On this relationship, Kuhn (1991) argues that ‘‘some sort of epistemological theory
regarding the process of knowing underlies a subject’s argumentative reasoning’’ (p. 172). In
her study, Kuhn (1991) interviewed participants about the causes of everyday controversial
problems. Participants had to offer and justify a theory, generate an opposing position, and
then rebut it. Kuhn also indirectly elicited participants’ understandings about knowledge.
Findings showed that participants with more informed epistemological understandings showed
more developed argument skills compared to those with less informed understandings.
However, the differences were statistically insignificant. In the same way, Nussbaum et al.
(2008) investigated the effect of college undergraduates’ epistemic beliefs on the quality of
their arguments. They found that participants with more informed epistemic beliefs generated
better arguments. Along the same lines, Weinstock and Cronin (2003) investigated whether
people’s everyday reasoning reflected their understandings about the nature of knowledge.
Participants were prospective jurors who responded to questions about their understandings of
the knowledge claims evolving from discrepant historical events. Participants assumed the
role of a juror, where the defendant was on trial for murder. After listening to reenactments
of criminal cases, the participant had to decide on verdicts and justify their choices. Results
showed that epistemological understandings predicted the overall argument ability among jurors.