In this lecture I consider the central role of the imagination in cognition, illustrated by examples from different domains of thinking. First I discuss experimental evidence on the impact of imagination on moral decision making, and I outline itssimplications for understanding other people’s perspectives. Next I consider evidence on the role of imagination in causal reasoning for how people construct explanations, and I outline its implications for understanding artificial intelligence decisions. Throughout I suggest that the cognitive processes that underlie the simulation of possibilities depend on iconic mental models, as illustrated by evidence from counterfactual comprehension and inference.

References 

Byrne, R. M. J.(2016). Counterfactual thought. Annual review of psychology, 67(1), 135-157. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033249

Johnson-Laird, P. N., Byrne, R. M. J., & Khemlani, S. S. (2023). Human verifications: Computable with truth values outside logic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(40), e2310488120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2310488120