THOG problem
≈ 2 min read
Names in other languages
No names in other languages are held for this entry yet.
Article bodies are English and are not machine-translated. A name in another language is not a translation of the article.
The THOG problem is one of cognitive psychologist Peter Wason's logic puzzles, constructed to show some of the weaknesses in human thinking. You are shown four symbols #a black square #a white square #a black circle #a white circle and told by the experimenter "I have picked one colour (black or white) and one shape (square or circle). A symbol that possesses exactly one, but not both, of the properties I have picked, is called a THOG. The black square is a THOG. For each of the other symbols, are they a) definitely a THOG, b) undecidable, or c) definitely not a THOG?" Presented in this form, the task is quite difficult, because much information must be held in working memory at the same time.
The THOG problem is one of cognitive psychologist Peter Wason's logic puzzles, constructed to show some of the weaknesses in human thinking. You are shown four symbols a black square a white square a black circle a white circle and told by the experimenter "I have picked one colour (black or white) and one shape (square or circle). A symbol that possesses exactly one, but not both, of the properties I have picked, is called a THOG. The black square is a THOG. For each of the other symbols, are they a) definitely a THOG, b) undecidable, or c) definitely not a THOG?" Presented in this form, the task is quite difficult, because much information must be held in working memory at the same time. ==References== de:Peter Wason#THOG-Aufgabe
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1352288423 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.