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Why would we expect the mind to work that way? The fitness costs to inaccurate beliefs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2017

Jesse Marczyk
Jesse Marczyk*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003. jmarczyk@nmsu.eduhttp://Popsych.org
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Abstract

An adaptationist analysis of beliefs yields the prediction that we ought to expect accuracy in the cognitive systems which generate them – stereotypes or otherwise – for the most part. There are, however, some limited situations in which some inaccuracy in beliefs advertised to others might be adaptive.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e10
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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