Showing papers on "Verbal reasoning published in 1986"

Toward memory-based reasoning

Abstract: The intensive use of memory to recall specific episodes from the past—rather than rules—should be the foundation of machine reasoning.

Evidence for a visuo-spatial scratch-pad in working memory

Abstract: Experiments are reported which address the nature of the working memory system. Articulatory suppression (continuous recital of the digits 1 to 4) disrupted concurrent performance of a verbal reasoning task, but had no effect upon performance of a spatial reasoning task. In contrast, spatial suppression (continuous sequential tapping) produced reliable interference only with spatial reasoning. These findings are taken as consistent with Baddeley's argument for two slave systems in working memory: the articulatory loop and the more controversial visuo-spatial scratch-pad.

Experience, Memory and Reasoning

Abstract: Reading is a hobby to open the knowledge windows. Besides, it can provide the inspiration and spirit to face this life. By this way, concomitant with the technology development, many companies serve the e-book or book in soft file. The system of this book of course will be much easier. No worry to forget bringing the experience memory and reasoning book. You can open the device and get the book by on-line.

Concept Formation by Incremental Analogical Reasoning and Debugging

Abstract: This chapter presents a model of learning by analogical reasoning. The model is based on two main ideas, namely, ( 1 ) that the analogies used in learning about an unfamiliar domain depend heavily on the use of previously formed causal abstractions in a familiar or base domain; (2) that these analogies are extended incremenrally to handle related situations. CARL is a computer program that learns about the semantics of assignment statements for the BASIC programming language. It is described as an illustration of causally driven analogical reasoning and learning. The model maps and debugs inferences drawn from several commonly used analogies to assignment in response to presented examples.

Influence of verbal intelligence, sex, age, and education on the rey auditory verbal learning test

Abstract: The effects of verbal intelligence, sex, age, and education on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) were investigated. The RAVLT is a widely used instrument for assessing memory dysfunction. Healthy volunteers (N = 114) between the ages of 40 and 84 years participated. In the best‐fitting regression model, verbal intelligence and sex accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in performance on every learning trial of the RAVLT. Age was related to performance only on Trials 1 and 2, and education was not related to performance. Higher verbal intelligence was associated with better performance and women performed consistently better than men. These results suggest that many tests reporting an aging effect may, in reality, be reflecting heterogeneity in verbal intelligence and sex differences in the populations studied. Therefore, research and clinical conclusions based on such aging effects should be interpreted with caution.

Language profiles in nonspeaking individuals of normal intelligence with severe cerebral palsy

Abstract: Evidence is presented that verbal intelligence may be relatively superior to nonverbal intelligence in many nonspeaking individuals of normal intelligence with severe cerebral palsy and that unqualified generalizations about language abilities in this patient population should be avoided. Standardized tests of different levels of processing oral language (phonemic analysis, vocabulary knowledge, sentence syntax, discourse comprehension), of processing written language (word decoding out of sentence context and sentence and paragraph comprehension), and of producing written language (spelling single dictated words) were administered to a nonspeaking adult, adolescent, and child of normal intelligence with severe cerebral palsy. Intraindividual differences and common patterns across language profiles were examined. Not all subjects showed the same pattern within their language profiles, but all showed relatively better receptive oral language at the discourse level than any other level and were relatively b...

Conceptions of ability and intelligence

Abstract: INTELLIGENCE AS A FUNCTION OF CONCEPTION OF INTELLIGENCE INTELLIGENCE PREFERRED INTELLIGENCE PREFERRED BY SUBJECT BY TEACHER CONCEPTIONS OF INTELLIGENCE Verbal Equal Abstract Verbal Equal Abstract

Teachers' Ratings vs. Standardized Tests: An Empirical Investigation of Agreement between Two Indices of Achievement.

Abstract: The degree of correlation between teachers' ratings of vocabulary, comprehension, mathematics, and verbal intelligence with scores from the Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) plus the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) was assessed with 120 boys and 110 girls aged 8.6 to 10.5 years in three southeastern suburban state schools in Melbourne. Teachers' ratings of students' general attitude also were collected. While results indicated that significant correlations did exist between data from the two sets of measures, these accounted for only small amounts of the total variance, suggesting that two almost discrete domains of information were being tapped. The need for reconciliation between these two domains is discussed and the presence of sex bias in teachers' ratings is raised for further study.

A Comparison between Thirteen‐Year‐Olds Tested in 1961, 1966 and 1980

Abstract: Emanuelsson, I. & Svensson, A. 1986. Does the Level of Intelligence Decrease? A Comparison between Thirteen‐Year‐Olds Tested in 1961, 1966 and 1980. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 30, 25‐38. The purpose of the investigation is to study changes in intelligence among Swedish thirteen‐year‐olds during a 20‐year period. The results show that the average of spatial and reasoning intelligence has successively risen. Concerning verbal intelligence, there is a clear increase during the beginning of the 1960's. After this period, some decrease has occurred. Between social groups no changes in the differences were observed. On the other hand, between boys and girls this was the case. In verbal ability, there were only small differences between the sexes in 1961. However, in 1980 the girls were clearly ahead of the boys. Concerning spatial and reasoning ability, the boys were superior in the early 1960's. 20 years later this difference had practically disappeared.

Logical reasoning, world knowledge, and mental imagery: Interconnections in cognitive processes

Abstract: To better understand the role of problem content in verbal reasoning, the effect of two aspects of problem representation on conditional reasoning was examined. Specifically, this study focused on the effect of availability of knowledge schemata and mental imagery on recognition of indeter­ minacy. Four groups of20 adults solved syllogisms that varied in imagery value and in tendency to access knowledge schemata (assessed by ratings of the relatedness of antecedent and conse­ quent clauses of premises). When problems both were high in imagery value and had related clauses, performance was significantly better on indeterminate syllogisms. Access to schemata may permit elaborative processing and the generation of counterexamples to invalid inferences; imagery may support representation of problems and generation of elaborative information in memory. It has been well documented that meaningful thematic material can influence the reasoning process in deductive reasoning tasks, most notably by improving subjects' differentiation between logically necessary and logically indeterminate inferences (e.g., Kuhn, 1977; Wason & Johnson-Laird, 1972). However, the particular proper­ ties of this material that are effective and the reasons why they are effective have not been characterized in specific terms. Understandingthis phenomenon in more detail re­ quires examining the specific interplay in reasoning tasks between knowledge of logical relations and knowledge related to problem content, and the relationship between the mental representation of a problem and the reasoning process. Given that normal sentence-comprehension processes are likely to be involved in processing meaningful verbal reasoning problems, research in text comprehensionsug­ gests two specific ways in which particular problem con­ tents may affect a problem's mental representation. First, when a problem is formulated with thematic content, elaborative processing of the problem can occur through accessing knowledge schemata in memory. Second, cer­ tain features of meaningful content may elicit an imagi­ nal representation of the problem. The present article ad­ dresses the effect of these two aspects of problem representation on reasoning processes in solving condi­ tional syllogisms, particularly on handling indeterminate problem forms.

Cognitive Abilities, Personality and Gender Differences in Math Achievement of Gifted Adolescents

Abstract: The purposes of this study were to determine whether mathematically gifted boys and girls were significantly different in cognitive abilities and personality factors and to determine whether these cognnve abilities and personality factors were accurate predictors of mathematical achievement. Mathematically gifted boys (n = 77) and girls (n = 62) completed a mathematics reasoning test (SAT-M), a verbal reasoning test (SAT-V), a measure of spatial ability (Group Embedded Figures Test), and personality test (California Psychological Inventory). They received mathematics achievement ratings depending on the number of summer courses completed. The findings indicated that boys not only have higher mathematical reasoning ability than girls, but alslo that this ability is the single best predictor of their mathematical achievement. Verbal ability is the best predictor of mathematical achievement for the girls. For both the girls and the boys, neither spatial reasoning ability nor personality factors significantly...

A case-based reasoning system for subjective assessment

Abstract: People tend to improve their abilities to reason about situations by amassing experiences in reasoning. Resorting to previous instances of similar situations for guidance is known as case-based reasoning. This paper presents JUDGE, a computer model of judges who sentence criminals. The task is viewed as one in which people learn empirically from the process of producing relative assessments of input situations with respect to several concerns, with little external feedback. People can perform such subjective tasks by at least trying to keep their assessments consistent. For assessment tasks, this reasoning style involves comparing a previous similar situation with an input one, and then extracting an assessment for the new input, based on both the assessment previously assigned to the older example, and differences found between them. The system also stores input items to reflect their relationships to situations already contained in memory.

Multiple processing strategies and the construct validity of verbal reasoning tests

Abstract: This study examines the influence of processing strategies, and the associated metacomponents that determine when to apply them, on the construct validity of a verbal reasoning test Three strategies for solving verbal analogy items were examined: a rule-oriented strategy, an association strategy, and a partial rule strategy Construct validity was studied in two separate stages: construct representation and nomothetic span For construct representation, evidence was obtained that all three strategies, and their related metacomponents, are associated with performance on analogy items For nomothetic span, the current study found that all three strategies contribute to individual differences in verbal reasoning and to the predictive validity of the test The results of this study also point to the utility of metacomponents as constructs for describing and understanding test performance Implications of the results for test development and theories of aptitude are elaborated

Analogy Training: A Study of the Effects on Verbal Reasoning.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of in-class componential analogy training on 4th-, 8th-, and 10th-graders' performance of a verbal analogy task. There was a significant effect for training on 4th-, 8th-, and l0th-graders’ performance of verbal analogies of the A:B::C:? form. Older students of average ability (10th graders) performed better than younger students of average ability (4th graders), and younger gifted learners (8th grade) did better than older learners of comparable reading ability (10th grade).

A logic of deliberation

Abstract: Deliberation typically involves the formation of a plan or intention from a set of values and beliefs. I suggest that deliberation, or "practical reasoning," is a form of normative reasoning and that the understanding and construction of reasoning systems that can deliberate and act intentionally presupposes a theory of normative reasoning. The language and semantics of a deontic logic is used to develop a theory of defeasible reasoning in normative systems and belief systems. This theory may be applied in action theory and to artificial intelligence by identifying expressions of values, beliefs, and intentions with various types of modal sentences from the language.

Content and representation effects with reasoning tasks in PROLOG form

Abstract: Two experiments were carried out to examine human reasoning performance in the context of the logic programming language PROLOG. Two factors, ‘content’ (familiar versus unfamiliar) and ‘representation’ (diagrammatic versus PROLOG-like list) were investigated. Subjects answered questions about hierarchical relationships in each condition. A significant interaction was obtained in both experiments, subjects making fewer errors in the familiar-diagram and unfamiliar-list conditions than in the familiar-list and unfamiliar-diagram conditions. It is hypothesized that a lower percentage of correct responses was given in familiar-list and unfamiliar–diagram conditions because the representation of information prevented successful use of an appropriate reasoning strategy. Working memory limitations provide a basis for understanding constraints on reasoning strategies for solving task questions. These strategies may involve either a serial or a spatial solution process. One strategy may require a larger w...

Television and Adults' Verbal Intelligence

Abstract: ' Robert Hornik. 'Out-of-School Television and Schooling: Hypotheses and Methods,\" Reviem of Educational Research, 51:193-214 (Summer 1981): Michael Morganand Larry Gross. \"Television and Educational Achievement and Aspiration.\" in David Pearl, Lorraine Bouthilet. and Joyce Lazar, eds.. Television and &havior: Ten Years of Scientific Progress and Implications for the 80's. Vol. 11: Technical Review. (Washington: Government Printing Oftice. 1982). pp. 78-90, Patricia A. Williams, Edward H. Haertel. Geneva D. Haertel, and Herbert J. Walberg. 'The Impact of Leisure Time Television on School Learning: A Research Synthesis.\" American Educational Research Journal. 19 19-50 (Spring 1982).

An Examination of Woodcock-Johnson Suppressor Effects With Learning-Disabled and Gifted Subjects

Abstract: The Oral Language/Verbal Ability clusters and the Broad Reasoning/Reasoning clusters of the Woodcockjohnson Tests of Cognitive Ability were compared for two groups of elementary-aged children: (a) learning disabled, and (b) gifted and talented Data indicated that the Oral Language and Broad Reasoning clusters were significantly lower than the Verbal Ability and Reasoning clusters for the learning disabled subjects and that the Broad Reasoning cluster was significantly higher than the Reasoning cluster for the gifted and talented subjects Further subtest analyses indicated an overcompensating suppressor effect within the Reasoning cluster for both groups The Oral Language and Broad Reasoning clusters provided a more accurate appraisal of student abilities

The Effects of Formal Reasoning Task's Characteristics on the Responses of Different Age Group Students.

Abstract: The study examines the effects of Piagetian-like tasks' characteristics on the performance of these tasks by different age group students. The tasks were taken from a formerly developed and validated test, which measures students' reasoning skills in six cognitive operations: conservation, proportions, control of variables, probability, combinations and correlations. Subjects were 7th, 9th and 12th grade students, enrolled in two urban schools. Three different 3x2 factorial research design experiments, with three levels of students age and two versions of the test in each experiment, were set up for this study. Experiment 1 tested the effect of the method of task presentation (video-taped demonstrations versus paper-and-pencil tasks with illustrations). Experiment 2 tested the effect of questionnaire format (multiple-choice versus short essay answers) and experiment 3 tested the effect of the numerical content (integer ratio like 1:2, 1:3 versus noninteger ratio like 2:3, 3:5) on different age group studentsiresponses. Analysis of the data indicated that method of task presentation had effect only on young students performance, while numerical content had effect on the majority of the students, in all grades. The only students which were indifferent to numerical content changes were the formal reasoner ones. The implication of these findings to science t ucation in general, and to cognitive level assessment in particular, are discussed.

Transductive reasoning and the teaching of conditional logic to children

Abstract: This report focuses upon a body of literature pertaining to children's conditional reasoning ability, a type of deductive reasoning in the year 1986.

Causal reasoning for group task performance

Abstract: Individuals differing in achievement motivation read a case description of a group sales project while assuming the role of the project's manager. Subjects read one of four versions of the case in which the project outcome and the manager's reliance upon the contributions of coworkers were varied. Subjects then evaluated the extent to which the supervisor's effort, ability, luck, task difficulty, and co-workers contributed to the project outcome. Self-serving attributional biases were not fully evidenced. Differences among achievement groups emerged only on ascriptions to coworkers and only when considering the project outcome and the manager's reliance upon subordinates.