Behavioral and Brain Sciences



Open Peer Commentary

Some theoretical and practical implications of defining aptitude and reasoning in terms of each other


Adam S. Goodie a1 and Cristina C. Williams a1
a1 Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3013 {goodie; williams}@egon.psy.uga.edu http://teach.psy.uga.edu/Dept/Faculty/Goodie.stm

Abstract

Stanovich & West continue a history of norm-setting that began with deference to reasonable people's opinions, followed by adherence to probability theorems. They return to deference to reasonable people, with aptitude test performance substituting for reasonableness. This allows them to select independently among competing theories, but defines reasoning circularly in terms of aptitude, while aptitude is measured using reasoning.