Causal conditional reasoning and semantic memory retrieval: A test of the semantic memory framework
Memory & CognitionPublished 1 September 2002Open access
Wim De Neys, Walter Schaeken, Géry d’Ydewalle
Citations90
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.15
SNIP1.32
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TL;DR
This study tested and refined a framework that proposes a mechanism for retrieving alternative causes and disabling conditions during reasoning and revealed high correlations between the number of possible alternative causes or disabling conditions and their strength of association and plausibility.
Abstract
This study tested and refined a framework that proposes a mechanism for retrieving alternative causes and disabling conditions (Cummins, 1995) during reasoning. Experiment 1 examined the relation between different factors affecting retrieval. The test revealed high correlations between the number of possible alternative causes or disabling conditions and their strength of association and plausibility. Experiment 2 explored the hypothesis that due to a more extended search process, conditional inferences would last longer when many alternative causes or disabling conditions were available. Affirmation of the consequent (AC) and modus ponens (MP) latencies showed the hypothesized pattern. Denial of the antecedent (DA) and modus tollens (MT) inferences did not show latency effects. The experiment also identified an effect of the number of disabling conditions on AC and DA acceptance. Experiment 3 measured efficiency of disabler retrieval by a limited time, disabler generation task. As predicted, better disabler retrieval was related to lower acceptance of the MP and MT inferences.
Keywords
PsychologyComputer ScienceNeuroscience
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