INTRODUCTION A distinction has been proposed, on theoretical grounds, between referential and inferential semantic abilities. The former account for the relationship of words to the world, the latter for the relationship of words among themselves. The hypothesis of, at least partially, different neurological underpinnings for this distinction has been supported by the presence of double dissoci...

Language is a symbolic, culturally transmitted system of communication, which is learnt through the inference of meaning. In this paper, I describe the importance of meaning inference, not only in language acquisition, but also in developing a unified explanation for language change and evolution. Using an agent-based computational model of meaning creation and communication, I show how the mea...

In this paper, I offer an inferential conception of computer simulations, emphasizing the role that simulations play as inferential devices to represent empirical phenomena. Three steps are involved in a simulation: an immersion step (from aspects of the empirical set up to the simulated model), a derivation step (that yields the relevant results), and an interpretation and correction step (tha...

If semantics is the study of meanings, and the meaning of an expression e is understood as what speakers of the language must know use e competently, then a natural first guess is that the correct semantics of names will involve their referents. One might, initially, make the further supposition that the meaning of a name is just its referent. However, this sort of ‘Fido’-Fido view immediately ...

Linear regression is arguably one of the most widely used statistical methods. However, important problems, especially variable selection, remain a challenge for classical modes of inference. This paper develops a recently proposed framework of inferential models (IMs) in the linear regression context. In general, the IM framework is able to produce meaningful probabilistic summaries of the sta...

I defend the unpopular view that inference can create justification. I call this view inferential creationism. Inferential creationism has been favored by infinitists, who think that it supports infinitism. But it doesn’t. Finitists can and should accept creationism.

OBJECTIVE Among the influential cognitive factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), inferential confusion is a cognitive bias, which is described as the acceptance of possibilities as reality in contrast to sensory information. The present study aimed to determine the role of this construct in a clinical sample, and to test the cross-cultural validity of inferential confusion and to deter...