The development of linear syllogistic reasoning

Between 24 and 26 children in each of grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 (with mean ages of 8.5, 10.2, 13.0, 15.0, and 16.6 years, respectively) were tested in their ability to solve linear syllogisms, problems such as “John is taller than Mary. Mary is taller than Pete. Who is tallest? John, Mary, Pete.” Response latencies and error rates decreased across grade levels and sessions. Component latencies also generally decreased with increasing age. Four alternative information-processing models were fit to the group latency data at each grade level. These models were (a) a spatial model, according to which people represent the terms of a linear syllogism in the form of a linear spatial array; (b) a linguistic model, according to which linear syllogisms are solved via inferences on functional relations represented by linguistic deep structures; (c) an algorithmic model, according to which people solve linear syllogisms by applying a series of simple, essentially mechanical steps, and (d) a mixed model, which combines selected features of the spatial and linguistic models, and adds new features of its own. The latency data supported the mixed model at each grade level, although in grade 9 the model was not the preferred one until the second session of testing.     

Language loss in bilingual Chicano children

The results of two studies on language loss in bilingual Chicano children are reported. In Study I, focusing on normal language acquisition in balanced bilinguals, 41 children in kindergarten through fourth grade were administered the Bilingual Language Acquisition Scale (BLAS), an instrument testing comprehension and production of the following features: number, gender, word order, relatives, conditionals, and Spanish subjunctive and its English equivalents. Most development occurred between kindergarten and the upper grades in the English Comprehension and Production subscales. In the production of Spanish, significant differences appeared between kindergarten and the upper grades to grade three. Unexpectedly, in the fourth grade, performance dropped sharply, with children performing almost at the kindergarten level. There were no significant differences by grade in Spanish comprehension. Most significant differences among grades were produced in the more complex categories (conditionals, Spanish subjunctive/English equivalents, and relatives) in the production subscales in English and Spanish. By fourth grade, in Spanish (and sometimes by third grade), children were performing with significantly lower accuracy than the younger children, particularly in the more complex structures (subjunctive and conditionals, for example). In Study II, 32 of the original subjects were retested two years later using the same instruments and procedures. While performance in English continued to improve for the sample as a whole, performance in Spanish production deteriorated to a significant degree. In Spanish, significant differences in performance between the two administrations were found, both for the scale as a whole and for the following categories: past tense, relatives, and the subjunctive. The influence of personal history and language use patterns was tested. The most severe incidence of loss occurred among children who tended to use both English and Spanish with the same speaker.     

SYLLOGISTIC REASONING AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM CANADA AND SIERRA LEONE

Solution of 3-term syllogisms was examined in the context of culture and IQ. Children from elementary schools in Edmonton and Freetown were divided into high and low on the basis of their scores on Coloured Progressive Matrices. In each culture, those with higher scores on Progressive Matrices were expected to do better on syllogistic reasoning than those with lower scores. Across cultures, no difference in performance was expected. In terms of the relation of syllogistic reasoning to simultaneous and successive processing, both processes were expected to be involved in the solution of syllogisms. The results confirmed these hypotheses. It was also indicated that the children from Freetown were better than Edmonton's in syllogisms, dispelling any doubts in regard to their competence in ‘verbal’ reasoning.     

The relationship between early lexical and grammatical development in Spanish: evidence in children with different linguistic levels

This study analyzes the relationship between lexical and grammatical development in Spanish children. The (European) Spanish version of the MacArthur-Bates CDI was used and administered to 593 Spanish-speaking children between the ages of 16 and 30-months-old. Regression analysis was applied to evaluate the relationship between age, vocabulary (total vocabulary, nouns, and verbs) and grammatical scores on two subsections of the Grammar Part. Total vocabulary explained a significantly greater proportion of variance in grammatical outcomes than age did. However, noun and verb vocabularies did not explain a greater proportion of variance in their respective morphologies than total vocabulary did. Additionally, the predictive relationship between vocabulary and grammar was found to be weaker for children whose scores were below the 10th percentile, although this could be due to the minor variability in this group and to extreme cases. We discuss the implications of these results in relation to the question of continuity between early vocabulary and grammar development in children.     

The effects of presentation and content on syllogistic reasoning by children with and without specific language impairment

This study examines performance at a syllogistic reasoning task for a group of children (age 10 years) with specific language impairment (SLI) along with age- and language-matched controls. The syllogisms were presented either verbally or verbally/pictorially, and contained two types of item: imaginary versus real, both intended not to evoke strong beliefs. Children with SLI performed worse than age-matched controls, and equivalently to language-matched controls. Patterns of performance indicate this may be due to cognitive ability deficits rather than specific language deficits. For all groups, pictorial presentation interfered with reasoning processes. It is suggested that, for syllogisms, this pictorial information contextualises the interpretation of the task, and that in turn either raises working memory load or evokes belief bias. Additionally, these results suggest that caution should be exhibited before using visual aids to help children with SLI in the classroom.     

独生与非独生儿童认知发展的比较研究(广州市)

为了研究中国独生子女政策可能造成的独生和非独生儿童的认知能力的差别,分别在广州七所小学一年级和五年级中选择了146名和171名独生与非独生儿童。用11项认知能力测验对这些儿童进行测查。一年级独生儿童在言语记忆和一般常识项目上的成绩优于非独生儿童。研究认为,一年级独生儿童在与一般认知能力有关的项目上具有优势。而五年级的独生儿童在认知作业成绩上,没有表现出显著性的优势。另外,独生男童在一般常识方面优于独生女童。作者用独生儿童受到较大的父母关注和投资来解释一年级独生对非独生儿童在认知方面的优势。随着儿童的自然成熟和学业教育,两者之间的差距会逐渐缩小,从而使五年级独生儿童未能在认知方面表现出明显的优势。     

Syllogistic reasoning and belief-bias inhibition in school children: evidence from a negative priming paradigm

Research on deductive reasoning in adolescents and adults has shown that errors in deductive logic are not necessarily due to a lack of logical ability but can stem from an executive failure to inhibit biases. Few studies have examined this dissociation in children. Here, we used a negative priming paradigm with 64 children (8-10 years old) to test the role of cognitive inhibition in syllogisms with belief-bias effects. On trials where negative priming was predicted, results were as follows: For the first syllogism (A), the strategy 'unbelievable-equals-invalid' had to be inhibited. The logic of the syllogism led to affirming a conclusion inconsistent with one's knowledge of the world, such as 'All elephants are light.' For the second syllogism (B), one's real-world knowledge and the syllogism's logic were congruent but the latter required affirming exactly what had been inhibited for A (i.e. that elephants are heavy). A negative priming effect on the A-B sequence was reflected in a significant drop in reasoning performance on B. This supports the idea that during cognitive development, inhibitory control is required for success on syllogisms where beliefs and logic interfere.     

Toward a differential testing approach: Testing-the-limits employing the Raven matrices

Various testing-the-limits procedures were employed in administering the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test to 203 second grade and 230 fourth grade children. Tests of impulsivity, neuroticism, extroversion, intelligence and school achievement were also given. The main results showed that testing-the-limits procedures which involved verbalization and feedback were efficacious in maximizing performance on the Raven. The puzzle form of the test generally led to higher scores than the picture version for the second but not fourth graders. Differential analyses were carried out to establish how construct, concurrent and predictive validity of the Raven were affected by the salient testing-the-limits procedures involved. Analysis was also done with the personality variables and revealed how their effect interacted with various test administration procedures. The results were discussed in theoretical and practical terms.     

Sociometric types and social interaction styles in a sample of Spanish adolescents

This study analyzed the relationship between social interaction styles and sociometric types in a sample of 1,349 (51.7% boys, and 48.3% girls) Spanish adolescents. The results revealed that the proportion of prosocial adolescents nominated as liked by peers was significantly higher than prosocial with social anxiety, whereas the proportion of aggressive adolescents nominated by peers as rejected was significantly higher than the proportion of rejected-prosocial and rejected-with social anxiety. The percentages of sociometric types and social interaction styles varied significantly according to gender and academic grade. Logistic regression analyses showed that being prosocial was 48% more likely when adolescents are nominated by peers as liked, whereas being prosocial was 41% and 79% less likely when adolescents were nominated as rejected and neglected, respectively. Furthermore, prosocial adolescents were 67% more likely nominated by peers as liked, and were less likely nominated as rejected (42%) and neglected (78%). Finally, being neglected was 83% more likely in aggressive adolescents.     

如何利用广义量词的语义性质判断扩展三段论的有效性

在国内外最新研究成果的基础上,笔者通过对文中的定理和推论的证明,主要说明了以下几点：（1）利用广义量词的相关语义性质,比如单调性和对称性,既可以解释亚氏三段论的有效性,又可以解释带有广义量词的扩展三段论的有效性;（2）一些有效的扩展三段论仅仅表征了广义量词的左或右单调性,还有一些有效的扩展三段论同时表征了广义量词的多个语义性质;（3）利用广义量词的东南或西北或西南或东北方向的单调性可以判断一些带有限制条件的扩展三段论的有效性。此研究将有利于广义量词理论的发展,对于计算机科学中的知识表示和知识推理的研究都具有较为重要的理论价值和实践意义。     

DÉPENDANCE-INDÉPENDANCE À L'ÉGARD DU CHAMP ET RÉSOLUTION DE SYLLOGISMES LINÉAIRES*

A formal analysis of a set of linear syllogisms led the author to a definition of two factors involved in the construction of these syllogisms: (a) a logical factor linking the two premises (I, identical relation; R, reciprocal relation), (b) a linguistic factor concerning the formulation of the premises (affirmative or negative propositions). Thirty-six French adolescents were given a set of 48 problems in which the logical and the linguistic factors were combined in the same proportion. These subjects were of equal ability with regard to the functioning of the formal operatory systems, but of different abilities with respect to field dependence–independence. The results show a significant correlation between latencies and field dependence–independence. The analysis of this correlation leads to the conclusion that the restructuration processes worked more slowly in the dependent subjects than in the independent subjects. It appears from the analysis of the results that the differences observed in the subjects' reasoning processes may be interpreted in terms of mobility of intellectual operations.     

Divergent Thinking Styles of the Hemispheres: How Syllogisms Are Solved during Transitory Hemisphere Suppression

Psychiatric patients solved syllogisms while recovering from transitory ictal suppression of one hemisphere by electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The premises were familiar or unfamiliar, true or false. While the right hemisphere was suppressed, syllogisms were usually solved by theoretical, deductive reasoning even when the factual answer was known a priori, the premises were obviously false and the conclusions were absurd. While their left hemisphere was suppressed, the same subjects applied their prior knowledge; if the syllogism content was unfamiliar or false, they refused to answer. We postulate a left-hemisphere mechanism capable of decontextualized mental operations and a right-hemisphere mechanism, the operation of which is context-bound and incapable of abstraction. We show that each hemisphere tends to overextend its perspective on the problem and that in the intact brain they both contribute to an extent that depends on the characteristics of the problem at hand.     

Response demands and the recruitment of heuristic strategies in syllogistic reasoning

Two experiments investigated whether dealing with a homogeneous subset of syllogisms with time-constrained responses encouraged participants to develop and use heuristics for abstract (Experiment 1) and thematic (Experiment 2) syllogisms. An atmosphere-based heuristic accounted for most responses with both abstract and thematic syllogisms. With thematic syllogisms, a weaker effect of a belief heuristic was also observed, mainly where the correct response was inconsistent with the atmosphere of the premises. Analytic processes appear to have played little role in the time-constrained condition, whereas their involvement increased in a self-paced, unconstrained condition. From a dual-process perspective, the results further specify how task demands affect the recruitment of heuristic and analytic systems of reasoning. Because the syllogisms and experimental procedure were the same as those used in a previous neuroimaging study by Goel, Buchel, Frith, and Dolan (2000), the result also deepen our understanding of the cognitive processes investigated by that study.     

Response demands and the recruitment of heuristic strategies in syllogistic reasoning

Two experiments investigated whether dealing with a homogeneous subset of syllogisms with time-constrained responses encouraged participants to develop and use heuristics for abstract (Experiment 1) and thematic (Experiment 2) syllogisms. An atmosphere-based heuristic accounted for most responses with both abstract and thematic syllogisms. With thematic syllogisms, a weaker effect of a belief heuristic was also observed, mainly where the correct response was inconsistent with the atmosphere of the premises. Analytic processes appear to have played little role in the time-constrained condition, whereas their involvement increased in a self-paced, unconstrained condition. From a dual-process perspective, the results further specify how task demands affect the recruitment of heuristic and analytic systems of reasoning. Because the syllogisms and experimental procedure were the same as those used in a previous neuroimaging study by Goel, Buchel, Frith, and Dolan (2000), the result also deepen our understanding of the cognitive processes investigated by that study.     

Factor structure of the Spanish version of the Spence Children Anxiety Scale (SCAS)

This paper presents the Spanish version of the Spence Children Anxiety Scale (SCAS), a rating scale for children and adolescents assessing anxiety disorders as they appear in the DSM-IV. SCAS scores were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses in a sample of 1671 children 10 to 17 years old. Results supported the proposed structure of six interrelated scales. This structure is completely invariant (except for means) in boys and girls and across age groups. Overall, girls scored slightly higher than boys. The relationship of SCAS scores with the child's age was nonexistent or very low and negative. The least frequent anxiety problems among children and adolescents were panic attacks and agoraphobia. Problems that most frequently presented extreme high scores were obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia. It is concluded that the Spanish version of the SCAS can confidently be used in the assessment of anxiety disorders in children.     

Reply to “does the Wickens STM technique tap encoding in young children?”

Several instances of successful application of Wickens STM technique to the study of encoding in second and third grade children are presented. In addition, a theoretical justification is given for the use of the procedure with young children.     

Logic and belief across the lifespan: the rise and fall of belief inhibition during syllogistic reasoning

Popular reasoning theories postulate that the ability to inhibit inappropriate beliefs lies at the heart of the human reasoning engine. Given that people's inhibitory capacities are known to rise and fall across the lifespan, we predicted that people's deductive reasoning performance would show similar curvilinear age trends. A group of children (12‐year‐olds), young adults (20‐year‐olds), and older adults (65+‐year‐olds) were presented with a classic syllogistic reasoning task and a decision‐making questionnaire. Results indicated that on syllogisms where beliefs and logic conflicted, reasoning performance showed the expected curvilinear age trend: Reasoning performance initially increased from childhood to early adulthood but declined again in later life. On syllogisms where beliefs and logic were consistent and sound reasoning did not require belief inhibition, however, age did not affect performance. Furthermore, across the lifespan we observed that the better people were at resisting intuitive temptations in the decision‐making task, the less they were biased by their beliefs on the conflict syllogisms. As with the effect of age, one's ability to override intuitions in the decision‐making task did not mediate reasoning performance on the no‐conflict syllogisms. Results lend credence to the postulated central role of inhibitory processing in those situations where beliefs and logic conflict.     

Confidence judgments in syllogistic reasoning: the role of consistency and response cardinality

In two experiments, we examined the resolution of confidence judgments in syllogistic reasoning and their heuristic bases. Based on the assumptions of Koriat's Self-Consistency Model of confidence, we expected the confidence judgments to be related to conclusion consensuality, reflecting the role of consistency as a heuristic cue to confidence. In Experiment 1, the participants evaluated 24 syllogisms with conclusions that varied with respect to validity and consensuality. In Experiment 2, the participants produced conclusions to 64 pairs of premises. The correlation between confidence and reasoning accuracy was low. In both experiments confidence was related to the consensuality of the responses. For consensually correct items, correlation between confidence and accuracy was positive; however, for consensually incorrect items it was negative. In Experiment 2, confidence was lower for syllogisms with higher response cardinality, or syllogisms that elicited a greater variety of conclusions.