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Qualifying is the very first step of any type of inference-making--even poorly performed inference-making. When we when we are making inferences in an habitual way, we qualify among our options based upon two primary factors: purpose and belief. Purpose is the reason for which we are qualifying, including our perception of what it is that a situation requires. Belief refers to whatever habits, opinions, truths or other certainties we hold concerning what is (or what can be) true of some thing…and what that thing means in a particular situation. When seeking to improve upon inference-making skills by making the act of qualification a deliberate activity, each of us needs first to learn how to discern among the properties (or qualities) of a thing or idea.

Think back now to the activities you completed in the last exercise. No matter what your purpose (your reason) for sorting the items in your goodie bag, you relied upon qualities for making all of your decisions. If you sorted from more sweet to less sweet, you relied upon a sensory quality--taste. If you sorted from those goodies that you liked most to those least liked, you relied upon an affect-based quality--preference. If you sorted from larger to smaller, you relied upon the rational (or logical) quality--size.

Qualities, then, are of three sorts:

• Sensory-based--such as colors--and shades of color; brightness; loudness; tone; tastes; smells; tactile responses; equilibrium.

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