TY - JOUR
T1 - Free-viewing as experimental system to test the Temporal Correlation Hypothesis
T2 - A case of theory-generative experimental practice
AU - Garrido Wainer, Juan Manuel
AU - Espinosa, Juan Felipe
AU - Hirmas, Natalia
AU - Trujillo, Nicolás
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Associative Research Program (PIA) of the National Commission for Science and Technology (CONICYT) SOC180039 , Fondecyt 1180320 , and Fondecyt 1190543 .
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - Theory-free characterizations of experimental systems miss normative and conceptual components that sometimes are crucial to understanding their historical development. In the following paper, we show that these components may be part of the intrinsic capacities of experimental systems themselves. We study a case of non-exploratory and theory-oriented research in experimental neuroscience that concerns the construction of free-viewing as an experimental system to test one particular pre-existing hypothesis, the Temporal Correlation Hypothesis (TCH), at a laboratory in Santiago de Chile, during 2002–2008. We show that the system does not take well-formulated pre-existing predictions or hypotheses to test them directly, but re-creates them and re-signifies them in terms that are not implied by the theoretical background from which they originally derived. Therefore, we conclude that there is a sui generis way in which experimental systems produce proper theoretical knowledge.
AB - Theory-free characterizations of experimental systems miss normative and conceptual components that sometimes are crucial to understanding their historical development. In the following paper, we show that these components may be part of the intrinsic capacities of experimental systems themselves. We study a case of non-exploratory and theory-oriented research in experimental neuroscience that concerns the construction of free-viewing as an experimental system to test one particular pre-existing hypothesis, the Temporal Correlation Hypothesis (TCH), at a laboratory in Santiago de Chile, during 2002–2008. We show that the system does not take well-formulated pre-existing predictions or hypotheses to test them directly, but re-creates them and re-signifies them in terms that are not implied by the theoretical background from which they originally derived. Therefore, we conclude that there is a sui generis way in which experimental systems produce proper theoretical knowledge.
KW - Experimental neuroscience
KW - Experimental systems
KW - Free viewing
KW - Hypothesis testing
KW - Temporal correlation hypothesis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085335761&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.shpsc.2020.101307
DO - 10.1016/j.shpsc.2020.101307
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085335761
SN - 1369-8486
VL - 83
JO - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C :Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
JF - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C :Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
M1 - 101307
ER -