Knowing Who Knows: Laypersons' Capabilities to Judge Experts' Pertinence for Science Topics

被引:42
作者
Bromme, Rainer [1 ]
Thomm, Eva [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Munster, Inst Psychol, Fliednerstr 21, D-48149 Munster, Germany
关键词
Division of cognitive labor; Pertinence judgment; Expertise; Folk science; Understanding; Calibration; Adults; COGNITIVE LABOR; FOLK SCIENCE; KNOWLEDGE; DIVISION;
D O I
10.1111/cogs.12252
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
010107 [宗教学];
摘要
Because modern societies are built on elaborate divisions of cognitive labor, individuals remain laypersons in most knowledge domains. Hence, they have to rely on others' expertise when deciding on many science-related issues in private and public life. Even children already locate and discern expertise in the minds of others (e.g., Danovitch & Keil, 2004). This study examines how far university students accurately judge experts' pertinence for science topics even when they lack proficient knowledge of the domain. Participants judged the pertinence of experts from diverse disciplines based on the experts' assumed contributions to texts adapted from original articles from Science and Nature. Subjective pertinence judgments were calibrated by comparing them with bibliometrics of the original articles. Furthermore, participants' general science knowledge was controlled. Results showed that participants made well-calibrated pertinence judgments regardless of their level of general science knowledge.
引用
收藏
页码:241 / 252
页数:12
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