Psychological measurement: The debate between representationalism and realism

Abstract

The possibility of devising measures of psychological phenomena remains as a contentious issue since the early days of Psychology as an independent science. The aim of this paper is to appraise two theoretical perspectives that concur in addressing and defining the boundaries of the measurement problem of psychological attributes: Representational Measurement Theory (RMT) and Realist Measurement Approach (RMA). I discuss distinctive features and specific problems faced by each conceptual approach, and evaluate claims made by authors that Rasch models consist in an empirical test of the measurability of psychological attributes. Furthermore, I highlight two conditions that still must be met in order to achieve true psychological measures. Nevertheless, I show that using psychometric instruments in psychological assessment is a defensible professional practice not conditioned on an available solution to the measurement problem in Psychology.