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Correlates of syllogistic reasoning skills in middle childhood and early adolescence

Journal of Youth and Adolescence volume 18, pages 85–96 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

Sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders, and college students, were given a preliminary test of categorical syllogistic reasoning ability. In a subsequent session, subjects were given other categorical syllogisms and asked to depict as many of the possible relationships between the A, B, and C terms of the syllogism as they could. The number of possible relationships, and the time it took to decide if other relationships were possible, did not differ among the noncollege groups. The results indicated, however, that the correlates of reasoning proficiency differed for those subjects younger and those older than about age 13.

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Affiliations

  1. Assistant Professor of Psychology at Carleton College, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Carleton College, Department of Psychology, Carleton College, One North College Street, 55057, Northfield, Minnesota

    Kathleen M. Galotti & Lloyd K. Komatsu

Authors
  1. Kathleen M. Galotti
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  2. Lloyd K. Komatsu
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Additional information

Support for this research was provided by the Spencer Foundation, whose generosity is greatfully acknowledged.

Received the Ph.D. in Psychology and the M.S.E. in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and has research interests in the areas of formal and everyday reasoning, the development of reasoning skills, decision making, and conceptual development.

Received the Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and has research interests in the areas of language acquisition, conceptual development, and the development of reasoning skills.

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Galotti, K.M., Komatsu, L.K. Correlates of syllogistic reasoning skills in middle childhood and early adolescence. J Youth Adolescence 18, 85–96 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02139248

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Keywords

  • College Student
  • Health Psychology
  • School Psychology
  • Preliminary Test
  • Early Adolescence