What makes an explanation believable?: mechanistic and anthropomorphic explanations of natural phenomena
Loading...
Authors
Schoenherr, Jordan Richard
Thomson, Robert
Davies, Jim
Issue Date
2011-07
Type
Conference presentations, papers, posters
Language
Keywords
heuristics , belief bias , syllogistic reasoning , anthropomorphism
Alternative Title
Abstract
Many biases in decision-making and reasoning are a result of ignoring logical rules and relevant information while focusing on irrelevant cues present within an argument. In the present study we examine explanatory schemata–a set of interrelated concepts-that are deemed relevant to participants. Participants were first trained in a syllogistic reasoning task and were then presented descriptions of natural phenomena and explanations. An instructional manipulation varied the source of the explanations (scientists or people) as well as the animacy of the natural phenomena (living or nonliving). Explanations used either mechanistic (eg, force) or anthropomorphic (eg, wants) terms. We found that participants were more accurate when assessing mechanistic explanations.
Description
Citation
Schoenherr, Jordan, Robert Thomson, and Jim Davies. "What makes an explanation believable?: mechanistic and anthropomorphic explanations of natural phenomena." In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, vol. 33, no. 33. 2011.
Publisher
Cognitive Science Society
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
1069-7977