Dimensions of Inference

Publisher Summary Inferences can vary on several dimensions, including the time required for them to be formed and the strength and specificity with which they are encoded. Consideration of these dimensions generates research concerned with the theoretical processes by which inferences are constructed as well as the circumstances under which the results of inference processes can be observed empirically and the methods with which they can be measured This chapter presents evidence for each of several dimensions of inference by reviewing data from the laboratory that support each one. One dimension of inference that has received considerable attention is the time required for retrieval. When an inference is completely encoded or instantiated during reading, then it should be available at a later test in the same way that explicitly stated information is available. Some of the notions of dimensions of inference are inherited from current global memory models. While the global models are used only at a metaphorical level, they provide valuable suggestions for understanding the encoding of inferences and offer the possibility of more quantitative development in the future.

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