People full endlessly about whether and how to compare apples and pears, or apples and oranges, or whatever similar comparison is popular in their culture. Here’s a comparatively new approach:
“Comparing Apples and Pears in Studies on Magnitude Estimations,” Mirjam Ebersbach [pictured here], Koen Luwel and Lieven Verschaffe, Frontiers in Cognitive Science, June 18, 2013. The authors, at the University of Kassel, Germany, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, and Katholieke University Leuven, Belgium, explain:
“The present article is concerned with studies on magnitude estimations that strived to uncover the underlying mental representation(s) of magnitudes…. Studies involving absolute magnitude estimations differ broadly with regard to the tasks, the stimuli, and the methods of analysis. Hence, even additional studies might provide no further clarity on children’sand adults’ estimation abilities and the nature of their underlying mental representations as long as apples and pears are collected into the same basket.”
(Thanks to investigator Neil Martin for bringing this to our attention.)
BONUS: Scott Sandford‘s scientific comparison of apples and oranges