Kaaronen , R O 2018 , ' A Theory of Predictive Dissonance : Predictive Processing Presents a New Take on Cognitive Dissonance ' , Frontiers in Psychology , vol. 9 , 2218 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02218
Title: | A Theory of Predictive Dissonance : Predictive Processing Presents a New Take on Cognitive Dissonance |
Author: | Kaaronen, Roope Oskari |
Contributor organization: | Social Policy Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Creative adaptation to wicked socio-environmental disruptions (WISE STN) Environmental Policy Research Group (EPRG) |
Date: | 2018-11-19 |
Language: | eng |
Number of pages: | 15 |
Belongs to series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
ISSN: | 1664-1078 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02218 |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/268478 |
Abstract: | This article is a comparative study between predictive processing (PP, or predictive coding) and cognitive dissonance (CD) theory. The theory of CD, one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology, is shown to be highly compatible with recent developments in PP. This is particularly evident in the notion that both theories deal with strategies to reduce perceived error signals. However, reasons exist to update the theory of CD to one of “predictive dissonance.” First, the hierarchical PP framework can be helpful in understanding varying nested levels of CD. If dissonance arises from a cascade of downstream and lateral predictions and consequent prediction errors, dissonance can exist at a multitude of scales, all the way up from sensory perception to higher order cognitions. This helps understand the previously problematic dichotomy between “dissonant cognitive relations” and “dissonant psychological states,” which are part of the same perception-action process while still hierarchically distinct. Second, since PP is action-oriented, it can be read to support recent action-based models of CD. Third, PP can potentially help us understand the recently speculated evolutionary origins of CD. Here, the argument is that responses to CD can instill meta-learning which serves to prevent the overfitting of generative models to ephemeral local conditions. This can increase action-oriented ecological rationality and enhanced capabilities to interact with a rich landscape of affordances. The downside is that in today’s world where social institutions such as science a priori separate noise from signal, some reactions to predictive dissonance might propagate ecologically unsound (underfitted, confirmation-biased) mental models such as climate denialism. This article is a comparative study between predictive processing (PP, or predictive coding) and cognitive dissonance (CD) theory. The theory of CD, one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology, is shown to be highly compatible with recent developments in PP. This is particularly evident in the notion that both theories deal with strategies to reduce perceived error signals. However, reasons exist to update the theory of CD to one of “predictive dissonance.” First, the hierarchical PP framework can be helpful in understanding varying nested levels of CD. If dissonance arises from a cascade of downstream and lateral predictions and consequent prediction errors, dissonance can exist at a multitude of scales, all the way up from sensory perception to higher order cognitions. This helps understand the previously problematic dichotomy between “dissonant cognitive relations” and “dissonant psychological states,” which are part of the same perception-action process while still hierarchically distinct. Second, since PP is action-oriented, it can be read to support recent action-based models of CD. Third, PP can potentially help us understand the recently speculated evolutionary origins of CD. Here, the argument is that responses to CD can instill meta-learning which serves to prevent the overfitting of generative models to ephemeral local conditions. This can increase action-oriented ecological rationality and enhanced capabilities to interact with a rich landscape of affordances. The downside is that in today’s world where social institutions such as science a priori separate noise from signal, some reactions to predictive dissonance might propagate ecologically unsound (underfitted, confirmation-biased) mental models such as climate denialism. |
Subject: |
515 Psychology
Predictive processing predictive coding cognitive dissonance affordance theory ecological rationality Cultural evolution ACTIVE INFERENCE FREE-ENERGY affordances AUTISM PRIORS BRAIN 5144 Social psychology 6162 Cognitive science |
Peer reviewed: | Yes |
Rights: | cc_by |
Usage restriction: | openAccess |
Self-archived version: | publishedVersion |
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