In this chapter we examine subjects' ability to generate an alternative theory to their own – a theory that might be held by someone who disagreed with them and thought their theory was wrong. Note that this is a different dimension than the one that appears in chapter 2. There we found that a number of subjects express two (or more) alternative theories, endorsing both as conceivable explanations for the phenomenon. The question addressed in this chapter is whether a subject is able to conceive of a contrasting theory – one that someone who disagrees with the subject might cite. Can subjects identify what would constitute an alternative to what they themselves believe – something they conceive not to be a cause of the phenomenon?

This question is an important one. The pseudoevidence scripts examined in chapter 3 suggest the possibility that a scenario of events leading to school failure or return to crime may be regarded simply as “the way it happens,” without regard for the possibility that it could be otherwise. Hence, it is important to know whether subjects are able to conceive of alternative theories to their own, and it is also of interest to examine the relation between this ability and the reliance on pseudoevidence that we found so prevalent in chapter 3.