falsifiability

n. the condition of admitting falsification: the logical possibility that an assertion, hypothesis, or theory can be shown to be false by an observation or experiment. The most important properties that make a statement falsifiable in this way are (a) that it makes a prediction about an outcome or a universal claim of the type “All Xs have property Y” and (b) that what is predicted or claimed is observable. Austrian-born British philosopher Karl Popper (1902–1994) argued that falsifiability is an essential characteristic of any genuinely scientific hypothesis. Also called disconfirmability; refutability. See risky prediction. —falsifiable adj.

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Psychology term of the day

May 1st 2024

protanopia

n. red–green color blindness in which the deficiency is due to the absence of the core photopigment sensitive to red light, resulting in red stimuli appearing very dim and confusion between red and green (see dichromatism). The condition may be unilateral (i.e., color vision may be normal in one eye). See also deuteranopia.