Cognition Chapter 11 (Reasoning) Flashcards
What does an argument consist of
- Premisis (proposition about something being true or false)
- Signal word (therefore, because, so, etc) (sometimes left out)
- Conclusion (also a kind of proposition)
–> you draw the conclusion from the premisis
premisis can also come after conclusion
define reasoning
the cognitive process of deriving new information from old information
Explain the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning
Deductive is when making new facts from theories (A ball is round, every ball can be played with, every round object can be played with)
Inductive is when making theories from observations (3 of my brothers are smart, all brothers are smart)
What kind of deductive arguments are there
- popositional reasoning (conditional rules, premisis have “if…then” in them)
- syllogistic reasoning (statements about groups and categories)
What does an argument consist of
- Premises (propositions about truth or false)
- Signal word (so, because, therefore…) (might be absent)
- Conclusion (also a kind of preposition)
How do you reason if an argument is true (2 steps)
- Are the premises true
- Does the conclusion follow logically from the premises
This mental skill is evaluation
Venn Diagramms may really help
What are the 2 inference mistakes
- confirm the consequent (if A then B; if B is true –> A is true)
- denying the antecedent (if A then B; if A false –> B is false)
What is
.
Whats an euler diagram
its a kind of venn diagramm
What is propositional reasoning
It is formal reasoning with logic
What are the 3 inference rules
modus ponens (if A then B; if A is true --> B is also true) modus tollens (if A then B; if A is false --> B is also false) double negation (A is not false; B --> true)
Why is confirming the consequent or deniying the antecendent so hard?
Because people often interpret the premisis wrong. They take words to important
What are suppression effects
When additional premisis give the participant better hints to supress an error
The shape of content and premisis may supress the right interpretation
what is the mental models approach
reasoing with mental images (like venn diagrams)
storing mental images of things that are true to associate with prepositions
(saves working memory but may cause mistakes)
What are syllogisms
When porpositions are about category membership
Words like all, some or none
All A is B
What are belief biases
When the conclusion seems true in your real world so you accept it even tho its invalid
What is the atmosphere effect
The people draw an invalid conclusion because it matches the premise in form (all, some, no)
Explain inductive reasoning
two aspects
1. Does the conclusion follow logically from the premisis given that the premisis are true
What is the figural bias
People tend to connnect sets in a simple way
Whats a matching bias
matching the elements from the questions on behaviour
What is social contract theory
when people use deontic rules to see what is allowed or mandatory
People are good at this because of evolution
What is special about mental illnesses and reasoning
Obsessive compulsory disorders and depression cause better reasoning regarding their illness related material
What is the wason selection task
cards with letters and numbers on each side
the hypothesis is that if there is a vowel on one side there is an even number on the other
–> this often leads to confirmation bias
What did the 2-4-6 dice experiment find
Peoeple are way better at reasoning when they can test externally (with dice etc) than when they have to do it internally with working memory
