Center Seminar

What Do We Measure When We Measure Behavior?

Helen Longino, PhD

Professor of Philosophy

Stanford University

Our ordinary concepts of human behavior and behavioral traits are vague, often designate something not directly measurable, like a disposition, and also reflect social values and attitudes.  Hence operationalizations of those concepts, specifications of measurable phenomena that can then be utilized in scientific investigations (e.g., in genetics), are developed to bring rigor to our classification practices. This talk explores the extent to which operationalization actually succeeds in freeing classification from vagueness and social values.  The focus will be operationalizations of “aggression.”

Board Room #6601

New York State Psychiatric Institute
1051 Riverside Drive