Thesis ID: CBB001567583

Models in Scientific Practice (2014)

unapi

Ishida, Yoichi (Author)


Mitchell, Sandra D.
University of Pittsburgh
Lennox, James G.
Mitchell, Sandra D.
Lennox, James G.
Schaffner, Kenneth F.
Stanford, P. Kyle
Mitchell, Sandra D.
Schaffner, Kenneth F.
Stanford, P. Kyle


Publication Date: 2014
Edition Details: Advisor: Mitchell, Sandra D., Lennox, James G; Committee Members: Mitchell, Sandra D., Lennox, James G., Schaffner, Kenneth F., Stanford, P. Kyle.
Physical Details: 163 pp.
Language: English

This dissertation presents an account of the practice of modeling in science in which scientists' perceptual and bodily interactions with external representations take center stage. I argue that modeling is primarily a practice of constructing, manipulating, and analyzing external representations in service of cognitive and epistemic aims of research, and show that this account better captures important aspects of the practice of modeling than accounts currently popular in philosophy of science. Philosophical accounts of the practice of modeling classify models according to the categories of abstract and concrete entities developed in metaphysics. I argue that this type of account obscures the practice of modeling. In particular, using the analysis of the Lotka-Volterra model as an example, I argue that understanding mathematical models as abstract entities--non-spatiotemporally located, imperceptible entities--obscures the fact that the analysis of the Lotka-Volterra model relies primarily on visual perception of external representations, especially hand- or computer-generated graphs. Instead, I suggest that we apply the concepts of internal and external representations, developed in cognitive science, to models, including mathematical models. I then present two case studies that illustrate different aspects of modeling, understood as a practice of constructing, manipulating, and analyzing external representations. First, using Sewall Wright's long-term research on isolation by distance, I articulate the relationship between the uses of a model, the particular aims of research, and the criteria of success relevant to a given use of the model. I argue that uses of the same model can shift over the course of scientists' research in response to shifts in aim and that criteria of success for one use of a model can be different from those for another use of the same model. Second, I argue that in successful scientific research, a scientist uses a model according to the methodological principles of realism and instrumentalism despite the tension that they create among the scientist's uses of the model over time. This thesis is supported by a detailed analysis of successful scientific research done by Seymour Benzer in the 1950s and 60s.

...More

Description Cited in Dissertation Abstracts International-A 76/05(E), Nov 2015. Proquest Document ID: 1644826242.


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001567583/

Similar Citations

Article Wybo Houkes; Sjoerd D. Zwart; (2019)
Transfer and templates in scientific modelling (/isis/citation/CBB526837346/)

Article Skipper, Robert A., Jr.; (2004)
Calibration of Laboratory Models in Population Genetics (/isis/citation/CBB000640479/)

Chapter Andersen, Hanne; (2002)
The Development of Scientific Taxonomies (/isis/citation/CBB000202430/)

Chapter Verboon, Annemieke R.; (2008)
Einen alten Baum verpflanzt man nicht. Die Metapher des Porphyrianischen Baums im Mittelalter (/isis/citation/CBB001211730/)

Thesis Barwich, Ann-Sophie; (cited 2013)
Making Sense of Smell: Classifications and Model Thinking in Olfaction Theory (/isis/citation/CBB001567549/)

Article Farquhar, Judith; Rajan, Kaushik Sunder; (2014)
Introduction: “Knowledge/Value” (/isis/citation/CBB001550700/)

Chapter Mody, Cyrus C. M.; Kaiser, David; (2008)
Scientific training and the creation of scientific knowledge (/isis/citation/CBB001180393/)

Chapter Bolton, Robert; (2010)
Biology and Metaphysics in Aristotle (/isis/citation/CBB001500200/)

Article Paul Humphreys; (2019)
Knowledge transfer across scientific disciplines (/isis/citation/CBB157398063/)

Article Paul, Norbert W.; (2014)
Einleitung: “Was vom Forschen übrig blieb…” (/isis/citation/CBB001551212/)

Book Bas C. van Fraassen; (1990)
Laws and Symmetry (/isis/citation/CBB188043935/)

Article Gilead, Amihud; (2014)
Pure Possibilities and Some Striking Scientific Discoveries (/isis/citation/CBB001420437/)

Article Debuiche, Valérie; (2013)
L'expression leibnizienne et ses modèles mathématiques (/isis/citation/CBB001201301/)

Book Benoît Godin; (2017)
Models of Innovation: The History of an Idea (/isis/citation/CBB245620351/)

Article Godin, Benoit; Lane, Joseph P.; (2013)
Pushes and Pulls: Hi(S)tory of the Demand Pull Model of Innovation (/isis/citation/CBB001320661/)

Article Justin Price; (2019)
The landing zone – Ground for model transfer in chemistry (/isis/citation/CBB898182417/)

Article Oleg Voskoboynikov; (2014)
L’image d’Aristote et la construction des modèles intellectuels au XIIIe siècle (/isis/citation/CBB136383807/)

Article Seamus Bradley; Karim P. Y. Thébault; (2019)
Models on the move: Migration and imperialism (/isis/citation/CBB657219096/)

Article Lena Zuchowski; (2019)
Modelling and knowledge transfer in complexity science (/isis/citation/CBB732848503/)

Authors & Contributors
Godin, Benoît
Zwart, Sjoerd
Seamus Bradley
Karim P. Y. Thébault
Lena Zuchowski
Price, Justin
Concepts
Models and modeling in science
Diffusion of innovation; diffusion of knowledge; diffusion of technology
Philosophy of science
Classification of knowledge
Metaphysics
Knowledge circulation
Time Periods
20th century
Medieval
21st century
19th century
Ancient
20th century, late
Places
Italy
Greece
France
China
India
Paris (France)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment