Scientific Reasoning Strategies in a Simulated Molecular Generics Environment

Two studies are reported investigating the strategies that subjects use to revise hypotheses following disconfirmation. Subjects attempted to discover how genes are controlled by conducting experiments in a simulated molecular genetics laboratory. In Study 1, subjects set a goal of finding an experimental result, when this goal was not achieved they adopted one of the three following strategies. (1) Distort the logic of evidence interpretation to fit the current goal. (2) Conduct a parametric analysis of the Experiment space to achieve the goal. (3) Set a new experimental goal of trying to discover the cause of unexpected findings. Only the third group discovered how the genes are controlled. In Study 2, the hypothesis that the subject's experimental goal blocks consideration of alternative hypotheses was investigated. When subjects were allowed to reach their initial goal, they then set a new goal of accounting for unusual findings and discovered the mechanism of control. These results suggest that the goal of the subjects constrains search of both an Hypothesis and an Experiment space. This strategy can produce distortions in reasoning and a failure to generate new hypotheses

Distributed Reasoning: An Analysis of Where Social and Cognitive Worlds Fuse

The goal of this paper was to examine the influence of social and cognitive factors on distributed reasoning within the context of scientific laboratory meetings. We investigated whether a social factor, status, and cognitive factors such as discussion topic and time orientation of the research influenced distributed reasoning. The impact of status on distributed reasoning was examined using 3 lab meetings in which a technician presented (low status) and 3 lab meetings in which a graduate student presented (high status). Two cognitive variables were also examined; focus of discussion topic (theory, method, findings, and conclusions) and the time orientation of the distributed reasoning (past, current and future research). Pooled (cross sectional/time series) analysis, a regression technique, was used to perform the analyses. We found that status of the presenter influenced the structure of distributed reasoning: When the presenter was of high status, the principal investigator was an important influence on distributed reasoning. In contrast, when the presenter was of low status, other lab members were more likely to contribute to distributed reasoning. Our analyses also show that distributed reasoning is not influenced by the discussion topic but appears to focus on the discussion of future research

Memory for Analogies and Analogical Inferences

An important property of analogical reasoning is that resulting inferences can be used to acquire new knowledge in a target domain. However, little is known about what happens to memory for these inferences. In this study, we explore the link between analogical reasoning, inferences, and memory. We gave participants information on a political debate. Some subjects were given a short text and other subjects were given a long text to read. In addition, half the subjects were given an analogy at the end of the text. A week later, subjects were brought back and asked to recall the information. We were particularly interested in whether subjects would (a) remember the analogy, and (b) incorporate analogical inferences into their memory for the text. We found that when they were given more information, subjects did not report the analogy, but falsely included analogical inferences in their recall. Results were different when subjects were given a lesser amount of information they remembered the analogy and did not erroneously recall analogical inferences. Overall, the results indicate that memory for analogical inferences is highly related to the amount of information that people are given

Constraints on the experimental design process in real-world science

The goal of the research reported in this paper is to uncover the cognitive processes involved in designing complex experiments in contemporary biology. Models of scientific reasoning often assume that the experimental design process is primarily theoretically constrained. However, designing an experiment is a very complex process in which many steps and decisions must be made even when the theory is fully specified. We uncover a number of crucial cognitive steps in experimental design by analyzing the design of an experiment at a meeting of an immunology laboratory. Based on our analysis, we argue that experimental design involves the following processes: unpacking and specifying slots in possible experimental designs, locally evaluating specific components of proposed designs, and coordinating and globally evaluating possible experimental designs. Four sets of criteria guide local and global evaluation: ensuring a robust internal structure to the experiment, optimizing the likelihood experiments will work, performing costs/benefits analyses on possible design components, and ensuring acceptance of results by the scientific community. Our analyses demonstrate that experimental design is constrained by many non-theoretical factors. In particular, the constant threat of error in experimental results lies behind many of the strategies scientists use

Rural smokers : a prevention opportunity

Background: Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable death and disease in Australia. This study describes smoking prevalence and the characteristics of rural smokers to guide general practitioners in targeting particular groups.Methods: Cross sectional surveys in the Greater Green Triangle region of southeast Australia using a random population sample (n=1563, participation rate 48.7%) aged 25&ndash;74 years. Smoking information was assessed by a self administered questionnaire.Results: Complete smoking data were available for 1494 participants. Overall age adjusted current smoking prevalence was 14.9% (95% CI: 13.1&ndash;16.7). In both genders, current smoking prevalence decreased with age. Those aged 25&ndash;44 years were more likely to want to stop smoking and to have attempted cessation, but less likely to have received cessation advice than older smokers.Discussion: This study provides baseline smoking data for rural health monitoring and identifies intervention opportunities. General practice is suited to implement interventions for smoking prevention and cessation at every patient encounter, particularly in younger individuals.<br /

Evaluation of Cabin Crew Technical Knowledge

Accident and incident reports have indicated that flight attendants have numerous opportunities to provide the flight-deck crew with operational information that may prevent or essen the severity of a potential problem. Additionally, as carrier fleets transition from three person to two person flight-deck crews, the reliance upon the cabin crew for the transfer of this information may increase further. Recent research (Chute & Wiener, 1996) indicates that light attendants do not feel confident in their ability to describe mechanical parts or malfunctions of the aircraft, and the lack of flight attendant technical training has been referenced in a number of recent reports (National Transportation Safety Board, 1992; Transportation Safety Board of Canada, 1995; Chute & Wiener, 1996). The present study explored both flight attendant technical knowledge and flight attendant and dot expectations of flight attendant technical knowledge. To assess the technical knowledge if cabin crewmembers, 177 current flight attendants from two U.S. carriers voluntarily :ompleted a 13-item technical quiz. To investigate expectations of flight attendant technical knowledge, 181 pilots and a second sample of 96 flight attendants, from the same two airlines, completed surveys designed to capture each group's expectations of operational knowledge required of flight attendants. Analyses revealed several discrepancies between the present level of flight attendants