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NeuroQuantology

On the Possibility That We Think in a Quantum Probabilistic Manner

Elio Conte

Published Dec 13, 2010• 20 citations
Publisher

Abstract

My discussion is articulated under the neurological as well as the psychological profile. I insist in particular on the view that mental events arise in analogy with quantum probability fields. I review some results obtained on quantum cognition discussing in detail those that we obtained on quantum interference in mental states during perception-cognition in ambiguous figures. Frequently, I use the approach to quantum mechanics by Clifford algebra. I insist in particular on two recent results. The first is the justification that I obtain of the von Neumann postulate on quantum measurement and the second relates my Clifford demonstration on the logical origins of quantum mechanics and thus on the arising feature that quantum mechanics relates conceptual entities. The whole discussion aims me to support the conclusion that we think in a quantum probabilistic manner.

DOI
10.14704/nq.2010.8.4.349

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My discussion is articulated under the neurological as well as the psychological profile. I insist in particular on the view that mental events arise in analogy with quantum probability fields. I review some results obtained on quantum cognition discussing in detail those that we obtained on quantum interference in mental states during perception-cognition in ambiguous figures. Frequently, I use the approach to quantum mechanics by Clifford algebra. I insist in particular on two recent results. The first is the justification that I obtain of the von Neumann postulate on quantum measurement and the second relates my Clifford demonstration on the logical origins of quantum mechanics and thus on the arising feature that quantum mechanics relates conceptual entities. The whole discussion aims me to support the conclusion that we think in a quantum probabilistic manner.
Processes undergoing quantum mechanics exhibit quantum interference effects. In this case, quantum probabilities result to be different from classical ones because they contain an additional so-called quantum interference term. We use ambiguous figures to analyse if during perception-cognition by human subjects we can observe violation of the classical probability field and the presence of quantum interference. The experiments, conducted on a group of 256 subjects, evidence that we indeed have such a quantum effect. Therefore, mental states, during perception and cognition of ambiguous figures, appear to follow quantum mechanics.
Quantum cognition, a growing topic at the interface of quantum physics and cognitive research, provides a new viewpoint on the intricacies of human thought processes. In contrast to classic Boolean algebraic models, which have long dominated cognitive psychology, quantum cognition proposes a new framework influenced by quantum mechanics' algebraic structure. This deviation derives from the understanding that natural notions, based on prototypes, are more closely related to convex sets than to the rigid rules of Boolean algebra. Drawing on the fundamental work of luminaries such as John von Neumann, quantum cognition reveals a unique probability theory based on ortho-algebras, challenging traditional probabilistic reasoning based on Boolean algebras. This change opens up solutions to complex challenges in rationality, logical thinking, and probabilistic reasoning, ushering in a new era of cognitive modelling. Several arguments in the literature support the importance of quantum cognition in explaining cognitive phenomena.
This paper begins with a historical review of the mutual influence of physics and psychology, from Freud's invention of psychic energy inspired by von Boltzmann' thermodynamics to the enrichment quantum physics gained from the side of psychology by the notion of complementarity (the invention of Niels Bohr who was inspired by William James), besides we consider the resonance of the correspondence between Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung in both physics and psychology. Then we turn to the problem of development of mathematical models for laws of thought starting with Boolean logic and progressing towards foundations of classical probability theory. Interestingly, the laws of classical logic and probability are routinely violated not only by quantum statistical phenomena but by cognitive phenomena as well. This is yet another common feature between quantum physics and psychology. In particular, cognitive data can exhibit a kind of the probabilistic interference effect. This similarity with quantum physics convinced a multi-disciplinary group of scientists (physicists, psychologists, economists, sociologists) to apply the mathematical apparatus of quantum mechanics to modeling of cognition. We illustrate this activity by considering a few concrete phenomena: the order and disjunction effects, recognition of ambiguous figures, categorization-decision making. In Appendix 1 we briefly present essentials of theory of contextual probability and a method of representations of contextual probabilities by complex probability amplitudes (solution of the ``inverse Born's problem'') based on a quantum-like representation algorithm (QLRA).
Uncertainty is an intrinsic part of life; most events, affairs, and questions are uncertain. A key problem in behavioral sciences is how the mind copes with uncertain information. Quantum probability theory offers a set of principles for inference, which align well with intuition about psychological processes in certain cases: cases when it appears that inference is contextual, the mental state changes as a result of previous judgments, or there is interference between different possibilities. We motivate the use of quantum theory in cognition and its key characteristics. For each of these characteristics, we review relevant quantum cognitive models and empirical support. The scope of quantum cognitive models encompasses fallacies in decision-making (such as the conjunction fallacy or the disjunction effect), question order effects, conceptual combination, evidence accumulation, perception, over-/underdistribution effects in memory, and more. Quantum models often formalize psychological ideas previously expressed in heuristic terms, allow unified explanations of previously disparate findings, and have led to several surprising, novel predictions. We also cast a critical eye on quantum models and consider some of their shortcomings and issues regarding their further development.