STERNBERG MIXED MODEL APPLIED TO INDETERMINATE LINEAR SYLLOGISMS - A MISMATCH

Extensions to the mixed model of linear syllogistic reasoning, which were designed to encompass the solution of indeterminate syllogisms, are criticized. The extended model was incorrectly tested in Sternberg (1981), and reanalyses disconfirm the model. Conceptual difficulties are also noted in that the proposed checks for indeterminacy do not classify appropriately all versions of the linear syllogism. Further, post hoc analyses implicate linguistic processes in the selection of answers to certain forms of indeterminate problems, and this form of processing cannot be accommodated under the mixed model. Linear syllogistic reasoning may be more diverse, either across problem forms or across participants, than recognized previously. 1990 The British Psychological Society