A Chronometric Analysis of Simple Deductive Reasoning
Thomas Hardy Leahey · The Journal of General Psychology · 1980
Summary Models of simple deductions with three logical rules, conjunction, disjunction, and implication were proposed, from which patterns of reaction-times in deductive reasoning were constructed. Thirty-five male and female undergraduate Ss were asked to draw inferences from abstract logical rules based on Wason's and Johnson-Laird's selection task. For all rules, it was predicted that trials on which a fallacious inference was invited but refused would show the shortest latencies, while valid inferences involving memory retrieval would require more time, with the longest latencies occurring on inferences requiring memory retrieval and negation of retrieved information. In general, the data supported the predictions. Time for rule encoding was also measured, and it was found that disjunction takes longer to understand than implication or conjunction.