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arXiv · 2409.08930

Yes, Prime Minister, question order does matter -- and it's certainly not classical! But is it quantum?

Dorje C. Brody
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Abstract

Response to a poll can be manipulated by means of a series of leading questions. We show that such phenomena cannot be explained by use of classical probability theory, whereas quantum probability theory admits a possibility of offering an explanation. Admissible transformation rules in quantum probability, however, do impose some constraints on the modelling of cognitive behaviour, which are highlighted here. Focusing on a recent poll conducted by Ipsos on a set of questions posed by Sir Humphrey Appleby in an episode of the British political satire \textit{Yes, Prime Minister}, we show that the resulting data cannot be explained quite so simply using quantum rules, although it seems not impossible.

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Dorje C. Brody. 2024-09-13. Yes, Prime Minister, question order does matter -- and it's certainly not classical! But is it quantum?. https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.08930

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