Evidence in Default
Rejecting Default Models of Animal Minds
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8396116 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mike Dacey (0000-0003-0828-8072, Bates College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 291-312 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/714799 |
| OpenAlex | W3155953929 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 32 |
Comparative psychology experiments typically test a null statistical hypothesis against an alternative. Coupled with Morgan’s canon, this is often taken to imply that the model positing the simpler psychological capacity should be treated as a ‘default’ that must be ruled out before any other model can be accepted. It has been posited that this practice neglects evidence. I argue that the problem is deeper, including the way it structures the evaluation of evidence that is considered; it frames model choice around the acceptance or rejection of a default. I oppose this default framing in all its forms and develop an evidentialist alternative. Default framing fails to respect the difference between experimental statistical hypotheses and substantive hypotheses such as models. It is not actually supported by the use of null hypothesis significance testing (which I retain), it distorts the weighting of evidence, and it systematically biases practice
Alternative hypothesis · Cognitive psychology · Default · Econometrics · Economics · Epistemology · Framing (construction · Framing effect · Null hypothesis · Statistical evidence · Statistical hypothesis testing · Statistics · Weighting · Child and Animal Learning Development · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology
Ockham's Razors
Evidence and Evolution
Bayesian Assessment of Null Values Via Parameter Estimation and Model Comparison
Bayesian t tests for accepting and rejecting the null hypothesis
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
Improving Inferences About Null Effects With Bayes Factors and Equivalence Tests
Rethinking associations in psychology
Experiment and Animal Minds
Causation
Bayes in the Brain—On Bayesian Modelling in Neuroscience
Why psychologists must change the way they analyze their data
Philosophy of science and the replicability crisis
| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |