The Monster Files

Strengthen and Weaken questions often ask you to affect causal arguments. This game trains your ability to recognize alternate explanations as well as evidence that adds or detracts from the plausibility of causal hypotheses.

How it works. Pick a case file: the Sasquatch in western Washington, the Jersey Devil in the Pine Barrens, or the Chessie in Chesapeake Bay. Each case opens with the prevailing hypothesis about the creature. Ten leads wait on the field map; drive out to each one (for the Chessie, you go by boat), read the field report, and file the finding as strengthens, weakens, or neither. You get feedback on every call, with a plain explanation of what the finding does to the hypothesis and why.

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