Natural paths to invention: Reinventing the wheel |
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Authors: | Robert J Weber Antolin M Llorente |
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Institution: | 1. Oklahoma State University, USA
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Abstract: | Four studies explored candidate pathways underlying the invention of the “wheeled cart.” In Study 1, heuristics were abstracted
from subjects’ judgements of different precursor paths to the wheeled cart. In Studies 2 and 3, these heuristics were tested
for generality across different precursor paths. In Study 4, subjects ranked the order of incorporating parts into the wheeled
cart. While the studies cannot “prove” that the wheeled cart developed in one of the candidate ways, they show that interesting
and important heuristics of invention can be uncovered from subject’s judgements. Examining candidate paths to important inventions
is a method worthy of exploration. Together, the four studies indicate that important historical inventions might be examined
experimentally. Doing so yields potentially important invention heuristics. |
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