Applying Quantum Principles to Psychology

TL;DR

This paper explores how quantum probability principles can be applied to psychological processes, offering various mathematical frameworks to model stimulus-response relationships and information processing.

Contribution

It introduces multiple quantum-inspired mathematical methods for modeling psychological phenomena, comparing their advantages and disadvantages.

Findings

Quantum models can effectively represent psychological states and responses.

Different measurement approaches offer trade-offs in modeling accuracy and complexity.

Quantum-inspired frameworks provide new insights into cognitive processes.

Abstract

This article starts out with a detailed example illustrating the utility of applying quantum probability to psychology. Then it describes several alternative mathematical methods for mapping fundamental quantum concepts (such as state preparation, measurement, state evolution) to fundamental psychological concepts (such as stimulus, response, information processing). For state preparation, we consider both pure states and densities with mixtures. For measurement, we consider projective measurements and positive operator valued measurements. The advantages and disadvantages of each method with respect to applications in psychology are discussed.