Illusory inferences: a novel class of erroneous deductions
CognitionPublished 1 July 1999
P. N. Johnson‐Laird, Fabien Savary
Citations158
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.69
SNIP1.55
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TL;DR
Three experiments corroborated the systematic occurrence of illusory inferences, and eliminated a number of alternative explanations for them, that illuminate the controversy among various current theories of reasoning.
Abstract
The mental model theory postulates that reasoners build models of the situations described in premises, and that these models normally make explicit only what is true. The theory has an unexpected consequence: it predicts the occurrence of inferences that are compelling but invalid. They should arise from reasoners failing to take into account what is false. Three experiments corroborated the systematic occurrence of these illusory inferences, and eliminated a number of alternative explanations for them. Their results illuminate the controversy among various current theories of reasoning.
Keywords
Computer ScienceDecision SciencesArts and Humanities
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