Maxwell Gwynn wrote:
> Modus Tollens involves disconfirmatory reasoning:
> If p, then q.
> Not q.
> Therefore, not p.
> If I read it on TIPS, it must be right.
> It is not right.
> Therefore, I did not read it on TIPS.
Or, in a form that may be more familiar to us:
If p, then not q
q
Therefore, not p
Cohen's "Earth is round" article in the American Psychologist a few years ago
(is that close enough to APA format?) notes that for this to be valid, the
initial premise must be one of certainty. "Probably not q" (what we do in
standard hypothesis testing), does not work. As I presented it to my class
the other day:
If a person is an Earthling, then he or she probably does not teach Psyc
6331 at UCA. [A true statement.]
Scoles teaches Psyc 6331 at UCA. [Also a true statement, although Louis
would argue that I should teach students.]
Therefore, Scoles is probably not an Earthling??
--
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* Mike Scoles * [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* Department of Psychology * voice: (501) 450-5418 *
* University of Central Arkansas * fax: (501) 450-5424 *
* Conway, AR 72035-0001 * *
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