title: Children's and adults' judgments of the certainty of deductive inferences, inductive inferences, and guesses.
abstract: Children and adults rated their own certainty following inductive inferences, deductive inferences, and guesses. Beginning in kindergarten, participants rated deductions as more certain than weak inductions or guesses. Deductions were rated as more certain than strong inductions beginning in Grade 3, and fourth-grade children and adults differentiated strong inductions, weak inductions, and informed guesses from pure guesses. By Grade 3, participants also gave different types of explanations for their deductions and inductions. These results are discussed in relation to children's concepts of cognitive processes, logical reasoning, and epistemological development.
authors.affiliation: Northern Illinois University, Department of Psychology, Room 400, Dekalb, IL 60115, USA. pillow@nih.edu
authors.forename: Bradford H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Pillow
authors.forename: Raeanne M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hecht
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bremer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008128:Logic; D008297:Male; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D011337:Probability Learning; D011340:Problem Solving; D002666:Psychology, Child; D055815:Young Adult