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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argument map | 3/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_map | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:44:34.364572+00:00 | kb-cron |
Human–computer interaction pioneer Douglas Engelbart, in a famous 1962 technical report on intelligence augmentation, envisioned in detail something like argument-mapping software as an integral part of future intelligence-augmenting computer interfaces: You usually think of an argument as a serial sequence of steps of reason, beginning with known facts, assumptions, etc., and progressing toward a conclusion. Well, we do have to think through these steps serially, and we usually do list the steps serially when we write them out because that is pretty much the way our papers and books have to present them—they are pretty limiting in the symbol structuring they enable us to use. ... To help us get better comprehension of the structure of an argument, we can also call forth a schematic or graphical display. Once the antecedent-consequent links have been established, the computer can automatically construct such a display for us. In the middle to late 1980s, hypertext software applications that supported argument visualization were developed, including NoteCards and gIBIS; the latter generated an on-screen graphical hypertextual map of an issue-based information system, a model of argumentation developed by Werner Kunz and Horst Rittel in the 1970s. In the 1990s, Tim van Gelder and colleagues developed a series of software applications that permitted an argument map's premises to be fully stated and edited in the diagram, rather than in a legend. Van Gelder's first program, Reason!Able, was superseded by two subsequent programs, bCisive and Rationale. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, many other software applications were developed for argument visualization. By 2013, more than 60 such software systems existed. In a 2010 survey of computer-supported argumentation, Oliver Scheuer and colleagues noted that one of the differences between these software systems is whether collaboration is supported. In their survey, single-user argumentation systems included Convince Me, iLogos, LARGO, Athena, Araucaria, and Carneades; small group argumentation systems included Digalo, QuestMap, Compendium, Belvedere, and AcademicTalk; community argumentation systems included Debategraph and Collaboratorium. Free and open source structured argumentation systems include Argdown and Argüman. As of 2020, the commercial website Kialo is the most widely adopted argumentation-based deliberation system with an argument-map interface. On Kialo, users can usually vote on the debate question to express their overall conclusion about the subject, with the average and a bar chart of these votes being included at the top of every debate. Moreover, users can rate the impact individual arguments at the top level had on their conclusion. In branches beneath the top level, users can likewise rank the impact any individual argument has on the claim above it. The rationale (i.e. the main causal arguments) for their vote on a thesis or an argument is not recorded if these reasons are missing in the claims beneath it or if these have not been rated by the same users. This system of transparent voting represents Kialo's algorithm of collective determination of argument weights and theses' veracities, which has a plurality component in that users of the site can also switch between the perspectives of specific users and several groups of users (e.g. supporters and opponents of a thesis) which for example enables identifying which arguments were considered as most impactful for these particular users. In the context of historical-political education, researcher Oliver Held identified at least five key components of historical judgment that can be implemented easily in Kialo: perspectivity, levels of relevance, interdependence, multi-causality and assessments.
== Applications == Argument maps have been applied in many areas, but foremost in educational, academic and business settings, including design rationale. Argument maps are also used in forensic science, law, and artificial intelligence. It has also been proposed that argument mapping has a great potential to improve how we understand and execute democracy, in reference to the ongoing evolution of e-democracy.
=== Difficulties with the philosophical tradition === It has traditionally been hard to separate teaching critical thinking from the philosophical tradition of teaching logic and method, and most critical thinking textbooks have been written by philosophers. Informal logic textbooks are replete with philosophical examples, but it is unclear whether the approach in such textbooks transfers to non-philosophy students. There appears to be little statistical effect after such classes. Argument mapping, however, has a measurable effect according to many studies. For example, instruction in argument mapping has been shown to improve the critical thinking skills of business students.
=== Evidence that argument mapping improves critical thinking ability === There is empirical evidence that the skills developed in argument-mapping-based critical thinking courses substantially transfer to critical thinking done without argument maps. Alvarez's meta-analysis found that such critical thinking courses produced gains of around 0.70 SD, about twice as much as standard critical-thinking courses. The tests used in the reviewed studies were standard critical-thinking tests.