Inferences in Information Processing

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses inferences in information processing. As new material is being understood and integrated into memory, it is constantly interacting with information already in memory. The stimulus information, as it is being interpreted and encoded, and the information already stored in memory are both affected and altered by each other. This interaction of stimulus input and the stored knowledge of the comprehender may be viewed in the Piagetian terms of assimilation and accommodation. Inferences fulfill two general functions. First, they make connections between propositions in the input and between propositions and knowledge already in memory, and second, inferences fill in empty “slots” in the overall structure. One of the major difficulties in dealing with inferences is the fact that there is no consistent terminology or taxonomy.

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