The rational analysis of mind and behavior

2013

The Oxford Handbook of Rationality, 2004

1984

This paper reviews the main research in the' areaof human reasoning and rational thinking to determine if man is either an "innately inefficient thinking machine" or if man's irrationality is "rooted in basic human nature," as Ellis (1976) suggests. The paper focuses on the work of two*English theorists, Mason and Johnson-Laird, and two American psychologists, Tversky and Kahneman. Emphasis-is placed on implications for improving the ability to think and reason in a rational-and logical fashion. A number of-experiments are reviewed, dealinq with decision makinge.problem'solving, psychotherapy, creativity, risk, prediction, generalization, and rational emotivi therapy. Some generalconclusions are drawn, suggesting that lost people tend to think simplistically, to make choices without considering allthe variables and all of the information, and ignore long term goals. (JAC)

The object of this paper is to investigate the role played by a priori arguments and by a posteriori arguments in accounts of the human capacity for rationality. This task is motivated by research in experimental psychology that has prompted philosophers to reexamine their views of what constitutes rationality. How rationality fairs as a natural phenomenon to be studied by natural science also has implications for the question to what extent epistemology generally can be ‘naturalised’.

Review of Behavioral Economics, 2018

Individual decision-making is not adequately portrayed by focusing on static rationality properties. The static approach can mistake rationality-in-process for bounded rationality or irrationality. We consider a sampling of intellectual frameworks that address decisionmaking rationality as a process, including intrapersonal arbitrage, Wicksteed's principle of price, dialectical reasoning, and errordriven learning. We conclude that the approach to normative analysis shared by both neoclassical and behavioral economists is not the only possible one and that, in fact, it misses an important aspect of human decision-making. Evaluations based on the static approach are at best incomplete and likely to be misleading.

Mind & Society, 2007

Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 1999

Rational analysis is an empirical program that attempts to explain the function and purpose of cognitive processes. This article looks back on a decade of research outlining the rational analysis methodology and how the approach relates to other work in cognitive science. We ...

The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 2003

Sigrun Svavarsd6ttir's "Evaluation of Rationality" is a wonderful paper. I'll briefly summarize its highlights and then proceed to discuss what, to me, is its most interesting line of argument. We first get a characterization of rationality in terms of its being the characteristic, defining feature of someone qua rational agent. Rationality is that feature of an agent that distinguishes rational beings from nonrational ones. Relying on the traditional distinction between theoretical and practical rationality, Svavarsd6ttir approaches the general conception by first undertaking to explore the nature of theoretical rationality. It is, but isn't just, using one's cognitive capacities as well as possible, given one's limitations. Sound reasoning and subtle representations

Frontiers in Psychology, 2014

Mind & Society, 2006