Relational Reasoning in Figure and Word

• In Event: 73.062 - Poster Session 17
  In Poster Session: 73.062-2 - Motivational and Cognitive Processes: Language, Literacy, Communication, and Reasoning

Abstract

Relational reasoning is the ability to derive meaningful patterns within any information stream. Despite its pivotal role, few measures have studied this process. To address this deficit, we constructed the Verbal Test of Relational Reasoning (vTORR). The vTORR consists of 32 linguistic items organized in four eight-item sales assessing analogical, anomalous, antonymous, and antithetical reasoning. Analyses showed the data from the vTORR to be reliable and valid indicators of relational reasoning in a linguistic context. Additionally, as predicted, vTORR performance was positively, strongly correlated with performance on its’ figural counterpart, the Test of Relational Reasoning (TORR) and moderately, positively correlated with performance on a measure of linguistic ability based on GRE vocabulary items.

Authors

• Patricia A. Alexander, University of Maryland - College Park

• Lauren M Singer, University of Maryland - College Park

• Sophie Jablansky, University of Maryland - College Park

• Courtney Hattan, University of Maryland - College Park