TY - JOUR
T1 - Falsifying mental models
T2 - Testing the predictions of theories of syllogistic reasoning
AU - Newstead, Stephen E.
AU - Handley, Simon J.
AU - Buck, Ed
PY - 1999/3
Y1 - 1999/3
N2 - Four experiments are reported that tested the claim, drawn from mental models theory, that reasoners attempt to construct alternative representations of problems that might falsify preliminary conclusions they have drawn. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to indicate which alternative conclusion(s) they had considered in a syllogistic reasoning task. In Experiments 2-4, participants were asked to draw diagrams consistent with the premises, on the assumption that these diagrams would provide insights into the mental representation being used. In none of the experiments was there any evidence that people constructed more models for multiple-model than for single-model syllogisms, nor was there any correlation between number of models constructed and overall accuracy. The results are interpreted as showing that falsification of the kind proposed by mental models theory may not routinely occur in reasoning.
AB - Four experiments are reported that tested the claim, drawn from mental models theory, that reasoners attempt to construct alternative representations of problems that might falsify preliminary conclusions they have drawn. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to indicate which alternative conclusion(s) they had considered in a syllogistic reasoning task. In Experiments 2-4, participants were asked to draw diagrams consistent with the premises, on the assumption that these diagrams would provide insights into the mental representation being used. In none of the experiments was there any evidence that people constructed more models for multiple-model than for single-model syllogisms, nor was there any correlation between number of models constructed and overall accuracy. The results are interpreted as showing that falsification of the kind proposed by mental models theory may not routinely occur in reasoning.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032931207&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 10226444
AN - SCOPUS:0032931207
SN - 0090-502X
VL - 27
SP - 344
EP - 354
JO - Memory and Cognition
JF - Memory and Cognition
IS - 2
ER -