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Document Type

Research Paper

Abstract

We investigated the conscious experiences people had while discovering the contents and layout of a sealed box by manipulating it. Introduction to Psychology students were presented with a black video cassette box containing an object that was free to move and a fixed structure made of plastic foam packing material. Using the sounds the object made when the box was manipulated, subjects were asked to discover both the moving object and the fixed layout of the box. Subjects were videotaped and were asked to describe their conscious experiences and problem solving strategies as they handled the box. They then responded to a check list of possible conscious experiences. Our interest was in determining whether participants adopted a scientific strategy (characterized by hypothesis testing, direct comparison of alternatives, attempts at falsification, and potential for inconclusive investigations) or a pragmatic strategy (characterized by the rapid development of a single notion that is then "confirmed" or evolved through intimate interaction with box behavior). Analysis of subjects' drawings of the box, the actions they took, and their descriptions of their conscious experiences agree in showing that they adopted a pragmatic strategy rather than a scientific strategy in solving the problem.

Publication Date

1999

Journal Title

Conference Proceedings: Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference

Volume

3

Issue

1

First Page

61

Last Page

67

Copyright

©1999 by the University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Publisher

University of Northern Iowa

City

Cedar Falls, IA

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