Effects of different forms of tutor action in a conditional reasoning task: An experimental approach to the tutorial dialogue

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Olry-Louis
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Conditional Reasoning ◽  
Reasoning Task ◽  
Tutorial Dialogue

Pragmatic Schemas and the Selection Task: To Reason or Not to Reason

1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Markovits ◽  
Fabien Savary
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Logical Structure ◽  
Conditional Reasoning ◽  
Selection Task ◽  
Conditional Inference ◽  
Conditional Logic ◽  
Inferential Reasoning ◽  
Production Rules ◽  
Reasoning Task ◽  
Conditional Relations

Cheng and Holyoak (1985) have proposed that people possess classes of linguistically based schemas that have an internal structure that is determined by pragmatic considerations. They found that when permission schemas (“If you want to do P, then you must do Q”) are used in the selection task, the success rate is much superior to what is usually observed. According to Cheng and Holyoak, this is due to the fact that the permission schema is defined by a set of production rules that give the same answers to problems of conditional inference as those of formal logic. In order to test this hypothesis specifically, 160 university students were given one of two tests. The first contained two sets of inferential reasoning tasks, one using a permission schema, the second using a relation of multiple causality. The second test employed the same two conditional relations, but in an appropriate context. The results indicated that subjects did better on the reasoning task with the schema of multiple causality when presented in context, but, as predicted, their performance was much worse on the inferential reasoning task with the permission schema, which generated a higher proportion of logically incorrect responses. These results suggest that contrary to what has been affirmed, permission schemas might not have a logical structure that is equivalent to conditional logic. A second experiment examined selection task performance using the same two relations in context. Performance on the permission schema was superior to that found with the relation of multiple causality. This confirmed previous results indicating that permission schemas do improve selection task performance, but also suggests that this effect is not related to understanding of conditional reasoning.

Working Memory and Conditional Reasoning

1993 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 679-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Toms ◽  
Neil Morris ◽  
Deborah Ward
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Conditional Reasoning ◽  
Reasoning Task ◽  
Impaired Performance ◽  
Spatial Interference

Little is known about the role of working memory in conditional reasoning. This paper reports three experiments that examine the contributions of the visuo-spatial scratch pad (VSSP), the articulatory loop, and the central executive components of Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) model of working memory to conditional reasoning. The first experiment employs a spatial memory task that is presented concurrently with two putative spatial interference tasks (tapping and tracking), articulatory suppression, and a verbal memory load. Only the tracking and memory load impaired performance, suggesting that these tap the VSSP and central executive, respectively. Having established the potency of these interference tasks two further experiments examined the effects of tapping and tracking (Experiment 2) and articulation and memory load (Experiment 3) on a conditional reasoning task. Neither tracking nor tapping affected the number of inferences accepted or response latency. Articulation also failed to affect conditional reasoning but memory load selectively reduced acceptance of modus tollens inferences. These results are discussed in terms of both rule-based and mental models theories of reasoning. While these data cannot discriminate between the two perspectives they provide support for one of the central assumptions in each: that some errors in reasoning are attributable directly to working memory demands. Taken together these experiments suggest that conditional reasoning requires an abstract working memory medium for representation; it does not require either the VSSP or the articulatory loop. It is concluded that the central executive provides the necessary substrate.

Modality Effects on Conditional Reasoning Task

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srikanth Dandotkar ◽  
Katja Wiemer-Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Conditional Reasoning ◽  
Reasoning Task ◽  
Modality Effects

Conditional Reasoning Task

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca McKenzie ◽  
Jonathan St. B. T. Evans ◽  
Simon J. Handley
Keyword(s):  
Conditional Reasoning ◽  
Reasoning Task

Conditional Reasoning, Representation, and Empirical Evidence on a Concrete Task

1988 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Markovits
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Internal Representation ◽  
Conditional Reasoning ◽  
Reasoning Task ◽  
Problem Space ◽  
Internal Representations ◽  
Initial Series ◽  
Simple Exposure

This study examined interactions between empirical data, internal representations, and reasoning performance on a conditional reasoning task using a concrete apparatus. Subjects were asked an initial series of questions in order to determine the pattern of inferences they made after simple exposure to the apparatus. They were subsequently shown two different experimental manipulations designed to provide data about the internal structure of the apparatus without giving information about specific inferences. Some subjects did change their reasoning in response to the new data, although most remained stable throughout the experiment. These results are consistent with the idea that reasoning may require generation of an internal representation of a problem space. It was also concluded that the relation between reasoning and empirical evidence cannot be understood without supposing that evidence is often interpreted by subjects according to their reasoning patterns.

Experimental Determination of the Effective Resolution Limit in Thick Specimens at High Voltages

1975 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 664-665
Author(s):  
Mircea Fotino
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Chromatic Aberration ◽  
Resolving Power ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Specimen Thickness ◽  
Resolution Limit ◽  
High Voltage Electron Microscopy ◽  
Voltage Electron ◽  
Resolution Level

The use of thick specimens (0.5 μm to 5.0 μm or more) is one of the most resourceful applications of high-voltage electron microscopy in biological research. However, the energy loss experienced by the electron beam in the specimen results in chromatic aberration and thus in a deterioration of the effective resolving power. This sets a limit to the maximum usable specimen thickness when investigating structures requiring a certain resolution level.An experimental approach is here described in which the deterioration of the resolving power as a function of specimen thickness is determined. In a manner similar to the Rayleigh criterion in which two image points are considered resolved at the resolution limit when their profiles overlap such that the minimum of one coincides with the maximum of the other, the resolution attainable in thick sections can be measured by the distance from minimum to maximum (or, equivalently, from 10% to 90% maximum) of the broadened profile of a well-defined step-like object placed on the specimen.

Malfunctional Reorganization in the Developing Limbo-Prefrontal System in Animals: Implications for Human Psychoses?

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Gertraud Teuchert-Noodt ◽  
Ralf R. Dawirs
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Dentate Gyrus ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Regulatory Mechanisms ◽  
Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Invasive Method ◽  
Activity Dependent

Abstract: Neuroplasticity research in connection with mental disorders has recently bridged the gap between basic neurobiology and applied neuropsychology. A non-invasive method in the gerbil (Meriones unguiculus) - the restricted versus enriched breading and the systemically applied single methamphetamine dose - offers an experimental approach to investigate psychoses. Acts of intervening affirm an activity dependent malfunctional reorganization in the prefrontal cortex and in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and reveal the dopamine position as being critical for the disruption of interactions between the areas concerned. From the extent of plasticity effects the probability and risk of psycho-cognitive development may be derived. Advance may be expected from insights into regulatory mechanisms of neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus which is obviously to meet the necessary requirements to promote psycho-cognitive functions/malfunctions via the limbo-prefrontal circuit.

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