Expert physicists apply matter-based predicates to non-material concepts in professional discourse¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · theoretical r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2013: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Predicate analysis of published physics articles reveals both process and matter predicates used for light pulses. → Ayush Gupta 2008 q2 i? Experts interviewed in Slotta and Chi's own study showed no cognitive barrier to treating energy and vibrations as entities that move. → Ayush Gupta 2008 (2)

Evidence¶

Ayush Gupta 2008¶

Ayush Gupta, David Hammer, Edward F. Redish. (2008). The Case for Dynamic Models of Learners' Ontologies in Physics. Journal of the Learning Sciences. https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/hlns20

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

The authors apply the SO framework's own predicate-analysis method to Chu and Wong's (1982) article on pulse propagation, finding predicates such as emerges, enters, distorted, and arrives alongside process predicates. They argue matter-like depiction of an electromagnetic pulse is used productively by experts within a process-based model.

"Predicate analysis (Chi, 1994, Slotta and Chi, 2006) of this article reveals the use of both process and matter predicates to describe the behavior of a light pulse."

Ayush Gupta 2008 (2)¶

Ayush Gupta, David Hammer, Edward F. Redish. (2008). The Case for Dynamic Models of Learners' Ontologies in Physics. Journal of the Learning Sciences. https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/hlns20

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

Re-analysis of expert interview excerpts from Slotta and Chi's own study shows experts extending matter attributes such as moves, supply, quantify, and absorb to non-material concepts including energy and phonons. The authors note these topics were not target concepts in the original analysis.

"These experts, in the interviews done by Slotta and Chi, do not show any cognitive barrier to explanations that employ non-material lattice vibrations (phonons) and energy as entities that move from one spatial location to another"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Neither blood circulation nor diffusion has an inherent correct ontology; predicates from both direct and emergent process categories apply to each — related
• Experts' ontological choices about the same physical phenomenon are context-dependent — a broader claim this one bears on
• Everyday language routinely and productively crosses ontological categories — a broader claim this one bears on
• Novices can and do reason across ontological categories in everyday and scientific contexts — related
• Material difficulty is not determined solely by element number and interactivity — related