Psychology Labs and Resources

Hope University Logo

Department of Psychology

Wason Selection Task

Download Task

Description

The Wason selection task (or four-card problem) is a logic puzzle devised by Peter Cathcart Wason in 1966. It is one of the most famous tasks in the study of deductive reasoning.

Figure 1: A single trial in the Wason Reasoning
Figure to show a single trial in the experiment

Reference

Wason, P. C. (1968). "Reasoning about a rule". Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 20 (3): 273–281. doi:10.1080/14640746808400161