Cogent confabulation

A new model of vertebrate cognition is introduced: maximization of cogency p(alpha beta gamma delta vertical bar epsilon). This model is shown to be a direct generalization of Aristotelian logic, and to be rigorously related to a calculable quantity. A key aspect of this model is that in Aristotelian logic information environments it functions logically. However, in non-Aristotelian environments, instead of finding the conclusion with the highest probability of being true (a popular past model of cognition); this model instead functions in the manner of the 'duck test;' by finding that conclusion which is most supportive of the truth of the assumed facts. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.