A critique of applied catastrophe theory in the behavioral sciences

Using the war model of Isnard and Zeeman as a paradigm, it is shown that many catastrophe theory models in social science possess serious weaknesses. The catastrophes supposedly account for real‐life behavior, but actually are only a restatement of the fact that discontinuities exist. No deep mathem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBehavioral Science Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 383 - 389
Main Authors Sussmann, Hector J., Zahler, Raphael S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published California John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1978
University of Michigan, Mental Health Research Institute
Subjects
behavioral science applications
catastrophe theory
Catastrophe/Catastrophes
critical review
Criticism/Critique (see also Critic)
dog aggression model
Model/Modeling/Models
Theory/Theories/Theorem/ Theorizing
war model
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Summary:Using the war model of Isnard and Zeeman as a paradigm, it is shown that many catastrophe theory models in social science possess serious weaknesses. The catastrophes supposedly account for real‐life behavior, but actually are only a restatement of the fact that discontinuities exist. No deep mathematical results are actually used. The hypotheses are ambiguous or far‐fetched. In addition, Thom's theorem, the mathematical centerpiece of applied catastrophe theory, is inherently uninformative for applications. The theory is helpful on neither the qualitative nor the quantitative level. Finally, better and simpler mathematical tools exist.
Bibliography:ArticleID:BS3830230409
This article is excerpted and adapted from "Catastrophe Theory as Applied to the Social and Biological Sciences: A Critique," Synthese, 1978, 37, 117-216. Reprinted with the permission of the D. Reidel Publishing Company.
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istex:E07FF88A61CEB5FF03134F275AEBEE2B227F5F27
1978, 37, 117–216. Reprinted with the permission of the D. Reidel Publishing Company.
This article is excerpted and adapted from “Catastrophe Theory as Applied to the Social and Biological Sciences: A Critique,”
Synthese
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0005-7940
1099-1743
1932-300X
DOI:10.1002/bs.3830230409