The Processes of Scientific Discovery: The Strategy of Experimentation

Hans Krebs' discovery, in 1932, of the urea cycle was a major event in biochemistry. This article describes a program, KEKADA, which models the heuristics Hans Krebs used in this discovery. KEKADA reacts to surprises, formulates explanations, and carries out experiments in the same manner as the evidence in the form of laboratory notebooks and interviews indicates Hans Krebs did. Furthermore, we answer a number of questions about the nature of the heuristics used by Krebs, in particular: How domain-specific are the heuristics? To what extent are they idiosyncratic to Krebs? To what extent do they represent general strategies of problem-solving search? The relative generality of KEKADA allows us to view the control structure of KEKADA and its domain-independent heuristics as a model of scientific experimentation that should apply over a broad domain.     

A manifesto for the new MCDA era

The following manifesto has been prepared by five prominent workers in the field of MCDA. We are currently preparing a special issue on the issues that they raise (see Call for Papers on p. 128). We invite you to contribute to the debate in that issue, either in the form of a paper or a letter to the Editor.     

Memory and planning processes in solutions to well-structured problems

Although many studies in the problem-solving literature have considered the factors that might determine the strategies that are employed to solve well-structured problems, these have typically focused upon variants of means-end analysis. In general, such models imply that strategies unfold in a temporally forward direction, that problem solvers typically restrict forward-planning activities to just one or two moves ahead of the current problem state, and that one important heuristic is the avoidance of previous moves. Although studies have demonstrated the importance of such anti-looping heuristics, few have systematically explored the possibility that problem solvers may also plan retrospectively in order to try and assess whether a move might take them back to a state that they have previously visited. Those models of problem solving that promote the role of an anti-looping heuristic have assumed that the ability to use such a heuristic is based upon memory for previous states, but other interpretations are possible. In this paper several studies are reported that attempt systematically to explore participants' attempts to recognize previously visited problem solving states. The findings suggest that there is a systematic relationship between the success of this process, the time taken to make this judgement, and distance from the current state. It is also demonstrated that estimations about where future positions are likely to occur are symmetrical to estimations about past positions. It is suggested that this provides evidence that problem solvers engage in retrospective planning processes in order to try and avoid previous moves, and that this strategy may not be based straightforwardly upon their ability to remember previous problem states.     

Improving partnerships with families and carers in in‐patient mental health services for older people: a staff training programme and family liaison service

In spite of policies advocating the involvement of families in the care of mental health service users in the UK, there are few examples of initiatives to develop staff confidence and skills in partnership working. This article describes a whole team training initiative and family liaison service to promote family inclusive working on in‐patient wards for older people in Somerset, UK. A three‐day staff‐training programme is described and training outcomes are reported. Staff report a substantial increase in confidence and family meetings held. A pre‐and post‐ training case note audit shows increased consideration of the needs of families. To further increase face to face meetings with families a family liaison service has been established, whereby a staff member with systemic family therapy training joins ward staff to hold family meetings as part of the assessment/admission process. Evaluation of this service has shown it to be effective with positive feedback from families and staff.