Topics in cognitive science.
Publisher:
Cognitive Science Society, Inc.,
Frequency: Quarterly
Country: United States
Language: English
Author(s):
Cognitive Science Society (U.S.)
Start Year:2009 -
Identifiers
| ISSN: | 1756-8757 (Print) 1756-8765 (Electronic) 1756-8757 (Linking) |
| NLM ID: | 101506764 |
| (OCoLC): | 309926006 |
| LCCN: | 2009208792 |
| Classification: | W1 TO539LJ |
Linear versus branching depictions of evolutionary history: implications for diagram design. This article reports the results of an experiment involving 108 college students with varying backgrounds in biology. Subjects answered questions about the evolutionary history of sets of hominid and equine taxa. Each set of taxa was presented in one of three diagrammatic formats: a noncladogenic diagram found in a contemporary biology textbook or a cladogram in either the ladder or tree format. As predicted, the textbook diagrams, which contained linear components, were more likely than the cladogram formats to yield explanations of speciation as an anagenic process, a common misconception am...