Dual-process theories of reasoning (e.g., Gilbert, 1991; Stanovich & West, 1997) posit that decisions are mediated by two cognitive systems: a fast and automatic system which sometimes relies on past knowledge, and a conscious and effortful system which is more likely to adhere to the rules of logic. Dual-process accounts of memory (e.g., Joordens & Hockley, 2000) suggest that memory is influenced by two cognitive systems: a fast and automatic familiarity component, and a conscious and effortful recollection component. Both accounts suggest that cognition relies on two underlying systems, which are described similarly in the two literatures, suggesting some form of convergence in these two areas of research. Memory research may therefore be informed by considering decision making research, and vice versa. Combining these two theoretical perspectives, it follows that believable evidence should be less memorable than unbelievable evidence due to its shallow initial processing. Despite this fact however, when inferences are being made based on evidence retrieved from memory, believable evidence should actually have a larger impact than it does when it is provided online, whereas no change or a lesser impact should be noted for unbelievable evidence. Across 3 experiments these predictions are validated, suggesting that the impact of evidence on inferences depends not only on the believability of that evidence, but also on whether the decision is being made online or from memory. Specifically, memory-based inferences exaggerate the influence of believable but not unbelievable evidence, despite the fact that unbelievable evidence is more memorable.

Dual-process theories of reasoning (e.g., Gilbert, 1991; Stanovich & West, 1997) posit that decisions are mediated by two cognitive systems: a fast and automatic system which sometimes relies on past knowledge, and a conscious and effortful system which is more likely to adhere to the rules of logic. Dual-process accounts of memory (e.g., Joordens & Hockley, 2000) suggest that memory is influenced by two cognitive systems: a fast and automatic familiarity component, and a conscious and effortful recollection component. Both accounts suggest that cognition relies on two underlying systems, which are described similarly in the two literatures, suggesting some form of convergence in these two areas of research. Memory research may therefore be informed by considering decision making research, and vice versa. Combining these two theoretical perspectives, it follows that believable evidence should be less memorable than unbelievable evidence due to its shallow initial processing. Despite this fact however, when inferences are being made based on evidence retrieved from memory, believable evidence should actually have a larger impact than it does when it is provided online, whereas no change or a lesser impact should be noted for unbelievable evidence. Across 3 experiments these predictions are validated, suggesting that the impact of evidence on inferences depends not only on the believability of that evidence, but also on whether the decision is being made online or from memory. Specifically, memory-based inferences exaggerate the influence of believable but not unbelievable evidence, despite the fact that unbelievable evidence is more memorable.

In language, information is omitted for brevity. Comprehension requires inferences to be made, but do we make such inferences during encoding or later? Kintsch (1988) claimed that transitive inferences are made during reading and proposed transitive inferences are extracted from a constructed mental image. Two experiments were performed to test his ideas. Participants read sentences permitting a transitive or reciprocal inference, then immediately answered an inference based question. Data included reaction time and accuracy. By comparing verification against inferential sentences, it is possible to determine if the inference is made during encoding or later. A further manipulation was to compare concrete sentences that could be easily converted to an image with abstract sentences that are hard to image. Results showed reciprocal sentences are slower to verify than transitive, suggesting additional processing is needed. In contrast, no difference was observed between concrete and abstract relations, calling into question Kintsch’s inference/image view.

Reading comprehension is essential for passing school as well as to live in today’s society which requires a constant interpretation of written information. Inferences are the very processes that bring about comprehension. This study examined local inferences which are characterized by integrating clauses and sentences, and global inferences which are characterized by using background knowledge to e.g. understand a characters actions or the theme of a text. Studying inferences could lead to the development of tools that can identify children’s issues with comprehension. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a test that measured performance on each inference type in story format and facts format. The study examined 11 year old children’s’ performance on each inference type, how the performance appeared in different formats of text and whether there was a connection with reading comprehension. The children performed best on local inferences, which differs from previous research where children have performed higher on global inferences. Performance on global inferences were high in story format but low in facts format. The results indicate that children’s strategies for local inferences continue to work when they have trouble relating to the text. Pearsons correlation coefficient indicated a connection between the inference test and reading comprehension. / Läsförståelse är centralt för att klara av skolgången och för att leva i dagens samhälle som kräver ett ständigt tolkande av skriftlig information. Inferenser är själva processen som tillför förståelse. Denna studie studerar lokala inferenser som kännetecknas av att sammanställa satser och meningar, samt globala inferenser som kännetecknas av att använda sig av bakgrundskunskap för att möjliggöra förståelse av exempelvis karaktärers handlingar eller temat i en text. Genom att studera inferenser kan på sikt verktyg utvecklas som identifierar barns problem med läsförståelse. Studien hade som syfte att utforma och utvärdera ett test som mätte prestation på lokala och globala inferenser i berättelseformat och faktaformat. Studien undersökte 11-åringars prestation på respektive inferenstyp, hur prestation såg ut i olika textformat och ifall det fanns samband med läsförståelse. Barnen presterade högst på lokala inferenser, vilket skiljer sig från tidigare forskning där barn har presterat högre på globala inferenser. Prestation på globala inferenser var hög i berättelse- men låg i faktaformat. Resultatet indikerar att barnens strategier för lokala inferenser fortsätter att fungera när de har svårt att relatera till texten. Pearsons korrelationskoefficient indikerade att det fanns samband mellan inferenstestet och läsförståelse.

Consumers are often confronted with incomplete product information. In such instances, they can eliminate the product from further consideration due to higher associated uncertainty or ask for more information. Alternatively, they can apply subjective theories about covariation to infer the value of missing attributes. This paper investigates the latter option in the context of sustainability and provides an in-depth exploration of consumers' inference formations. Drawing from rich qualitative data, it offers a conceptualization of the underlying relationships consumers use to infer product sustainability based on other product attributes. The study further assesses whether these findings can be captured in a quantifiable way. To this end, inferred sustainability is conceptualized as a formative second-order construct, thereby depicting the influence of inference-triggering product attributes. (authors' abstract)

Reading comprehension (RC) is a complex, dynamic process by which readers interact with text to construct meaning. It relies on word-level decoding and vocabulary skills, text-level skills such as inference, and general-purpose cognitive processes such as working memory (WM). Bridging inferences, which connect different parts of text to maintain semantic coherence, are necessary for comprehension. WM is thought to provide the mental workspace that allows readers to comprehend text, including making bridging inferences. This dissertation includes two studies that investigate related but unique questions regarding inference-making, WM, and RC in school aged children. The first study demonstrated that bridging inference making increased with age and was affected by text distance such that inferences across larger chunks of text were more difficult to make than those between adjacent sentences. Bridging inferences were also affected by knowledge domain such that affective inferences based on character goals, desires, or motivations were made correctly less often than were concrete inferences based on concrete, causal information. Semantic updating, an aspect of WM that involves efficiently revising the contents of WM, predicted variance in the far-concrete inferencing condition. Semantic reactivation, an aspect of WM that involves bringing previously processed information back into WM, predicted variance in the far inferencing conditions regardless of knowledge domain. The second study investigated the word-level and text-level skills and general purpose cognitive processes that support performance on three different standardized RC measures. Semantic updating and semantic reactivation predicted variance on the RC tool considered to measure mental model building (WJIII-PC, Woodcock-Johnson-III passage comprehension subtest). Semantic reactivation also predicted variance on the RC tool considered to measure the ability to build and then reflect upon the mental model (WIAT-II-RC, Wechsler Individual Test of Achievement reading comprehension subtest). A measure of verbal WM predicted performance on one RC measure in the presence of word-level and text-level skills but only when the hypothesized components of WM (updating and reactivation) were not included in the model. Additionally, bridging inference making uniquely predicted performance on all three RC measures. The findings suggest readers coordinate different cognitive processes depending on the comprehension task. / Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

Applications of theories of interpersonal blame to consumer behavior have largely focused on understanding when consumers blame companies for their misbehavior. The current research moves beyond past work by shedding new light on the processes underlying consumer blame. In Essay 1, a pilot study and five experiments—in contexts of both fictitious and actual high-profile product failures—show that blame may be incorrectly directed toward the victim. The findings show that (1) consumers exaggerate blame for a victim possessing negative (especially immoral) dispositional traits because (2) that individual is seen as deserving of suffering in general and, as a result, (3) consumers are less likely to take punitive action against the company. The experiments support a “moral dominance” effect whereby victim blame is driven more heavily by perceived differences in the victim’s morality than sociability (or competence), because only morality leads consumers to judge the victim as deserving of suffering in general. In Essay 2, a new line of inquiry is proposed pertaining to consumer inferences of company blame and attitudes when the company engages in cause marketing. By engaging in socially responsible behavior, consumers may infer that the company is signaling a (1) negative attitude, (2) moral judgement, and (3) blame judgement toward the perpetrator of that harm. Each predicts the amount of praise the company receives—depending on consumers’ own attitudes, judgments, and blame toward the perpetrator—but blame inferences predict praise most strongly. This is because blame provides a unique signal about the company’s stance on an issue. Two studies support these blame inference predictions.

No description available.

No / Past research tells us that individuals can infer information about a target’s emotional state and intentions from their facial expressions (Frith & Frith, 2012), a process known as mentalising. This extends to inferring the events that caused the facial reaction (e.g. Pillai, Sheppard, & Mitchell, 2012; Pillai et al., 2014), an ability known as retrodictive mindreading. Here, we enter new territory by investigating whether or not people (perceivers) can guess a target’s social context by observing their response to stimuli. In Experiment 1, perceivers viewed targets’ responses and were able to determine whether these targets were alone or observed by another person. In Experiment 2, another group of perceivers, without any knowledge of the social context or what the targets were watching, judged whether targets were hiding or exaggerating their facial expressions; and their judgments discriminated between conditions in which targets were observed and alone. Experiment 3 established that another group of perceivers’ judgments of social context were associated with estimations of target expressivity to some degree. In Experiments 1 and 2, the eye movements of perceivers also varied between conditions in which targets were observed and alone. Perceivers were thus able to infer a target’s social context from their visible response. The results demonstrate an ability to use other minds as a window onto a social context that could not be seen directly.

In this study an interpretive learning framework that aims to measure learning on the classroom level is introduced. In order to develop and evaluate the value of the framework, a theoretical/empirical study is designed. The researcher attempted to illustrate how the proposed framework provides insights on the problem of classroom-level learning. The framework is developed by construction of connections between the current literature on science learning and Wittgenstein's language-game theory. In this framework learning is defined as change of classroom language-game or discourse. In the proposed framework, learning is measured by analysis of classroom discourse. The empirical explanation power of the framework is evaluated by applying the framework in the analysis of learning in a fifth-grade science classroom. The researcher attempted to analyze how students' colloquial discourse changed to a discourse that bears more resemblance to science discourse. The results of the empirical part of the investigation are presented in three parts: first, the gap between what students did and what they were supposed to do was reported. The gap showed that students during the classroom inquiry wanted to do simple comparisons by direct observation, while they were supposed to do tool-assisted observation and procedural manipulation for a complete comparison. Second, it was illustrated that the first attempt to connect the colloquial to science discourse was done by what was immediately intelligible for students and then the teacher negotiated with students in order to help them to connect the old to the new language-game more purposefully. The researcher suggested that these two events in the science classroom are critical in discourse change. Third, it was illustrated that through the academic year, the way that students did the act of comparison was improved and by the end of the year more accurate causal inferences were observable in classroom communication. At the end of the study, the researcher illustrates that the application of the proposed framework resulted in an improved version of the framework. The improved version of the proposed framework is more connected to the topic of science learning, and is able to measure the change of discourse in higher resolution.