Abstract
A syllogistic reasoning task was used to study the effects of syntax on the utilization of sentential material. Sixty-four college students each solved 32 syllogisms which varied according to Voice (Active, Passive), Negation (Affirmative, Negative), and Position of major premise (First, Second). Dependent measures were latency, difficulty ratings, and transform of the conclusion. Latency and difficulty ratings were greater for problems written in the Passive or Negative than for those written in the Active or Affirmative as predicted. Solutions to Passive problems were given predominately in the Active while solutions to Negative problems were given in the Negative. Evidently, reasoning processes operate upon the deep structure representation of the functional relationships. The more direct the relationship between the surface and deep structure, the easier is problem solution.
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