Solution
The correct response was to turn the cards showing 8 and brown, but no other card. Remember how the proposition was stated: "If the card shows an even number on one face, then its opposite face is red." Only a card which has an even number on one face and which is not red on the other face can invalidate this rule. If we turn over the card labeled "3" and find that it is red, this does not invalidate the rule. Likewise, if we turn over the red card and find that it has the label "3", this also does not break the rule. On the other hand, if the brown card has the label "4", this invalidates the rule: it has an even number, but is not red. The interpretation of "if" here is that of the material conditional in classical logic.
Read more about this topic: Wason Selection Task
Famous quotes containing the word solution:
“I herewith commission you to carry out all preparations with regard to ... a total solution of the Jewish question in those territories of Europe which are under German influence.... I furthermore charge you to submit to me as soon as possible a draft showing the ... measures already taken for the execution of the intended final solution of the Jewish question.”
—Hermann Goering (1893–1946)
“Let us begin to understand the argument.
There is a solution to everything: Science.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“Give a scientist a problem and he will probably provide a solution; historians and sociologists, by contrast, can offer only opinions. Ask a dozen chemists the composition of an organic compound such as methane, and within a short time all twelve will have come up with the same solution of CH4. Ask, however, a dozen economists or sociologists to provide policies to reduce unemployment or the level of crime and twelve widely differing opinions are likely to be offered.”
—Derek Gjertsen, British scientist, author. Science and Philosophy: Past and Present, ch. 3, Penguin (1989)