Inference Is Bliss: Using Evolutionary Relationship to Guide Categorical Inferences

Three experiments, adopting an evolutionary biology perspective, investigated subjects’ inferences about living things. Subjects were told that different enzymes help regulate cell function in two taxa and asked which enzyme a third taxon most likely uses. Experiment 1 and its follow‐up, with colleg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognitive science 2011-05, Vol.35 (4), p.712-743
Main Authors: Novick, Laura R., Catley, Kefyn M., Funk, Daniel J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Association Learning
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Evolution
Categorization
Cladograms
Classification - methods
Cognition. Intelligence
Concept Formation
Curricula
Effects
Enzymes
Evolution
Evolutionary biology
Female
Folkbiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Generalization (Psychology)
Genetic Speciation
Humans
Inference
Knowledge
Male
Phylogeny
Problem Solving
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reasoning. Problem solving
Semantics
Taxonomy
Tree thinking
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Summary:Three experiments, adopting an evolutionary biology perspective, investigated subjects’ inferences about living things. Subjects were told that different enzymes help regulate cell function in two taxa and asked which enzyme a third taxon most likely uses. Experiment 1 and its follow‐up, with college students, used triads involving amphibians, reptiles, and mammals (reptiles and mammals are most closely related evolutionarily) and plants, fungi, and animals (fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants). Experiment 2, with 10th graders, also included triads involving mammals, birds, and snakes/crocodilians (birds and snakes/crocodilians are most closely related). Some subjects received cladograms (hierarchical diagrams) depicting the evolutionary relationships among the taxa. The effect of providing cladograms depended on students’ background in biology. The results illuminate students’ misconceptions concerning common taxa and constraints on their willingness to override faulty knowledge when given appropriate evolutionary evidence. Implications for introducing tree thinking into biology curricula are discussed.
ISSN:0364-0213
1551-6709
DOI:10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01162.x