Modeling Epistemic and Ontological Cognition: Philosophical Perspectives and Methodological Directions

Abstract

We propose an integration of aspects of several developmental and systems of beliefs models of personal epistemology. Qualitatively different positions, including realism, dogmatism, skepticism, and rationalism, are characterized according to individuals' beliefs across three dimensions in a model of epistemic and ontological cognition. This model incorporates ideas from philosophical epistemology, including a focus on students' multiple means of justification. Concerns regarding the psychometric qualities of quantitative measures of personal epistemology inform this model and its proposed operationalization. We suggest a means of statistical analysis that can be used to assess the construct and predictive validity of this conceptual model by testing the relations among positions, dimensions, and covariates of interest. Future research directions include investigating how individuals choose among various forms of justification.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Portions of this article are based on a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the doctoral degree in Human Development (Educational Psychology) at the University of Maryland under the joint supervision of the second and third authors.

We thank Patricia A. Alexander, P. Karen Murphy, and Gregory R. Hancock for their valuable insights regarding the ideas in this article. We also thank the editors and reviewers for their helpful feedback.

Notes

^a We have used both age and educational level terms in this table given their predominance in the personal epistemology literature but acknowledge that they are not ideal, particularly because the latter are not inclusive of individuals who do not attend college.