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Aligning Multiple Research Techniques in Cognitive Neuroscience: Why Is It Important?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

William Bechtel
William Bechtel*
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
*
William Bechtel, Department of Philosophy, 0119, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093; bill@mind-brain.net.
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Abstract

The need to align multiple experimental procedures and produce converging results so as to demonstrate that the phenomenon under investigation is real and not an artifact is a commonplace both in scientific practice and discussions of scientific methodology (Campbell and Stanley 1963; Wimsatt 1981). Although sometimes this is the purpose of aligning techniques, often there is a different purpose—multiple techniques are sought to supply different perspectives on the phenomena under investigation that need to be integrated to answer the questions scientists are asking. After introducing this function, I will illustrate it by considering three of the major techniques in cognitive neuroscience for linking cognitive function with neural structure.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 69 , Issue S3 , September 2002 , pp. S48 - S58
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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