Dr Jane Smith Has Developed a Psychological Theory That Explains

Essay

Dr. Jane Smith has developed a psychological theory that explains crime in terms of a mental disorder she calls "antisocial tendency." She prepares a questionnaire to test this theory, which includes an "antisocial tendency scale" (ATS). Items on the ATS include questions like "How many times in the past year have you shoplifted items from a store?" and "How many times in the past year have you used illegal drugs?" The ATS is administered to a large sample of people in the general population as well as a large sample of inmates in the state prison. Dr. Smith finds in this study that inmates score significantly higher on the ATS than people in the general population. She concludes that an important discovery has been made, namely, that a mental disorder, "antisocial tendency," is in fact an important cause of criminal behavior. The theory has been empirically validated.
Evaluate the theory and the research on which Dr. Smith bases her conclusion on the criteria of testability and tautology.