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Causal Complexity and Comprehension of Evolution by Natural Selection

Fedder, Joshua C.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1461145729

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
Learning the theory of evolution by natural selection has proven to be difficult for students and adults alike. This may be due, in part, to the finding that adults reject the existence of within-species variation. Within-species variation is a requirement if evolution is to occur. Individuals who reject within-species variation often times misconstrue the process of evolutionary change as not the survival of some members of the species at the expense of others, but rather as the gradual change of all members of the species simultaneously. In this manner, rejection of within-species variation leads to misconstruals and misunderstandings of the theory of evolution by natural selection. One proposal for this tendency to reject within-species variation is psychological essentialism, which proposes that individuals construe species as possessing an underlying essence, shared by all species members, determining the observable properties of that species. Here we propose an alternative explanation, which we term the causal complexity hypothesis. We posit that biases for single-cause explanations lead participants to reject within-species variation. We argue that these simpler causal structures make within-species variation probabilistically less likely. In Studies 1 and 2 we find evidence that not only are preferences for single-cause explanations correlated with decreased estimates of within-species variability, but that manipulating number of causes has a causal effect on variability judgments. In Study 3, we find that evolution comprehension also predicts performance on category identity tasks, and find some support for the proposal that this is also related to within-species variability and causal complexity. Overall, we find that our causal complexity hypothesis can account for individual differences in variability judgments, and may offer a target for interventions in the domain of evolution comprehension. However, whether a preference for single-cause explanations influences reasoning within intuitive biology beyond judgments of within-species variation remains an open question and direction for future studies.
Susan Johnson, Dr. (Advisor)
John Opfer, Dr. (Committee Member)
Stephen Petrill, Dr. (Committee Member)
Laura Wagner, Dr. (Committee Member)
110 p.
Cognitive Psychology; Educational Sociology; Psychology
causal complexity, simplicity, evolution, natural selection, essentialism, within-species variation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Fedder, J. C. (2016). Causal Complexity and Comprehension of Evolution by Natural Selection [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1461145729

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Fedder, Joshua. Causal Complexity and Comprehension of Evolution by Natural Selection . 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1461145729.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Fedder, Joshua. "Causal Complexity and Comprehension of Evolution by Natural Selection ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1461145729

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1461145729
530
© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.