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Are you logical?

Put your reasoning skills under the microscope...

Kashmira Gander
Monday 16 November 2015 18:06 GMT
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Scientists believe that logic may be intuitive
Scientists believe that logic may be intuitive (Getty Images)

Logic is the process of reasoning using the facts put before you.

So, test your cognitive abilities with this tricky quiz.

How did you do? Let us know in the comments below.

If you did better than you thought you would, it may be because we use logic more often than we realise.

A 2011 study at the University of Toulouse, France, concluded that logic may be intuitive. Writing in the 'Perspectives of Psychological Science' journal at the time, researcher Wim De Neys explained how the following questions holds the key to the findings.

Bill is 34. He is intelligent, punctual but unimaginative and somewhat lifeless. In school, he was strong in mathematics but weak in social studies and humanities. Which one of the following statements is most likely? (a) Bill plays in a rock band for a hobby. (b) Bill is an accountant and plays in a rock band for a hobby.

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Most people will pick B despite the fact they do not know what Bill’s job is and it is logically more likely that the random possibility that he is in a rock band would be true.

Brain scans of those involved in the study showed that when people considered the problem the area part of their brain that deals with conflict was active, meaning that as they chose the least logical option they sensed they were doing wrong.

De Neys said the study may help explain more complex decision-making, for example when a person smokes knowing that it damages their health.

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