DBR

Diagram Based Reasoning

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Diagrams are massively used in many reasoning processes and in the very practice of science; however, there is in general no consensus about the reasons why a diagram can be successfully used, and whether it represents only an auxiliary aid for reasoning or is something more fundamental for it. The aim of the present project is the in depth investigation into the capacity of diagrams to convey information and supporting reasoning and inferences, which is necessary for a general evaluation of the tools available for thought, especially in view of the very fast developing of new technologies that support reasoning and communication. The objectives of the current project are the following: (1) the evaluation of the cognitive advantages in the use of diagrams. (2) a classification of diagrams. To assess this question, three hypotheses will be tested empirically: (a) diagrams confer cognitive advantage over linguistic representations. It will be evaluated to what extent diagrams are effective in promoting inference generation, in particular in making it possible to extract and manipulate information without long calculations. (b) diagrams constitute a cognitive advantage over mental computations, for the very reason that they are extra-mental devices. It will be evaluated whether the claim that certain cognitive problems are solved more quickly, easily and reliably by performing actions and manipulations directly on the diagram itself to promote new inferences is true. (c) it is necessary to move from the question of what a diagram is to the question of what a diagram is used for, and to focus on the different uses that can be made of diagrams to convey information. The cognitive study into the use of diagrams is thus combined with a pragmatic study of the way diagrams are actually used, thereby side-stepping the uninformative dichotomy visual vs. non visual.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Diagrams are very frequently used to explain reasoning processes. EU-funded scientists have investigated why diagrams are successfully used to convey information and support reasoning.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Despite the ubiquitous use of diagrams to convey information and support reasoning, there has, until now, been no consensus about why a diagram can be successfully used. Scientists in France, as part of the 'Diagram based reasoning' (DBR) project, have revealed the advantages of diagrams over linguistic representations, insisting that their findings will have immediate and far-reaching consequences for teaching practices.

To reach their conclusions, the DBR research team carried out a series of experiments, including an analysis of various diagrams to draw up a classification system. Hence, the diagrams were divided into two categories. The first group was made up of those diagrams with a 'static' use: the user simply extracts a piece of information from the diagram and for this reason the diagram promotes her memory. The second group included diagrams with the 'more interesting' dynamic use, whereby the user infers some new piece of information from the diagram, and does that by modifying or 'manipulating' it.

Within these two categories, the DBR researchers further distinguished between the diagrams according to the degree of correspondence between the particular diagrammatic format and the structure of data conveyed by a particular diagrammatic format. The researchers then graded the correspondence: for example, linguistic descriptions were graded as having zero degree of correspondence and scientific images a very high degree of correspondence.

Other experiments were carried out to evaluate the inferential power of the use of diagrams. The DBR research team found that drawings, namely graphs and sketches, improved a person's performance when she was answering questions involving 'visuo-spatial reasoning about non-manipulable objects'. The scientists therefore concluded that 'the use of images in education should be seriously scrutinised'.