PMID: 9187063Apr 1, 1997Paper

The effect of premise order in conditional reasoning: a test of the mental model theory

Cognition
V GirottoA Tasso

Abstract

The difference in difficulty between modus ponens (if p then q; p; therefore q) and modus tollens (if p then q; not-q; therefore not-p) arguments has been traditionally explained by assuming that the mind contains a rule for modus ponens, but not for modus tollens. According to the mental model theory, modus tollens is a more difficult deduction than modus ponens because people do not represent the case not-q in their initial model of the conditional. On the basis of this theory, we predicted that conditions in which reasoners are forced to represent the not-q case should improve correct performance on modus tollens. In particular, we predicted that the presentation of the minor premise (not-q) as the initial premise should produce facilitation. Experiment 1 showed that this is the case: whereas the inversion of the premise order did not affect modus ponens, it produced a significant increase of valid conclusions for modus tollens. Experiment 2 showed that this facilitation does not depend on the negative form (contrary vs. contradictory) of the minor premise. Experiments 3 and 4 (and/or some of their replications) demonstrated that facilitation also occurs when participants are asked to find the cases compatible with not-q or ...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Nov 15, 2001·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·Philip N. Johnson-Laird
Mar 26, 2002·Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition·R Brooke Lea, Elizabeth J Mulligan
Mar 12, 2004·Annual Review of Psychology·P N Johnson-Laird
Jan 1, 2003·Memory & Cognition·Sergio Moreno-Ríos, Juan A García-Madruga
Mar 27, 2002·Memory & Cognition·R RevlinT S Rouss
Sep 10, 1999·Memory & Cognition·R M Byrne, A Tasso
May 3, 2000·Memory & Cognition·R M ByrneP Berrocal
Nov 14, 2002·The Spanish Journal of Psychology·Juan A García-MadrugaPhilip N Johnson-Laird
Aug 22, 2002·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. A, Human Experimental Psychology·Pierre Barrouillet, Jean-François Lecas
Feb 3, 2016·Cognitive Science·Fabrizio Cariani, Lance J Rips
Aug 19, 2006·Psychophysiology·Laurence CarbonnellJean-Paul Caverni
Apr 2, 2016·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·José Antonio Ruiz-Ballesteros, Sergio Moreno-Ríos
Jun 8, 2001·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. A, Human Experimental Psychology·J A García-MadrugaP N Johnson-Laird
Nov 9, 2011·The Spanish Journal of Psychology·Juan A García-MadrugaSergio Moreno-Ríos
Feb 26, 2021·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Raymond S NickersonDaniel H Barch

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