CEDBIB - Bibliographic Database

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Browsing CEDBIB - Bibliographic Database by Subject "Abstract reasoning"

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    A note on the format of Ennis' multiple-choice tests of deductive reasoning competence
    (1992) Brandon, E. P.;
    In his pioneer investigations of deductive logical reasoning competence, R.H. Ennis used a multiple-choice format in which the premises are given, and it is asked whether the conclusion would then be true. In the adaptation of his work for use in Jamaica, the three possible answers were stated as "yes" (it must be true), "no" (it can to be true based on what you are told), and "maybe" (it may be true or false). In the original investigations, the results were of no consequence for those tested, but in Jamaica the questions have been part of examinations of importance to the subjects. For this reason, the possible effect of question format was investigated by replacing "maybe" with "not necessarily." Results with 537 subjects in 1990 (using "maybe" test answers) and 474 subjects in 1991 (using "not necessarily" test answers) indicate that the change of format makes no difference to 18 valid items, but results in significant differences in response pattern for 13 of 18 invalid items, with more correct responses in most cases
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    Conditional reasoning in Jamaica
    Nolan, C. A.;
    The results of studies that examined the logical reasoning of secondary school students in Jamaica are analysed. A logical reasoning test was administered to 205 Jamaican students in grades 7, 9, and 11. Also analysed were data collected using the same instrument on three other groups of Jamaican students in grades 7, 8, 9, and 10. As expected, test performance was not very good. Students did not show improvement in logical reasoning from grade to grade. No significant sex differences were found in overall reasoning ability. Nor were correlations found between reasoning ability and academic achievement. However, clear differences were found between educational strata within the school, for example, science was found to encourage a critical spirit. The Jamaican students scored much lower than a group of US students taking the same test. Reasons for the noticeable differences in level of performance may be due to a number of factors, including lack of resources in Jamaican schools, and the inadequate knowledge and skills of many teachers, especially at the elementary level. Some important facts that teachers need to be taught about logical reasoning are suggested