The study of how human minds actually perform logical reasoning—the cognitive processes underlying deduction, induction, abduction, and all the other forms of inference that logic describes. It reveals a striking gap between logical theory and cognitive reality: humans are systematically bad at some logical tasks (like the Wason selection task) and surprisingly good at others (like social reasoning that has the same logical structure). The cognitive sciences of logic ask: What kind of logic does the brain actually run? How did logical reasoning evolve? Why do we find some logical moves natural and others impossible?
Example: "The cognitive sciences of logic explain why people struggle with abstract syllogisms but breeze through the same logical structure when it's embedded in a social rule—our brains evolved for cheating detection, not formal logic."
by Abzugal March 11, 2026
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