1. Clark Hull's Theory on Reasoning
Clark Hull, a well-known psychologist, believed that reasoning involves combining two separate actions in a novel way to reach a goal. His view suggested that this process involved more than just repeating familiar tasks; it required a fresh combination of actions. Two of Hull’s followers, Howard and Tracey Kendler, put this idea to the test by creating an experiment for children. The task required them to use two separate behaviours to operate a machine in order to receive a toy.
2. The Kendler Experiment
The experiment was designed to test whether children could combine two learned behaviors. The first part involved pressing one of two buttons to get a marble. The second part required them to place the marble into a hole to receive a toy. While the children easily mastered each step on its own, most struggled to combine the two behaviors without help. They could press the button to get the marble or use the marble to get the toy, but failed to connect these actions. The Kendlers concluded that the children were not yet capable of deductive reasoning.
3. Cross-Cultural Challenges
Interestingly, the difficulty of the Kendler task wasn’t limited to children. Another psychologist, Michael Cole, found that adults from an African culture also struggled with the same experiment. However, Cole designed a modified version using familiar objects, like a locked box and matchboxes, one of which contained a key to unlock the box. This version was easier for the participants to understand. Although the task was formally the same as the Kendler task, the change in context made a significant difference. It showed that the challenge wasn’t in reasoning itself but in understanding the unfamiliar apparatus.
4. Modifications and Improved Results
Building on these findings, Simon Hewson created an experiment that made the task easier for young children. He swapped the button-pressing mechanism with simple drawers that children could open and close, removing confusion. Additionally, Hewson helped children understand that any marble could be used in the second step by playing a swapping game, which showed that there was no magic in the specific marble given to them. These adjustments led to a significant increase in success rates, with 90% of five-year-olds solving the problem compared to only 30% in the original Kendler experiment.
5. The Conclusion on Deductive Reasoning
The improvements in Hewson’s experiment highlight that the original difficulty of the Kendler task was not a lack of deductive reasoning but rather confusion about the setup. The modifications allowed children to better understand the process and thus solve the problem. However, for three-year-olds, the changes did not lead to better results, indicating that more research is needed to understand why. Overall, it becomes clear that young children are capable of deductive reasoning when they are given tasks they can grasp more intuitively.
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