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Refining and expanding the proposal of an inherence heuristic in human understanding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2014

Andrei Cimpian  and
Erika Salomon
Andrei Cimpian
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820. acimpian@psych.illinois.eduhttp://psychology.illinois.edu/people/acimpiansalomon3@illinois.eduhttp://www.erikasalomon.com
Erika Salomon
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820. acimpian@psych.illinois.eduhttp://psychology.illinois.edu/people/acimpiansalomon3@illinois.eduhttp://www.erikasalomon.com
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Abstract

The inherence heuristic is a cognitive process that supplies quick and effortless explanations for a wide variety of observations. Due in part to biases in memory retrieval, this heuristic tends to overproduce explanations that appeal to the inherent features of the entities in the observations being explained (hence the heuristic's name). In this response, we use the commentators' input to clarify, refine, and expand the inherence heuristic model. The end result is a piece that complements the target article, amplifying its theoretical contribution.

Type
Author's Response
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 5 , October 2014 , pp. 506 - 527
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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