Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T05:03:39.884Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Does rational analysis stand up to rational analysis?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Jonathan St. B. T. Evans
Jonathan St. B. T. Evans
Affiliation:
Centre for Thinking and Language, School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, United Kingdom. j.evans@plymouth.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

I agree with Oaksford & Chater (O&C) that human beings resemble Bayesian reasoners much more closely than ones engaging standard logic. However, I have many problems with their “rational analysis” framework, which appears to be rooted in normative rather than ecological rationality. The authors also overstate everyday rationality and neglect to account for much relevant psychological work on reasoning.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 88 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Elqayam, S. (2008) Normative rationality and the is-ought fallacy. In: Proceedings of the Second European Cognitive Science Conference, ed. Vosiniadou, S., Kayser, D. & Protopaps, A., pp. 249–99. Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Evans, J. St. B. T. (2002) Logic and human reasoning: An assessment of the deduction paradigm. Psychological Bulletin 128:978–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, J. St. B. T. (2007) Hypothetical thinking: Dual processes in reasoning and judgement. Psychology Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, J. St. B. T. (2008) Dual-processing accounts of reasoning, judgment and social cognition. Annual Review of Psychology 59:255–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, J. St. B. T. & Over, D. E. (1996a) Rationality and reasoning. Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Evans, J. St. B. T. & Over, D. E. (2004) If. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gigerenzer, G. (2004) Fast and frugal heuristics: The tools of bounded rationality. In: Blackwell handbook of judgment and decision making, ed. Koehler, D. J. & Harvey, N., pp. 62–88. Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilovich, T., Griffin, D. & Kahneman, D. (2002) Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgement. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koehler, D. J. & Harvey, N. (2004) Blackwell handbook of judgement and decision making. Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oaksford, M. & Chater, N. (2007) Bayesian rationality: The probabilistic approach to human reasoning. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K. E. (1999) Who is rational? Studies of individual differences in reasoning. Elrbaum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar