Collaborative Research: Identifying Reasoning Processes Using Memory Methods

有两种推理吗？非正式地，人们经常区分直觉推理和逻辑推理。直觉会产生一个“快速而肮脏”的答案，而逻辑思考需要时间和精力，但会产生一个更合理的答案。尽管这种区别很有吸引力，但缺乏科学证据。大多数推理的心理学理论要么只关注一种推理，要么假设有两种推理，但没有详细说明它们如何在不同情况下应用。然而，在心理学的其他领域，如记忆研究，互补的慢速和快速系统的假设已经深入研究并取得了相当大的成功。在美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）的支持下，海特博士和罗泰罗博士将使用从记忆研究中改编的技术来研究推理。例如，实验参与者将在不同的时间期限内解决推理问题：直觉系统预计将主导快速判断，审议系统预计将主导较慢的判断。实证研究的程序是由推理过程的数学模型的发展补充。这些模型将有助于设计推理问题，可以用来测试潜在的理论，以及评估推理技能。例如，这些问题将在批判性思维课程的开始和结束时发给本科生。这些模型将被用来确定哪些方面的推理技能是由课程教学提高。这个项目将有助于在马萨诸塞大学的心理学系和美国最新的研究型大学——加州大学默塞德分校之间建立研究伙伴关系。加州大学默塞德分校有很高比例的第一代大学生和其他代表性不足的群体。

Are there two kinds of reasoning? Informally, people often make a distinction between reasoning by intuition versus reasoning by logical deliberation. Intuition generates a "quick and dirty" answer, whereas logical deliberation takes time and effort but yields a more justifiable answer. Despite the appeal of this distinction, the scientific evidence for it is lacking. Most psychological theories of reasoning either focus on only one kind of reasoning, or assume that there are two kinds but do not spell out the details of how they are applied in different situations. However, in other areas of psychology such as memory research, the hypothesis of complementary slow and fast systems has been pursued in depth with considerable success. With support of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Heit and Dr. Rotello will study reasoning using techniques that have been adapted from memory research. For example, participants in experiments will solve reasoning problems with different time deadlines: The intuitive system is expected to dominate quicker judgments and the deliberative system is expected to dominate slower judgments. The program of empirical research is complemented by the development of mathematical models of reasoning processes. These models will help in designing reasoning problems that can be used to test the underlying theories, as well as assess reasoning skills. For instance, the problems will be administered to undergraduate students at the beginning and end of a course on critical thinking. The models will be used to identify which aspects of reasoning skill are improved by course instruction. This project will help to establish research partnerships between the psychology departments at the University of Massachusetts and the newest research university in the US, the University of California, Merced, which has a high proportion of first generation college students and other under-represented groups.