Strategies in Syllogistic Reasoning

Bibliographic Data

ID5835951
AuthorsMonica Bucciarelli (0000-0002-5188-5561), Philip N Johnson-Laird (0000-0003-4461-1324, Princeton University), P N Johnson‐laird
Year1999
Volume23
Issue3
Pages247-303
Publication date1999-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCognitive Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0364-0213 • E-ISSN: 1551-6709
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1207/s15516709cog2303_1
OpenAlexW2072647910
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited32

This paper is about syllogistic reasoning, i.e., reasoning from such pairs of premises as, All the chefs are musicians; some of the musicians are painters. We present a computer model that implements the latest account of syllogisms, which is based on the theory of mental models. We also report four experiments that were designed to test this account. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the strategies revealed by the participants' use of paper and pencil as aids to reasoning. Experiment 3 used a new technique to externalize thinking. The participants had to refute, if possible, putative conclusions by constructing external models that were examples of the premises but counterexamples of the conclusions. Experiment 4 used the same techniques to examine the participants' strategies as they drew their own conclusions from syllogistic premises. The results of the experiments showed that individuals not trained in logic can construct counterexamples, that they use similar operations to those implemented in the computer model, but that they rely on a much greater variety of interpretations of premises and of search strategies than the computer model does. We re-evaluates current theories of syllogistic reasoning in the light of these results

Syllogism · Advanced Text Analysis Techniques · AI-based Problem Solving and Planning · Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge

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