The Influence of Anomalous Data on Solving Human Abductive Tasks

Abstract

This paper describes an abductive process model of anomalous data integration. The model makes use of the entrenchment. of the current explanation (amount of data explained) and the probability of alternative explanation~. It is hypothesised that increasing confirmation of the anomaly itself increases the probability of alternative explanations. In an experimental study we found that both the entrenchment of an existing explanation and confirmation of the anomaly clearly influence how people resolve anomalous data. These results are in agreement with the predictions of the model.