Conditional reasoning and the competence-performance issue: A developmental analysis of a training task

O'Brien, David P.; Overton, Willis F.

doi:10.1016/0022-0965(82)90046-7

Cited by 64 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Suppositional rules are included within the rule system of all current mental inference rule theories and their inclusion is necessary to explain people's ability to correctly draw a range of propositional inferences. Indeed the acquisition of indirect reasoning routines is seen by some researchers as a key indicator of formal operational thought (see, for example, O'Brien & Overton, 1982). Our experiments suggest, however, that the suppositional strategies of the kind that form part of the competence models described by Rips (1994) and Braine and O'Brien (1991) are not being used by our participants.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 61%

Supposition and representation in human reasoning

Handley

Evans

2000

Thinking & Reasoning

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 61%

Supposition and representation in human reasoning

Handley

Evans

2000

Thinking & Reasoning

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“…The low (M = .68; SD = .28) and high (M = .76; SD = .25) ability groups made more determinate inferences than the medium (M = .62; SD = .29) ability group. If age indexes ability indirectly (at least under some conditions; see Kokis, Macpherson, West, & Stanovich, 2002), these data are consistent with U-shaped developmental trends in MT that have sometimes been reported (e.g., Janveau-Brennan & Markovits, 1999;O'Brien & Overton, 1982).…”

Section: Effects Of Alternative Antecedent Association Strength and Psupporting

confidence: 77%

Individual differences in conditional reasoning: A dual-process account

Klaczynski

Daniel

2005

Thinking & Reasoning

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“…This claim arises from the theoretical context of the competence-moderatOT-rxrformance model (Overton, 1985;Overton & Newman, 1982). According to this approach, and as demonstrated by the age effects of both the present research and other contemporary findings (Moshman, 1979;O'Brien & Overton, 1982;Overton etal., 1985), the development of prepositional and predicate logical knowledge is a necessary prerequisite for adequate and consistent performance on formal reasoning tasks. Further, as predicted in and supported by the present research, formal logical competence is not fully available until adolescence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Form and content in the development of deductive reasoning.

Overton¹,

Ward²,

Noveck³

et al. 1987

Developmental Psychology

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Three experiments explored the development of formal logical reasoning between Grades 4 and 12 and the role of semantic content in the solution of Wason's (1966) selection task problems. In Experiment 1, subjects in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades were tested on several familiar-content and several abstract-content selection problems. In Experiment 2, subjects in Grades 4, 8, and 12 were assessed on the familiar problems used in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, subjects in Grades 4,6, and 8 were tested on novel familiar-content problems, familiar-content problems with conditional clauses reversed, a meaningful but unfamiliar problem, and an abstract problem. The results suggested that formal logical reasoning is not generally present during the 4th or 6th grades and that formal logical competence becomes available in adolescence. A general facilitation effect was found for familiar semantic content, but this was qualified by one anomalous familiar-content problem in each experiment. The results are discussed in the context of the competence-moderator-performance model, which maintains that both logical knowledge and world knowledge are necessary but distinct features of adequate reasoning performance.A major issue in the field of deductive reasoning concerns the role of logic versus the role of semantic content in determining performance on reasoning problems. One theoretical approach (Overton, 1985;Staudenmayer, 1975) maintains that the development of a logical competence is a necessary prerequisite for solutions to deductive reasoning problems. According to this approach, specific content effects operate as moderators of logical competence to inhibit or enhance successful task performance. From this perspective, both formal reasoning processes and the real-time information-processing strategies related to content effects play essential roles in determining task performance. A second theoretical approach (Griggs, 1983;Mandler, 1983) asserts that formal reasoning processes play little or no role in task performance. According to this approach, task performance is virtually totally determined by context variables such as those provided by specific semantic contents.The aim of the present research is to explore both the role of the development of formal logical reasoning and the role of semantic content in the solution of deductive reasoning problems. The development of formal logical reasoning is represented in Piaget's theory (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958) erton, 1982;Overton, Byrnes, & O'Brien, 1985) have supported the prediction that a fully developed formal logical competence is not available before adolescence. These studies, which focused specifically on conditional inferences, were not, however, solely concerned with the acquisition of logical competence. In addition, the research explored several factors, including task interpretation, cognitive style, and semantic content, as moderators of the logical competence once that competence had been acquired. The present research is also framed by this competence-mode...

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Conditional reasoning and the competence-performance issue: A developmental analysis of a training task

Cited by 64 publications

References 28 publications

Supposition and representation in human reasoning

Supposition and representation in human reasoning

Individual differences in conditional reasoning: A dual-process account

Form and content in the development of deductive reasoning.

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