Reasoning about Implication

Abstract

The difficulty associated with implicatory reasoning, in particular Wason's "selection task," was studied cross-culturally. The extent to which logical interpretation of implication contributed to success on the selection task was also investigated. Malaysian and Australian University students were tested with thematic, or abstract content on two tasks: (a) selection task, and (b) classification task (which tested subjects' understanding of implication). Cultural and content factors were not significant in determining performance on the selection task, but Australian subjects performed significantly better than Malaysian subjects on the classification task, and thematic groups scored significantly better than abstract groups. Success on the classification task was not related to success on the selection task. It was concluded that failure to reason logically on the selection task could not be attributed solely to misinterpretation of implication and that the difficulty associated with this task is not specific to any one cultural gorup or the language in which it is expressed.