École d'été | 28 mai 2026 : Introduction de la journée par Janie Brisson

This video is the introduction to the second day of a summer school on cognitive psychology, focusing on reasoning and decision-making. Janie Brisson, a psychologist, outlines key themes and questions that will be addressed in the day’s talks. She begins by revisiting conditional reasoning, using the example ‘if it rains, then the grass is wet’ to illustrate how people evaluate logical validity. She contrasts two main mechanisms: searching for counterexamples versus assessing the likelihood of the conclusion. She then broadens the discussion to other cognitive phenomena, such as stereotypes, informal fallacies, and beliefs based on questionable evidence. She presents a narrative example of a fallacy, using George Bush’s ‘you are either with us or with the terrorists’ statement, to illustrate two possible cognitive paths: one that leads to rational analysis and another that reinforces the initial biased response. She raises questions about what drives individuals to take one path or the other, and whether personality or political affiliation plays a role. Finally, she outlines the day’s format: four 45-minute talks with 15-minute Q&A sessions, and a panel discussion at the end where general questions from the audience will be addressed.