Abstract

Hibbard is surely correct in pointing to the central role of intentionality in current psychology. However, in this commentary I wish to emphasize the independent role of the common epistemological commitment of psychologists and its importance in changing the nature of our field. As experimental scientists psychologists are bound, prior to all other commitments, to respect data, especially data secured in their own laboratories. Thus, one of the most powerful instruments for changing the nature and domain of psychological theories is an experiment that can be reliably repeated in any experimentalist's laboratory.