Intelligence and negation biases on the Conditional Inference task

N F Attridge, Matthew Inglis

OAI: oai:purehost.bath.ac.uk:publications/cc8c59b3-f0ff-4fef-b685-9e59aa29e9cd • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2014.897254

We examined a large set of conditional inference data compiled from several previous studies and asked three questions: How is normative performance related to intelligence? Does negative conclusion bias stem from Type 1 or Type 2 processing? Does implicit negation bias stem from Type 1 or Type 2 processing? Our analysis demonstrated that rejecting denial of the antecedent and affirmation of the consequent inferences was positively correlated with intelligence, while endorsing modus tollens inferences was not; that the occurrence of negative conclusion bias was related to the extent of Type 2 processing; and that the occurrence of implicit negation bias was not related to the extent of Type 2 processing. We conclude that negative conclusion bias is, at least in part, a product of Type 2 processing, while implicit negation bias is not.