Origin
Logical reasoning spans deductive inference — drawing necessary conclusions from premises, as in syllogisms and conditional statements — and inductive inference — discovering the rule that governs a series of observations. Both are closely tied to Spearman's g and to fluid reasoning in the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model, and are assessed in instruments such as the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the LSAT logical-reasoning section.
Structure
Deductive items present premises and ask which conclusion must follow; conditional-reasoning items probe understanding of "if-then" relations. Inductive items use number or figure series, matrices and analogies where the respondent infers the underlying pattern.
Strong performance requires holding premises in working memory while applying formal rules consistently.
Psychometric standing
Logical-reasoning tasks are highly g-loaded and predict academic and professional outcomes. A long research tradition — notably Wason's selection task (1968) — also shows that human reasoning is sensitive to content and context and systematically departs from formal logic, so these tests measure reasoning performance under specific formats rather than flawless rationality.