpacking.

INSIGHT

Operationism As A Practical Measurement Strategy

Operationism in psychology differs from Bridgman's verificationist-sounding slogan; psychologists use operational definitions pragmatically to tie concepts to empirical methods.
Early figures (Stevens, Tolman, Hull) used operationalization to keep theorizing tethered to experiments.

INSIGHT

Operational Definitions Are Measurement Rules Not Reductions

Operational definitions specify how to measure contested psychological concepts (e.g., Stevens: experience = discriminative behavior for scientific purposes).
These definitions are measurement rules, not eliminative reductions of the phenomena's richer meaning.

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Dr. Uljana Feest is a Professor at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Hannover. She is a philosopher of science who specializes in the philosophy and history of the behavioral sciences (psychology, social science, cognitive science). She is particularly interested in the epistemological challenges that arise in those fields, and she addresses these challenges by analyzing observational and experimental practices and scientific methodologies. She is the author of Operationism in Psychology: An Epistemology of Exploration.

In this episode, we focus on Operationism in Psychology. We start by talking about the premise of the book, philosophy of experimentation, and the example of the study of implicit memory. We discuss how conceptual work and experimental work are intertwined; the objects of research in experimental psychology; operationism; discovery, justification, and exploration; the interplay between theory and evidence; the role of philosophy in scientific investigation; and the replication crisis. Finally, we discuss whether the analysis generalizes beyond psychology.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航豊川, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, HUGO B., JAMES, JORDAN MANSFIELD, AND CHARLOTTE ALLEN!

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