Schrödinger's Cat as Cognitive Mirror: Reinterpreting Quantum Ambiguity Through Psychological Projection

Peter Bruza, Zheng Wang, Jerome R. Busemeyer

Andrei Yu. Khrennikov, Irina Basieva

Recently foundational issues of applicability of the formalism of quantum mechanics (QM) to cognitive psychology, decision making, and psychophysics attracted a lot of interest. In particular, in \cite{DKBB} the possibility to use of the projection postulate and representation of "mental observables" by Hermitian operators was discussed in very detail. The main conclusion of the recent discussions on the foundations of "quantum(-like) cognitive psychology" is that one has to be careful in determination of conditions of applicability of the projection postulate as a mathematical tool for description of measurements of observables represented by Hermitian operators. To represent some statistical experimental data (both physical and mental) in the quantum(-like) way, one has to use generalized quantum observables given by positive operator-valued measures (POVMs). This paper contains a brief review on POVMs which can be useful for newcomers to the field of quantum(-like) studies. Especially interesting for cognitive psychology is a variant of the formula of total probability (FTP) with the interference term derived for incompatible observables given by POVMs. We present an interpretation of the interference term from the psychological viewpoint. As was shown before, the appearance of such a term (perturbing classical FTP) plays the important role in cognitive psychology, e.g., recognition of ambiguous figures and the disjunction effect. The interference term for observables given by POVMs has much more complicated structure than the corresponding term for observables given by Hermitian operators. We elaborate cognitive interpretations of different components of the POVMs-interference term and apply our analysis to a quantum(-like) model of decision making.

John R. Gribbin

Bernulf Kanitscheider

Javed, Mohammad

This project presents Javed’s Collapse Principle of The Meaning, a conceptual and phenomenological framework developed within Javed’s Quantum Thought. The work examines how meaning becomes stable and real in human cognition through acceptance rather than continuous observation, verification, or analytical control. Drawing an analogy with quantum collapse—used strictly as a cognitive and philosophical metaphor—the framework proposes that human intention (niyyat) operates as an internal mechanism that resolves multiple possibilities into a single experienced reality. The project argues that when acceptance is complete and free from doubt, observation naturally ceases, and meaning stabilizes as lived reality. Continued observation after acceptance is interpreted as concealed doubt that interferes with cognitive stabilization. This work does not aim to reinterpret physical quantum mechanics. Instead, it contributes to discussions in philosophy of mind, phenomenology, cognitive theory, and metaphysical psychology, offering a structured explanation of how certainty, alignment, and meaning formation occur in human experience. The project is intended for interdisciplinary readers interested in consciousness studies, cognition, philosophical models of meaning, and non-empirical frameworks of understanding reality.

Liane M. Gabora, Samantha Thomson, Kirsty Kitto

Despite our familiarity with and fondness of humor, until relatively recently very little was known about the underlying psychology of this complex and nuanced phenomenon. Recently, however, cognitive psychologists have begun investigating how people understand humor and why we find certain things funny. This chapter introduces a new cognitive approach to modeling humor that we refer to as the 'quantum approach', which will be explained here in intuitive, non-mathematical terms later (a formal treatment can be found in Gabora & Kitto, 2017). What makes the quantum approach a promising candidate for a theory of humor is that it can be useful for representing states of ambiguity, and it defines states and variables with reference to a context. Contextuality and ambiguity both play a key role in humor, which often hangs on an ambiguous word, phrase, or situation that might not make sense, or even be socially acceptable outside the specific context of the joke. The quantum approach does not attempt to explain all aspects of humor, such as the contagious quality of laughter, or why children tease each other, or why people might find it funny when someone is hit in the face with a pie (and laugh even if they know it will happen in advance); what it aims to do is to mathematically represent the underlying cognitive process of "getting" a joke. After briefly overviewing the relevant historical antecedents of the quantum approach and other related approaches in cognitive psychology, we present the theoretical basis of our approach, and outline a recent study that provides empirical support for it.