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The Shallow Processing of Logical Negation

Received: 29 October 2013    Accepted:     Published: 20 November 2013
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Abstract

The aim of this study is to introduce a novel reasoning phenomenon concerned with the shallow processing of negation in the context of sentential reasoning. By analogy to other psychological explanations that account for superficial responses with conditionals, this study proposes an account for biconditionals derived from a recent theory of negation. This theory predicts that the psychological use of negation returns small scope products. This would happen because the human mind tends to avoid the working memory overload by simplifying its reasoning processes. A within-subjects experimental design was applied to test this conjecture. Results were consistent with such small scope negation prediction. The obtained evidence extends the observation of shallow reasoning processes to the negation of conjunctions and disjunctions that take the form of biconditionals. The results of this study support a mental models approach to account for the psychology of logical negation.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20130205.15
Page(s) 196-201
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Reasoning, Logic, Negation, Cognition, Shallow Processing

References
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[8] L. J. Rips, The psychology of proof, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.
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[10] E. J. N. Stupple, L. J. Ball, and D. Ellis, "Matching bias in syllogistic reasoning: Evidence for a dual-process account from response times and confidence ratings," Thinking & Reasoning, vol. 19, pp. 54-77, 2013.
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[17] S. Khemlani, S. Orenes, and P. N. Johnson-Laird, "Negation: A theory of its meaning, representation, and use," Journal of Cognitive Psychology, vol. 24, pp. 541-559, 2012.
[18] G. Macbeth, E. Razumiejczyk, and G. Campitelli, "The abstraction effect on logic rules application," Education Sciences and Psychology, vol. 24, pp. 85-96, 2013.
[19] A. DeMorgan, Formal logic or the calculus of inference necessary and probable, London, UK: Taylor & Walton, 1847.
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[21] G. Gigerenzer, P. M. Todd, and the ABC Research Group, Simple heuristics that make us smart, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1999.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Guillermo Macbeth, Eugenia Razumiejczyk, Maria del Carmen Crivello, Mauro Fioramonti, Carolina I. Pereyra Girardi. (2013). The Shallow Processing of Logical Negation. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 2(5), 196-201. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20130205.15

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    ACS Style

    Guillermo Macbeth; Eugenia Razumiejczyk; Maria del Carmen Crivello; Mauro Fioramonti; Carolina I. Pereyra Girardi. The Shallow Processing of Logical Negation. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2013, 2(5), 196-201. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20130205.15

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    AMA Style

    Guillermo Macbeth, Eugenia Razumiejczyk, Maria del Carmen Crivello, Mauro Fioramonti, Carolina I. Pereyra Girardi. The Shallow Processing of Logical Negation. Psychol Behav Sci. 2013;2(5):196-201. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20130205.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20130205.15,
      author = {Guillermo Macbeth and Eugenia Razumiejczyk and Maria del Carmen Crivello and Mauro Fioramonti and Carolina I. Pereyra Girardi},
      title = {The Shallow Processing of Logical Negation},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {196-201},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20130205.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20130205.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20130205.15},
      abstract = {The aim of this study is to introduce a novel reasoning phenomenon concerned with the shallow processing of negation in the context of sentential reasoning. By analogy to other psychological explanations that account for superficial responses with conditionals, this study proposes an account for biconditionals derived from a recent theory of negation. This theory predicts that the psychological use of negation returns small scope products. This would happen because the human mind tends to avoid the working memory overload by simplifying its reasoning processes. A within-subjects experimental design was applied to test this conjecture. Results were consistent with such small scope negation prediction. The obtained evidence extends the observation of shallow reasoning processes to the negation of conjunctions and disjunctions that take the form of biconditionals. The results of this study support a mental models approach to account for the psychology of logical negation.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    AU  - Maria del Carmen Crivello
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    AB  - The aim of this study is to introduce a novel reasoning phenomenon concerned with the shallow processing of negation in the context of sentential reasoning. By analogy to other psychological explanations that account for superficial responses with conditionals, this study proposes an account for biconditionals derived from a recent theory of negation. This theory predicts that the psychological use of negation returns small scope products. This would happen because the human mind tends to avoid the working memory overload by simplifying its reasoning processes. A within-subjects experimental design was applied to test this conjecture. Results were consistent with such small scope negation prediction. The obtained evidence extends the observation of shallow reasoning processes to the negation of conjunctions and disjunctions that take the form of biconditionals. The results of this study support a mental models approach to account for the psychology of logical negation.
    VL  - 2
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Author Information
  • National University of Entre Rios, Parana, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina

  • National University of Entre Rios, Parana, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina

  • National University of Entre Rios, Parana, Argentina

  • National University of Entre Rios, Parana, Argentina

  • National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina;University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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