Domain specificity and bias in the psychology of human reasoning

Abstract

In this paper I present a proposal to characterize in a precise manner the notions of domain specificity and of a bias in connection with rules of inference, as such notions are used in the psychology of human reasoning, and argue —against many cognitive psychologists— that there are no strong conceptual or theoretical connections between these notions. If so, then the presence of a bias in a certain cognitive mechanism should not constitute an indication that such a mechanism is domain specific. Conversely, that a cognitive mechanism is domain specific should not lead us to expect the presence of a bias in it.