The opposite of a transformation process. An exploration based on diagrams

We presented participants with simple diagrams representing a transformation from x to y, and asked them to draw what they considered to be the opposite process/es. The focus of the study was on the participants’ naïve idea of opposites and on whether asking them to write a verbal description of the stimulus prior to the task (implying more conscious cognitive processing) would affect their responses. A simple reversal of x and y was the first solution offered. However, the participants who performed the initial verbal description also thought of a second option, where x and y were modified but not reversed. Conversely, in cases where the participants did not give a prior written description, the two most frequent response patterns always implied a reversal of the initial order of x and y. The results are discussed in relation to previous literature on the naïve idea of opposites and on the subject of antithetical reasoning. Further issues to be investigated are also suggested.