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.     

Evaluating conditional arguments with uncertain premises

Treating conditionals as probabilistic statements has been referred to as a defining feature of the “new paradigm” in cognitive psychology. Doing so is attractive for several reasons, but it complicates the problem of assessing the merits of conditional arguments. We consider several variables that relate to judging the persuasiveness of conditional arguments with uncertain (probabilistic) premises. We also explore ways of judging the consistency of people's beliefs as represented by components of conditional arguments. Experimental results provide evidence that inconsistencies in beliefs are more prevalent if the arguments’ components are spatially and temporally dispersed than if they are contiguous in space and time. This supports the idea that assuring the consistency among even a small number of beliefs is difficult to do, especially if the beliefs in question are not brought into consciousness at the same time; but consistency can be enhanced when beliefs are considered simultaneously or nearly so.     

Special issue on problem-solving,creativity and spatial reasoning

Problem-solving, creativity and spatial reasoning are high level abilities of cognitive systems with high potential for synergies. However, they have been treated separately by different fields. This special issue presents research work on these topics, aiming to observe their interrelations in order to create theoretical approaches, methodologies and computational tools to advance work on creativity and spatial problem-solving in cognitive systems.     

Biased recipients encounter biased sources: Effect of ethical (dis‐)agreement between recipient and author on evaluating scientific claims

Scientific claims that are connected to ethical concerns are frequently brought forward by communicators who are not ethically neutral. This study investigated how far recipients' evaluation of such claims is guided by vigilance toward a potential ethical source bias rather than their own ethical bias. One hundred ten individuals opposed to capital punishment read a topic‐related text by an ethically positioned source. A scientific claim in the text either supported or did not support the recipient's ethical stance; in addition, the source either shared or opposed their stance. Results showed that recipients are guided to some extent by their own ethically motivated reasoning: They agree more consistently with sources sharing their ethical stance and consider these sources to be more credible. Recipients appear to be principally aware that a source's ethical stance may bias its scientific message, but this vigilance seems to depend on their own ethical disagreement with the source.     

3~4岁儿童规则因果推理能力的训练研究

学前期是儿童多种推理能力产生和发展的重要时期。本研究(以64名3岁儿童为被试,采用Frye和Zelazo等所设计的“二进二出”装置,通过对3岁儿童的规则因果推理能力进行训练,从而探索儿童规则因果推理的内在机制。在本研究条件下,结果发现:1.年龄与训练的交互效应不显著,各年龄组儿童经过训练后,成绩的提高没有显著差异;2.规则与训练的交互效应显著,竖直规则下,儿童通过训练后提高的成绩不显著,但在交叉规则下前测后测成绩差异极其显著;3.训练效应显著,暴露因果机制,给予及时反馈和阐述规则时附加手势这些信息能促进年幼儿童对高级规则的掌握。     

论推类逻辑与中国古代医学

推类逻辑就是基于“推类”的中国古代逻辑。易数推类为中医科学提供了一个有效工具,提供了一个有效地认识自然、机体（肌体）、疾病的方法。取象比类是中医思维的核心,推类是中国古代医学辨证论治的基本方法。推类具有很强的具象性,并以比类为基础。     

汉语儿童在阅读语境中学习英语词汇的效果及影响因素

以71名五年级汉语儿童为被试,让他们在阅读一篇英文材料的过程中对目标词的含义进行推测,并对单词的语境线索强度、个体的推理能力、工作记忆和词汇水平进行测查,从而对汉语儿童是否能够通过阅读习得英文生词以及影响学习效果的因素进行探讨。结果发现：五年级汉语儿童能够在英文阅读中习得生词的含义,学习的可能性达到30％;语境线索强度和被试的词汇水平可影响儿童在阅读语境中学习英语生词的效果。     

Mainland Chinese and Canadian adolescents’ judgments and reasoning about the fairness of democratic and other forms of government

This study examined the judgments and reasoning of adolescents (ages 12–19 years) from three sites in urban and rural China (n = 270) and in an urban Canadian comparison sample (n = 72), about the fairness of various forms of democratic and non-democratic government. Adolescents from both China and Canada preferred democratic forms of government, such as representative or direct democracy, to non-democratic systems, such as a meritocracy and an oligarchy of the wealthy, at all ages. Adolescents appealed to fundamental democratic principles, such as representation, voice, and majority rule, to justify their judgments. Similar age-related patterns in judgments and reasoning were found across cultures and across diverse settings within China.     

Towards a theory of intention revision

Although the change of beliefs in the face of new information has been widely studied with some success, the revision of other mental states has received little attention from the theoretical perspective. In particular, intentions are widely recognised as being a key attitude for rational agents, and while several formal theories of intention have been proposed in the literature, the logic of intention revision has been hardly considered. There are several reasons for this: perhaps most importantly, intentions are very closely connected with other mental states—in particular, beliefs about the future and the abilities of the agent. So, we cannot study them in isolation. We must consider the interplay between intention revision and the revision of other mental states, which complicates the picture considerably. In this paper, we present some first steps towards a theory of intention revision. We develop a simple model of an agent’s mental states, and define intention revision operators. Using this model, we develop a logic of intention dynamics, and then investigate some of its properties.