beliefs

n. A belief is a proposition that is regarded as true. A belief may be factually correct (“The world is round”）or incorrect (“The Earth is the center of the universe”). Two main distinctions are made regarding beliefs: dispositional versus occurrent beliefs and implicit versus explicit ones. Dispositional beliefs refer to beliefs about an enduring property that remains unchanged across time and situations (e.g., “Birds of feather flock together”), whereas occur- rent beliefs refer to beliefs about a temporary state of being (e.g., “I believe she was upset”). Explicit beliefs refer to those for which the mind has a coherent mental representation, whereas implicit beliefs are those that are not coherently represented in the mind and may be difficult to communicate.

- EWMA, CYC

►See also IMPLICIT THEORIES and LAY THEORIES