1978/08/01 by Clifford R. Mynatt, Michael E. Doherty, Ryan D. Tweney · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · #Philosophy and History of Science #Statistics Education and Methodologies #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Inference #Psychology #Inductive reasoning #Cognitive psychology #Confirmatory factor analysis #Matrix (chemical analysis) #Computer science #Social psychology #Artificial intelligence #Structural equation modeling #Machine learning
paper · doi:10.1080/00335557843000007
openalex publication_date 1978/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Advanced undergraduate science majors attempted for approximately 10h each to discover the laws governing a dynamic system. The system included 27 fixed objects, some of which influenced the direction of a moving particle. At a given time, any one screen of a nine-screen matrix could be observed on a plasma display screen. Confirmatory strategies were the rule, even though half the subjects had been carefully instructed in strong inference. Falsification was counterproductive for some subjects. It seems that a firm base of inductive generalizations, supported by confirmatory research, is a prerequisite to useful implementation of a falsification strategy.