Understanding causal conditionals: a study of individual differences.
Previous studies have suggested that a minority of university students, of lower cognitive ability, are inclined to interpret abstract conditional statements, if p then q, as if they were conjunctions: p and q. In the present study we administered the conditional truth table task to a large sample of students (n = 160), but using realistic, everyday causal conditionals. We also measured their general intelligence. While individual differences were found, these were not consistent with some participants adopting a conjunctive interpretation of such statements. Rather, it appears that students of lower cognitive ability are rather likely to assume that a conditional implies its converse, so that it means also if q then p. The results are discussed with reference to the suppositional theory of conditionals and our more general account of hypothetical thinking.
Evans
Jonathan St B T
JS
Centre for Thinking and Language, School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK. jevans@plymouth.ac.uk
Handley
Simon J
SJ
Neilens
Helen
H
Over
David
D
D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D011340:Problem Solving; D013850:Thinking