Deductive reasoning ability in causal, quantitative, and spatial context

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the deductive reasoning ability in different contexts. Specifically, the deductive reasoning ability has been tested in the form of six different logical inference types within the quantitative, the causal, and the spatial context. The study is highly related to the debate, both philosophical and psychological one, regarding the nature of human reasoning; that is, whether inference drawing and human rationality, in general, is affected by abstract logical rules that are applied independently of the context involved (Braine, 1978, 1990; Braine & O'Brien, 1991; Rips, 1983, 1990) or by mental models attached to each particular case (Johnson-Laird, 1983; Johnson-Laird & Byrne, 1991), or by the context itself as a framework that provides prior experiences related to new problem-solving situations (Cheng & Holyoak, 1985; Gonida, 1994).