My article, “Cognitive constraints on theories and category structure in the twelfth-century Arabic agricultural manual of al-Tighnari,” has now been published.
Luckyn-Malone, Phoebe (2013). “Cognitive constraints on theories and category structure in the twelfth-century Arabic agricultural manual of al-Tighnari.” In: Mediterráneos: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Cultures of the Mediterranean Sea, edited by Sergio Carro Martín, Arturo Echavarren, Esther Fernández Medina, Daniel Riaño Rufilanchas, Katja Šmid, Jesús Téllez Rubio and David Torollo Sánchez, 429–42. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
You can see a preview on Google Books.
For more information about the book Mediterráneos, visit the publisher’s page.
Luckyn-Malone, Phoebe. “Cognitive constraints on theories and category structure in the twelfth-century Arabic agricultural manual of al-Tignari.” Chapter accepted for publication in the proceedings of the Mediterráneos Conference which was held at the CCHS-CSIC in Madrid, December 13-15, 2010.
PDF
**Pre-publication draft—subject to further editorial revision**
Abstract This study investigates the role of cognitive bias in the development of scienti fic knowledge by examining the representation of natural phenomena in the Andalusi agricultural manual of al-Tignari (fl. 480/1087). The article argues that psychological essentialism was a fundamental constraint on Tignari’s conceptualization of natural phenomena and on how he formulated botanical theories. The findings of this study suggest that psychological essentialism is a crucial factor in theory development and conceptual change in the study of living organisms.
Resumen Este estudio investiga el papel de los sesgos cognitivos en el desarrollo del conocimiento científico mediante el análisis de las representaciónes de fenómenos naturales en la obra agronómica andalusí de al-Tignari (fl. 480/1087). El artículo argumenta que el esencialismo psicológico constriñó de manera fundamental la conceptualización de fenómenos naturales de al-Tignari y su formulación de teorías botánicas. Los resultados de este estudio sugieren que el esencialismo psicológico es un factor crucial en el desarrollo de teorías y en el cambio conceptual en el estudio de los organismos vivos.
