Both humans and other animals are good at learning by inference, using information we do have to figure out things we cannot observe directly. New research shows how our brains achieve this by ...

We all have the habit of trying to guess the killer in a movie before the big reveal. That’s us making inferences. It’s what happens when your brain connects the dots without being told everything ...

Pragmatics, the study of language in context, extends beyond the literal meanings of words to include the subtle inferences that speakers and listeners routinely make. A central phenomenon in this ...

Memorizing a series of facts is one thing, understanding the big picture is quite another. Now a new study demonstrates that relational memory -- the ability to make logical "big picture" inferences ...

Animals survive in changing and unpredictable environments by not merely responding to new circumstances, but also, like humans, by forming inferences about their surroundings—for instance, squirrels ...