resonnering

Resonnering is a term used in some discussions of cognitive science and philosophy to denote a form of reasoning that centers on resonance between new information and an agent's existing mental models, goals, and affective states. The word combines resonance with reasoning and is encountered in debates about how people evaluate ideas beyond formal logic. While not universally defined, resonnering is generally treated as a process that influences judgment through coherence, plausibility, and motivational relevance rather than through abstract deduction alone.

In theoretical formulations, resonnering comprises three core elements: representation alignment, affective engagement, and expectancy fitting. Representation alignment concerns how new input maps onto prior representations, memories, and schemas. Affective engagement refers to emotional or motivational pull that makes information feel significant or trustworthy. Expectancy fitting involves assessing whether the information supports or alters goals and situational expectations. Collectively, these elements shape attentional priority, memory encoding, and eventual judgment or decision.

Applications appear in discussions of education, persuasive design, and human–computer interaction, where designers seek to present information in ways that resonate with learners’ and users’ existing frameworks. Critics argue that resonnering risks conflating subjective resonance with objective validity, is difficult to measure, and may reinforce bias or echo chambers if misapplied. Because it remains a contested and evolving concept, resonnering is best understood as a descriptive lens rather than a formal theory of reasoning at present.

See also reasoning, motivated reasoning, belief revision, embodied cognition, cognitive resonance.