The effect of teaching logical reasoning on health decision making

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of training in logical reasoning on learning information about the risk factors of cardiovascular disease. The process of cardiovascular disease is for the most part irreversible and begins as early as childhood. Consequently, it seems especially appropriate subject matter for school health education. Adolescents are an important target population because, in this period of their lives, they are becoming more independent and are setting behavior patterns which will carry oyer into their adult lifestyles. The sequence from learning factual information to applying it is predicated on the assumption that comprehension is a necessary, if not sufficient, link between the knowledge-application gap. Comprehension implies both understanding how facts are related and having the capacity to infer the results of combining facts in new ways. Therefore, training students in logical thinking skills, (i.e., relating facts in analytical and inferential ways) should help them learn information more readily and thoroughly. In the present study, it was hypothesized that tenth grade students, given instruction in logical reasoning, would learn information about cardiovascular disease better, as reflected in higher test scores, than would tenth grade students given the same information without training in logical reasoning. The sample consisted of students (N=lll) enrolled in six classes of a health science course at the High School for the Health Professions. The independent variable was method of instruction with or without training in logical reasoning. The dependent variable was knowledge gain as reflected by a residual-change measure generated from pretest and posttest administrations of a cardiovascular disease knowledge examination. The entire sample was pretested for cardiovascular disease knowledge. They were also tested for logical reasoning ability using the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and three subscales of the Differential Aptitude Tests. Students in the Logic Treatment Group then met two class periods a week for four weeks. During that time they read and discussed a novelette containing stories, or anecdotes, involving rules of logical reasoning in a context of making health decisions. During the intervention, both the Logic Treatment and the Non-Logic Treatment Groups continued their regular health science curriculum. After the four-week intervention, both groups completed two self-instructional units on cardiovascular disease and were posttested. For the statistical analysis, it was decided to increase the level of significance to .10 rather than use the more conventional .05. This was done because knowledge gain due to the logic treatment might be obscured, since the students were already enrolled in a health science course, which included material on cardiovascular disease, and use of the self-instructional units was already known to result in significant knowledge gain in general. It was therefore decided to raise the level of significance and reduce the risk of Type II error. The data were then analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Logical reasoning ability was controlled statistically by using student scores on the five Watson-Glaser subscales and the three Differential Aptitude Test subscales as covariates. The MANCOVA yielded an F-value of 2,18 (p <.O7), within the rejection region of the stipulated .20 level of significance. As a result, the statistical hypothesis of no relation between training in logical reasoning and learning of health information was rejected. The result of the study supported the hypothesized relation between training in logical reasoning and enhanced student learning. Further research therefore seems warranted in conjunction with regular classroom curriculum. The novelette format may not be necessary for high school students, who seemed to have no trouble understanding basic rules of logic when presented with concrete examples. Combining logic training with practical case studies, especially if tied directly to the regular curriculum, would seem to be a promising approach and applications to different subject areas should be pursued.Education, College o