Chapter 2. Prehension

Chapter 1 - Introduction 9
mented. Good conceptual models offer testable hypotheses that exper-
imental results can support or refute. Platt (1964), in a powerful
statement on the importance of strong inference as a way to further
science, argues that the fiist question to ask on hearing a scientific
theory is, ‘But what experiment could disprove your hypothesis?’
The power of empirical studies is that observations are made directly
on the system of interest. Actual data are collected. Experiments can
be designed with manipulations to perturb the system and/or to explore
the range and boundary conditions for system behaviors at many
levels of analysis. These experiments can be behavioral, anatomical,
biomechanical, or neurophysiological. Behavioral studies allow one
to observe behavior where a task is set up with constraints, and then to
measure various aspects of the movement.
Suggest
Special Manipulations
Existence Proof
Conceptual
Models
I
Introduce increasing
complexity to build
more comprehensive Suggest
conceptual models
Direct
Strong Inference
Figure 1.3 Triangle strategy. Comprehensive conceptual models
can be validated by the tools of computational modellers and ex-
perimenters. Experiments and computational models can suggest
new conceptual models.