THE ROLE OF CONTENT IN REASONING

  • KENNETH IAN MANKTELOW

Student thesis: PhD

Abstract

A programme of research is reported in which the effects of different contents in two deductive reasoning paradigms were investigated. A review of the literature showed that the two main determinants of performance are the logical structure of the task, and non-logical performance variables such as 'matching bias’. Matching is a prime determinant of behaviour in abstract tasks, e.g. Wason's Selection task. This is shown by systematically negating logical rule components. However, a large literature indicates that logical performance is facilitated by using thematic materials.
Date of Award1979
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University of Plymouth

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