Factors That May Affect Deductive Reasoning in Adult Students Enrolled in Educational Research Classes: A Review of Empirical- and Expository-Documents from Non-Textbook Literature Between 1920 and 1973.

Variables that affect the deductive reasoning of adult students are isolated and relevant literature reviewed in order to facilitate the design of a reliable measurement instrument. The relationships of previous instruction, cultural background, occupation, intelligence, sex, and reasoning habits to test scores of examinees are discussed. Studies of the effect on examinees of argument format, use of logical connectives, language inconsistencies, item difficulty levels, abstractness, and argumentative content are reviewed. Implications of this literature review are that future deductive reasoning ability measurement devices should a) include provisions for assessing decisions involving both valid and invalid principles of reasoning; b) measure decisions for each structural type of logical argument; c) utilize premises which are properly qualified, consistent with generally accepted facts, and constructed of neutral components; d) utilize standardized logical connectives; and e) measure the emotional effect of arguments on respondees. An 11 page bibliography is included. (HMD)