Perspectives on Parsimony: How Long Is the Coast of England? A Reply to Park and Macinnis; Schwarz; Petty; and Lynch

Abstract

Cohen and Reed’s 2006 MPAA model describes the attitude formation and reliance process. We thank the notable contributors for their insightful commentaries about our model and attitude theory and research more generally. Since we cannot respond to all the nuances outlined in each of the four separate articles, we primarily address some important differences in the commentators’ views about parsimony. The spirit of our response is intended to convince readers that when it comes to representing psychological processes, there is no one right model. Rather, the construct mapping one uses and related judgments about parsimony should depend on explicit research goals.