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A Mastermind player uses abduction to infer the secret colors (top) from summaries (bottom left) of discrepancies in their guesses (bottom right).. Abductive reasoning (also called abduction, [1] abductive inference, [1] or retroduction [2]) is a form of logical inference that seeks the simplest and most likely conclusion from a set of observations.
The duck test is a frequently cited colloquial example of abductive reasoning. Its usual expression is: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. The test implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject's habitual characteristics.
In this process of reasoning, general assertions are made based on past specific pieces of evidence. This kind of reasoning allows the conclusion to be false even if the original statement is true. [28] For example, if one observes a college athlete, one makes predictions and assumptions about other college athletes based on that one observation.
Doctors use abductive reasoning when investigating the symptoms of a patient to determine their underlying cause. Abductive reasoning plays a central role in science when researchers discover unexplained phenomena. In this case, they often resort to a form of guessing to come up with general principles that could explain the observations.
Abductive reasoning is a form of inference which goes from an observation to a theory which accounts for the observation, ideally seeking to find the simplest and most likely explanation. In abductive reasoning, unlike in deductive reasoning, the premises do not guarantee the conclusion.
A form of abductive reasoning that suggests we should accept the hypothesis that best explains the relevant evidence. inferentialism The philosophical view that the meaning of a statement is determined by the rules governing its use and the inferences that can be drawn from it. infinitary
Abductive reasoning – Inference seeking the simplest and most likely explanation; Duck test – Classification based on observable evidence; Explanatory power – Ability of a theory to explain a subject; Marcello Truzzi § "Extraordinary claims" Morgan's Canon – Law of parsimony in comparative (animal) psychology
Each one has a name (for example, argument from effect to cause) and presents a type of connection between premises and a conclusion in an argument, and this connection is expressed as a rule of inference. Argumentation schemes can include inferences based on different types of reasoning—deductive, inductive, abductive, probabilistic, etc.