Scientists and the Selection Task
- 1 May 1986
- journal article
- other
- Published by SAGE Publications in Social Studies of Science
- Vol. 16 (2) , 319-330
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312786016002007
Abstract
Contrary to some recent findings reported in this journal by Tweney and Yachanin, the results for twenty scientists on the selection task reflected little understanding of the power of disconfirmatory data in assessing conditionals. In agreement with previous studies by Mahoney and Kimper, and by Kern, Mirels and Hinshaw, confirmatory data were sought more often. The results indicate that scientists' performance is similar to that of undergraduates, mainly influenced by the problem content, and do not support Tweney and Yachanin's claim of scientists' competence on the selection task. Memory-cueing plus reasoning-by-analogy is offered as an alternative explanation.Keywords
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