Bayesian accounts and black swans: Questioning the erotetic theory of delusional thinking

Cogn Neuropsychiatry. 2015;20(5):456-66. doi: 10.1080/13546805.2015.1084910. Epub 2015 Sep 15.

Abstract

Parrott and Koralus argue that a particular cognitive factor--"impaired endogenous question raising"--offers a parsimonious account of three delusion-related phenomena: (1) the development of the Capgras delusion; (2) evidence that patients with schizophrenia outperform healthy control participants on a conditional reasoning task; and (3) evidence that deluded individuals "jump to conclusions". In this response, I assess these claims, and raise my own questions about the "erotetic" theory of delusional thinking.

Keywords: delusions; erotetic theory; jumping to conclusions; schizophrenia.

MeSH terms

  • Bayes Theorem
  • Decision Making*
  • Delusions / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Models, Psychological*
  • Schizophrenic Psychology*
  • Thinking