The Wason Selection Task

Peter Cathcart Wason proposed a form of the following task, which is failed by 90 percent of people who attempt it (though users of this website have a better track record). Try the task yourself, and see how others responded. Then read the answer and explanation, and try a real-life version.

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There are four cards, each of which has a number on one side and a color on the other. The cards lie on a table with the following faces showing: 3, 8, green, blue. The task is to identify which cards need to be turned over in order to test the truth of the following proposition: “If one of these cards has an even number on one side then its other side is green.” Which cards would you turn over, without turning over any cards unnecessarily?

 

Click Here to See Answer and Explanation

The correct answer is that you must turn over only the 8 card and the blue card. Here is an explanation for each of the cards:

• 3 card: does not need to be turned over, because it is not even, so it cannot trigger the stated proposition
• 8 card: even, so it must be turned over, because if the other side is not green, then the proposition is not true
• green card: many people choose this card, but it does not need to be turned over, because if the other side is odd, then the proposition is not tested, and if the other side is even, that is consistent with the proposition, but it does not prove or disprove the truth of the proposition
• blue card: does need to be turned over, because if the other side is even, then the proposition is not true

A Real-Life Scenario

The Wason task is difficult in part because it tests abstract logical reasoning. Many people perform better on a similar test based on a real-life scenario. Say that you work in a bar, stopping underage people from drinking. Your job is to test this rule: “If someone is drinking alcohol, then that person must be age 18 or older.” From where you are standing, you can observe four people: a person drinking soda (you can’t see how old they are); a person drinking beer (you can’t see how old they are); a 30-year-old person (you can’t see what they’re drinking) and a 16-year-old person (you can’t see what they’re drinking). Which of these four items must be checked in order to make sure the rule is being followed? For this task, your “cards” would look like this:

Logically, this task is identical to the first one. However, most people find it easier to figure out which cards need to be checked: the beer and the teenager.

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Why do we find

W

ason’

s Selection T

ask so difficult?

The W

ason Selection T

ask is a test of logical reasoning in whic

h an individual must use the

information given in a conditional rule, to ascertain which cards of a set of four

, must be

overturned to establish if the rule can be disproved (Evans, 1982).

This puzzle can be

resolved by inferring modus ponens (A

is true, so B is true) and modus tollens (B is not t

rue,

so

A

is not true) to select two cards (Ros

si, Cassotti, Moutier

, Delcroix & Houde, 2015 ).

As

most contenders fail the selection task, there has been an abundance of speculation wit

h

regards to why we find this problem challenging. One explanation details that when decision-

making, we have diffic

ulties presuming modus tollens and a preference for modus ponens

(Eysenck, 2004). Resultantly

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, individuals are likely to use this concept alone when attempting

to solve the logical dilemma. Initially

, this preference was assumed to be innate however

,

Bayesian Epistemology associates this dif

ference with the presumption that they have distinct

probability distributions (Eva, Hartmann, Singmann & 2019). Nevertheless, the predomina

nt

justification for the dif

ficulty of the W

ason Selection T

ask is attributed to the concept of

confirmation bias.

This refers to a cognitive bias whereby individuals promote information

that confirms their expectations regardless of its validity (Lewicka, 1998). Susce

ptibility to

confirmation bias stems from the dislike of being incorrect and appearing unintelligible

.

Thus, when completing this exercise individuals are coerced to choose cards that are directl

y

relevant to their beliefs, in correspondence with the conditional rule to protect thei

r self-

esteem.

Also assuming that our ideologies are valid is a fa

st and convenient method of

processing information (Nickerson, 1998).

Additionally

, it has been argued that the

selection

task is complex because it is not contextualised.

This

notion has been validated by

W

ason &

Shapiro (1971), who found that participants were significantly more able to resolve the four

card problem when given a relatable and relevant example in substituti

on for letters and

numbers.

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