After Instructions to Follow and Break a Rule

Abstract

Given a sentence reading task, thirty-one junior college students were asked to formulate a rule for choosing which sentence to read. They were then given instructions to follow that rule, break it, follow it, and break it in twenty card sequences. Almost half the participants had some difficulty stating the initial formulation of their rules. Despite this, the great majority of participants complied closely with the instructions to follow and break their rules. Persons who had difficulty stating their original rules also tended to have difficulty giving a consistent description of their actions.