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About Linda Again: How Narratives and Group Reasoning Can Influence Conjunction Fallacy

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  • Camillo Donati

    (Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultures, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy)

  • Andrea Guazzini

    (Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultures, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy)

  • Giorgio Gronchi

    (Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research, and Child Health, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy)

  • Andrea Smorti

    (Department of Education, Literatures, Intercultures, Languages and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy)

Abstract

Conjunction fallacy (together with other systematic reasoning errors) is usually explained in terms of the dual process theory of reasoning: Biases should be ascribed to fast and automatic processes, whereas slow and deliberative processes are responsible of producing answers that are correct with respect of normative criterion. The dual process theory is related to Bruner’s distinction between narrative and paradigmatic thought: Both modes of thought can be characterized by the two different processes of reasoning. In this paper, we explore the role of Bruner’s mode of thought manipulating also the difference between group vs individual reasoning. We observed that the narrative strategy of response induces more wrong answers. However, narrative-based strategies have higher effectiveness in the case of group reasoning. Our results suggest that narrative reasoning and group reasoning may induce violations of the conjunction rule when acceptable by the verisimilitude of the story. Five models are also presented in order to predict answer correctness and strategy of reasoning using a text analysis software.

Suggested Citation

  • Camillo Donati & Andrea Guazzini & Giorgio Gronchi & Andrea Smorti, 2019. "About Linda Again: How Narratives and Group Reasoning Can Influence Conjunction Fallacy," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jftint:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:210-:d:274101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Keng Yang, 2019. "Research on Factors Affecting Solvers’ Participation Time in Online Crowdsourcing Contests," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-13, August.
    2. Nilsson, Håkan & Andersson, Patric, 2010. "Making the seemingly impossible appear possible: Effects of conjunction fallacies in evaluations of bets on football games," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 172-180, April.
    3. Charness, Gary & Karni, Edi & Levin, Dan, 2010. "On the conjunction fallacy in probability judgment: New experimental evidence regarding Linda," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 551-556, March.
    4. Annetta Burger & Talha Oz & William G. Kennedy & Andrew T. Crooks, 2019. "Computational Social Science of Disasters: Opportunities and Challenges," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-31, April.
    5. Andrea Guazzini & Mirko Duradoni & Alessandro Lazzeri & Giorgio Gronchi, 2018. "Simulating the Cost of Cooperation: A Recipe for Collaborative Problem-Solving," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
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