Analogical reasoning ability in autistic and typically developing children

Recent studies (e.g. Dawson et al., 2007 ) have reported that autistic people perform in the normal range on the Raven Progressive Matrices test, a formal reasoning test that requires integration of relations as well as the ability to infer rules and form high‐level abstractions. Here we compared autistic and typically developing children, matched on age, IQ, and verbal and non‐verbal working memory, using both the Raven test and pictorial tests of analogical reasoning. Whereas the Raven test requires only formal analogical reasoning, the other analogy tests require use of real‐world knowledge, as well as inhibition of salient distractors. We found that autistic children performed as well as controls on all these tests of reasoning with relations. Our findings indicate that the basic ability to reason systematically with relations, for both abstract and thematic materials, is intact in autism.     

Analogical reasoning in 2-year-olds: The development of access and relational inference

Eighty-four 24- and 30-month-old children were tested with two analogy tasks: formal and problem solving. Experiment 1 included three Groups: relations specified, relations unspecified, and associative control (no exposure to base relations). In Experiment 2 the relation that linked that a- and b-terms in formal problems was explicitly shown in order to reduce relational inference demands. In Experiment 1, children responded systematically to the formal problems when given two chances to answer each question. In Experiment 2, children were systematic on their first responses. In the problem-solving task the rates of spontaneous analogies produced were similar to those seen in older children. However, unlike older children, 2-year-olds benefited minimally from prompts. We believe this may indicate that 2-year-olds have difficulty explicitly controlling their analogical activity. We conclude early analogical abilities may be limited by weak relational inference abilities and difficulty intentionally initiating access.     

Measurement issues associated with conditional reasoning tests: An examination of faking

Conditional reasoning (CR) is a new item format that measures personality by indirectly assessing reliance upon the cognitive biases associated with specific traits (James et al., 2005). Previous research suggests that, relative to self-report measures, responses on CR-based measures are more difficult to distort (LeBreton, Barksdale, Robin, & James, 2007). The issue of response distortion in the context of CR-based measures was evaluated in two studies. Study 1 (within-subjects) and Study 2 (between-subjects) both investigated whether responses on a CR-based test of addiction could be faked when indirect assessment was upheld. Results of both studies indicated that, unlike a self-report measure of a similar construct, the CR-based measure was unaffected by response distortion.     

Speed of reasoning and its relation to reasoning ability

The study investigates empirical properties of reasoning speed which is conceived as the fluency of solving reasoning problems. Responses and response times in reasoning tasks are modeled jointly to clarify the covariance structure of reasoning speed and reasoning ability. To determine underlying abilities, the predictive validities of two cognitive covariates, namely perceptual and executive attention, are investigated. A sample of N = 230 test takers completed a reasoning test, Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM), and attention tests indicating perceptual and executive attention. For modeling responses the two-parameter normal ogive model, and for modeling response times the two-parameter lognormal model was applied. Results suggest that reasoning speed is a unidimensional construct representing significant individual differences, and that reasoning speed and ability are negatively correlated but clearly distinguishable constructs. Perceptual and executive attention showed differential effects on reasoning speed and reasoning ability, i.e., reasoning speed is explained by executive attention only, while reasoning ability is explained by both covariates. Implications for the assessment of reasoning are discussed.     

Planning ability across ranges of intellectual ability: An examination of the Luria-Das information-processing model

According to the Luria-Das information-processing theory, impaired planning ability is the source of more generalized cognitive deficits in mentally retarded populations. Also, the model suggests the possibility of relative independence between unit 2 (planning) and unit 3 (coding) abilities for mentally retarded individuals. Consequently, it was predicted that 26 educable mentally retarded (EMR) children would score significantly less well on relatively pure measures of planning ability than 13 younger average-ability children after the children were matched on cognitive processing ability (Mental Age of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children). Moreover, it was predicted that teaching an optimal planning strategy to randomly selected individuals of both groups would improve the EMR group's scores relative to the average-ability group. Neither prediction was supported. The results are not inconsistent with the model, but can be explained parsimoniously by neurodevelopmental stage theories also.     

Analogical reasoning in handling emerging technologies: the case of umbilical cord blood biobanking

How are we individually and as a society to handle new and emerging technologies? This challenging question underlies much of the bioethical debates of modern times. To address this question we need suitable conceptions of the new technology and ways of identifying its proper management and regulation. To establish conceptions and to find ways to handle emerging technologies we tend to use analogies extensively. The aim of this article is to investigate the role that analogies play or may play in the processes of understanding and managing new technology. More precisely we aim to unveil the role of analogies as analytical devices in exploring the "being" of the new technology as well the normative function of analogies in conceptualizing the characteristics and applications of new technology. Umbilical cord blood biobanking will be used as a case to investigate these roles and functions.     

Storage and non-storage components of working memory predicting reasoning: A simultaneous examination of a wide range of ability factors

The current study examined basic cognitive abilities that are related to or included in the concept of working memory (WM): different WM components, three executive functions, simple short-term storage (STM), and sustained attention. Tasks were selected from well-established models and balanced in terms of content. The predictive power of storage and non-storage components of WM was examined. The same analyses were conducted with mental speed as an additional predictor of reasoning. Finally, we investigated whether the identified predictors of reasoning remain relevant when a general factor is considered in the analysis. The analyses revealed that short-term memory accounted for the relationship between complex span measures of WM and reasoning but not for the relationship between coordination and reasoning. These findings remained stable in the context of a mental speed and a general factor. The mental speed factor did not add an incremental contribution to the prediction of reasoning above and beyond short-term memory and coordination. The general factor was mainly built by mental speed tasks and acted as an additional predictor of reasoning besides STM and coordination. Thus, we concluded that reasoning ability can be explained by coordination, STM, and mental speed.     

Transcendental Tense: J.R. Lucas

Mellor's argument from Kant fails. The difficulties in his first Antinomy are due to topological confusions, not the tensed nature of time. Nor are McTaggart's difficulties due to the tensed nature of time. The ego-centricity of tensed discourse is an essential feature of communication between selves, each of whom refers himself as 'I', and is required for talking about time as well as experience and agency.
Arguments based on the Special Theory are misconceived. Some rest on a confused notion of 'topological simultaneity'. In the General Theory a cosmic time is defined, as also in quantum mechanics, where a natural present is defined by a unique hyperplane of collapse into eigen -ness.     

Components of quantitative reasoning: General and group ability factors

In this study we tested the hypothesis that quantitative reasoning performance is a function of specific processing components as well as general cognitive abilities such as working memory capacity, reasoning, and verbal comprehension. Subjects were administered tests of these three ability factors as well as tests designed to measure three components thought to underlie algebra word problem solving: problem-type identification, decomposition and sequencing, and problem translation. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated good fits for our models of the general ability factors and the word-problem-solving components. Further analyses indicated that the word-problem-solving components added substantially to the more general cognitive abilities in explaining variance in arithmetic reasoning and math knowledge test scores obtained from the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. We conclude that although general cognitive ability and/or working memory are certainly important ingredients of quantitative reasoning, specific processing components suggested by cognitive theory are at least as important determinants of performance.     

利用游戏log-file预测学生推理能力和数学成绩——机器学习的应用

以360名初中生为被试, 使用推箱子游戏, 结合游戏日志文件(log-file)和机器学习技术预测学生的推理能力和数学成绩。预测变量是从推箱子的过程数据中提取的一系列特征指标, 结果变量是瑞文推理测验成绩和数学成绩, 且均以25%为高低分组的临界值转换为二分变量。结果发现, 训练的模型预测推理能力最高能获得76.11%的查准率、65.72%的精确率、63.10%的查全率以及65.01%的F1得分; 预测数学成绩最高能获得83.07%的查准率、73.70%的精确率、73.33%的查全率以及75.57%的F1得分。研究结果说明, 机器学习建立的区分模型具有较好的预测效果, 利用log-file所记录的游戏过程数据可以对个体的能力进行有效预测。     

Analogical reasoning in working memory: Resources shared among relational integration,interference resolution,and maintenance

We report a series of experiments using a pictorial analogy task designed to manipulate relational integration, interference resolution, and active maintenance simultaneously. The difficulty of the problems was varied in terms of the number of relations to be integrated, the need for interference resolution, and the duration of maintenance required to correctly solve the analogy. The participants showed decreases in performance when integrating multiple relations, as compared with a single relation, and when interference resolution was required in solving the analogy. When the participants were required to integrate multiple relations while simultaneously engaged in interference resolution, performance was worse, as compared with problems that incorporated either of these features alone. Maintenance of information across delays in the range of 1-4.5 sec led to greater decrements in visual memory, as compared with analogical reasoning. Misleading information caused interference when it had been necessarily attended to and maintained in working memory and, hence, had to be actively suppressed. However, sources of conflict within information that had not been attended to or encoded into working memory did not interfere with the ongoing controlled information processing required for relational integration. The findings provide evidence that relational integration and interference resolution depend on shared cognitive resources in working memory during analogical reasoning.     

Characteristics of Successful Direct Support Professionals: An examination of personality and cognitive ability requirements

Service jobs in the health care industry continue to face difficulties in recruiting, selecting, and retaining quality employees. We conducted two studies to examine potential cognitive and personality predictors of job performance, satisfaction, and turnover among direct support professionals (i.e., individuals providing long‐term residential care and support to persons with disabilities). Data from a concurrent validation study was used to create a unit‐weighted combination of agreeableness, conscientiousness, optimism, and numerical ability. This composite predictor was significantly correlated with job performance and job satisfaction. The composite was further supported in a follow‐up predictive validation study of turnover.     

类比推理的眼动研究:揭示个体类比推理策略发展的有效手段

近年来,研究者利用眼动技术具有高时间精度的优势,探明不同年龄群体完成类比推理过程的眼动模式特点并得出其在进行类比推理时所使用的策略。基于类比推理的眼动研究发现了三种典型的类比推理策略——项目优先策略、结构匹配策略和语义限制策略。成人更多表现为项目优先策略,儿童更多表现为语义限制策略。未来研究可以优化类比推理眼动指标,尤其是全局扫视路径的计算方法,并重点关注特殊群体的类比推理眼动模式以及关注类比推理策略与其他认知能力的交互作用。     

Analogical reasoning with novel concepts: Differential attention of intellectually gifted and nongifted children to relevant and irrelevant novel stimuli

Intellectually gifted and nongifted students in grades 6, 7, and 8 were given a modified verbal analogies test in which typical verbal analogy problems were preceded by novel or familiar statements about one of the analogy terms. The test required subjects to integrate this new information into an otherwise familiar problem-solving task. Both gifted and nongifted students gave significantly more attention to novel information than to familiar information. Gifted students gave significantly less attention to irrelevant novel information than did nongifted students, but did not differ from nongifted students in their attention to relevant novel information. Whereas intellectually gifted students gave significantly more time to relevant than to irrelevant novel information, non-gifted students allocated as much time to irrelevant novel information as they did to relevant novel information. Performance on this task was significantly correlated with teachers' ratings of intellectual ability for gifted, but not for nongifted students.     

Theories of conditional reasoning: a developmental examination of competing hypotheses

Children and adolescents were presented with problems that contained deontic (i.e., if action p is taken, then precondition q must be met) or causal (i.e., if event p occurs, then event q will transpire) conditionals and that varied in the ease with which alternative antecedents could be activated. Results showed that inferences were linked to the availability of alternative antecedents and the generation of "disabling" conditions (claims that the conditionals were false under specific circumstances). Age-related developments were found only on problems involving indeterminate inferences. Correlations among inferences differed for children and adolescents. The findings provide stronger support for domain-general theories than for domain-specific theories of reasoning and suggest, under some conditions, age-related changes in the roles of implicit and explicit processing.