The notion that inferences contributing to coherence of a text representation are made during reading is examined. It is demonstrated that this idea is an overgeneralization and that one must distinguish between relations internal to the structure of the representation and relations that involve references to the world. (27 references) (Author/LB)

The EA:es index (part of the Comprehensive Rorschach System) is discussed, demonstrating how conceptual difficulties and abstract jargon can result in misleading and contradictory inferences. The comments of J. E. Exner, Jr., and the response of J. H. Kleiger concern the importance of theory in Rorschach interpretation. (SLD)

Suggests that in learning and development, the process of comparison can act as a bridge between similarity-based and rule-based processing. A structure-sensitive comparison process, triggered by experiential or symbolic juxtapositions can: (1) facilitate understanding of structural commonalities and the abstraction of rules; and (2) facilitate…

A set of conditions is presented for the validity of inference for Item Response Theory (IRT) models applied to data collected from examinations that allow students to choose a subset of items. Common low-dimensional IRT models estimated by standard methods do not resolve the difficult problems posed by choice-based data. (SLD)

Proposes guidelines for revising the American Psychological Association (APA) publication manual or other APA materials to clarify the application of statistics in research reports. The guidelines are intended to induce authors and editors to recognize the thoughtless application of statistical methods. Contains 54 references. (SLD)

Proposes a probability heuristic model for syllogistic reasoning and confirms the rationality of this heuristic by an analysis of the probabilistic validity of syllogistic reasoning that treats logical inference as a limiting case of probabilistic inference. Meta-analysis and two experiments involving 40 adult participants and using generalized…

Seven studies involving 256 undergraduates examined how people represent, access, and make inferences about the real-world category domain, foods. Results give a detailed picture of the use of cross-classification in a complex domain. (SLD)

Responds to Biskin's comments (this issue) on the significance test controversy. Highlights areas of agreement (importance of replication evidence, importance of effect sizes) and disagreement (influence of sample size, evaluation of populations vs. samples, significance of Carver's article). Includes further recommendations for reporting research…

Three experiments examine how preschoolers partition their basic level categories to form subordinate level categories and whether these have inductive potential. Results suggest that contrastive information promotes the emergence of subordinate categories as a basis of inductive inference and newly established subordinate categories can retain…

Analyzed 150 articles from the "Journal of Applied Psychology" (JAP) from 1940 to 1999 to determine statistical reporting practices related to null hypothesis significance testing, American Psychological Association guidelines, and reform recommendations. Findings show little evidence that decades of cogent criticisms by reformers have…

States that although the think-aloud method (TAM) is being used with increasing frequency in studying text comprehension, some skepticism of its value remains. Discusses assumptions behind TAM, aspects of comprehension it can reveal, and directions for research using TAM. Argues that TAM is a useful technique for tracking changes in the contents…

Investigated whether infants infer that a hidden, freely moving object will move continuously and smoothly. Six- to 10- month olds inferred that the object's path would be connected and unobstructed, in accord with continuity. Younger infants did not infer this, in accord with inertia. At 8 and 10 months, knowledge of inertia emerged but remained…

Infants heard sentences in which prosodic structure was either consistent or inconsistent with the syntactic structure. Results suggest that the prosodic information in an individual sentence is not always sufficient to assign a syntactic structure and that learners must engage in active inferential processes to arrive at the correct syntactic…

Cognitive neuroscience is a scientific discipline that aims to determine how brain function gives rise to mental activity. Modern imaging techniques have contributed significantly to the emergence of this discipline. A conceptual framework is presented to help interpret data describing the relationships between cognitive phenomena and brain…

Examined influence of object labels and shape similarity on 16- to 21-month-olds' inferences. Found that infants generalized non-obvious property of unlabeled objects to test objects with highly similar shapes. For objects labeled with novel nouns, infants relied on shape similarity and shared labels to generalize properties. For objects labeled…