LOGIC IN CONVERSATION - COMPARATIVE-STUDIES OF DEDUCTION IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS

Study 1 contains analyses of the conditional syllogisms produced durin g conversation by 41/2-year-olds with adults, clients with therapists, and college students interviewed about causal theories. Because their conversational partners attempted to guide their behavior, a comparis on of child and client inferences enabled evaluation of the relative i nfluence of conversational role and age on deduction. Comparison of ad ult conversations enabled assessment of the role of differing contexts on inferential content. The speakers were similar except that the chi ldren made fewer independent inferences and shifts in taxonomic level and responded more frequently to socially controlling statements. Clie nts and children responded more to self-referential content. In Study 2, longitudinal corpora of conversations between adults and five child ren from 27 to 63 months of age were analyzed. By the time the childre n produced their own iis, their inferences resembled adults'.