Brain Imaging, Forward Inference, and Theories of Reasoning

This review focuses on the issue of how neuroimaging studies address theoretical accounts of reasoning, through the lens of the method of forward inference (Henson, 2005, 2006). After theories of deductive and inductive reasoning are briefly presented, the method of forward inference for distinguishing between psychological theories based on brain imaging evidence is critically reviewed. Brain imaging studies of reasoning, comparing deductive and inductive arguments, comparing meaningful versus non-meaningful material, investigating hemispheric localization, and comparing conditional and relational arguments, are assessed in light of the method of forward inference. Finally, conclusions are drawn with regard to future research opportunities.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

• Publication date

  2015-01-09

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Computer Science, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fnhum.2014.01056PMID 25620926PMCID 4288126
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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