Dual-Process Reasoning, Cognitive Biases, and Delusional Beliefs

摘要: Delusions are fixed, false, and idiosyncratic beliefs often endorsed by individuals with psychosis. The formation and/or maintenance of delusions is likely affected by reasoning biases. Many of these biases, such as the tendency to discount evidence against preexisting beliefs, are readily observable (albeit, at times, in attenuated forms) in nonclinical samples, suggesting that delusion-relevant reasoning processes may be understood through the lens of research on reasoning in the general population. Following this suggestion, recent theories have attempted to account for delusions by invoking research indicating that reasoning in the general population proceeds via analytic processes (which depend upon working memory and support hypothetical thought) and intuitive processes (which are autonomous and independent of working memory). These theories generally posit that reduced engagement in analytic …