Multi-topic paper dump

 Michael Hout et al.
Multi-dimensional scaling

Pennie Dodds
Perhaps unidimensional is not unidimensional

Michael Riley
The dynamics of cognition

Ut Na Sio
Sleep on it: problem solving

Lavelle
Contrastive explanation and the many absences problem

Some notes on writing

Discussion sections.  I usually hate writing discussions.  However, I find they are extremely useful for two things.  First, for each result (affirming and disconfirming) sincerely asking oneself why the results occurred.  Then for each why question, generate explanations and consider the ones I believe the most in detail.  Try to find other evidence or ideas that relates to these explanations.  This process allows surprises to emerge, changing our questions and explanations, but also allows us to build stories around the evidence.  These stories can be used to push the theory further.

Future Directions.  Future directions should be based on understanding the processes and theory, pushing them forward, rather than trying to find new contexts.  Process rather than context driven.

For prescriptions.  The prescriptions should either refine existing proposals based on the results of the experiments (descriptive research), distinguish among existing proposals, or develop new ones.


 

Physics: Prediction and Explanation in the Multiverse

This seems very interesting

Prediction and Explanation in the Multiverse

Visualization and Illusion of Explanatory Depth

Might be useful to take advantage of this for teaching/explaining:

"People also seem to use misleading heuristics to assess how well they understand a system. Most notably, if they can see or easily visualize several components of a system, they are more convinced they know how it works. Thus, the more easily visible are parts in a system, relative to hidden ones, the stronger the IOED (Rozenblit & Keil 2002). Visual influences of this sort may be related to the appeal of visual “mental animations” in constructing and evaluating explanations of devices (Hegarty 1992)."

From Keil, 2006; Explanation and Understanding

Explanation as a learning strategy

Tamar: This would be an easy manipulation in the sim.  Compare feedback vs. feedback and explanation.

An effective meta-cognitive strategy

Explanation during IHD simulation

Tamar: Fonseca and Chi: if they explain themselves during a learning task they learn better than those who think out loud, especially going beyond presented material. Might be neat for IHD sim.  Might need to come up with tests that are `far transfer'.

"Instruction based self-explanation"
 
 Handbook of research on learning and instruction