Abstract
Previous authors have speculated about the reasoning Ss have used to identify concepts more proficiently from positive than from negative instances. In the present study, a part of this reasoning, Ss’ interpretation of information that an instance is positive or negative, was observed by means of novel measures. These were Ss’ conclusions about the concept at each stage of the task, and Ss’ stimulated recall of the reasoning they used to draw each conclusion. Ss’ made equally frequent but different misinterpretations of positive and negative instances. These misinterpretations appeared to be part of a particular reasoning strategy which yielded correct conclusions when applied to positive instances and incorrect conclusions when applied to negative instances.
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References
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1. Based on an MA thesis by the junior author supervised by the senior author and submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Western Ontario. This research was partially supported by National Research Council of Canada grants APA-81 and APA-137.
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Denny, J.P., Benjafield, J.G. Interpretation of information that an instance is positive or negative in concept identification. Psychon Sci 12, 283–284 (1968). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03331311
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03331311