Postdictable concepts are those concepts that can be justified after having been seen.Upal, M. A. An Alternative View of the Minimal Counterintuitiveness Effect, Journal of Cognitive Systems Research, 11(2), 194-203. Upal labeled a counterintuitive concept as postdictable if the

postdiction Postdiction involves explanation after the fact. In skepticism, it is considered an effect of hindsight bias that explains claimed predictions of significant events such as plane crashes and natural disasters. In religious contexts, theologian ...

process is successful making sense of the concept i.e., the reader is successfully able to construct a justification given the reader's background knowledge, level of motivation and interest, and the cognitive resources (including time) available to the reader. According to the context-based model of minimal counterintuiveness, postdictable counterintuitive concepts are minimally counterintuitive and are remembered well. Those counterintuitive concepts that are not postdictable in a given context are considered to be maximally counterintuitive and are not remembered well by people. Thus the concept of a flying elephant is postdictable (and thus minimally counterintuitive) when set up in the context of

Operation Dumbo Drop ''Operation Dumbo Drop'' is a 1995 American action comedy-drama war film directed by Simon Wincer. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Gene Quintano and Jim Kouf based on a true story by United States Army major Jim Morris. ...

because it can be justified in that context. The concept of a "square triangle that only exists on Wednesdays and eats cats" however does not make any sense and is therefore not postdictable.

References

{{Reflist Memory Cognitive science

See also

References