Editing Rationality (section)

===Psychology===
Many psychological theories have been proposed to describe how reasoning happens and what underlying psychological processes are responsible. One of their goals is to explain how the different types of irrationality happen and why some types are more prevalent than others. They include ''mental logic theories'', ''mental model theories'', and ''[[Dual process theory|dual process theories]]''.<ref name="Knauff2021a"/><ref name="Schechter2013"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnson-Laird |first1=Phil |title=Deductive reasoning |journal=WIREs Cognitive Science |date=30 December 2009 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=8–17 |doi=10.1002/wcs.20 |pmid=26272833 |url=https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wcs.20 |issn=1939-5078 |access-date=19 August 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124120447/https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wcs.20 |url-status=live }}</ref> An important psychological area of study focuses on [[cognitive biases]]. Cognitive biases are systematic tendencies to engage in erroneous or irrational forms of [[thinking]], [[judging]], and acting. Examples include the [[confirmation bias]], the [[self-serving bias]], the [[hindsight bias]], and the [[Dunning–Kruger effect]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Litvak |first1=P. |last2=Lerner |first2=J. S. |title=The Oxford Companion to Emotion and the Affective Sciences |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/LITCB |chapter=Cognitive Bias |access-date=20 December 2021 |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102021835/https://philpapers.org/rec/LITCB |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dunning-Kruger effect |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Dunning-Kruger-effect |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=7 December 2021 |language=en |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130065643/https://www.britannica.com/science/Dunning-Kruger-effect |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gignac |first1=Gilles E. |last2=Zajenkowski |first2=Marcin |title=The Dunning-Kruger effect is (mostly) a statistical artefact: Valid approaches to testing the hypothesis with individual differences data |journal=Intelligence |date=1 May 2020 |volume=80 |pages=101449 |doi=10.1016/j.intell.2020.101449 |s2cid=216410901 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2020.101449 |language=en |issn=0160-2896 |access-date=20 December 2021 |archive-date=15 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515000616/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289620300271?via%3Dihub |url-status=live }}</ref> Some empirical findings suggest that metacognition is an important aspect of rationality. The idea behind this claim is that reasoning is carried out more efficiently and reliably if the responsible thought processes are properly controlled and monitored.<ref name="Knauff2021a"/>

The [[Wason selection task]] is an influential test for studying rationality and reasoning abilities. In it, four cards are placed before the participants. Each has a number on one side and a letter on the opposite side. In one case, the visible sides of the four cards are A, D, 4, and 7. The participant is then asked which cards need to be turned around in order to verify the conditional claim "if there is a vowel on one side of the card, then there is an even number on the other side of the card". The correct answer is A and 7. But this answer is only given by about 10%. Many choose card 4 instead even though there is no requirement on what letters may appear on its opposite side.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref name="Schechter2013"/><ref name="Evans2005"/> An important insight from using these and similar tests is that the rational ability of the participants is usually significantly better for concrete and realistic cases than for abstract or implausible cases.<ref name="Schechter2013"/><ref name="Evans2005"/> Various contemporary studies in this field use [[Bayesian probability theory]] to study subjective degrees of belief, for example, how the believer's certainty in the premises is carried over to the conclusion through reasoning.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/>

In the [[psychology of reasoning]], psychologists and [[Cognitive science|cognitive scientists]] have defended different positions on human rationality. One prominent view, due to [[Philip Johnson-Laird]] and [[Ruth M.&nbsp;J. Byrne]] among others is that humans are rational in principle but they err in practice, that is, humans have the competence to be rational but their performance is limited by various factors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnson-Laird |first1=Philip N. |last2=Byrne |first2=Ruth M. J. |title=Corrigendum: 'If' and the problems of conditional reasoning |journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences |date=1 September 2009 |volume=13 |issue=9 |pages=282–287 |doi=10.1016/j.tics.2009.08.003 |s2cid=54389097 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, it has been argued that many standard tests of reasoning, such as those on the [[conjunction fallacy]], on the [[Wason selection task]], or the [[base rate fallacy]] suffer from methodological and conceptual problems. This has led to disputes in psychology over whether researchers should (only) use standard rules of logic, probability theory and statistics, or rational choice theory as norms of good reasoning. Opponents of this view, such as [[Gerd Gigerenzer]], favor a conception of [[bounded rationality]], especially for tasks under high uncertainty.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sturm |first1=Thomas |title=The 'Rationality Wars' in Psychology: Where They Are and Where They Could Go |journal=Inquiry |date=February 2012 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=66–81 |doi=10.1080/0020174X.2012.643628 |s2cid=144877200 }}</ref> The concept of rationality continues to be debated by psychologists, economists and cognitive scientists.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chater|first1=Nick|last2=Felin|first2=Teppo|last3=Funder|first3=David C.|last4=Gigerenzer|first4=Gerd|last5=Koenderink|first5=Jan J.|last6=Krueger|first6=Joachim I.|last7=Noble|first7=Denis|last8=Nordli|first8=Samuel A.|last9=Oaksford|first9=Mike|last10=Schwartz|first10=Barry|last11=Stanovich|first11=Keith E.|date=2018-04-01|title=Mind, rationality, and cognition: An interdisciplinary debate|url=https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-017-1333-5|journal=Psychonomic Bulletin & Review|language=en|volume=25|issue=2|pages=793–826|doi=10.3758/s13423-017-1333-5|issn=1531-5320|pmc=5902517|pmid=28744767|access-date=2021-12-18|archive-date=2023-12-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142156/https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-017-1333-5|url-status=live}}</ref>

The psychologist [[Jean Piaget]] gave an influential account of how the stages in human development from childhood to adulthood can be understood in terms of the increase of rational and logical abilities.<ref name="Knauff2021b"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Philosophy of logic |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-logic |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=21 November 2021 |language=en |archive-date=28 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428101732/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/346240/philosophy-of-logic |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Inhelder |first1=Bärbel |last2=Piaget |first2=Jean |title=The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence: An Essay on the Construction of Formal Operational Structures |date=1958 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-21002-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39cdDv2-PZkC |language=en |chapter=Part I: The development of propositional logic |access-date=2022-08-19 |archive-date=2023-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142129/https://books.google.com/books?id=39cdDv2-PZkC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parsons |first1=Charles |title=Inhelder and Piaget's the Growth of Logical Thinking† |journal=British Journal of Psychology |date=1960 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=75–84 |doi=10.1111/j.2044-8295.1960.tb00727.x |pmid=14430621 |url=https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1960.tb00727.x |language=en |issn=2044-8295 |access-date=2022-08-19 |archive-date=2021-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207184951/https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1960.tb00727.x |url-status=live }}</ref> He identifies four stages associated with rough age groups: the sensorimotor stage below the age of two, the preoperational state until the age of seven, the concrete operational stage until the age of eleven, and the formal operational stage afterward. Rational or logical reasoning only takes place in the last stage and is related to abstract [[thinking]], [[concept formation]], reasoning, planning, and [[problem-solving]].<ref name="Knauff2021b"/>

====Emotions====
According to A. C. Grayling, rationality "must be independent of emotions, personal feelings or any kind of instincts".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kumar |first1=Dr Binoy |title=Urban and Rural Sociology |date=22 January 2022 |publisher=K.K. Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jn9aEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 |language=en |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230142126/https://books.google.com/books?id=jn9aEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA114#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Certain findings{{Which|date=August 2022}} in [[cognitive science]] and [[neuroscience]] show that no human has ever satisfied this criterion, except perhaps a person with no affective feelings, for example, an individual with a massively damaged [[amygdala]] or severe psychopathy. Thus, such an idealized form of rationality is best exemplified by computers, and not people. However, scholars may productively appeal to the idealization as a point of reference. {{Citation needed|date=August 2012}} In his book, ''The Edge of Reason: A Rational Skeptic in an Irrational World,'' British philosopher [[Julian Baggini]] sets out to debunk myths about reason (e.g., that it is "purely objective and requires no subjective judgment").<ref name="Radford and Frazier (2017)">{{cite journal |author1=[[Benjamin Radford|Radford, Benjamin]] |author2=[[Kendrick Frazier|Frazier, Kendrick]] |title=The Edge of Reason: A Rational Skeptic in an Irrational World |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=January 2017 |volume=41 |issue=1 |page=60}}</ref>