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Related Experiment Videos

Processing of logically valid and logically invalid conditional inferences in discourse comprehension.

Aaron W Rader1, Vladimir M Sloutsky

  • 1Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA. awrader@earthlink.net

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|February 6, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Mental models theories accurately predict how people process conditional statements (if-then). Both valid modus ponens (MP) and invalid affirming-the-consequent (AC) inferences occur during discourse comprehension, supporting this theory.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Linguistics
  • Logic

Background:

  • Conditional reasoning is fundamental to human cognition.
  • Two main theories, syntactic and mental models, offer competing explanations for processing if-then statements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To empirically test predictions of syntactic versus mental models theories of conditional inference.
  • To determine if people draw both valid (MP) and invalid (AC) inferences.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted using priming and recognition tasks.
  • Participants processed short stories with conditional premises in either MP or AC form without explicit conclusions.

Main Results:

  • Evidence supports the occurrence of both modus ponens (MP) and affirming-the-consequent (AC) inferences.

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  • Premise forms (MP and AC) successfully primed their respective conclusions.
  • Participants mistakenly recognized conclusions for both MP and AC arguments, indicating inference generation.
  • AC inferences were not attributable to interpreting conditionals as biconditionals.

    • Conclusions:

    • Findings align with mental models theories, which predict the generation of both MP and AC inferences.
    • Syntactic theories, predicting only MP inferences, are not supported by the results.