AUTHOR=Heit Evan TITLE=Brain Imaging, Forward Inference, and Theories of Reasoning JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience VOLUME=8 YEAR=2015 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.01056 DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2014.01056 ISSN=1662-5161 ABSTRACT=

This review focuses on the issue of how neuroimaging studies address theoretical accounts of reasoning, through the lens of the method of forward inference (Henson, 2005, 2006). After theories of deductive and inductive reasoning are briefly presented, the method of forward inference for distinguishing between psychological theories based on brain imaging evidence is critically reviewed. Brain imaging studies of reasoning, comparing deductive and inductive arguments, comparing meaningful versus non-meaningful material, investigating hemispheric localization, and comparing conditional and relational arguments, are assessed in light of the method of forward inference. Finally, conclusions are drawn with regard to future research opportunities.