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Using the concept of theory modification as demonstrated by Robert Zajonc's work on social facilitation and drive theory, diagnose how the research team can address this failure without discarding the theory. What specific adjustment should they propose, and how does this decision affect the validity of the original theory?
Case context: A research team is investigating a cognitive theory of learning. While testing the theory's predictions, they observe that it successfully predicts behavioral patterns in mammalian species. However, when they test the same theory on simple insects, the predicted learning outcomes are entirely absent. One researcher asserts that because the theory failed to hold up in insects, it is invalid and must be completely abandoned.
Question: Using the concept of theory modification as demonstrated by Robert Zajonc's work on social facilitation and drive theory, diagnose how the research team can address this failure without discarding the theory. What specific adjustment should they propose, and how does this decision affect the validity of the original theory?
Sample answer: The research team can update the theory instead of discarding it by adding a boundary condition. Drawing a parallel to Zajonc's potential modification of drive theory, they should propose that their cognitive theory of learning is valid, but only applicable to organisms with highly developed nervous systems (like mammals). This decision preserves the theory's validity within a restricted, specified scope while explaining its failure in simpler organisms like insects.
Key points:
- Diagnose the situation as appropriate for theory modification (adding a boundary condition) rather than theory rejection.
- Propose limiting the theory's scope to organisms with more highly developed nervous systems (or mammals) to account for the insect data.
- Justify how this modification preserves the theory's validity within its new boundary condition.
Rubric: The response must explain how the team can save the theory by adding a boundary condition to restrict its scope rather than abandoning it. It must describe a boundary condition (e.g., limiting the theory to organisms with complex/developed nervous systems or mammalian models) that accounts for the failure in insects, referencing the logic of Zajonc's cockroach/drive theory example.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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