Assertion and Reason

In the IBPS PO, SO and SBI cleric exams, Assertion and Reason questions are a recent addition to the paper. In the space below, we will see what we mean by an Assertion and Reason question. It will check your logical and reasoning capacities and also give you an insight into the level of the paper for these exams. We will see some examples of this type and try to figure out the diversity of the questions that will be present in the exam paper. Let us see!

Suggested Videos

 

Assertion and Reason

The word “assertion” means a confident and forceful statement of fact or belief when we talk about it as a noun. In these questions, the candidate is provided with a statement. This statement presents an opinion, a fact, or a comment. We call it the assertion. The other statement is the reason. These two statements form a pair of reason and assertion statements. There may or may not be a relation between the two. The most common misconception is that the assertion is a statement and the reason has to be a defending statement or the cause for it. Well, that is what you need to check for. The questions on Assertion and Reason look something like the following.

Browse more Topics under Statements

• Cause and Effect
• Judgements
• Logical sequence of Statements
• Situation and Reaction
• Statements and Arguments
• Statements and Assumptions
• Statements and Conclusions
• Statements and Course of Action
• Truth of Statements
• Statements Practice Questions

Solved Examples

Directions: In the following questions, the Assertions (A) and Reason(s) (R) have been put forward. Read both the statements carefully and choose the correct alternative from the following:
(A) Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.
(B) The Assertion and the Reason are correct but the Reason is not the correct explanation of the Assertion.
(C) Our Assertion is true but the Reason is false.
(D) The statement of the Assertion is false but the Reason is true.
(E) Both the statements are false.

Example 1: Assertion: All the crow species are entirely black in colour.

Reason: The colour of the crows is a biological adaptation.

Answer: Well the most rookie mistake that people make is this. They argue that if the assertion and the reason sound similar, the option must be A. In other words, the reason must be the correct explanation of the assertion. Let us first check the statements. The first statement presents a strong opinion or in other words, a blanket opinion. Such opinions are often not correct. For example, if someone says that all insects are small, the statement is incorrect. rather if you say insects are small, the statement is genuine.

Similarly to say that all crows are black is not correct as there are species of the common crow, that are grey in colour. So the assertion is not right. The reason, however, is correct. Therefore the correct option here is D).

More Examples

In the previous section, we saw that we should avoid jumping to conclusions. The first step is to check the truth of the statements themselves and later worry about the relation between the two. Let us see more such examples:

Example 2: Assertion: The Mountains on Moon are way taller than Mount Everest.

Reason: The force of gravity is stronger on Earth than on the moon.

(A) Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.
(B) The Assertion and the Reason are correct but the Reason is not the correct explanation of the Assertion.
(C) Our Assertion is true but the Reason is false.
(D) The statement of the Assertion is false but the Reason is true.
(E) Both the statements are false.

Answer: The two statements don’t seem to have the same topic but that doesn’t matter. The reason that the height of Everest is not greater than the mountains on the surface of the moon is gravity. The stronger force of gravity on the surface of earth makes sure that the mountains are shorter. Thus the reason and assertion are not only true but the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion. Therefore the answer is ).

Example 3: Assertion: Humans have evolved from an ape-like species of primates.

Reason: There are many fossils that support the theory of evolution in case of humans.

Answer: You might be tempted to select A) here but wait, there is caution here. The answer is not A). Of course, humans are evolved from apes and there are fossils that support the theory of evolution. But the reason has to explain why humans have evolved from apes. A simple trick to see if reason explains the assertion is to change the assertion into a question.

For example, here the assertion becomes, “why have humans evolved from apes?” or “How have humans evolved from apes”. The reason doesn’t answer that. So both the statements are correct but the reason is the explanation of the assertion. Therefore the correct option here is B).

Practice Questions

Directions: In the following questions, the Assertions (A) and Reason(s) (R) have been put forward. Read both the statements carefully and choose the correct alternative from the following:
(A) Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.
(B) The Assertion and the Reason are correct but the Reason is not the correct explanation of the Assertion.
(C) Our Assertion is true but the Reason is false.
(D) The statement of the Assertion is false but the Reason is true.
(E) Both the statements are false.

Q 1: Assertion: Dogs are easily one of the most social creatures on earth.

Reason: Dogs have been artificially bred from wolves over several generations.

Ans: A)

Q 2: Assertion: Music is soothing to everybody.

Reason: The rhythmic sounds stimulate the brain and produce a soothing effect.

Ans: D)