Ecological Mechanistic Research and Modelling

A recent philosophical literature has developed a taxonomy of scientific explanations, models, and the two basic research programmes that produce them. The first programme takes some capacity system maps out how it works by breaking down into various sub-capacities, each with their own distinct characteristics. end goal is functional model, ‘how-possibly’ box-and-arrow type map organisation capacity. second instead focuses on analytically decomposing proposed mechanism produces phenomenon real parts processes. dynamical mechanistic ‘how-actually’ explanation in which model part explicitly represents dynamics those or Mechanistic models are better explanations phenomena. Ecological psychology has, so far, widely resisted becoming science. This due to our objections mechanistic, Cartesian ontologies, more recently because it’s not clear we can meaningfully decompose systems study order develop such models. I will argue here both these concerns unfounded, ecological actually perfectly capable developing therefore should do so, gain benefits.