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Configural Effects in Human Memory: The Superiority of Memory over External Information Sources as a Basis for Inference Verification *
Author(s) -
HayesRoth Barbara,
Walker Carol
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.498
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1551-6709
pISSN - 0364-0213
DOI - 10.1207/s15516709cog0302_2
Subject(s) - semantic reasoner , inference , computer science , memorization , basis (linear algebra) , artificial intelligence , process (computing) , memory model , logical reasoning , natural language processing , cognitive psychology , apprehension , cognitive science , machine learning , psychology , mathematics , programming language , geometry , shared memory , operating system
The ability to integrate information from diverse texts and to detect logical implications of the integrated information is fundamental to the understanding process. This paper shows that identifying and configuring relevant facts in order to support hypothesized inferences is extremely difficult unless the facts have been committed to memory. Simply reading relevant texts for familiarization and then referring to them as needed provides an inadequate basis for deductive logic. Further, apprehension of the logical configuration of fads underlying a particular inference can be an essentially automatic process for the reasoner who has structured the facts appropriately in memory. A model of search and memory mechanisms is proposed. It accounts for accuracy and reaction time data, as well as individual differences in inference evaluation. The implications of the superiority of memorization over familiarization‐plus‐referencing as a basis for learning and reasoning are discussed.