Exploring Science : The Cognition and Development of Discovery Processes

by David Klahr

• ISBN13: 9780262611763
• ISBN10: 0262611767
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-02-01
• Publisher: MIT PRESS
• More Book Details

Summary

Einstein said that "the whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking." David Klahr suggests that we now know enough about cognition-and hence about everyday thinking-to advance our understanding of scientific thinking. In this book he sets out to describe the cognitive and developmental processes that have enabled scientists to make the discoveries that comprise the body of information we call "scientific knowledge." Over the past decade Klahr and his colleagues have conducted extensive laboratory experiments in which they create discovery contexts, computer-based environments, to evoke the kind of thinking characteristic of scientific discovery in the "real world." In attempting to solve the problems posed by the discovery tasks, experiment participants (from preschoolers through university students, as well as laypersons) use many of the same higher-order cognitive processes used by practicing scientists. Through this work Klahr integrates two disparate approaches-the content-based approach and the process-based approach-to present a comprehensive model of the psychology of scientific discovery.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Herbert A. Simon
Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Investigating Scientific Thinking: Why and How	1	(20)
Scientific Discovery as Problem Solving	21	(20)
A Paradigm for Investigating Scientific Discovery in the Psychology Lab	41	(20)
Kevin Dunbar
Coordinating Dual Search: The Role of Evidence	61	(22)
Kevin Dunbar
Developmental Aspects of Scientific Reasoning	83	(50)
Kevin Dunbar
Anne L. Fay
Further Explorations of the BT Experiment Space	133	(28)
Anne L. Fay
Kevin Dunbar
David Penner
Multiple-Space Search in a More Complex Discovery Microworld	161	(40)
Christian D. Schunn
David Klahr
Discovery Discoveries	201	(22)
References	223	(10)
Author Index	233	(4)
Subject Index	237