How plausible one finds either side may turn, in the end, on the plausibility of the larger normative theories in which these views respectively figure.
This prior probability represents how plausible the hypothesis is supposed to be based on considerations other than the observational and experimental evidence (e.g., perhaps due to relevant plausibility arguments).
Figure 3 summarizes how the plausibility affected reasoning accuracy in the two groups of participants.
We believe that future assessment of evidence should consider this dimension and develop a systematic consensus approach to how biological plausibility should influence the classification of evidence.
We explore with biochemical models of increasing plausibility how buffering can be elicited.
The production staff of last year's hit "Meet the Parents" consulted the agency about how to ensure the plausibility of a polygraph test that Robert De Niro's character, a former C.I.A. officer, administers to his potential son-in-law, played by Ben Stiller.
Further Reading: For more on the notion of intrinsic plausibility and how it figures in the structure of reason, see Chapter 9 of Parsons (2008).
Classical computationalists typically reply that it is premature to draw firm conclusions based upon biological plausibility, given how little we understand about the relation between neural, computational, and cognitive levels of description (Gallistel and King 2009; Marcus 2003).
Furthermore, agents in a scientific community may disagree about how strongly the available plausibility arguments support a hypothesis over a rival hypothesis; so prior probability ratios may be somewhat diverse as well.
Continuous ovulation is thought to predispose to ovarian epithelial cell DNA damage, which in turn gives rise to carcinogenesis, thus providing mechanistic plausibility to how cessation of ovulation from oral contraceptives might lead to lower cancer risk [ 3].
