{"product_id":"deduction-book-p-n-johnson-laird-9781041374411","title":"Deduction","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow do people make deductions? The orthodox answer is that they follow formal rules of inference. Originally published in 1991, and reissued here with a new preface, the authors of \u003ci\u003eDeduction\u003c\/i\u003e repudiate this theory. They argue that people reason by building a model of the state of affairs, formulating a conclusion based on this model, and searching for alternative models that refute it. Formal rules work syntactically; mental models work semantically. The theories therefore make different predictions about the difficulty of deductions. The book reports experiments that compared these predictions in the main domains of deduction: propositional reasoning; relational reasoning; and quantificational reasoning. In each domain, the results corroborated the model theory and ran counter to the rule theories.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe authors relate their findings to problems in artificial intelligence, linguistics and anthropology. They describe computer programs based on the model theory, including one that solves a major problem in the design of electronic circuits. Finally, they show how the theory resolves a long-standing controversy about rationality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":54381061308689,"sku":"NLS9781041374411","price":103.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781041374411.jpg?v=1787448835","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/deduction-book-p-n-johnson-laird-9781041374411","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}