Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T12:13:54.191Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Representations and decision rules in the theory of self-deception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138. pinker@wjh.harvard.eduhttp://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Self-deception is a powerful but overapplied theory. It is adaptive only when a deception-detecting audience is in the loop, not when an inaccurate representation is invoked as an internal motivator. First, an inaccurate representation cannot be equated with self-deception, which entails two representations, one inaccurate and the other accurate. Second, any motivational advantages are best achieved with an adjustment to the decision rule on when to act, not with a systematic error in an internal representation.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , February 2011 , pp. 35 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Epley, N. & Whitchurch, E. (2008) Mirror, mirror on the wall: Enhancement in self recognition. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 34:1159–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trivers, R. (1976/2006) Foreword. In: The selfish gene, Dawkins, R., pp. 19–20. Oxford University Press. (Original work published in 1976).Google Scholar