Intermediate · Cognitive
Abductive reasoning
Visual diagram · (in preparation) · Math · (in preparation) · Worked example · 3 difficulty levels.
TL;DR. Abductive reasoning infers the most likely explanation for a set of observations, unlike deductive reasoning which proves.
Technical Definition
Abductive reasoning infers the most likely explanation for a set of observations, unlike deductive reasoning which proves.
How it works
Also known as abduction, this is a form of logical inference. It starts with observations and works backward to find the simplest or most probable cause. While it doesn't guarantee the absolute truth of its conclusion, it provides a plausible explanation that can be further investigated.
Related Concepts
- Inference — Using a trained model to make predictions on new data — the deployment phase of machine learning.