[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-657873-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-657873-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","diagrams-as-tools-for-scientific-reasoning","Diagrams as Tools for Scientific Reasoning","","Diagrams function as tools for scientific reasoning in biology, not only for communicating research results. In mechanistic studies, diagrams delineate the phenomenon, specify explanatory relations among relevant variables, and display organized parts and operations of the proposed mechanism. Using graphs or related visual formats, they support visual pattern detection and help researchers decide what experiments are needed to improve existing mechanistic accounts, with analysis focused on circadian rhythm research.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/diagrams-as-tools-for-scientific-reasoning/657873/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/diagrams-as-tools-for-scientific-reasoning/657873.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mia  ","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-26",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":30},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What role do diagrams play beyond communication in biology?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"Diagrams support reasoning throughout mechanistic research by delineating phenomena, expressing explanatory relations, and structuring mechanistic accounts.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How do phenomenon diagrams differ from explanatory relations diagrams?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Phenomenon diagrams focus on the phenomenon of interest, often as graphs relating variables. Explanatory relations diagrams also take graph form but emphasize relations involving variables that connect to parts or operations in a mechanism.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What is the paper’s focus when applying these functions of diagrams?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"The functions are examined using circadian rhythm research, illustrating how diagrams guide visual pattern detection and the planning of experiments to refine mechanistic explanations.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},657873,1793115226,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":30,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},687207024478,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Diagrams as Tools for Scientific Reasoning  \nAdele Abrahamsen and William Bechtel University of California, San Diego  \nAbstract  \nWe contend that diagrams are tools not only for communication but also for supporting the reasoning of biologists. In the mechanistic research that is characteristic of biology, diagrams delineate the phenomenon to be explained, display explanatory relations, and show the organized parts and operations of the mechanism proposed as responsible for the phenomenon. Both phenomenon diagrams and explanatory relations diagrams, employing graphs or other formats, facilitate applying visual processing to the detection of relevant patterns. Mechanism diagrams guide reasoning about how the parts and operations work together to produce the phenomenon and what experiments need to be done to improve on the existing account. We examine how these functions are served by diagrams in circadian rhythm research.  \nKey Words: Diagrams; visual reasoning; mechanistic explanation; phenomena; explanatory relations; biology; circadian rhythms  \nIntroduction  \nAnyone who has read a journal article or attended a talk by a biologist knows that biologists make extensive use of diagrams. What functions do these serve? The most obvious function is communication. Late in the research process, diagrams are deployed in research reports to convey to others the hypotheses, apparatus, methods, findings, and other completed aspects of the research process. If that is their only function, those interested in the cognitive activities of scientific inquiry may regard diagrams as epiphenomenal. We contend that in fact scientists use diagrams as tools throughout the research process. In this paper we focus in particular on the distinctive functions served by diagrams in three aspects of mechanistic research:  \n(1) delineating the phenomenon to be explained;  \n(2) identifying explanatory relations (relations between variables that are relevant to explaining the phenomenon);  \n(3) constructing and revising a mechanistic explanation of the phenomenon.  \nThe term diagram does not have clear boundaries. Its etymology suggests a very inclusive meaning—any visuospatial representation—which would cover virtually all of the figures in a scientific paper including photographs, flow charts of a procedure, and line drawings of an experimental apparatus. Here, though, we focus more narrowly on those diagrams serving the epistemic functions most relevant to mechanistic explanation, which includes graphs and relatively abstract figures but usually excludes drawings and photographs. We distinguish these three types, which correspond to the three aspects of mechanistic research just noted:  \n(a) Phenomenon diagrams help delineate the phenomenon of interest, often taking the form of a graph depicting the relation between two or more variables;  \n(b) Explanatory relations diagrams almost always take the form of a graph depicting the relation between two or more variables, at least one of which is not in (a) but may contribute to its explanation through its linkage to a part or operation in (c) .  \n(c) Mechanism diagrams provide a visuospatial representation of the organized parts and operations ofa mechanism, which may explain the phenomenon in (a) .  \nDiagrams are crucial for scientists carrying out different aspects of mechanistic research, as we will explore using circadian rhythm research as a source.  \nThis project has benefited from several existing strands of cognitive science research on diagrams. Elucidating how diagrams convey information differently than text was pioneered by Larkin and Simon (1987) and addressed most comprehensively by Tversky (2011), who has emphasized the use of space, icons, and what she calls glyphs (simple shapes and lines). Hegarty (Hegarty & Just, 1993; Hegarty, 2011) has investigated the use of diagrams as tools for reasoning; for example, displaying a diagram of a pulley, she tracks eye movements as people judge the truth","cbCaibOTIhryQAMr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibOTIhryQAMr","pdf",2487365,17,"English","# Introduction\n## Functions of Diagrams in Mechanistic Research\n## Types of Diagrams\n## Prior Research Background","[{\"question\":\"What role do diagrams play beyond communication in biology?\",\"answer\":\"Diagrams support reasoning throughout mechanistic research by delineating phenomena, expressing explanatory relations, and structuring mechanistic accounts.\"},{\"question\":\"How do phenomenon diagrams differ from explanatory relations diagrams?\",\"answer\":\"Phenomenon diagrams focus on the phenomenon of interest, often as graphs relating variables. Explanatory relations diagrams also take graph form but emphasize relations involving variables that connect to parts or operations in a mechanism.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the paper’s focus when applying these functions of diagrams?\",\"answer\":\"The functions are examined using circadian rhythm research, illustrating how diagrams guide visual pattern detection and the planning of experiments to refine mechanistic explanations.\"}]","Diagrams as Tools for Scientific Reasoning | PDF",1792992980,43]