Bayesian Rationality: The Probabilistic Approach to Human Reasoning (Oxford Cognitive Science Series) - Softcover

Oaksford, Mike

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198524498 ISBN 13: 9780198524496

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, 2007

Synopsis

In this book, two leading cognitive scientists present a radical re-examination of the psychology of reasoning, arguing against the Western conception of the mind as the 'set of all reason.'

About this title

About the Author

Mike Oaksford is Professor of Psychology and Head of School at Birkbeck College London. He was a research fellow at the Centre for Cognitive Science, University of Edinburgh, he was then lecturer at the University of Wales, Bangor, and senior lecturer at the University of Warwick, before moving to Cardiff University in 1996 as Professor of Experimental Psychology, a post he held until 2005. His research interests are in the area of human reasoning and decision making. In particular, with his colleague Nick Chater, he has been developing a Bayesian probabilistic approach to deductive reasoning tasks. According to this approach reasoning "biases " are the result of applying the wrong normative model and failing to take account of people's normal environment. He also studies the way the emotions affect and interact with reasoning and decision making processes.


Nick Chater is Professor of Cognitive and Decision Sciences at University College London. He has an M.A. in Psychology from Cambridge University, and a PhD in Cognitive Science from Edinburgh. He has held academic appointments at Edinburgh, Oxford, and Warwick Universities. His research focussed on attempting to find general principles that may be applicable across many cognitive domains, ranging from reasoning and decision making, to language acquisition and processing, to perception and categorization. Since the late 1980s, in collaboration with Mike Oaksford, he has been interested in the application of probabilistic and information-theoretic methods for understanding human reasoning.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198524498
• ISBN 13: 9780198524496
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 340