Confabulation, Explanation, and the Pursuit of Resonant Meaning

Abstract

People with dementia sometimes confabulate, offering sincere explanations of their situation which are not grounded in evidence. Similar explanation-giving behaviour occurs frequently in the non-clinical population. Some see this as evidence that clinical and non-clinical confabulations emanate from the same essential feature of cognition, a drive to provide causal theories (Coltheart in Cortex 87:62-68, 2017). Others maintain that clinical confabulations are not attempts to identify causal relations, but narratives which create and emphasise socially important meanings (Örulv and Hydén in Discourse Stud 8(5):647-673, 2006). We can reconcile these accounts, preserving the explanatory appealing features of both. I argue that humans have a tendency to imbue everyday explanations with resonant themes: ideas which strike a chord with us and render our experiences meaningful, and I explain how this is compatible with the drive to provide causal theories. Explanation-giving is a communicative, inherently social practice, and so it is not only shaped by the advantages it confers in the natural world; but also by the advantages it confers in the social world, and for related psychological functioning. As such, confabulation is an attempt to emphasise socially resonant themes, whilst also being continuous with everyday explanation giving.

Expertise as Perspectives in Dialogue

“…Arguably, the value of lived experience is precisely that it enables a particular perspective to be shared with people who would not otherwise have access to it. People are often biased when they self-report and confabulate reasons for their actions in contexts as diverse as consumer choice, politics, and morality (see for instance, Bortolotti, 2018;Stammers, 2020;Murphy-Hollies, 2022), and this is especially true when people report events that are emotionally salient and personally significant to them. This applies to experts and novices, and experts by training and experts by experience in equal measure.…”

Self-Regulation and Political Confabulation

“…These things have powerful benefits for people; weaving experiences and behaviour into a sense-making story or narrative helps people understand them and give them meaning (Örulv and Hydén, 2006). And then, these narratives facilitate social communication and the sharing of themes and values which are important to them (Stammers, 2018). Individuals might be particularly keen to fulfil these needs when it comes to moral issues, as is seen in Haidt's study.…”

Stories as evidence

“…Although stories often reflect people's biases and the limited information available to them, stories also enable people to connect with others by sharing meanings and themes from their lives (Stammers 2020) and to justify their behaviour to themselves and others, signalling that they are rational and trustworthy after all (Ganapini 2020).…”