In describing how people generalize from observed samples of data to novel cases, theories of inductive inference have emphasized the learner's reliance on the contents of the sample. More recently, a growing body of literature suggests that different assumptions about how a data sample was generated can lead the learner to draw qualitatively…

Retrieval practice has been shown to benefit learning. However, the benefit has sometimes been attenuated with more complex materials that require integrating multiple units of information. Critically, Tran et al. "Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 22," 135-140 (2015) found that retrieval practice improves sentence memory but not the…

Some researchers on binary choice inference have argued that people make inferences based on simple heuristics, such as recognition, fluency, or familiarity. Others have argued that people make inferences based on available knowledge. To examine the boundary between heuristic and knowledge usage, we examine binary choice inference processes in…

According to Bayesian theories in psychology and neuroscience, minds and brains are (near) optimal in solving a wide range of tasks. We challenge this view and argue that more traditional, non-Bayesian approaches are more promising. We make 3 main arguments. First, we show that the empirical evidence for Bayesian theories in psychology is weak.…

In a recently published study, Sloutsky and Fisher [Sloutsky, V. M., & Fisher, A.V. (2004a). When development and learning decrease memory: Evidence against category-based induction in children. "Psychological Science", 15, 553-558; Sloutsky, V. M., & Fisher, A. V. (2004b). Induction and categorization in young children: A similarity-based model.…

Examined effects of training in sequencing pairs of visual stimuli on subsequent six-stimuli or five overlapping two-stimuli sequencing. Subjects were 3- and 4-year-olds. Found that few succeeded with untrained two- and six-stimulus sequences derivable from the two-stimulus training, but when given training on only the overlapping sequences,…

Investigated the role of "nonlogical" perceptual cues to differential absolute size in the transitive inferences of 6- and 7-year-olds. Found that both age groups showed identical overall premise memory, but the younger group tended to reason more on the basis of perceptual information rather than on successfully encoded premise…

According to current psychological models of deduction, people can draw inferences on the basis of information that they receive from different sources at different times. In 3 reading-comprehension experiments, the authors demonstrated that premises that appear far apart in a text (distant) are not accessed and are therefore not used as a basis…

Reports the use of a memory load-interference paradigm and the easy-to-hard paradigm as converging operations to study capacity limitations in five- to six-year-old's reasoning. Concludes that transitive inference ability in children is capacity limited. (HOD)

This article argues that, if creativity is measured by outcomes, then basic forms of reasoning (deduction, induction, abduction, specialization/generalization, and elementary memory associations) can be considered mildly creative. The claim is backed by references to computer programs that have generated creative outcomes. Limitations of this…

The developmental increase in the ability to solve problems is a puzzle. Does it come from basic changes in mental skills, or is it a matter of practice? This book from the Developing Child series synthesizes recent research examining children's problem-solving skills development. Chapter 1 presents the major themes: (1) there is increasing…