Logic

Reading Questions for Class # 5 – October 8, 1999

Holland et al (1993). Deductive reasoning

1. What do the concepts "modus ponens" and "modus tollens" mean?
2. What are the strengths and limitations of the theories reviewed in this chapter? In particular, formal versus informal logic and domain-general versus domain-specific strategies.
3. What inferences can we make with respect to the effects of the logic course and training on reasoning?

Woo-kyoung & Graham (1999). The impact of necessity and sufficiency in the Wason four-card selection task.

1. What are Woo-kyoung & Graham’s stand on the debate versus domain-specific and domain-general reasoning mechanisms?
2. How do they define the four possible necessity-sufficiency relations between P & Q?
3. What are the main findings of the study? How does perspective of the problem-solver affect the reasoning mechanism?

Girotto et al (1997). The effect of premise order in conditional reasoning: a test of the mental model theory

1. How does Johnson-Laird’s theory explain the difficulties associated with "modus tollens" and how can these be overcome?
2. What are the significant findings of the series of experiments conducted?
3. How can "pragmatic theory" explain the results?

Rips (1989). The psychology of knights and knaves

1. What are the effects of complexity on performance accuracy and response time in knight-knave problems?
2. How well does the "natural-deduction" model explain the results of the study?
3. Are there alternative explanations/theories?