ABSTRACT

This collection of essays focuses on three reasoning problems devised by Peter Wason - the selection task, the 2-4-6 task, and the THOG problem - which have had a considerable influence since their invention.; The reasons why people make so many errors in these seemingly simple tasks are still not fully understood. A variety of different theoretical perspectives have been used in trying to explain performance. These include the mental models approach, the pragmatic reasoning approach, and the mental logic approach. This book contains chapters which discuss all these theories. Other chapters review the literature or offer alternative theoretical perspectives. A final chapter by Peter Wason describes how he came to create the tasks discussed.

chapter 1|16 pages

Creating a Psychology of Reasoning

The Contribution of Peter Wason

chapter 4|22 pages

Pragmatic Reasoning about Human Voluntary Action

Evidence from Wason's Selection Task

chapter 5|23 pages

Deontic Reasoning

chapter 7|25 pages

Relevance and Reasoning

chapter 8|16 pages

The Abstract Selection Task

Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis

chapter 10|24 pages

Hypothesis Testing

chapter 11|20 pages

Scientific Reasoning

chapter 13|15 pages

Creativity in Research