Discoveries on the Basis of Deductive Reasoning

Could it be that the very essence of reasoning itself is found in the way we behave?
Clark Hull, an acclaimed American psychologist, theorized that it was, describing that
reasoning is achieved by the way two “behavior segments” are combined in new
ways to achieve goals. Howard and Tracey Kendler, who were two of Hull’s
followers, used Hull’s principle ideas to design a reasoning test for children. In this
test, children needed to learn how to use a machine in a two-step process. The
children learned each of the two steps individually, with the first being to correctly
choose and press one of two buttons, and the second to place a marble into a small
opening. If both steps were completed successfully, a toy would be released as
rewards to the children.

From this test, the Kendlers learned that although the children were able to learn
each step, they were not able to “integrate” the two tasks without intervention. In
other words, the children could not successfully perform the first step, pushing the
button, and then proceed to the second step, inserting the marble into the hole, by
themselves. This failure to independently integrate the steps led the Kendlers to
believe that children of this age were not able to use deductive reasoning.

According the the work of psychologist and professor Michael Cole and his
associates, some adults from specific African tribes are also unable to successfully
complete the Kendlers' two-step test of deductive reasoning. However, this finding
remains questionable in light of the findings of a similar test to the Kenders’, which
revealed that the African tribes people were, in fact, able to complete the test.

In this test, Cole substituted a locked box for the machine with the buttons, and then
used two matchboxes of different colors. One of the matchboxes held a key for the
locked box. Just like with the Kendlers’ test, Cole’s test also involved two behavior
segments, these being to first open the right match-box to get the key, and second to
use the key to open the box. However, Cole’s test differs quite a bit psychologically.
Instead of subjects being presented with a strange machine, they are given familiar
objects in a simpler context. Cole found the difficulty of 'integration' was greatly
reduced here.

It seems that the same truth which Cole discovered can be extended to explain the
deductive reasoning skills of young children. Psychologist Simon Hewson believes
that perhaps the task’s difficulty is not in inferential processes themselves, but is
instead tied to confusing features of the test apparatus, such as the button machine,
as well as the context of the procedure being tested. When these factors are
adjusted in order to prevent the inferential nature of the problem being affected,
five-year-old children are able to successfully complete these tests as well as college
students did in the Kendlers' test.

Hewson made two essential changes to the test in order to build on this idea. First,
he replaced the button-pressing mechanism with drawers that a child could slide
open and shut. This removed confusion on what to do with the original button
apparatus from the first stage of training. Secondly, Hewson made sure that children
understood that there was nothing special or magical about the marble which was
used to successfully complete the second step of the task and get the reward.

This is important because a child cannot easily comprehend a mechanism in which a

marble put into a hole can open a little door. It would then be safe to say that the
child will not assume that differentmarbles of identicalsize could be used the same
way. But, to solve the problem, this assumption must be made. Hewson clearly
demonstrated the functional equivalence of different marbles to the children by
playing a 'swapping game.” Hewson's two modifications to the experiment led to a
rise in success rates from 30 percent to 90 percent for five-year old children and
from 35 percent to 72.5 per cent for four-year-olds. Strangely enough for three-year
olds, Hewson’s changes did not lead to any improvement, and instead there was a
slight drop in performance from the change. Hewson's experiments showed that
children faced with the Kendler apparatus experienced difficulty not related to
reasoning, but to the nature of the tasks themselves, and that difficulty cannot be
taken as proof that they are incapable of deductive reasoning.
Questions 29-36

Look at the following descriptions (Questions 29-36) and list of psychologists below.

Match each description with the correct psychologist. Write the correct number A-D
in boxes Questions 29-36 on your answer sheet. Support your answers

NB You may use any letter more than once.

List of psychologists

1. Clark Hull

2. Howard and Tracy Kendler

3. Michael Cole and colleagues

4. Simon Hewson

29. is cited as having demonstrated that earlier experiments into children's ability to

reason deductively may have led to the wrong conclusions. _______

30. experimented with things that the subjects might have been expected to

encounter in everyday life, rather than with a machine. ________

31. appears to have proved that a change in the apparatus dramatically improves the

performance of children of certain ages. ________

32. is cited as famous in the field of psychology. ________

33. demonstrated that the two-stage experiment involving button-pressing and

inserting a marble into a hole poses problems for certain adults as well as children.

________

34. trained children separately in the two stages of their experiments with the use of

marbles. _________

35. devised an experiment that investigated deductive reasoning without the use of

any marbles. ________

36. used a machine to measure inductive reasoning that replaced button-pressing

with drawer-opening. _________