BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

    A rational analysis of the selection task as optimal data selection.

    Oaksford, Mike and Chater, N. (1994) A rational analysis of the selection task as optimal data selection. Psychological Review 101 (4), pp. 608-631. ISSN 0033-295X.

    Full text not available from this repository.

    Abstract

    Human reasoning in hypothesis-testing tasks like P. C. Wason's (1968) selection task has been depicted as prone to systematic biases. However, performance on this task has been assessed against a now outmoded falsificationist philosophy of science. Therefore, the experimental data is reassessed in the light of a Bayesian model of optimal data selection in inductive hypothesis testing. The model provides a rational analysis (J. R. Anderson, 1990) of the selection task that fits well with people's performance on both abstract and thematic versions of the task. The model suggests that reasoning in these tasks may be rational rather than subject to systematic bias.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
    Depositing User: Administrator
    Date Deposited: 19 Sep 2016 10:44
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:26
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/16089

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    0Downloads
    6 month trend
    198Hits

    Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.

    Archive Staff Only (login required)

    Edit/View Item Edit/View Item