The Influence of Print Exposure on Syllogistic Reasoning and Knowledge of Mental-State Verbs

Abstract

This study examined the influence of print exposure on syllogistic reasoning and knowledge of mental-state verbs. One hundred thirty-three college students completed measures of reading comprehension, knowledge of mental-state verbs, syllogistic reasoning, and print exposure. A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the print-exposure measure accounted for significant unique variance in performance on a measure of knowledge or- mental-state verbs, even after years of college completed, grade point average, and reading comprehension were statistically controlled. Print exposure proved to be a less robust predictor of performance on a syllogistic reasoning task when examined with a parallel series of analyses. These findings suggest that even the variation in literacy activity found among college students is associated with the ability to interpret texts by enhancing the ability to deal with subtle distinctions among mental-state terms. However, the view that print exposure fosters decontextualized reasoning, as typified in syllogistic reasoning, received only very modest support from this study.