Conditional Reasoning Research Articles

Conditional Reasoning in Schizophrenic Patients.

Conditional reasoning (if p then q) is used very frequently in everyday situations. Conditional reasoning is impaired in brain-lesion patients, psychopathy, alcoholism, and polydrug dependence. Many neurocognitive deficits have also been described in schizophrenia. We assessed conditional reasoning in 25 patients with schizophrenia, 25 depressive patients, and 25 controls, using the Wason selection task in three different domains: social contracts, precautionary rules, and descriptive rules. Control measures included depression, anxiety, and severity of schizophrenia measures as a Verbal Intelligence Scale. Patients with schizophrenia were significantly impaired on all conditional reasoning tasks compared to depressives and controls. However, the social contract and precautions tasks yielded better results than the descriptive tasks. Differences between groups disappeared for social contract but remained for precautions and descriptive tasks when verbal intelligence was used as a covariate. These results suggest that domain-specific reasoning mechanisms, proposed by evolutionary psychologists, are relatively resilient in the face of brain network disruptions that impair more general reasoning abilities. Nevertheless, patients with schizophrenia could encounter difficulties understanding precaution rules and social contracts in real-life situations resulting in unwise risk-taking and misunderstandings in the social world.

Exercise, Health, and Falls Risks among Older African American Women

Background of Study: Although exercise has many benefits, older African American (AA) women are less active than older Caucasian women and older AA men. Balance and muscle-strengthening activities are typically recommended for decreased falls, whereas the role of aerobic training alone on falls prevention is controversial. Objective: This was a mixed methods phronetic (pragmatic) study – without an intervention – including quantitative data (falls risks) and qualitative data on exercise behavior and its importance to health and falls prevention; therefore, the studied phenomenon was thoroughly and pragmatically investigated. The first purpose of the study was to examine differences in falls risks based on exercise type (aerobics vs. combination of aerobics, muscle training, and balance activities) and exercise level (active people vs. somewhat active people). Secondly, participants’ exercise values were examined in relation to their health, falls-risk prevention, exercise behavior, and falls risks. Method: Interviews and falls risk assessments were conducted among 12 older AA women in an inner-city community center. Results: ANCOVA and ANOVA showed that the aerobics group performed better in Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) and Timed Up and Go than the combination group (d =0.85, -0.97); the latter surpassed the former in Functional Reach (d = 2.27). The active group (met the 150 minutes/week exercise recommendation) performed better in DGI and Six-Minute Walk than the somewhat active group (d =0.62.,50); the latter outperformed the former in balance-eyes open (d = -0.52). Emerging themes about lifestyle values included: a) reasons for health conditions and staying healthy and b) falls prevention. Conclusion: Exercise programs for fall risk reduction should include not only muscle strengthening and balance activities, but also aerobic exercises. Meeting minimum exercise recommendations is key to falls risk reduction. Beyond healthy diet, the role of exercise on the prevention of health conditions needs to be emphasized.

Clinical Reasoning Styles Used by Occupational Therapists Delivering an eHealth Intervention

Abstract Date Presented 3/31/2017 Think-aloud methods were used to explore the clinical reasoning of occupational therapists interacting with clients through videoconferencing. Pragmatic, procedural, interactive, and conditional reasoning styles were all used. Think-aloud methods may help train therapists practicing using eHealth. Primary Author and Speaker: Emily Nalder Contributing Authors: Carolina Bottari, Elizabeth Skidmore, Deirdre Dawson

Prediction of critical strains and critical support pressures for circular tunnel excavated in strain-softening rock mass

The critical strain is a strain level at the tunnel periphery beyond which the instability and squeezing problems are likely to occur, thereby it provides helpful guide to assess the tunnel stability. Among the current studies for predicting the critical strain, the influence factors such as the required support pressure, the strain-softening behaviour of the rock mass, and the in-situ stress condition have not been comprehensively considered. This paper aims to overcome the limitation by proposing an improved tunnel critical strain classification, which consists of five typical critical strains and critical support pressures. Specifically, two critical levels correspond to the occurrences of the plastic softening and residual zones of the strain-softening rock mass at the tunnel periphery. Three tunnel strains of 2.5%, 5%, and 10% represent the squeezing potentials of the rock mass. The correlations between the input geological parameters and the geological strength index GSI are proposed on the basis of the existing empirical equations. A numerical procedure is presented to solve the five critical strains and critical support pressures. According to a large amount of the calculation result, the response surfaces for the critical support pressures in relation to the GSI and in-situ stress are obtained by the nonlinear regression method. The obtained critical strains are compared with the critical strain levels and measured tunnel strains by the current studies. The results indicate that, the reason for the unexpected secure condition with the large deformation in the rock mass can be attributed to the non-existence of the plastic residual zone; as the rock mass strength improves, the critical strain level reveals an unexpected growth, which is correlative to the considerations of the in-situ stress condition and the strain-softening behaviour of the rock mass.

Investigation of the unsteady-flow characteristics in the control valve of a diesel engine unit pump fuel system

The control valve determines the fuel offloading process of the high-pressure fuel system in diesel engines. During the fuel offloading process, when the control valve instantaneously opens, the inlet pressures and the outlet pressures of the valve change quickly, and the inner flow of the control valve is transient and unsteady. This study presents an investigation into the flow characteristics in the control valve region during the fuel-offloaded process of a diesel unit pump fuel system, studies the reasons for unsteady-flow conditions and further analyses the effects on the flow capacity of the valve based on the computational fluid dynamics method. The results reveal that the key reason for unsteady flow in the control valve is the dynamic movement of the valve needle, which induces changes in the inlet pressure and the outlet pressure so that the fluid in the conical region accelerates. In comparison with steady flow, unsteady flow in the control valve has different pressures in the conical region and at the conical outlet, different cavitation intensities and different locations of the bubbles. Moreover, the differences between unsteady flow and steady flow become greater, particularly for small valve needle openings. Unsteady flow in the control valve greatly influences the fuel offloading process of the unit pump fuel system.

Not Aggressive or Just Faking It? Examining Faking and Faking Detection on the Conditional Reasoning Test of Aggression

Substantial research has been dedicated to examining and combating respondent misrepresentation (i.e., “faking”) on personality assessments. Two approaches to combat faking that have garnered particular attention include: (a) designing systems to identify likely fakers and (b) developing difficult-to-fake measures. Consistent with suggestions to combine these strategies, the present article examines a new faking detection system specifically designed for a difficult-to-fake measure (i.e., the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression; CRT-A). Four studies (a) help elucidate the conditions under which the CRT-A is fakeable, (b) provide initial construct validity evidence for the faking detection system developed here, (c) examine the effects of faking and faking detection on the CRT-A’s criterion-oriented validity, and (d) show that participants identify CRT-based faking detection items at worse-than-chance levels even when they are fully informed about how these items work. Taken together, these studies reinforce the importance of maintaining the indirect nature of CRTs but also show that the faking detection system developed here represents a promising method of identifying those who may have used inside information to manipulate their scores.

A psychological study of unconnected conditionals

ABSTRACTUnconnected conditionals, also called irrelevant conditionals, are sentences of form if A, C, whose antecedent and consequent bear no connection. According to the main theories of conditional reasoning, the truth or high probability of an antecedent and a consequent is sufficient to make true or highly probable the corresponding conditional. We tested this assumption and showed that it does not hold for unconnected conditionals. Furthermore, we investigated experimentally the factors which favour the endorsement of irrelevant conditional constructions and found that this rate increases when an analogy can be built between the antecedent and the consequent or when the conditional is asserted before its components.

Belief-bias reasoning in non-clinical delusion-prone individuals

Background and ObjectivesIt has been proposed that people with delusions have difficulty inhibiting beliefs (i.e., “doxastic inhibition”) so as to reason about them as if they might not be true. We used a continuity approach to test this proposal in non-clinical adults scoring high and low in psychometrically assessed delusion-proneness. High delusion-prone individuals were expected to show greater difficulty than low delusion-prone individuals on “conflict” items of a “belief-bias” reasoning task (i.e. when required to reason logically about statements that conflicted with reality), but not on “non-conflict” items. MethodsTwenty high delusion-prone and twenty low delusion-prone participants (according to the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory) completed a belief-bias reasoning task and tests of IQ, working memory and general inhibition (Excluded Letter Fluency, Stroop and Hayling Sentence Completion). ResultsHigh delusion-prone individuals showed greater difficulty than low delusion-prone individuals on the Stroop and Excluded Letter Fluency tests of inhibition, but no greater difficulty on the conflict versus non-conflict items of the belief-bias task. They did, however, make significantly more errors overall on the belief-bias task, despite controlling for IQ, working memory and general inhibitory control. LimitationsThe study had a relatively small sample size and used non-clinical participants to test a theory of cognitive processing in individuals with clinically diagnosed delusions. ConclusionsResults failed to support a role for doxastic inhibitory failure in non-clinical delusion-prone individuals. These individuals did, however, show difficulty with conditional reasoning about statements that may or may not conflict with reality, independent of any general cognitive or inhibitory deficits.

Rethinking relevance: Repetition priming reveals the psychological reality of adaptive specializations for reasoning

Abstract Theories advanced to explain conditional reasoning range from those that invoke inference systems that evolved for specific domains (such as social exchange, precautions, or deontic regulations) to relevance theory, a relatively domain-general account that invokes conversational pragmatics. The present research utilized a novel extension of repetition priming, in conjunction with the Wason selection task (a widely known and used task to test people's conditional reasoning), to evaluate alternative theories of human reasoning. Across five experiments, testing over 600 participants, consistent priming across selection tasks was demonstrated. The pattern of priming effects supports models of human reasoning based on specific evolved reasoning abilities, and was inconsistent with general conditional reasoning models such as relevance theory. These results also converge with neurological and clinical evidence of divided psychological processes for reasoning about relatively specific domains, based on functionally distinct inference systems.

Symptomatic Remission and Counterfactual Reasoning in Schizophrenia.

Counterfactual thinking (CFT) is a type of conditional reasoning involving mental representations of alternatives to past factual events that previous preliminary research has suggested to be impaired in schizophrenia. However, despite the potential impact of these deficits on the functional outcome of these patients, studies examining the role of CFT in this disorder are still few in number. The present study aimed to extent previous results by evaluating CFT in the largest sample to date of schizophrenia patients in symptomatic remission and healthy controls. The relationship with symptomatology, illness duration, and sociodemographic characteristics was also explored.Methods: Seventy-eight schizophrenia patients and 84 healthy controls completed a series of tests that examined the generation of counterfactual thoughts, the influence of the “causal order effect,” and the ability to counterfactually derive inferences by using de Counterfactual Inference Test.Results: Compared with controls, patients generated fewer counterfactual thoughts when faced with a simulated scenario. This deficit was negatively related to scores on all dimensions of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-PANNS, as well as to longer illness duration. The results also showed that schizophrenia patients deviated significantly from the normative pattern when generating inferences from CFT.Conclusions: These findings reveal CFT impairment to be present in schizophrenia even when patients are in symptomatic remission. However, symptomatology and illness duration may have a negative influence on these patients' ability to generate counterfactual thoughts. The results might support the relevance of targeting CFT in future treatment approaches, although further research is needed to better describe the relationship between CFT and both symptomatology and functional outcome.

Forecasting of structural characteristics of the black sea dogfish depending on a deformation force impulse

Due to the need of expansion of the range of fish products of the guaranteed level of safety there is a need of studying of different types domestic fish raw materials and a possibility of its commercial production. Respectively, for a fishery industry of Ukraine the Black Sea dogfish has industrial value. Efficiency of entering of a dogfish in a food allowance of our compatriots requires scientific reasons for conditions and storage durations of fish raw materials which indicative criterion of suitability can be rheological properties. The purpose of work is to establish connection of structural characteristics of the Black Sea dogfish with elastic properties depending on conditions and a storage duration. Uneven-age, heterosexual individuals of the Black Sea dogfish were an object of a research. Experimental cuts of samples of muscular tissue carried out from different parts of carcass of a shark (about the head, the middle and a tail part). Researches were conducted on the multipurpose measuring complex "MIG - 1.3" by the module on deformation studying by method of axial stretching. Sensors of the module of a measuring complex during the experiment fixed in real time change of resultant force in case of deformation that was reflected in the display of the computer. Comparing the received schedules deforming forces for various cuts directly we compare deformation time, size deforming forces and time of a relaxation (recovery). The highest rates deforming forces are noted in dogfish right after catch - from 4,1 ÷ 3,7 N, after the first freezing we fix reduction of size deforming forces from 3,9 ÷ 3,1 N, specifies reduction of elastic properties of the researched object. At last after the second, long, freezing these indicators sharply fall and already constitute 1,5 ÷ 1,18 N, specifies considerable losses of elastic properties of an object and violation of its structure. For establishment of communication of elastic properties of samples with structural properties of the researched object the physical model of deformation on stretching was used. Deformation from absolute lengthening rather high coefficient of approximation - 0,9932 is valid the equation of regression of dependence. The provided physical and mathematical model of process was checked experimentally and gave very good coordination. The deformation force and its numerical values depend on elastic properties of the studied objects. Its increase speaks about change of structural (morphological) properties of dogfish. Losses by the researched humidity object depending on storage conditions, lead to change of density and coefficient of elasticity of a body

Discounting and Augmentation in Causal Conditional Reasoning: Causal Models or Shallow Encoding?

Recent research comparing mental models theory and causal Bayes nets for their ability to account for discounting and augmentation inferences in causal conditional reasoning had some limitations. One of the experiments used an ordinal scale and multiple items and analysed the data by subjects and items. This procedure can create a variety of problems that can be resolved by using an appropriate cumulative link function mixed models approach in which items are treated as random effects. Experiment 1 replicated this earlier experiment and analysed the results using appropriate data analytic techniques. Although successfully replicating earlier research, the pattern of results could be explained by a much simpler “shallow encoding” hypothesis. Experiment 2 introduced a manipulation to critically test this hypothesis. The results favoured the causal Bayes nets predictions and not shallow encoding and were not consistent with mental models theory. Experiment 1 provided qualified support for the causal Bayes net approach using appropriate statistics because it also replicated the failure to observe one of the predicted main effects. Experiment 2 discounted one plausible explanation for this failure. While within the limited goals that were set for these experiments they were successful, more research is required to account for the pattern of findings using this paradigm.

Causes, Attempts and Methods of Suicide in Baghdad: An Autopsy Study

Suicide is defined as intentional taking of one's own life. Until the end of the twentieth century approximately, suicide was considered a criminal act; legal terminology is used, in the Latin phrase felo-de-se, which means "a crime against the self".
 Descriptive study of 100 fatal recorded suicidal cases brought for postmortem examination at the Medico-legal institute of Baghdad within four years period from first of September 2011 to first of September 2015 (males 49 and females 51 cases). The study excludes the firearm deaths. Pre-tested questionnaire was used to obtain data by direct interview with the visitors of the victim, family members, witnesses and information available on police records.
 Death on spot was recorded in 47% of the cases while 41% of victims died within 24 hours of incidence whereas 12% victims survived for 7 days. About 56% of Suicidal victims were discovered dead not hospitalized. Low socioeconomic conditions were most frequent (45%) cause for committing suicide followed by psychosocial causes (43%) and chronic diseases (12%). Poisoning (53%) and hanging (45%) were the two exclusive methods employed for committing suicide. Most of the victims (males 87.76% and females78.43%) have had a successful attempt to commit suicide in their first attempt while history of previous suicidal attempts was available in 17% of victims.
 The aim of this study is to identify the intensity and frequency of suicide in relation to the Medico-legal aspect of the incidence such as method, duration of survival, causes of committing suicide and previous attempts to commit suicide.
 From the results of the study we can conclude that most of the victims incorporated such suicidal attempts and methods were successful in accomplishing suicide in the first attempt (males 87.76% and females 78.43%) and the commonest cause of committing suicide is mostly their low socioeconomic condition and psychosocial reasons.

In the beginning stages: Conditional reasoning with category based and causal premises in 8- to 10- year olds

Understanding the development of conditional (if-then) reasoning is critical for theoretical and educational reasons. Previous results have shown that there is a clear qualitative transition between reasoning with true causal conditionals and reasoning with either with contrary-to-fact and fully abstract premises. We examine the further idea that there is a similar developmental transition between reasoning with category-based premises (If an animal is a dog, then it has a tail) and with familiar causal conditionals (If a rock is thrown at a window, then the window will break). A total of 585 students between 8 and 10 years of age received priming conditions designed to encourage use of an alternatives generation strategy and reasoning problems with category based premises and causal premises in a counterbalanced order (with many or few potential alternatives). Results show that reasoning with category based premises is less difficult than reasoning with causal premises, at all ages, and that reasoning first with causal premises causes a global decrease in logical reasoning compared to reasoning first with category based premises. However, no effect of priming was observed. Results support the idea that there is a transition in the reasoning processes in this age range associated with the nature of the alternatives generation process required for logical reasoning with category based and with causal conditionals. However, this transition is less qualitatively extreme than that between reasoning with familiar premises and reasoning with premises that have no empirical basis.

Belief-bias reasoning in non-clinical delusion-prone individuals

Background and ObjectivesIt has been proposed that people with delusions have difficulty inhibiting beliefs (i.e., “doxastic inhibition”) so as to reason about them as if they might not be true. We used a continuity approach to test this proposal in non-clinical adults scoring high and low in psychometrically assessed delusion-proneness. High delusion-prone individuals were expected to show greater difficulty than low delusion-prone individuals on “conflict” items of a “belief-bias” reasoning task (i.e. when required to reason logically about statements that conflicted with reality), but not on “non-conflict” items. MethodsTwenty high delusion-prone and twenty low delusion-prone participants (according to the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory) completed a belief-bias reasoning task and tests of IQ, working memory and general inhibition (Excluded Letter Fluency, Stroop and Hayling Sentence Completion). ResultsHigh delusion-prone individuals showed greater difficulty than low delusion-prone individuals on the Stroop and Excluded Letter Fluency tests of inhibition, but no greater difficulty on the conflict versus non-conflict items of the belief-bias task. They did, however, make significantly more errors overall on the belief-bias task, despite controlling for IQ, working memory and general inhibitory control. LimitationsThe study had a relatively small sample size and used non-clinical participants to test a theory of cognitive processing in individuals with clinically diagnosed delusions. ConclusionsResults failed to support a role for doxastic inhibitory failure in non-clinical delusion-prone individuals. These individuals did, however, show difficulty with conditional reasoning about statements that may or may not conflict with reality, independent of any general cognitive or inhibitory deficits.

Interaction between implicit aggression and dispositional self-control in explaining counterproductive work behaviors

Implicit component of aggression as a personality trait seems to be important for understanding aggressive behavior in different life domains, including counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). However, the expression of aggressive urges might depend on the level of self-control an individual possesses. In this paper we report the results of 2 studies that tested the interaction between implicit aggression, as measured with the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT-A), and dispositional self-control (DSC) in explaining counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). In Study 1, 333 employees completed a study package consisting of the CRT-A, a DSC scale, and a CWB scale. In Study 2, an additional sample of employees (n=341) completed a research battery consisting of the CRT-A, another DSC scale, and another CWB instrument. Additionally, in Study 2 we collected ratings about the participants' DSC and CWBs from their coworkers. The moderation analyses confirmed that high DSC buffers the effect of implicit aggression on self-reported CWBs in both studies, irrespective of whether self-control was self- or other-reported. However, the moderation effect was nonsignificant when other-reports of CWBs were used as the criteria.

Probabilistic conditional reasoning: Disentangling form and content with the dual-source model

The present research examines descriptive models of probabilistic conditional reasoning, that is of reasoning from uncertain conditionals with contents about which reasoners have rich background knowledge. According to our dual-source model, two types of information shape such reasoning: knowledge-based information elicited by the contents of the material and content-independent information derived from the form of inferences. Two experiments implemented manipulations that selectively influenced the model parameters for the knowledge-based information, the relative weight given to form-based versus knowledge-based information, and the parameters for the form-based information, validating the psychological interpretation of these parameters. We apply the model to classical suppression effects dissecting them into effects on background knowledge and effects on form-based processes (Exp. 3) and we use it to reanalyse previous studies manipulating reasoning instructions. In a model-comparison exercise, based on data of seven studies, the dual-source model outperformed three Bayesian competitor models. Overall, our results support the view that people make use of background knowledge in line with current Bayesian models, but they also suggest that the form of the conditional argument, irrespective of its content, plays a substantive, yet smaller, role.

Good or bad, ups and downs, and getting better: Use of personal health data for temporal reflection in chronic illness

BackgroundTime is a central component of the experience of illness. Yet, little is known about how chronically ill patients and their family members use temporal information (i.e., information that is dependent on some measurement of time) to reflect upon the illness experience. ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to explore what temporal information chronically ill patients and their family members need, where they obtain it, and how they use it, along with related temporal reasoning processes and challenges. MethodsA series of five qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted during a two-year longitudinal study of 38 families (97 individuals) with at least one chronically ill member (HIV/AIDS or type 2 diabetes). ResultsPatients and family members had temporal information needs related to identifying: patient status; trends; optimal timing, optimal frequency, cause and effect; and what to expect. They used a wide range of information sources to meet these needs, including clinical test results, at-home health monitoring technologies, patient physical appearance and physical sensations, and information about other patients’ experiences. Participants employed several forms of reasoning to reflect on temporal information: criteria reasoning (i.e., comparison to a standard), comparative reasoning (both to oneself in the past and to other people), cause-to-effects, effects-to-cause reasoning, conditional reasoning (i.e., if-then reasoning), and deductive reasoning. They used temporal information to carry out instrumental illness management, and to meet emotional and social needs. Patients and families confronted challenges in selecting relevant data, recognizing patterns in those data, and in drawing conclusions based on inferred patterns. ConclusionsPatients have six main temporal information needs, and they use a variety of information sources and reasoning strategies to meet these needs. They also confront important challenges in using temporal information. Based on our results, we offer design principles for systems that support patient and family member temporal reflection. We recommend that such technologies: (1) minimize user burden; (2) leverage existing dissemination channels; (3) include both clinical and non-clinical information; (4) meet informational, emotional and social needs; and (5) facilitate collaborative sense-making among patients and family.

Coping With Logical Fallacies: A Developmental Training Program for Learning to Reason.

This study trained children to master logical fallacies and examined how learning is related to processing efficiency and fluid intelligence (gf). A total of one hundred and eighty 8- and 11-year-old children living in Cyprus were allocated to a control, a limited (LI), and a full instruction (FI) group. The LI group learned the notion of logical contradiction and the logical structure of the schemes involved. The FI group learned, additionally, to recognize other deductive reasoning principles. Reasoning improved proportionally to training. Awareness improved equally in LI and FI. Changes in reasoning and awareness changes were related to attention control and gf. Awareness mediated the influence of training on reasoning but not vice versa, suggesting that awareness is necessary for conditional reasoning. Implications are discussed.

Extreme cognitions are associated with diminished ability to use disconfirming evidence.

An Integrative Cognitive Model of mood swings and bipolar disorder proposes that cognitive styles characterized by extreme self-referent appraisals of internal states (e.g., 'If I have a bad night's sleep it means that I am about to have a breakdown') interfere with mood regulation. The aim of this study is to determine whether strong endorsement of such appraisals is predicted by a diminished ability to access disconfirming counterexamples. We examined whether the ability to access two different categories of counterexample (known as Disabling Conditions and Alternative Causes) would predict endorsement of extreme appraisals (measured by the Hypomanic Attitudes and Positive Predictions Inventory; HAPPI) and mania risk (measured by the Hypomanic Personality Scale; HPS). A non-clinical sample of 150 students completed the HAPPI, the HPS and a conditional reasoning task that indexed the ability to access Disabling Conditions and Alternative Causes. Current mood was controlled for using the Internal States Scale. The ability to make use of disabling counterexamples during the reasoning task was inversely related with scores on the HAPPI (r=-.19, p<.05); participants that were less able to make use of disabling counterexamples endorsed extreme self-referent appraisals to a greater extent. There was no association between the use of alternative cause counterexamples and the HAPPI, and no association between either measure of counterexample generation and the HPS. A diminished ability to use disconfirming evidence when reasoning about the world may reinforce problematic cognitive styles such as extreme, personalized appraisals of experience, which can interfere with mood regulation. Problematic cognitive styles such as extreme, personalized appraisals of experience may be reinforced by the inability to produce or access evidence that disconfirms these maladaptive beliefs. This reasoning bias may be associated with cognitive styles underlying psychopathology. There may be clinical utility in exploring the use of disabler generation in psychological interventions, to help disconfirm maladaptive beliefs.