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Readers' Forum: Belief In Testing, David Moshman
Readers' Forum: Belief In Testing, David Moshman
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
Peter Glick and Mark Snyder's article [“Self-fulfilling Prophecy: The Psychology of Belief in Astrology,” May/June 1986] provides an important account of a deep-seated irrational tendency in human reasoning. They describe how people tend to test hypotheses using a verification strategy—that is, by seeking information that would sup-port the hypothesis. Such a strategy does not really test the hypothesis since it does not look for—and is thus unlikely to find—disconfirming evidence. This may account for the failure to reject not only astrology but a variety of myths, superstitions, and stereo-types.
Development Of The Concept Of Inferential Validity, David Moshman, Bridget A. Franks
Development Of The Concept Of Inferential Validity, David Moshman, Bridget A. Franks
Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications
An argument is valid if its conclusion necessarily follows from its premises, regardless of whether the premises and conclusion are empirically true or false. This research tested the hypothesis that understanding validity of inference (including its differentiation from empirical truth) is a relatively late development. Students in Experiment 1 were asked to sort sets of deductive arguments. None of the fourth graders used validity as a basis for distinguishing arguments, while 45% of the seventh graders and 85% of the college students did so. Experiments 2 and 3 explored whether the dramatic age difference could be narrowed by (a) varying …