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Even simple framing effects are rational

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2022

Stephen J. Flusberg Open the ORCID record for Stephen J. Flusberg [Opens in a new window] ,
Paul H. Thibodeau  and
Kevin J. Holmes
Stephen J. Flusberg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, State University of New York Purchase College, Purchase, NY 10577, USA stephen.flusberg@purchase.edu https://www.purchase.edu/live/profiles/662-stephen-flusberg
Paul H. Thibodeau
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH 44074, USA paul.thibodeau@oberlin.edu https://www.oberlin.edu/paul-thibodeau
Kevin J. Holmes
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Reed College, Portland, OR 97202, USA kjholmes@reed.edu https://www.reed.edu/psychology/faculty/holmes.html
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Abstract

Bermúdez persuasively argues that framing effects are not as irrational as commonly supposed. In focusing on the reasoning of individual decision-makers in complex situations, however, he neglects the crucial role of the social-communicative context for eliciting certain framing effects. We contend that many framing effects are best explained in terms of basic, rational principles of discourse processing and pragmatic reasoning.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e228
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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