Quantum Theory May Explain Wishful Thinking - The Diigo Meta page

• 23 Apr 09
  

  Arne Løining

  psychology physics

• 20 Apr 09
  

  Amira's notes

  Humans don’t always make the most rational decisions. As studies have shown, even when logic and reasoning point in one direction, sometimes we chose the opposite route, motivated by personal bias or simply "wishful thinking." This paradoxical human behavior has resisted explanation by classical decision theory for over a decade. But now, scientists have shown that a quantum probability model can provide a simple explanation for human decision-making - and may eventually help explain the success of human cognition overall.

  Psychology Emotions Cognitive science Science Mind & brain

• 17 Apr 09
  

  isaac Mao

  Brain FreeWill FreeThinking Quantum

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  Iain Davidson

  psychology science mind quantum decision-making

• 16 Apr 09
  

  Daniel Andrlik

  This article describes a fascinating new framework for understanding human cognition and decision making based on principles of quantum probability. Experiments described in this article suggest the classical model of human decision making does not effectively take cognitive dissonance ("wishful thinking" in this case) into account. The resulting quantum model proposed makes a lot more sense to me, and certainly helps explain some of our seemingly irrational impulses.
  
  It's worth noting that this is just a framework, and in time we may discover the reality to be different, but I find this new model very intriguing.
  
  If you are at all interested in understanding the reason why we make the decisions we do, it is worth your while to give this article a read.

  psychology quantum physics cognition research

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    This example pay-off matrix for a Prisoner’s Dilemma game shows that defecting is the rational choice, since a player receives greater pay-offs when defecting (10 or 25) than when cooperating (5 or 20). However, if both players cooperate, each will receive a larger pay-off (20) than if both defect (10). Using a quantum probability model, scientists provide a psychological explanation for why a player might choose to cooperate without any knowledge of his opponent. Image credit: Pothos and Busemeyer.

  • In the quantum model, on the other hand, the addition of the cognitive dissonance component produces interference effects that cause the unknown probability to deviate from the average of the known probabilities. While in the classical model an individual is committed to exactly one preference at any given time, in the quantum model an individual experiences a superposition of these preferences. Mathematically, the probability (or amplitude) of defecting in the unknown scenario is obtained from the superposition of probabilities (amplitudes) for the two known cases. These interference effects enable the probability of unknown events to be lower than the probability of either event individually, which is observed in the empirical studies.
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  • • “Classic probability theory, including Markov processes, must obey the law of total probability,” said Busemeyer. “However, human judgments often exhibit interference effects which violate the law of total probability. Quantum probability was originally developed specifically for the purpose of explaining interference effects found in physics. This same mathematical formalism provides an explanation for interference of thoughts in human judgments.”

      
      

      Pothos and Busemeyer hope that further research on quantum probability models of human cognition could help answer fundamental questions about the nature of how we think. For example, what does it mean to be rational? Another example is Schrodinger’s equation, which predicts a periodic oscillation between choices after a minimum length of time. This oscillation matches with electroencephalography signals and may explain why the longer you debate on a decision, the more you fluctuate. Overall, if our brains use quantum principles, and quantum computation is known to be fundamentally faster than classical computation in computers, then perhaps quantum principles can even help explain the success of human cognition.

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  quintoelefante

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