**3. The paradigm as a tool**

#### **3.1 Definition**

The paradigm is defined as being a "dominant theoretical concept taking place during a certain period in a given scientific community, which lays down the possible types of explanation and the types of fact to be discovered in a given science." Note the extreme caution and relativism demonstrated by the authors of this definition2 .

#### **3.2 Specificity**

Decision-making is not limited to accumulating information. To be useful, the collected set needs to be organized and structured in order to make it easier to choose appropriate action. Human cognitive abilities are indeed limited not only in working memory but also in various other cognitive tasks (limited perceptual empan (items of information not perceived); illusory correlations, misinterpretations, conservatism, etc. [5]. The operations prescribed by the paradigm can be considered as guarantees against discrepancies in collecting a set of compatible information. Cognitive decision-making (CDM) tasks as a whole need to be constructed taking into account the characteristics of each occurrence. We may, therefore, already think that initially applying general treatment strategies does not appear to be a suitable choice.

#### **3.3 Internal compatibility**

Widely used in human and social sciences, the paradigm ensures the consistency and compatibility of the various steps involved in a research approach. This means that the chosen reference theory, the methodology used, the nature of the collected data, and their processing modalities need to be made compatible.

The criterion that such compatibility has been achieved is empirical. It translates experienced people (experts for instance), into fluidity of the linking of the different processing operations when constructing the choice of action.

Choosing an appropriate paradigm is one of the most important cognitive operations to perform to set up the epistemological framework necessary for CDM.

#### **3.4 Epistemological indicator**

Paradigms' functions are not, however, limited to these aspects, which can be qualified as internal. In addition to these properties, it is useful to add a new function of any paradigm: its operating value. A paradigm is also a tool set up to produce convergence in information and ultimately achieve a single final action value, which is better than any other.

<sup>2</sup> \*Bibliographic note: CNRLT Ortolang. Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales (National Centre for Textual and Lexical Resources). Definition of paradigm [Translated from the French by the authors].

Kuhn [6] gives it a function indicating whether a paradigm is adapted to the problems it studies. When a given paradigm repeatedly fails to deal with concrete situations, a shift to another one is essential. Referring to the title of the book by Kuhn, we are talking about a "scientific revolution," which marks the need to build and use a new paradigm that performs better.

Currently, psychologists mainly use two kinds of paradigms (P1 and P2) to construct CDM. Paradigms of type 1 (a.k.a. P1 type) search for an *objective* choice of action; those of type 2 (a.k.a. P2 type) are looking for an *appropriate* choice.
