Abstract
Peirce’s concept of virtual habit, (1909: MS 620), constitutes a scaffold for abductive reasoning. Notable is how virtual habit compel the conduct employed to avert anticipated consequences. Virtual habits surface as vivid action- images, so specific that they qualify as determinations, soon to be enacted. Although they do not rise to the level of habit, in that repetition has not yet materialized, they serve a higher calling, inciting novel hypotheses, particularly in children (habit-change). Vivid, episodic memories emerge at 3;0 when index differentiates the where of event scenes. These memories are constructed when index hastens the application of logic to cause-effect scenarios, such that spatial relations suggest a logic for event frames/scenes, in line with Schacter and Addis’ 2007 Constructive Episodic Simulation Hypothesis. This inquiry shows how Peirce’s concept of virtual habit (compelling, episodic images) constitutes the most effective preparation for implementing novel inferences.
