ABSTRACT
In discussing inference processes in Chapter 9, we made few specific assumptions about the nature of the cognitive representations upon which these inferences were based. Inferences of category membership were assumed to involve a comparison of one set of features with another, without regard for how the features composing each set were organized in relation to one another. Our conception of inferences about the validity of belief propositions assumed that, for the most part, the cognitive basis for these inferences was another proposition that was often stored in a referent bin independently of other relevant knowledge about the issue of concern. More generally, however, inferences may be based on features of a more complex representation of a person, object, or event, the implications of which may sometimes conflict. In such instances, an understanding of inference processes requires knowledge of not only the content and structure of this representation, but also how this representation is used.
