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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

A Neuronal and Astrocyte Co-Culture Assay for High Content Analysis of Neurotoxicity
Published on: May 5, 2009
Empirical content as a criterion for evaluating models
1Social Cognition Center Cologne, University of Cologne, Richard-Strauss-Straße 2, 50931, Cologne, Germany. marc.jekel@uni-koeln.de.
Abstract:
Hypotheses derived from models can be tested in an empirical study: If the model reliably fails to predict behavior, it can be dismissed or modified. Models can also be evaluated before data are collected: More useful models have a high level of empirical content (Popper in Logik der Forschung, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, 1934), i.e., they make precise predictions (degree of precision) for many events (level of universality). I apply these criteria to reflect on some critical aspects of Kirsch's (Cognit Process, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-019-00904-3 ) unifying computational model of decision making.
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