Abstract
This article reports two experiments investigating the use of narrative form in the presentation of thematic versions of Wason's (1977) THOG problem. Experiment 1 demonstrated that narrative thematic versions that use actions of characters to present the elements of the problem are easier to solve than the classic version. This result was found both for a problem that used thematic examples and for a problem that used the same geometric figures as the classic THOG. Results also suggested that the presence of a character who creates the comparison properties to be used in applying the disjunction rule was useful in separating those properties from the properties of the positive example. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the solution of a narrative thematic version of the THOG could lead to improved performance on the classic abstract THOG, but only when the examples in the narrative version were the geometric figures. Issues of transfer with the THOG problem are discussed.
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Needham, W.P., Amado, C.A. Facilitation and transfer with narrative thematic versions of the THOG task. Psychol. Res 58, 67–73 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00447091
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00447091