Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Bridging the "retrieval gap": Familiar schema-governed categories support reminding of disparate events.

Memory & cognition·2026
Same author

ADAPTER: A Conceptual Model of Category-Driven Analogical Retrieval.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science·2025
Same author

The role of surface and structural similarities in the retrieval of realistic perceptual events.

British journal of psychology (London, England : 1953)·2024
Same author

Revealing mental representations of arithmetic word problems through false memories: New insights into semantic congruence.

Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition·2024
Same author

Neural correlates of unconventional verb extensions reveal preschoolers' analogical abilities.

Journal of experimental child psychology·2024
Same author

Uncovering the interplay between drawings, mental representations, and arithmetic problem-solving strategies in children and adults.

Memory & cognition·2024

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 16, 2025

Problem-Solving Before Instruction PS-I: A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
10:26

Problem-Solving Before Instruction PS-I: A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities

Published on: September 11, 2021

4.3K

Preadolescents Solve Natural Syllogisms Proficiently.

Guy Politzer1, Christelle Bosc-Miné2, Emmanuel Sander2

  • 1Institut Jean Nicod, Ecole normale supérieure, Paris.

Cognitive Science
|March 19, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Eleven-year-old children demonstrated remarkable proficiency in solving "natural syllogisms," mirroring adult performance. Their success suggests that deductive reasoning skills develop earlier than previously thought, particularly with implicit premises.

Keywords:
ArgumentationCategorical syllogismsCategorizationEcthesisPragmaticsPreadolescenceReasoning

More Related Videos

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
07:01

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Published on: September 20, 2020

5.1K
The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
06:51

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

Published on: April 6, 2018

8.8K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 16, 2025

Problem-Solving Before Instruction PS-I: A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
10:26

Problem-Solving Before Instruction PS-I: A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities

Published on: September 11, 2021

4.3K
Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
07:01

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Published on: September 20, 2020

5.1K
The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
06:51

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling

Published on: April 6, 2018

8.8K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Logic

Background:

  • Natural syllogisms are arguments with implicit premises, often solved effectively by adults.
  • Previous research indicates high success rates in adults for these types of logical arguments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether 11-year-old children can solve natural syllogisms.
  • To compare children's performance on natural syllogisms with adult performance and with children solving non-natural syllogisms.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted presenting 11-year-old children with natural syllogisms embedded in short dialogues.
  • Performance was assessed and compared against established adult benchmarks and a control group solving matched non-natural syllogisms.

Main Results:

  • Children's performance on natural syllogisms was equivalent to the highest levels observed in adult participants.
  • Children solving natural syllogisms significantly outperformed those who solved non-natural syllogisms in the same setting.

Conclusions:

  • Eleven-year-old children possess the deductive reasoning capabilities to solve natural syllogisms.
  • The findings support the hypothesis that natural syllogisms are accessible to children with a grasp of deductive validity and align with argumentation theory.