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Labels in Explanations: can prior knowledge contribute to recognizing tautological formal explanations?
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Description: Existing evidence show that formal explanations ("it flies because it's a bird") seem convincing to people, even though they do not provide new information about what is being explained. However, this effect has not been tested before on a set of completely tautological explanations (such as "this animal feeds its cubs with milk because it is a mammal"). In addition, researchers usually seek to make sure that subjects know the meaning of the verbal label. Very often they give direct definitions of those labels used in a formal explanation. However, the role of prior knowledge in evaluating formal explanations in real life is unclear. Would a person find a formal explanation convincing even if they did not know the meaning of the label (for example, they did not know what the word "mammal" meant)? This study will examine the role of prior knowledge in tautological formal explanations.