Diversity in reasoning and rationality: Metacognitive and developmental considerations

Authors

David Moshman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

February 2000

Comments

Published in BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES 23 (2000), 645–726. © 2000 Cambridge University Press. Used by permission.

Abstract

Tasks in the adult reasoning literature are designed so that heuristic processing leads one astray and adequate rule-based processing requires explicit knowledge about applicable logical and quasi-logical norms. Other research, however, indicates that appropriate rule-based inferences can be automatic. Individual differences in rationality are largely due to differences in developmental progress toward metacognitive understanding of both heuristic and rule-based inferences.