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Reversing figure and ground in the rationality debate: An evolutionary perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2001

W. Todd DeKay,
Martie G. Haselton and
Lee A. Kirkpatrick
W. Todd DeKay
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster PA 17604-3003 t_dekay@acad.fandm.edu
Martie G. Haselton
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 haselton@psy.utexas.edu
Lee A. Kirkpatrick
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23188 lakirk@wm.edu
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Abstract

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A broad evolutionary perspective is essential to fully reverse figure and ground in the rationality debate. Humans' evolved psychological architecture was designed to produce inferences that were adaptive, not normatively logical. This perspective points to several predictable sources of errors in modern laboratory reasoning tasks, including inherent, systematic biases in information-processing systems explained by Error Management Theory.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 23 , Issue 5 , October 2000, pp. 670 - 671
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press