Inference

Inference is the act or process of drawing a conclusion based solely on what one already knows. Suppose you see rain on your window - you can infer from that, quite trivially, that the sky is grey. Looking out the window would have yielded the same fact, but through a process of perception, not inference (note however that perception itself can be viewed as an inferential process).

Related Topics:
Conclusion - Perception

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Inference is studied within several different fields. Human inference (i.e. how humans draw conclusions) is traditionally studied within the field of cognitive psychology. The rules and process of inference are some of philosophy's oldest subject matters. Logic studies the laws of valid inference. Statisticians have developed formal rules for inference from quantitative data. Artificial intelligence researchers develop automated inference systems.

Related Topics:
Cognitive psychology - Philosophy's - Logic - Statisticians - Artificial intelligence

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