The Challenge of Competing Explanations

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Abstract
We hypothesize the existence of rudimentary and more developed forms of relating to each other 2 ‘theories’ (A and B) for the explanation of a scientific-technical, social, philosophical, or religious contingency, forms that at the highest levels may extend cognition beyond Piagetian formal operations. The development of this ‘thinking in terms of complementarity’ is demonstrated. From the patterns of the 216 responses of 24 subjects aged 6–25 years to 9 problems with 2 explanations each, a developmental trend is proposed, characterized by four levels. At level I, either A or B is usually chosen; at level IV, A and B are consciously connected and their relationship is explained. An analysis of variance revealed a significant main effect for age group (p < 0.001). Interviewing 4 senior physicists (mean age 53 years) led to a fifth tentative level. This development seems to be independent of the knowledge domain and of the given type of explanation. The usefulness of complementary thinking per se and as a potential measure of cognitive development is pointed out.