Focusing in wason's selection task: Content and instruction effects

Abstract

We propose an explanation of content effects in the Wason selection task based on the idea of focusing on the “p and not-q” response. Focusing can be implemented in two ways, either by emphasising the significance of rule violations or by discussing the probability of not-q occurring with p. The first experiment shows that our hypothesis can account for effects predicted by social contract theory or pragmatic reasoning schemas, as well as for effects not predicted by those theories. The second experiment extends our hypothesis from content to instruction effects, and shows that the intensity of the focusing manipulation produces a proportional increase in “p and not-q” response rates. The response distributions we obtained indicate that a general theoretical explanation based on focusing is called for. Our results are consistent with predictions of mental model theory, but they also indicate where the theory needs further articulation.