Two studies examined abstract conditional reasoning. First, participants at
three grade levels (grade 8, college, university) were informed that a pro
blem corresponding to Affirmation of the consequent (P implies Q, Q is true
) had no certain response and were asked to justify this conclusion, for bo
th concrete and abstract premises. Results showed an increase in use of for
mal justifications with grade. The second study looked at the effects of em
bedding abstract premises into realistic or fantasy contexts with participa
nts at grades 8 and 11. Results show that abstract reasoning is facilitated
by realistic context. These results support the idea that such reasoning m
ay represent a qualitative change in reasoning abilities and that its devel
opment relies on appropriate access to empirical knowledge despite the abst
ract nature of premises.