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Are knowledge- and belief-reasoning automatic, and is this the right question?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

Andrew D. R. Surtees
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham and Birmingham Children's Hospital, Edgbaston, BirminghamB15 2TT, UKA.Surtees@Bham.ac.ukhttps://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/psychology/surtees-andrew.aspx
Andrew R. Todd
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA95616, USA. atodd@ucdavis.eduhttps://psychology.ucdavis.edu/people/atodd

Abstract

Phillips et al. conclude that current evidence supports knowledge-, but not belief-reasoning as being automatic. We suggest four reasons why this is an oversimplified answer to a question that might not have a clear-cut answer: (1) knowledge and beliefs can be incompletely equated to perceptual states, (2) sensitivity to mental states does not necessitate representation, (3) automaticity is not a single categorical feature, and (4) how we represent others' minds is dependent on social context.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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