Abstract: We discuss the status of theories in psychology by addressing ourselves to a recent paper published in this journal by Hong, Chao, Yang & Rosner (2010). We argue that Hong et al. provided a restrictive version of theory in psychology that is limited by the implicit adoption of logical empiricism as the basis for their views of theory. In addressing the limitations of logical empiricism we address the broader question of just what constitutes theory and how theory might be more usefully and widely applied in the discipline.

Key words: theory, theoretical psychology, post-empiricism