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234584

Value of cognitive diversity in science

Samuli Pöyhönen

pp. 4519-4540

Abstract

When should a scientific community be cognitively diverse? This article presents a model for studying how the heterogeneity of learning heuristics used by scientist agents affects the epistemic efficiency of a scientific community. By extending the epistemic landscapes modeling approach introduced by Weisberg and Muldoon, the article casts light on the micro-mechanisms mediating cognitive diversity, coordination, and problem-solving efficiency. The results suggest that social learning and cognitive diversity produce epistemic benefits only when the epistemic community is faced with problems of sufficient difficulty.

Publication details

Published in:

Buckner Cameron, Fridland Ellen (2017) Cognition. Synthese 194 (11).

Pages: 4519-4540

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-016-1147-4

Full citation:

Pöyhönen Samuli (2017) „Value of cognitive diversity in science“. Synthese 194 (11), 4519–4540.