English

Questions as cognitive filters

Logic in Computer Science 2025-07-01 v1

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a logico-algebraic framework for modeling decision-making through deliberation in multi-agent settings. The central concept in this framework is that of interrogative agendas, which represent the cognitive stances of agents regarding which features should be considered relevant in the final decision. We formalize an agent's interrogative agenda as an equivalence relation that identifies outcomes differing only in aspects the agent deems irrelevant. Moreover, we characterize the sublattices of the resulting lattice that correspond to relevant interrogative agendas for deliberation scenarios governed by different ``winning rules." We then introduce a two-sorted logico-algebraic structure-comprising the lattice of relevant interrogative agendas and the Boolean algebras of agent coalitions-to model the interaction between agents and agendas during deliberation. Finally, we discuss which interaction conditions can and cannot be defined within this framework.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2506.22735,
  title  = {Questions as cognitive filters},
  author = {Willem Conradie and Krishna Manoorkar and Alessandra Palmigiano and Apostolos Tzimoulis and Nachoem Wijnberg},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.22735},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T03:37:32.754Z