Psychology 3130 - Psychology of Thinking - Final
1. Week 6, lecture and textbook!: - 6.1: Inference and Inductive Reasoning.
- 6.2: Categorical Induction.
2. Define inductive thinking.: - Inductive thinking is reasoning from specific obser- vations to form general
conclusions.
- Observation leads to hypothesis and inference.
3. Define deductive thinking.: - Deductive thinking uses general rules to reach specific conclusions.
- Hypothesis leads to systematic observations.
- Premise leads to a specific conclusion.
4. Define induction.: Induction is the process of using what you know to predict what you will probably observe,
given some set of features or stimuli.
5. Define inferences.: Conclusions based on available or observable evidence or from evidence previously observed.
6. Define generalization.: An inductive conclusion that is a broad conclusion about a whole class or group of things
assumed to share properties.
7. Define stimulus generalization.
Give an example!: The idea that an organism will learn to behave towards new stimuli in the same way as previously
encountered stimuli and that the strength of the generalization will be related to the similarity between the stimuli.
An example of this would be operant conditioning!
8. Inferences rely on heuristics like availability and representativeness. These heuristics can lead to biases like
the conjunction fallacy (Tversky and Kahne- man).
What is the conjunction fallacy?: The conjunction fallacy is the mistaken belief that something specific is more likely
than something more general.
9. The probability of a conjunction P(A&B) can not exceed the probabilities of its constituents, P(A) and P(B).
Why?: Because the extension of the conjunction is included in the extension of its constituents.
10.Define hypothesis.: A set of beliefs about the world that can be stated and tested.
, Psychology 3130 - Psychology of Thinking - Final
11.Many things are discovered in retrospective designs, rather than prospec- tive.
Explain the difference between the two.: Retrospective designs look backwards to examine causal factors, while
prospective designs make predictions and test them for desired outcomes.
12.What is an illusory correlation?: Correlation where none actually exists.
13.All cognitive, intelligent, and animal systems rely on the fundamental processes of learning.:
associative.
14.With the arrival of Pearson's coefficients and the transformation of sta- tistics, that "fallacy" became more
central to debate. Should scientists even bother with a slippery concept like causation, which can't truly be
measured in the lab and doesn't have a proper definition? Maybe not. Pearson's work suggested that causation
might be irrelevant to science and that it could, in certain ways, be indistinguishable from perfect correlation.
"The higher the correlation, the more certainly we can predict from one member what the value of the member
will be," he wrote in one of his major works, The Grammar of Science.
Correlation does not prove causation, but it is a condition.: association. necessary.
Overall, causally related things are correlated, not all correlated things are causally related.
15.David Hume considered induction to be one of the greatest problems for philosophers to solve.
What is Hume's problem of induction?: The name given to the problem of whether or not induction can be studied
formally or philosophically. We can't logically justify why the future will resemble the past, even though we rely on that
assumption to make predictions.
16."We cannot hold that nature will continue to be uniform because it has been in the past. As this is using the
very sort of reasoning (induction) that is under question, it would be circular reasoning."
In simple words: Reason alone cannot justify our belief in the necessity of cause and effect, or that the future will
resemble the past.
, Psychology 3130 - Psychology of Thinking - Final
Which of Hume's thesis' is this?: Hume's negative thesis.
17."Nature, by an absolute necessity, has determined us to judge as well as to breathe and feel."
In simple words: We naturally form beliefs about cause and effect based on observing constant conjunctions of
events.
Which of Hume's thesis' is this?: Hume's positive thesis.
18.According to Quine, why is "green" a property that can be projected and inferred onto other objects whereas
a property like "grue" is not?: Green refers to a natural kind whereas grue does not.
Green is "entrenched", meaning that the term has some past history of use, so that is what people will think of.
19.Explain Quine's solution.: - Natural kinds: green emeralds form a "kind" via similarity, Grue emeralds do not.
- All animals can make use of some kind of similarity, using primitive features and theoretical similarity.
- So, induction has to be categorical, and this is why green is entrenched.
20.True or false?
Apples and red balls are kinds, while apples and pears are not.: False!
Apples and pears are kinds because they belong to the same category: fruits. Recall that entrenchment is categorical!
21.What is categorical induction?: - The process of inferring or inducing features and properties of things based on
their category membership.
- The process by which people arrive at a conclusion or a statement of confidence about whether a conclusion category
has some feature or predicate after being told that one or more premise categories possess that feature or predicate.
22.What is a blank predicate and why is it used in categorical induction research?: - A blank predicate is an
unknown property used in categorical induction research to force subjects to rely on reasoning, not memory, about a
category.
- In the study of categorical induction, a blank predicate is some property that we
, Psychology 3130 - Psychology of Thinking - Final
wish to infer about an object. It is blank, because it is plausible but not directly known by the respondent and so the
answer can only be inferred by inductive reasoning.
23.Explain similarity-based induction.: Arguments are strong to the extent that the categories in the premises are
similar.
24.- Robins have sesamoid bones therefore sparrows have sesamoid bones.
- Ostriches have sesamoid bones therefore sparrows have sesamoid bones.
According to similarity-based induction, which argument is stronger?: Robins have sesamoid bones therefore
sparrows have sesamoid bones.
25.What is the typicality effect?: Occurs when people are quicker to recognize, categorize, and/or name members of
categories that share more features with other category members (i.e., are more typical).
26.- Robins have sesamoid bones ’ All birds have sesamoid bones.
- Penguins have sesamoid bones ’ All birds have sesamoid bones.
According to the typicality effect, which argument is stronger?: Robins have sesamoid bones ’ All birds have
sesamoid bones.
27.What is the diversity effect?: The less similar two premises are to each other, the stronger the argument will be.
28.- Hippos and hamsters love onions ’ all mammals love onions.
- Hippos and rhinos love onions ’ all mammals love onions.
According to the diversity effect, which argument is stronger?: Hippos and rhinos love onions ’ all mammals love
onions.
29.Define feature exclusion.: A premise category that has little overlap with the conclusion category should have no
effect on argument strength, even if it leads to a more diverse set of premises.
30.- German shepherds and giraffes have sesamoid bones ’ moles have sesamoid bones.
- German shepherds and whales have sesamoid bones ’ moles have sesamoid bones.
According to feature exclusion, which argument is stronger?: - German shep- herds and whales have sesamoid bones
’ moles have sesamoid bones.
- Diversity effect is reversed, there is very little feature overlap between dogs and whales and moles.
1. Week 6, lecture and textbook!: - 6.1: Inference and Inductive Reasoning.
- 6.2: Categorical Induction.
2. Define inductive thinking.: - Inductive thinking is reasoning from specific obser- vations to form general
conclusions.
- Observation leads to hypothesis and inference.
3. Define deductive thinking.: - Deductive thinking uses general rules to reach specific conclusions.
- Hypothesis leads to systematic observations.
- Premise leads to a specific conclusion.
4. Define induction.: Induction is the process of using what you know to predict what you will probably observe,
given some set of features or stimuli.
5. Define inferences.: Conclusions based on available or observable evidence or from evidence previously observed.
6. Define generalization.: An inductive conclusion that is a broad conclusion about a whole class or group of things
assumed to share properties.
7. Define stimulus generalization.
Give an example!: The idea that an organism will learn to behave towards new stimuli in the same way as previously
encountered stimuli and that the strength of the generalization will be related to the similarity between the stimuli.
An example of this would be operant conditioning!
8. Inferences rely on heuristics like availability and representativeness. These heuristics can lead to biases like
the conjunction fallacy (Tversky and Kahne- man).
What is the conjunction fallacy?: The conjunction fallacy is the mistaken belief that something specific is more likely
than something more general.
9. The probability of a conjunction P(A&B) can not exceed the probabilities of its constituents, P(A) and P(B).
Why?: Because the extension of the conjunction is included in the extension of its constituents.
10.Define hypothesis.: A set of beliefs about the world that can be stated and tested.
, Psychology 3130 - Psychology of Thinking - Final
11.Many things are discovered in retrospective designs, rather than prospec- tive.
Explain the difference between the two.: Retrospective designs look backwards to examine causal factors, while
prospective designs make predictions and test them for desired outcomes.
12.What is an illusory correlation?: Correlation where none actually exists.
13.All cognitive, intelligent, and animal systems rely on the fundamental processes of learning.:
associative.
14.With the arrival of Pearson's coefficients and the transformation of sta- tistics, that "fallacy" became more
central to debate. Should scientists even bother with a slippery concept like causation, which can't truly be
measured in the lab and doesn't have a proper definition? Maybe not. Pearson's work suggested that causation
might be irrelevant to science and that it could, in certain ways, be indistinguishable from perfect correlation.
"The higher the correlation, the more certainly we can predict from one member what the value of the member
will be," he wrote in one of his major works, The Grammar of Science.
Correlation does not prove causation, but it is a condition.: association. necessary.
Overall, causally related things are correlated, not all correlated things are causally related.
15.David Hume considered induction to be one of the greatest problems for philosophers to solve.
What is Hume's problem of induction?: The name given to the problem of whether or not induction can be studied
formally or philosophically. We can't logically justify why the future will resemble the past, even though we rely on that
assumption to make predictions.
16."We cannot hold that nature will continue to be uniform because it has been in the past. As this is using the
very sort of reasoning (induction) that is under question, it would be circular reasoning."
In simple words: Reason alone cannot justify our belief in the necessity of cause and effect, or that the future will
resemble the past.
, Psychology 3130 - Psychology of Thinking - Final
Which of Hume's thesis' is this?: Hume's negative thesis.
17."Nature, by an absolute necessity, has determined us to judge as well as to breathe and feel."
In simple words: We naturally form beliefs about cause and effect based on observing constant conjunctions of
events.
Which of Hume's thesis' is this?: Hume's positive thesis.
18.According to Quine, why is "green" a property that can be projected and inferred onto other objects whereas
a property like "grue" is not?: Green refers to a natural kind whereas grue does not.
Green is "entrenched", meaning that the term has some past history of use, so that is what people will think of.
19.Explain Quine's solution.: - Natural kinds: green emeralds form a "kind" via similarity, Grue emeralds do not.
- All animals can make use of some kind of similarity, using primitive features and theoretical similarity.
- So, induction has to be categorical, and this is why green is entrenched.
20.True or false?
Apples and red balls are kinds, while apples and pears are not.: False!
Apples and pears are kinds because they belong to the same category: fruits. Recall that entrenchment is categorical!
21.What is categorical induction?: - The process of inferring or inducing features and properties of things based on
their category membership.
- The process by which people arrive at a conclusion or a statement of confidence about whether a conclusion category
has some feature or predicate after being told that one or more premise categories possess that feature or predicate.
22.What is a blank predicate and why is it used in categorical induction research?: - A blank predicate is an
unknown property used in categorical induction research to force subjects to rely on reasoning, not memory, about a
category.
- In the study of categorical induction, a blank predicate is some property that we
, Psychology 3130 - Psychology of Thinking - Final
wish to infer about an object. It is blank, because it is plausible but not directly known by the respondent and so the
answer can only be inferred by inductive reasoning.
23.Explain similarity-based induction.: Arguments are strong to the extent that the categories in the premises are
similar.
24.- Robins have sesamoid bones therefore sparrows have sesamoid bones.
- Ostriches have sesamoid bones therefore sparrows have sesamoid bones.
According to similarity-based induction, which argument is stronger?: Robins have sesamoid bones therefore
sparrows have sesamoid bones.
25.What is the typicality effect?: Occurs when people are quicker to recognize, categorize, and/or name members of
categories that share more features with other category members (i.e., are more typical).
26.- Robins have sesamoid bones ’ All birds have sesamoid bones.
- Penguins have sesamoid bones ’ All birds have sesamoid bones.
According to the typicality effect, which argument is stronger?: Robins have sesamoid bones ’ All birds have
sesamoid bones.
27.What is the diversity effect?: The less similar two premises are to each other, the stronger the argument will be.
28.- Hippos and hamsters love onions ’ all mammals love onions.
- Hippos and rhinos love onions ’ all mammals love onions.
According to the diversity effect, which argument is stronger?: Hippos and rhinos love onions ’ all mammals love
onions.
29.Define feature exclusion.: A premise category that has little overlap with the conclusion category should have no
effect on argument strength, even if it leads to a more diverse set of premises.
30.- German shepherds and giraffes have sesamoid bones ’ moles have sesamoid bones.
- German shepherds and whales have sesamoid bones ’ moles have sesamoid bones.
According to feature exclusion, which argument is stronger?: - German shep- herds and whales have sesamoid bones
’ moles have sesamoid bones.
- Diversity effect is reversed, there is very little feature overlap between dogs and whales and moles.
