A study is reported in which generic assertions, based on inductive and deductive evidence providing varying degrees of support, were presented to subjects for acceptance or rejection. The results show that generalization power (probability of generic agreement) is influenced primarily by inherent verb characteristics. (Author/RM)

Three experiments were performed, based on the two hypotheses about the rejection of false statements. False statements are rejected because they are "contradictory sentences," i.e., there is a subject/predicate contradiction, and "counterexample sentences," which are rejected when a person thinks of a counterexample to the assertion. (SC)

Research supported in part by a Public Health Service Research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. (VM)

Two experiments are reported to distinguish between the representation of sentences in immediate versus longer-term memory. It is indicated that the immediate representation is a verbatim image of the sentence but at delays there are both verbatim images and propositional representations. (Author/RM)

A study testing two theories about the processing of ambiguous sentences is reported. Results suggest that parallel processing and reciprocal interactions underlie the comprehension of ambiguous sentences. (RM)

Discusses experiments testing the adequacy of the common attribute-value representation for knowledge about concepts. (AM)

After reading stories written in either chronological or flashback sequence, subjects made a decision about the underlying order of occurrence of two events. Results indicate that subjects based their responses on a memory representation, which preserved the input sequence of events. (Author/EJS)

Subjects compared the magnitudes of pairs of concepts from the semantic orderings of time, quality and temperature. Results showed that the semantic representations of ordered terms contain subjective magnitude information. (Author/RM)

The effect of presupposition on memory depends upon a restricted class of pragmatic conditions. If certain intended misleaders are introduced, presupposition does not enter into memory. This was shown with two experiments in which subjects "remembered" an accident differently, depending upon whether misleading facts were introduced.…

Two experiments tested a set of predictions regarding category definitions and categorization latencies. Neither prediction was supported by the experiment results, leading to the formulation of an alternative feature-based model of category definitions using the notion of a polymorphous concept. (Author/AM)

Research is reported which was directed toward characterizing memory representations which underlie inference intrusions in recall. (Author/RM)

An experiment is described in which subjects read lists of phonologically similar words or lists of phonologically dissimilar words under instructions either for free or serial recall. Results of the experiment are discussed. (Author/RM)

A study is reported which examined the acquisition of deictic verbs by asking children to identify the speaker or the addressee of utterances containing "come,""go,""bring," and "take." Analysis showed that children go through several stages in the acquisition of deictic verbs. (Author/RM)

Two experiments are reported in which subjects viewed films of automobile accidents and then answered questions about events occurring in the films. Wording of questions regarding speed influenced subjects' estimates of speed. (Author/RM)

A study is reported investigating the question whether inferences made from sentences occur immediately in comprehension or are in part a function of the way material from sentences is stored in memory. (Author/RM)