Fisher's fallacy and NHST's flawed logic.

Comments on the J. Krueger (see record 2001-16601-002) discussion on null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). The current author contends that the underlying philosophical problems with NHST are considerably more complicated and serious than Krueger seemed to realize. Hofman describes how the logic of NHST is based on a misapplication of deductive sylogistic reasoning, because probabilistic statements are incompatible with the rules of deductive reasoning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working memory and bias in reasoning across the life span.

Age differences in syllogistic reasoning in relation to crystallized and fluid ability were studied in 278 adults from 19 to 96 yrs of age. Two reasoning tasks, the evaluation and the construction of conclusions for syllogisms of varying complexity and believability, a vocabulary test, and 3 tasks of working memory were administered. The magnitude of age-related variance on selected reasoning tasks was only partially reduced by statistically controlling measures of both working memory and vocabulary. Additional age-related effects on reasoning were found to be significantly associated with number of mental models and bias produced by conflict between belief and logic. A significant bias was also found toward acceptance of invalid syllogisms as valid, even when contents were abstract. These sources of error in logic are discussed in relation to P. N. Johnson-Laird's (1983) theory of mental models and J. St. B. T. Evans's (1989) account of bias in human reasoning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Basic behavioral science research for mental health: Thought and communication.

The key to human intelligent behavior lies in the capacity for thinking, reasoning, and problem solving and an inability to communicate through language. These abilities are often seriously impaired in people with mental disorders, and their language may reveal delusions and scattered, incoherent thoughts as well as "word" salad and idiosyncratic words. Depressed and anxious individuals often reveal self defeating thoughts and inappropriate reasoning, such as regarding minor slip-ups as catastrophes and dwellling on the negative aspects of experiences that are generally positive. Cognitive research seeks to understand how thinking, reasoning, and using language develop and function nomally, how they are represented in the brain, and how they can break down in aging, brain injury, and various mental disorders. Aspects of this research inform the work of therapists as they challenge irrational beliefs and dysfunctional reasoning, encourage clients to re-evaluate their problems, and aid people in overcoming the aftereffects of brain injury and disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Propositional reasoning by model?

Two theories of propositional deductive reasoning are considered: the mental models of P. N. Johnson-Laird et al (see PA, 79:41765) and the mental logic of M. D. Braine (1994). The model theory is said to account for practically all of the known phenomena of deductive propositional reasoning, offer a general theory of conditionals, account for the most important aspects of Braine's theory, and predict new phenomena that rule theories cannot explain. It is argued that (1) the model theory is flawed in a way that is difficult to overcome, (2) conditionals are seriously misrepresented, (3) the algorithms proposed to implement it either allow invalid inferences or are psychologically useless, (4) Braine's theory accounts for all of the new phenomena worth considering, and (5) the model theory can predict Braine's results only at the cost of self-refutation. It is concluded that the mental model theory of propositional reasoning offers no reason to reject the program of mental logic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Copying actions and copying outcomes: Social learning through the second year.

The present work documents how the logic of a model's demonstration and the communicative cues that the model provides interact with age to influence how children engage in social learning. Children at ages 12, 18, and 24 months (n = 204) watched a model open a series of boxes. Twelve-month-old subjects only copied the specific actions of the model when they were given a logical reason to do so--otherwise, they focused on reproducing the outcome of the demonstrated actions. Eighteen-month-old subjects focused on copying the outcome when the model was aloof. When the model acted socially, the subjects were as likely to focus on copying actions as outcomes, irrespective of the apparent logic of the model's behavior. Finally, 24-month-old subjects predominantly focused on copying the model's specific actions. However, they were less likely to produce the modeled outcome when the model acted nonsocially. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thinking about logic.

Reviews the book, A border dispute: The place of logic in psychology by J. Macnamara (1986). In this book, Macnamara argues that logical competence is part of the endowment of rational creatures just as linguistic competence is part of the endowment of verbal ones. And then he sets out to explicate that competence. In developing his own views, Macnamara does justice to a complex body of knowledge and at the same time engages the reader in a complex but important debate. Just as language and thought came to be seen in a new light when psychologists finally began to pay some attention to linguistic structure, so thinking and reasoning may come to be seen in a new light when psychologists begin to pay attention to the issues Macnamara sets out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can any ostrich fly?: some new data on belief bias in syllogistic reasoning

According to one version of the mental models theory (Oakhill, J.V., Johnson-Laird, P.N., Garnham, A., 1989. Believability and syllogistic reasoning. Cognition 31, 117-140) beliefs exert their influence on reasoning in three ways. First they can affect the interpretation of the premises, for example by conversion. Second, they can curtail the search for alternative models of the premises, if an initial model supports a believable conclusion. Third, they can act as a filter on any conclusion that is eventually generated. This last influence is important in explaining the effects of belief bias in one-model syllogisms with no convertible premises, since such syllogisms, by definition, have no alternative models. However, the most natural interpretation of such a filter is that it filters out conclusions and leads to the response 'no valid conclusion'. The present study, which was conducted with groups of both British and Italian subjects, looked at the effect of prior knowledge on syllogistic reasoning, and showed that: (1) invalid conclusions for such one model syllogisms, either thematic or abstract, are typically not of the type 'no valid conclusion', but state invalid relations between the end terms; (2) belief-bias is completely suppressed when previous knowledge is incompatible with the premises, and therefore the premises themselves are always considered. The results are compatible with a version of the mental models theory in which a representation of prior knowledge precedes modelling of the premises, which are then incorporated into the representation of this knowledge. The relation between this theory and other accounts of belief bias in syllogistic reasoning, and the implications of these findings for reasoning more generally, are considered.     

Unraveling social categorization in the "who said what?" paradigm

A multinomial model of the "Who said what?" paradigm (S. E. Taylor, S. T. Fiske, N. J. Etcoff, & A. J. Ruderman, 1978) explains the pattern of participants' assignment errors by means of the joint operation of several processes. Specifically, memory for discussion statements, person memory, category memory, and 3 different guessing processes can be accommodated by the model. The model's ability to disentangle these processes is validated in a series of 5 experiments. The model thereby enables a more refined use of the "Who said what?" paradigm in testing theories of social categorization. This is demonstrated in a 6th experiment in which the validated model is applied to the study of the effects of cognitive load on categorization.     

Generic resources, reconstructive processing, and children's mental arithmetic.

We report two experiments concerned with a reconstructive processing model of reasoning/remembering dependencies in cognitive development. According to this model, such dependencies occur because problem-solving tasks often permit children to answer short-term memory probes by activating the same information-processing operations that they use to solve problems, not because reasoning and remembering compete for the same supply of scarce resources. This claim was examined in the context of mental artithmetic problems that were accompanied by memory probes for problem-relevant information. The data were generally consistent with the view that preschoolers and elementary schoolers can respond to memory probes by applying arithmetical processing to running gist from recently solved problems. The findings are discussed with reference to two competing interpretations of the development of working memory, fuzzy-trace theory and the generic-resources hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Junk logic: The abuse defense in sexual harassment litigation.

Recently, some defense-oriented authorities have proposed that a history of childhood sexual abuse can be used to attack virtually every aspect of a sexual harassment claimant's case, including the issues of unwelcomeness, reasonableness, damages, and even credibility. The authors critiqued these claims, arguing that they are not only grounded in faulty logic and fallacious reasoning but furthermore ignore or distort the large body of data that contradict them. Using evidence from 2 empirical studies, they argued that there is no scientific evidence for the claims of the "abuse defense" and provided a discussion of the dangers it poses to the integrity of the scientific contribution to judicial decision making. They concluded by briefly describing an alternative to the traditional method of damages determination that circumvents some of its most regressive aspects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Subclinical Depression and Aging on Generative Reasoning About Linear Orders: Same or Different Processing Limitations?

The performance of older adults and depressed people on linear order reasoning is hypothesized to be best explained by different theoretical models. Whereas depressed younger adults are found to be impaired in generative inference making, older adults are well capable of making such inferences but exhibit problems with working memory (Experiments 1 and 2). Restriction of the available study time impairs reasoning by nondepressed control participants and. as such, proves to be a good model of older adults' but not depressed participants' limitations (Experiment 3). These results are replicated comparing depressed and older participants with a control group in the same study, providing increased power and linking the results to additional control measures of processing speed and working memory (Experiment 4). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in syllogistic reasoning: Deduction rules or mental models?

Conducted 2 experiments to examine the correlates of reasoning ability on a syllogistic reasoning task in Ss who lacked formal background in logic, focusing on the extent to which reasoning proficiency arises from the consideration of multiple possible set relations (mental models) as opposed to explicit or implicit reliance on deduction rules. Exp I investigated whether differences between good and poor reasoners occurred early or late in the process of reasoning. 24 undergraduates, designated as good or poor readers, were presented with 16 syllogisms to solve. In Exp II, 16 good and 15 poor undergraduate reasoners and 7 graduate students who had studied logic were asked to state their initial impression of the correct conclusion to a syllogism. Overall findings reveal evidence for the use of both models and rules. Although good and poor reasoners differed even when time constraints were imposed, consistent with the supposition of a better set of rules among good reasoners, good reasoners showed more improvement and chose to take longer amounts of time when time constraints were removed, suggesting that they considered more alternatives than did the poor reasoners. A comparison between these 2 groups and Ss with experience in logic revealed striking differences in both accuracy and speed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitivity Analysis of Neural Networks in Spool Fabrication Productivity Studies

The back-propagation neural network (BPNN) has been researched and applied as a convenient decision-support tool in a variety of application areas in civil engineering. However, learning algorithms such as the BPNN do not give information on the effect of each input parameter or influencing variable upon the predicted output variable. The model's sensitivity to changes in its parameters is generally probed by testing the response of a mature network on various input scenarios. In this paper, the relationships between an output variable and an input parameter are sorted out based on the BPNN algorithm. The input sensitivity of the BPNN is defined in exact mathematical terms in light of both normalized and raw data. The difference between a BPNN and regression analysis of statistics is discussed, and the sophistication and superiority of the BPNN over regression analysis is further demonstrated in a case study based on a small data set. In addition, statistical analysis of input sensitivity based on Monte Carlo simulation enables the modeler to understand the rationale of a BPNN's reasoning and have preknowledge about the effectiveness of model implementation in a probabilistic fashion. The sensitivity analysis of the BPNN is successfully applied to analyze the labor production rate of pipe spool fabrication in a real industrial setting. Important aspects of the application, including problem definition, factor identification, data collection, and model testing based on real data, are discussed and presented.     

Tool use and the effect of action on the imagination.

Three studies examined the claim that hand movements can facilitate imagery for object rotations but that this facilitation depends on people's model of the situation. In Experiment 1, physically turning a block without vision reduced mental rotation times compared with imagining the same rotation without bodily movement. In Experiment 2, pulling a string from a spool facilitated participants' mental rotation of an object sitting on the spool. In Experiment 3, depending on participants' model of the spool, the exact same pulling movement facilitated or interfered with the exact same imagery transformation. Results of Experiments 2 and 3 indicate that the geometric characteristics of an action do not specify the trajectory of an imagery transformation. Instead, they point to people's ability to model the tools that mediate between motor activity and its environmental consequences and to transfer tool knowledge to a new situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SSL: A Theory of How People Learn to Select Strategies.

The assumption that people possess a repertoire of strategies to solve the inference problems they face has been raised repeatedly. However, a computational model specifying how people select strategies from their repertoire is still lacking. The proposed strategy selection learning (SSL) theory predicts a strategy selection process on the basis of reinforcement learning. The theory assumes that individuals develop subjective expectations for the strategies they have and select strategies proportional to their expectations, which are then updated on the basis of subsequent experience. The learning assumption was supported in 4 experimental studies. Participants substantially improved their inferences through feedback. In all 4 studies, the best-performing strategy from the participants' repertoires most accurately predicted the inferences after sufficient learning opportunities. When testing SSL against 3 models representing extensions of SSL and against an exemplar model assuming a memory-based inference process, the authors found that SSL predicted the inferences most accurately. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why models rather than rules give a better account of propositional reasoning: A reply to Bonatti and to O'Brien, Braine, and Yang.

D. P. O'Brien et al (see record 1995-08272-001) argue that the mental model theory of propositional reasoning is easy to refute, and they report 3 experiments that they believe falsify the theory. In contrast, L. Bonatti (see record 1995-08253-001) argues that the model theory is too flexible to be falsified. It is shown that the experiments by O'Brien et al do not refute the model theory and that Bonatti's claims are ill founded. Formal rule theories of propositional reasoning have 3 major weaknesses in comparison with the model theory: (1) They have no decision procedure; (2) they lack predictive power, providing no account of several robust phenomena (e.g., erroneous conclusions tend to be consistent with the premises); and (3) as a class of theories, they are difficult to refute experimentally. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trance logic in hypnosis and imagination.

Investigated, in 2 experiments, trance logic, or the tolerance of logical incongruity, in age regression and hallucination. Exp 1 tested 21 hypnotizable and 19 unhypnotizable Ss in an application of the real-simulating model of hypnosis. Exp 2 tested 26 high and 19 low imagery ability Ss in an adaptation of the model to the imagination context. Ss' experiences were investigated through the experimenal analysis technique. More real than simulating Ss displayed trance logic during age regression, but they did not differ on the major measures of trance logic during hallucination. This pattern of responding occurred in both the hypnosis and the imagination contexts. Ss' comments suggested that completeness of and belief in age regression or hallucination may play some role in trance logic. The importance of understanding trance logic from the S's point of view is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural substrates of mathematical reasoning: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of neocortical activation during performance of the necessary arithmetic operations test.

Brain activation was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging during mathematical problem solving in 7 young healthy participants. Problems were selected from the Necessary Arithmetic Operations Test (NAOT; R. B. Ekstrom, J. W. French, H. H. Harman, & D. Dermen, 1976). Participants solved 3 types of problems: 2-operation problems requiring mathematical reasoning and text processing, 1-operation problems requiring text processing but minimal mathematical reasoning, and 0-operation problems requiring minimal text processing and controlling sensorimotor demands of the NAOT problems. Two-operation problems yielded major activations in bilateral frontal regions similar to those found in other problem-solving tasks, indicating that the processes mediated by these regions subserve many forms of reasoning. Findings suggest a dissociation in mathematical problem solving between reasoning, mediated by frontal cortex, and text processing, mediated by temporal cortex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial costs of racism to white counselors: Predicting various dimensions of multicultural counseling competence.

In 2 interrelated investigations, the authors examined the extent to which affect, as measured by the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites scale (PCRW; L. B. Spanierman & M. J. Heppner, 2004), would predict various dimensions of multicultural counseling competence (MCC). In Study 1, structural equation modeling was used to test a mediating model of PCRW predicting self-reported MCC among a sample of White trainees (n = 311) from 34 states across the country. The overall model was a good fit to the data, with affective variables (e.g., White empathy, White guilt, and White fear) mediating the associations between color-blind racial attitudes and MCC and multicultural training and MCC. In Study 2, self-reported, demonstrated, and observed MCC were assessed among a sample of White trainees (n = 59; 40 of whose clinical supervisors participated) from 20 states. White guilt significantly predicted multicultural case conceptualization, and White empathy significantly predicted supervisor ratings of participants' MCC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rational errors and the mathematical mind.

What do errors reveal about the mathematical mind? Intriguingly, errors are often logically consistent and rule based rather than being random. Investigating errors, therefore, presents an opportunity for uncovering the mental representations underlying mathematical reasoning. A useful question is whether errors break down into different categories or types. If this were the case, then one could explain a variety of seemingly different problem-solving behaviors by using only a few principles. The aim of this article is to provide a taxonomy of rule-based errors in mathematical reasoning that illustrates how a few basic mental processes may be responsible for generating myriad different errors. Implications for general processes of reasoning and problem solving are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)