Judgment

Judgement (or judgment) (in legal context, known as adjudication) is the evaluation of given circumstances to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle suggested one should think of the opposite of different uses of a term, if one exists, to help determine if the uses are in fact different. Some opposites help demonstrate that their uses are actually distinct: Cognitive psychology In cognitive psychology (and related fields like experimental philosophy, social psychology, behavioral economics, or experimental economics), judgement is part of a set of cognitive processes by which individuals reason, make decisions, and form beliefs and opinions (collectively, judgement and decision making, abbreviated JDM). This involves evaluating information, weighing evidence, making choices, and coming to conclusions. Judgements are often influenced by cognitive biases, heuristics, prior experience, social context, abilities (e.g., numeracy, probabalistic thinking), and psychological traits (e.g., tendency toward analytical reasoning). In research, the Society for Judgment and Decision Making is an international academic society dedicated to the topic; they publish the peer-reviewed journal Judgment and Decision Making. Informal Opinions expressed as facts. Informal in psychology Used in reference to the quality of cognitive faculties and adjudicational capabilities of particular individuals, typically called wisdom or discernment. Opposite terms include foolishness or indiscretion. Formal The mental act of affirming or denying one statement or another through comparison. Judgements are communicated to others using agreed-upon terms in the form of words or algebraic symbols as meanings to form propositions relating the terms, and whose further asserted meanings "of relation" are interpreted by those trying to understand the judgement. Legal Used in the context of a legal trial, to refer to a final finding, statement, or ruling, based on a considered weighing of evidence, called "adjudication". Opposites could be suspension or deferment of adjudication. See Judgment (law) for further explanation. Additionally, judgement can mean personality judgment; a psychological phenomenon in which a person forms specific opinions of other people.