DEDUCTIVE REASONING

  • Johnson-Laird, P. N.

  • Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544; e-mail: [email protected].

Annual Review of Psychology 50(1999):p 109-135, Annual 1999.

This chapter describes the main accounts of deductive competence, which explain what is computed in carrying out deductions.It argues that people have a modicum of competence, which is useful in daily life and a prerequisite for acquiring logical expertise. It outlines the three main sorts of theory of deductive performance, which explain how people make deductions: They rely on factual knowledge, formal rules, or mental models. It reviews recent experimental studies of deductive reasoning in order to help readers to assess these theories of performance.

Copyright © 1999 by Annual Reviews, Inc., Palo Alto, California, USA. All Rights Reserved.