Explaining During Inquiry Supports Belief Revision (Poster 42)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 9:50 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Learning Processes: Reasoning, Memory, and Executive Functioning

Abstract

Participants from two samples (n=109) freely chose how they would investigate a multivariable database. Examined were respective roles played by explanation vs. evidence in this more autonomous form of inquiry activity, previous studies having proposed explanation to have both beneficial and harmful effects on data reading and inference. In Condition 1, explanations were solicited prior to and following data investigation. In Condition 2, explanations were solicited only following data investigation, and in Condition 3, no explanations were solicited. Explanation facilitated belief revision in both conditions (1 and 2) in which they were solicited, underscoring the roles of both explanation and evidence in processes of belief revision. Explanations, it is proposed, motivate and support scrutiny of the data to assess their correctness.

Author

• Anahid S. Modrek, California State University - San Bernardino