Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Studies of rule discovery behavior employ one of two research paradigms: In the reception paradigm the item evaluated on each trial is provided by the researcher; in the selection/generation paradigm the item to be evaluated is selected or generated by the subject. The prevalence of both paradigms and their correspondence to well established modes of scientific inquiry led us to the hypothesis that if given the choice, subjects would employ both modes of inquiry. To test this hypothesis 27 adults and 27 8th graders solved three rule discovery problems in a computer environment which allowed free transitions between item reception and generation. Almost all the adults and roughly half the children employed both modes of inquiry on at least one problem, with adults much likelier to generate items. The use of a method of inquiry came in blocks with generation tending to follow reception. An inverse relationship was found between item generation and the proportion of positive instances supplied by the environment. Within both age groups, consistent individual differences were found regarding inquiry style. These results shed new light on inquiry behavior and demonstrate the desirability of letting subjects freely choose between differing modes of inquiry.