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Quantum Probability and Human Cognition

The mathematics behind quantum theory has provided an explanation for why people respond differently to survey questions depending on the questions' ordering.

Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Zheng Wang (Ohio State University) and colleagues claim that notions of probability borrowed from quantum physics cast light on human cognition and judgment.

The group's study involved looking at the so-called order effect observed in social science research, comparing it to the quantum theoretic principle of commutation, and testing whether survey data exhibits a symmetry they call "quantum question equality."

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Start Date: 
Thursday, July 3, 2014