Physicists with a Ph.D. are slightly more accurate judging physics statements than biology statements (d = 0.5)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr2·q3·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i2 Accuracy was higher for physics statements (88.4%) than biology statements (83.0%), a small 5.4% difference. → Geneviève Allaire-Duquette 2021
Evidence¶
Geneviève Allaire-Duquette 2021¶
Geneviève Allaire-Duquette, Lorie-Marlène Brault Foisy, Patrice Potvin, Martin Riopel, Marilyne Larose, Steve Masson. (2021). An fMRI study of scientists with a Ph.D. in physics confronted with naive ideas in science. npj Science of Learning 6:11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00091-x
q3 · i2 · causal · r2
Behavioral accuracy comparison between expertise domains in the statement-verification task of 25 Ph.D. physicists; the printed means were 88.4% (physics) and 83.0% (biology), and the authors note "the difference is small (5.4%)".
"physicists are more accurate in assessing physics statements than biology statements ( t(24) = 4.360, p < 0.001, d = 0.5"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Naive science ideas are extremely persistent and probably never disappear even after extensive training such as a Ph.D. in physics, so conceptual change as replacement may never truly be achieved — related
- Scientists with a Ph.D. in physics are less accurate when judging the scientific value of incongruent statements that trigger naive ideas than matched congruent statements, in both physics and biology — related
- Scientists with a Ph.D. in physics respond more slowly to incongruent statements than to matched congruent statements, with a response-time increase in physics twice as large as in biology — related
- When physicists with a Ph.D. confront naive ideas in their domain of expertise, MFG and IFG associated with inhibitory control are significantly more activated by incongruent than congruent statements — related
- When physicists with a Ph.D. judge incongruent statements in biology, where they hold basic expertise, activation overlaps with inhibitory-control regions including left IFG, ACC, insula and superior frontal gyrus — related
- An EXPERTISE × CONGRUENCY interaction in bilateral dorsal ACC shows the congruency effect on BOLD signal is larger for statements in biology, where participants hold basic expertise, than in physics — related
- Judging incongruent statements that trigger naive ideas recruits left IFG, bilateral superior frontal gyrus and bilateral ACC more than judging matched congruent statements — related
- Adolescents show lower accuracy and longer reaction times on counterintuitive misconception trials than on matched control trials in science and maths — related
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