Reason or the ability to reason is one of the most valued cognitive skills throughout history, having been considered in antiquity as one of the characteristics that separate us from other animals and often being confronted with emotion (although emotion and reason are in fact deeply interrelated).

But even though the concept of reason is often taken as universal and unique, it is necessary to take into account that there is no single way or mechanism to achieve reasoning, and it is possible to find different types of reasoning depending on how the information is obtained and processed . It is about some of these different types of existing reasoning that we are going to talk about throughout this article.

What is reasoning?

We understand reasoning as the product of a set of complex cognitive skills through which we are able to relate and link different information in a structured way, a linkage that allows us to establish different strategies, arguments and conclusions according to this structuring of information.

Reasoning allows us to elaborate new information and ideas based on a set of rules, something that allows us to establish and form elements such as thoughts, beliefs, theories, abstract ideas, techniques or strategies. Likewise, it allows us to find the resolution of the problems or situations we encounter and the search for the best methods.

Likewise, reasoning would not be possible without the existence of different mental faculties such as the capacity for association, attention, sensoperception, memory or the ability to plan or inhibit our responses at both the cognitive and behavioural levels. Thus, although it is and is considered a cognitive capacity, it would not be possible without the existence of many others on which it is based. We are not dealing with a basic capacity but with one of the superior or high-level cognitive capacities.

Main types of reasoning

Although the concept of reasoning may seem simple, the truth is that, as with intelligence, defining it in a clear and delimited way (without mixing it with other concepts) is very complex. The truth is that reasoning itself is difficult to study as a whole, often dividing itself into different processes that give rise to different types of reasoning. Among them, the following stand out, the first three being the most recognized and fundamental.

1. Deductive reasoning

One of the main types of reasoning is called deductive reasoning, which, as its name indicates, is the type of cognitive process we use to arrive at a deduction .

This type of thinking is based on the belief in a universal premise or affirmation to reach a conclusion for each particular case. Thus, we go from the general to the particular, being able to make conclusions for a specific case based on the assumption or deduction from what we consider globally true .

It often employs logic to do so, and it is common for syllogisms, inferences and chained propositions to be used to reach a particular conclusion. Deductive thinking may be categorical (from two premises considered valid a conclusion is extracted), proportional (one acts from two premises one of which is necessary for the other to occur) or disjunctive (two opposite premises are confronted in order to extract a conclusion that eliminates one of them).

It is often the type of reasoning that follows stereotypes, which make us think that because they are part of a group or profession to which certain characteristics have been attributed, a person will have a specific behavior (whether good or bad).

It is common that mere deduction can trigger judgments, arguments and beliefs that do not conform to reality . For example, we may think that water hydrates, then since the sea is made of water, sea water will hydrate us (when in fact it would produce dehydration).

2. Inductive reasoning

Inductive reasoning is that process of thinking in which one starts from particular information to reach a general conclusion. This would be the opposite process to that of deduction: we observe one particular case after another so that through experience we can determine a more generalised conclusion. This is a less logical and more probabilistic type of reasoning than the previous one.

Inductive reasoning may be incomplete (i.e. only a number of specific cases are included and not others to establish conclusions) or complete (including all the particular cases observed).

It is usually a method much more used than it seems when making decisions in our daily life, being generally what we use to predict the future consequences of our actions or what may happen.

It is also often linked to the attribution of causes for the phenomena we perceive. However, as with deduction, it is easy to draw false conclusions, focusing only on what we have seen or experienced. For example, the fact that every time we see a swan it is white can make us think that all swans are white, even though they also exist in black.

3. Hypothetical-deductive reasoning

This type of reasoning or thinking is the basis of scientific knowledge, being one of the ones that most closely adheres to reality and to the verification of the premises that are established on the basis of observation.

The starting point is the observation of the reality of a series of particular cases to generate a hypothesis, from which in turn possible consequences or interpretations of what has been observed will be deduced. These, in turn, should be falsifiable and empirically contrasted to verify their veracity .

This type of reasoning is considered one of the most complex and adult (Piaget, for example, associates it with the late stage of development and considers it typically adult even though many adults may not possess it).

This does not necessarily mean that they always produce valid results, a type of reasoning that is also sensitive to bias. An example of this type of reasoning can be found for example in the discovery of penicillin and its transformation into an antibiotic.

4. Transductive reasoning

This type of reasoning is based on that of combining different information separated from each other to establish an argument, belief, theory or conclusion. In reality, there is a tendency to link specific or particular information without generating any kind of principle or theory and without seeking a check.

It is considered typical of early childhood , when we are still unable to establish a reasoning that links cause and effect and we can manage to associate elements that have nothing to do with it.

An example of this type of reasoning can be found in the type of reflection that children usually do, who may think, for example, that it is snowing because they have behaved well that day.

Other types of reasoning

These are some of the most important types of reasoning, but there are other types depending on how they are classified. For example, we can find logical or non-logical reasoning (depending on whether or not it is used in such a way that the conclusions are coherent and can be drawn from the premises), valid or invalid reasoning (depending on whether or not the conclusion is correct) or even reasoning linked to certain professions or fields of knowledge, such as the medical or clinical profession.

Bibliographic references:

  • Higueras, B. and Muñoz, J.J. (2012). Basic Psychology. Manual CEDE de Preparación PIR, 08.
  • Peirce, C.S. (1988). El hombre, un signo (Peirce’s Pragmatism). Crítica, Barcelona: 123-141.
  • Polya, G. (1953). Mathematics and plausible reasoning. Ed. Tecnos. Madrid.