An Individual Differences Study of the Psychological Bases of Scientific Reasoning

• In Event: Brain, Neurosciences, and Education SIG Paper Session 1

Abstract

We used behavioral measures to identify two groups of middle-school children: strict reasoners who prefer instant rationality and quickly dismiss disconfirmed hypotheses, and permissive reasoners who prefer delayed rationality and retain disconfirmed hypotheses for further evaluation. We measured their scientific reasoning performance as well as their cognitive abilities associated with executive function, and motivational orientation. What distinguished the groups was not overall differences in these variables, but their predictive relation. Our findings expand our understanding of “normative” scientific reasoning and also establishes a foundation for future research on the neural correlates of scientific reasoning. Our current work builds on these findings and uses EEG measures of brain function to broaden our research on the foundations of scientific reasoning.

Authors

• Keisha Varma, University of Minnesota

• Martin Van Boekel, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Sashank Varma, University of Minnesota