Cognitive Psychology and the Study of Scientific Discovery1

Bibliographic Data

ID20401262
AuthorsBernadette Guimberteau (Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, corresponding author)
Year1991
Volume1
Issue2
Pages223-244
Publication date1991-05-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheory & Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-3543 • E-ISSN: 1461-7447
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959354391012005
OpenAlexW2102472031
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited21

This article focuses on the validation and explanatory power of the predominant model of scientific discovery used in cognitive science. Two strategies of validation are identified: validation by reproduction and validation by convergence. It is argued that neither provides a sufficient approach to validation and that a more appropriate strategy would consist in testing the model against current scientific problems to try to generate new discoveries. Another contention of this article is that the explanatory power of the model can be increased by understanding cognitive differences between the small proportion of `discoverers' and the large number of scientists working on a given problem at a given time. This question can best be tackled by studying how experts acquire their expertise from fragmentary and complex knowledge and by understanding expert learning, a topic that has so far been neglected in the cognitive psychology of expertise

Cognition · Cognitive model · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Data science · Epistemology · Explanatory power · Cognitive Science and Mapping · Computer Science · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology · Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes

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