Approaching the other: Investigation of a descriptive belief revision model

摘要

When an individual—a hearer—is confronted with an opinion expressed by another individual—a speaker—differing from her only in terms of a degree of belief, how will she react? In trying to answer that question this paper reintroduces and investigates a descriptive belief revision model designed to measure approaches. Parameters of the model are the hearer’s credibility account of the speaker, the initial difference between the hearer’s and speaker’s degrees of belief, and the hearer’s resistance to change. Within an interdisciplinary framework, two empirical studies were conducted. A comparison was carried out between empirically recorded revisions and revisions according to the model. Results showed that the theoretical model is highly confirmed. An interesting finding is the measurement of an “unexplainable behaviour” that is not classified either as repulsion or as approach. At a second level of analysis, the model is compared to the Bayesian framework of inference. Structural differences and evidence for optimal descriptive adequacy of the former were highlighted.