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Clare R Walsh

Publications and source records attributed to Clare R Walsh.

2 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Co-reference and reasoning.

Co-reference occurs when two or more noun phrases refer to the same individual, as in the following inferential problem: Mark is kneeling by the fire or he is looking at the TV but not both. / Mark is kneeling by the fire. / Is he looking at the TV? In three experiments, we compared co-referential reasoning problems with problems referring to different individuals. Experiment 1 showed that co-reference improves accuracy. In Experiment 2, we replicated that finding and showed that co-reference speeds up both reading and inference. Experiment 3 showed that the effects of co-reference are greatest when the premises and the conclusion share co-referents. These effects led the participants to make illusory inferences--that is, to draw systematically invalid conclusions. The results are discussed in terms of the mental model theory of reasoning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Counterfactual thinking: the temporal order effect.

People often think about how things might have happened differently. Their counterfactual thoughts tend to mentally undo the most recent event in an independent sequence. Consider a game in which two players must each pick the same color card, both red or both black. The first picks black and the second picks red and so they lose. People think, "If only the second player had picked black." Our study tested the idea that the ways in which the players could have won provide counterfactual alternatives to the facts. In three experiments, the same set of facts (both players picked black cards), and the same winning conditions (to win in this new game they must pick different color cards) were presented, but the description of the winning conditions varied (e.g., "if one or the other but not both picks a red card" vs. "if one or the other but not both picks a black card"). The results showed that the temporal order effect can be produced or reversed by different descriptions. The descriptions make accessible different elements of the winning possibilities. A theory of the mental representations and cognitive processes underlying counterfactual thinking in the temporal order effect is described.

Adolescent↗