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      Mental models and human reasoning.

      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
      Brain, physiology, Cognition, Humans, Logic, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Memory, Models, Neurological, Models, Psychological

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          Abstract

          To be rational is to be able to reason. Thirty years ago psychologists believed that human reasoning depended on formal rules of inference akin to those of a logical calculus. This hypothesis ran into difficulties, which led to an alternative view: reasoning depends on envisaging the possibilities consistent with the starting point--a perception of the world, a set of assertions, a memory, or some mixture of them. We construct mental models of each distinct possibility and derive a conclusion from them. The theory predicts systematic errors in our reasoning, and the evidence corroborates this prediction. Yet, our ability to use counterexamples to refute invalid inferences provides a foundation for rationality. On this account, reasoning is a simulation of the world fleshed out with our knowledge, not a formal rearrangement of the logical skeletons of sentences.

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          Journal
          20956326
          2972923
          10.1073/pnas.1012933107

          Brain,physiology,Cognition,Humans,Logic,Magnetic Resonance Imaging,Memory,Models, Neurological,Models, Psychological

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