PMID: 9426502Jan 14, 1998Paper

False categories in cognition: the Not-the-Liver fallacy

Cognition
F L Bedford

Abstract

This paper reports on an increasingly frequent error committed in cognition research that at best slows progress, and at worse leads to self-perpetuating false claims and misguided research. The error involves how we identify meaningful processes and categories on the basis of data. Examples are given from three areas of cognition: (1) memory, where the misconception has fueled the popular implicit/explicit categories, (2) perception, where the misconception is used to re-evaluate the classic what/where division, and (3) motor skills, where it is used to draw conclusions from patients with Huntington's disease. Reasons for the prevalence of this error, how it relates to double dissociations, and what it suggests about scientific reasoning are offered.

References

Jan 1, 1992·Trends in Neurosciences·M A Goodale, A D Milner
Apr 1, 1992·The American Psychologist·D L Schacter
Jan 1, 1985·Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition·M K JohnsonG Risse
Apr 1, 1985·Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition·P GrafL R Squire
Apr 1, 1981·Perception & Psychophysics·B BridgemenA Sperling
Oct 1, 1994·Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance·M BehrmannG Winocur
Oct 1, 1993·Perception & Psychophysics·F L Bedford, K S Reinke
Jan 1, 1955·Annual Review of Psychology·H L TEUBER

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Citations

Mar 12, 2003·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·Felice L Bedford
Nov 1, 2009·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Gideon Keren, Yaacov Schul

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