The Relation between Factual and Counterfactual Conditionals

Autor/inn/en	Quelhas, Ana Cristina; Rasga, Célia; Johnson-Laird, P. N.
Titel	The Relation between Factual and Counterfactual Conditionals
Quelle	In: Cognitive Science, 42 (2018) 7, S.2205-2228 (24 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0364-0213
DOI	10.1111/cogs.12663
Schlagwörter	Semantics; Form Classes (Languages); Discourse Analysis; Correlation; Sentence Structure; Language Processing; Computational Linguistics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Semantik; Analytischer Sprachbau; Diskursanalyse; Korrelation; Satzbau; Satzstruktur; Sprachverarbeitung; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik
Abstract	What is the relation between factual conditionals: "If A happened then B happened," and counterfactual conditionals: "If A had happened then B would have happened?" Some theorists propose quite different semantics for the two. In contrast, the theory of mental models and its computer implementation interrelates them. It postulates that both can have a priori truth values, and that the semantic bases of both are possibilities: states that are possible for factual conditionals, and that were once possible but that did not happen for counterfactual conditionals. Two experiments supported these relations. Experiment 1 showed that, like factual conditionals, certain counterfactuals are true a priori, and others are false a priori. Experiment 2 replicated this result and showed that participants selected appropriate paraphrases, referring, respectively, to real and to counterfactual possibilities, for the two sorts of conditional. These results are contrary to alternative accounts of conditionals. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01