Theories, evidence, and action MIT理论证据和行动麻省理工学院.pptVIP

Theories, evidence, and action Laura Schulz There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. ~ Mark Twain, 1883 “There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.” ~ Mark Twain, 1883 Little artist Plan Part I: What do we really mean by theories and why should we think children have them? Part II: How theories might develop and change -- and some well-established claims about the relationship between theories and action. Part III: Some much more speculative claims about the relationship between theories and action. Plan Part I: What do we really mean by theories and why should we think children have them? Part II: How theories might develop and change -- and some well-established claims about the relationship between theories and action. Part III: Some much more speculative claims about the relationship between theories and action. So what’s a theory? Did Newton and Darwin have theories? Do adults have theories? Do three-year-olds have theories? Do babies have theories? Do chimps (dogs, crows …) have theories? Does the visual system have a theory? What are characteristics of a theory? Structural features Abstract (goes beyond the evidence) Ontologically committed (categories are defined by the theory) Functional features Causal (supports prediction, intervention, explanation, and counterfactual claims). Dynamic features Defeasible/revisable with evidence Affect the interpretation of evidence. What are characteristics of a theory? Structural features Abstract (goes beyond the evidence) Ontologically committed (categories are defined by the theory) Functional features Causal (supports prediction, intervention, explanation, and counterfactual claims). Dynamic features Defeasible/revisable with evidence Affect the interpretation of evidence. Theory theory “Place some children in a univers