Reasoning about logical connectives: A developmental analysis

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Abstract

The present study focused on the developmental acquisition of the conditional implication interpretation of “if-then”. Three tasks, given to adults and third-, fifth-, and eighth-graders, assessed knowledge of three aspects of this interpretation: (a) the reference relation between “if-then” and an conditional state of affairs; (b) the truth conditions of implication; and (c) the relation between implication and other propositional concepts. Results showed that the older three groups were significantly more likely than the third-graders to comprehend aspects (a) to (c). Significant increases occurred between the third and fifth grades in the number of subjects demonstrating acquisition of the propositional concept of implication. Additional improvement occurred between the eighth grade and college levels in the ability to distinguish between “if-then” and “if and only if”. These results are interpreted within the formal operations model of adolescent reasoning.

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    Portions of this research were submitted by the first author to the Department of Psychology of Temple University in partial fulfillment of the doctoral degree in Psychology.

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