Chapter 11 Flashcards
Motivated reasoning
Biased evaluation of evidence, in accordance with one’s prior views and beliefs.
Reasoning
A thought process that yields a conclusion from premises.
Syllogism
A syllogism consists of two premises and a conclusion. Each of the premises specifies a relationship between two categories. Sometimes a syllogism is invalid but believable and is accepted by a majority of people.
Premise
Thoughts, percepts, or assumptions that lead to conclusions.
Four Forms of Syllogistic Reasoning
Universal affirmative: All A are B (All cows are animals). Universal negative: No A are B (No tomatoes are animals). Particular affirmative: Some A are B (Some animals are dangerous). Particular negative: Some A are not B(Some animals are not cows). Some means at least one, and possibly all
Logicism
The belief that logical reasoning is an essential part of human nature.
Practical syllogism
One in which two premises point to a conclusion that calls for an action (I need to understand Psych, and to do that I must understand cognition. Therefore I must study cognition).
“Some”
Some means at least one, and possibly all. We usually think of it to mean less than the whole amount, and less than the majority.
Mental models
We construct mental models or a mental structure of a situation to which a set of premises refers and then draw conclusions that are consistent with the model.
Relational reasoning
Reasoning involving premises that express the relations between items (e.g. A is taller than B). That is a transitive relation.
Transitive relation
Expressed by comparative sentences such as “taller than”. “Taller than” is transitive because if A is taller than B and B is taller than C than A is also taller than C. Usually come in pairs, in which one is the opposite of the other.
Three-term series problem
Linear syllogisms consisting of two comparative sentences from which a conclusion must be drawn.
Iconic
A characteristic of mental models, according to Johnson-Laird’s theory; the reactions between the parts of the model correspond to the relations between the parts of the situation it represents.
Emergent consequences
A principle of Johnson-Laird’s theory: you can get more out of a mental model than you put into it.
Parsimony
A principle of Johnson-Laird’s theory: people tend to construct the simplest mental model possible.
Natural deduction system
A reasoning system made up of propositions and deduction rules that are used to draw conclusions from these propositions.
Generative problem (Wason)
Participants are told that the three numbers 2, 4, and 6 conform to a simple relational rule that the experimenter has in mind, and that their task is to discover the rule by generating sequences of three numbers. The experimenter tells them each time whether the rule has been followed.
Eliminative strategy
A strategy based on attempting to falsify your hypothesis, in order to eliminate incorrect beliefs.
Confirmation bias
The tendency to seek confirmatory evidence for a hypothesis.
Selection task (Wason)
A four-card problem based on conditional reasoning. (Choosing which two cards will disprove the rule and show it to be false, aka falsify it and either prove it right or wrong).
Conditional reasoning
Reasoning that uses conditional (“if…then”) statements.
Truth tables
A way of presenting the various combinations of the constituents of logical statements.
Social contract theory
The theory that inference procedures have evolved to deal with social contracts in which people give something up in order to gain something else. We are very good at detecting cheaters of this social contract. We would choose the cards in the selection task that would detect cheaters in that circumstance, regardless of whether it was the logical choice or not.
Bias
A predisposition to see a particular type of situation in a particular way. We have a bias that what is beautiful is good…not true… look at political candidates.
