Dissertation Information for Michael Andrew Ranney NAME: - Michael Andrew Ranney
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Cognitive Psychology
SCHOOL:
- University of Pittsburgh (USA) (1987)
ADVISORS: - None COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - None
MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected
Title: Changing naive conceptions of motion
Abstract: This study has focused on the nature and breadth of the conceptual changes that result when individuals are asked to reason extensively about a domain for which they lack formal training. These laypeople offered predictions about various projectile motions in both the presence and absence of nonconceptual (e.g., empirical) feedback. Experiment 1a demonstrated the multiplicity of the subjects' sources of kinematic knowledge and the diverse ways in which individuals used the feedback to modify their beliefs. The results of Experiment 1b, however, suggested that these conceptual changes may not yield much transfer-of-training to tasks that are isomorphic to the situations for which feedback was provided. Experiment 2 showed that such generalization is indeed possible, given that the subjects are (1) provided with similarity-judgment tasks that embody an analogical hint, or (2) kept from premature predictions for the target items.
The present data further indicate that, while laypeople generally have somewhat unintegrated conceptions of motion, the manipulations of Experiment 2 can lead these individuals to (a) reorganize their understanding of the interrelationships among various ballistic situations and (b) improve the integration of their beliefs about projectiles moving in a gravitational field. These conceptual changes remained stable after a two-week delay. However, the learning appeared to be constrained by the nonconceptual nature of the feedback, such that fundamental restructuring (i.e., the generation of the principle of inertia) was quite rare: Even after eventually receiving some empirical (and analogical) feedback, the students could not significantly transfer their new conceptions of motion to tasks involving zero-gravity. Furthermore, these new ideas rarely included the total rejection of some fallacious impetus beliefs. While a few individuals appeared to fully reject prior conceptions of internal-force and curvilinear impetus, none of the subjects completely rejected the notion of dissipation, in which a projectile's initial speed "peters out." These findings lead to the suggestions that, while the "predict, observe, re-predict" cycle of instruction has considerable utility, it should be followed by the conceptual feedback that is needed to place the next cycle on a higher level of sophistication.
| |
MPACT Scores for Michael Andrew Ranney A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:14:24
Advisors and Advisees Graph
generating graph, please reload |