Belief Bias Reasoning

What is the belief bias effect? (2)

ppl perform better when conclusions were believable even if they were logically invalid

ppl accept conclusions they believe to be true regardless of logical validity

What matters with belief bias reasoning?

inference type

ppl perform best on MP and MT which are logically valid forms

Who first devised syllogistic reasoning?

aristotle who believed it to be the basis of rational thought

What does a syllogism consist of?

2 premises and a conclusion and contains any of the quantifiers - all, no, some, some…not

What does belief index measure?

the difference in acceptance of believable and unbelievable conclusions, the bigger the index, the more belief bias is observed

What are endorsement rates?

how often people judged that a conclusion follows logically

What is the belief index?

(VB + IB) - (VU + IU)

higher values = more belief based reasoning and shows how much more ppl endorse believable conclusions regardless of validity

What happens in both conditional and syllogistic reasoning?

the believability of the conclusion exerts a strong influence on endorsement rates

What do believable conclusions do?

makes it easier to make valid inferences - enhances reasoning

makes it harder to reject invalid inferences - hinders reasoning

Whatdo unbelievable conclusions do?

make it harder to make valid inferences bc belief and logic are in conflict

makes it easier to reject invalid inferences bc belief and logic are not in conflict

What did Kahneman suggest?

that we have 2 systems for thinking - fast heuristic processing/rapid intuitive inferences and slow analytic processing/slower deliberate inferences

How does Kahneman’s theory connect to belief bias?

ppl often rely on system 1 and accept believable conclusions without checking validity

engaging system 2 helps spot invalid but believable conclusions and make logical judgements

What does the fast thinking stream do?

handles the continuous stream of thoughts we have automatically such as recalling known facts

What is the slow thinking system used for?

mental activities that require focus like solving complex problems such as recalling a less familiar fact like your number

How do the systems interact?

1 does most of the work but when it encounters something it cant handle then it activates system 2 which tries to shift tasks to 1 once they become routine to save energy

What are the 3 principles in the heuristic analytic theory?

singularity - only a single mental model considered at a time

relevance - consider most relevant mental model based on prior knowledge/context

satisficing - current mental model is considered by analytic system and accepted if adequate

What is the heuristic analytic theory by Evans?

expands on dual process thinking by showing how heuristic and analystical processes interact in decision making and reasoning

What are heuristic processes?

quick intuitive shortcuts which generates a mental model

What are analystical processes?

steps taken to evaluate or correct if needed

What is the heuristic analytic model like?

dynamic - depends on context, time pressure and cognitive capacity

What is the dfr bt Kahneman and Evans theories?

whilst K talks about 2 systems, E zooms in on how they interact, with heuristics building fast models and analytics validating/rejecting them when needed

What did DeNeys look at?

how intuitive and deliberate systems interact over time in our thinking and compared 3 models

What is the serial model?

start with intuitive thinking and if a conflict arises, deliberate thinking gets triggered

What is the parallel model?

intuitive and deliberate processes run at same time from the start

What is the logical intuition model?

2 types of intuitive processing occurs from start - heuristic and logical

if conflict bt them arises, deliberate reasoning activates

What did Thompson find about feeling of rightness?

low FoR asc with longer analytic processing and responses are quicker if FoR is high

What evidence has been found of early conflict detection?

greater physiological arousal as measured by skin conductance during conflict problems on a belief bias reasoning task

presence of conflict was detected below conscious level

What do valid/invalid inferences require?

1 mental model - VI

2 for invalid

What are strengths of the HA theory? (4)

wide applicability

evidence for reasoning being based on the 3 principles

evidence for distinguishing bt heuristic and analytical processes is strong

accounts for some indv dfrs based on the extent to which they use analytic processes

What are some limitations of the HA theory?

distinction bt heuristic and analytic processing is too neat

implicit/explicit and h/a may actually represent 2 idp dimensions

not clear how indvs decide on which process to use

assumes logic is conscious and fails to lay out how h/a processes interact