Permission schemas and the selection task

Cheng and Holyoak's abstract permission schema version of Wason's selection task and the standard abstract version of the task were examined in two experiments, each a factorial design with type of problem (permission vs. standard), presence or absence of a checking context, explicit or implicit negatives on the not-p and not-q cards, and presence or absence of a rule clarification statement as factors. The original permission problem violation-type instruction was employed in Experiment 1, and Margolis's not-p and not-q violation instruction (Griggs & Jackson, 1990) was used in Experiment 2. Subjects were 640 university undergraduates, with each subject solving only one problem. The major findings for permission tasks were: (1) facilitation for the abstract permission version was replicated but found to be dependent upon the presence of explicit negatives on the not-p and not-q cards; and (2) this facilitation was enhanced by the Margolis not-p and not-q instruction. Per Girotto, Mazzocco, and Cherubini (1992), these findings and the observed error patterns are consistent with pragmatic schema theory. The major findings for the standard version of the task were: (1) none of the factors significantly impacted proportion correct [performance was poor, ≦10% correct in 15 of 16 conditions] and (2) the number of not-p & not-q incorrect selections was increased significantly for the not-p and not-q instruction. These results are discussed in terms of Manktelow and Over's argument that the standard abstract task and the permission schema version are actually different problems.     

Book reviews

J. Roger Saydah. The Ethical Theory of Clarence Irving Lewis. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1969. Pp. 171. Indexed. $7.50.

Nicholas Rescher. Many‐Valued Logic. New York: McGraw‐Hill Book Co., 1969. Pp. ix, 359.

EVA Schaper. Prelude to Aesthetics. New York: Humanities Press, 1968. Pp. 179. Indexed. $6.50.

N. Fotion. Moral Situations. Yellow Springs, Ohio: The Antioch Press, 1968. Pp. 124. Indexed. $4.75; paperback $1.05.

John and Shirley Lachs, eds. Physical Order and Moral Liberty. Previously Unpublished Essays by George Santavana. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press. Pp. xiv, 322. $7.95.

D. C. Armstrong. A Materialist Theory of Mind. New York: Humanities Press, 1968. Pp. xi, 372. Indexed. $8.50.

Annali della Facolta di Lettere et Filosofia, Pubblicazioni dell’ Universita di Barni, Volume XII, Adriatica Editrice, Bari, 1967. Pp. 251.

Bernard Zylstra. From Pluralism to Collectivism: The Development of Harold Laski's Political Thought. New York: Humanities Press, 1968. Pp. 236. $8.00.

Andrew J. Reck. The New American Philosophers: An Exploration of Thought Since “World War II. Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Pp. xxii, 362. $8.95.

Elizabeth Ramsden Eames. Bertrand Russell's Theory of Knowledge. New York: George Braziller, 1969. Pp. 240. Indexed. $6.00.