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Abstract

The beliefs we hold not only influence how we seek out and perceive new information but also influence whether we take action and thus have far reaching impact on decision-making. The main goal of the present research is twofold: First, to contribute to the understanding of propagation and polarization of beliefs from a cognitive perspective by integrating experimental findings regarding confidence in climate change knowledge and cognitive modeling approaches into an agent-based belief model. Second, to outline how an implementation of a function-learning model in a cognitive architecture, based on two experiments, can contribute to a better understanding of cognitive processes underlying the understanding of non-linear functions.