Usefulness of models.
The usefulness of models in constructing a testable theory of the process is severely limited by the quickly increasing number of parameters which must be estimated in order to compare the predictions of the models with the empirical results. Even though the specific assumptions of the parameter-adjusting model (namely that the "system" passes through contiguous equilibria as in a reversible thermodynamic process) are not plausible, it is not unlikely that the effect is also a consequence of more general assumptions. (5, p. 150)
This page was last updated on July 29, 1996, by
Dr. Umpleby.