Trying to break your own idea
Given a hidden rule to find, almost everyone runs tests their idea will PASS. The fastest route is the test you expect to fail.
You form an idea about the rule, and the idea starts steering the tests you pick.
A passing test feels like progress, but many rules fit the same passes.
One breaking test can cut the field in half. Asking what would break me is learnable.
Then and now
What began as a parlour puzzle became a lens on science itself: the discipline of seeking the observation that would prove you wrong.
Wason, P. C. (1960)
Where it began“On the failure to eliminate hypotheses in a conceptual task”
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 129-140
The original 2-4-6 experiment: shown a triple fitting a hidden rule, people overwhelmingly proposed confirming triples and announced wrong rules with confidence.
Navarro, D. J. and Perfors, A. F. (2011)
State of the art“Hypothesis generation, sparse categories, and the positive test strategy”
Psychological Review, 118, 120-134
The modern accounting: testing what fits your idea is often rational in sparse worlds, which is exactly why noticing WHEN to switch to breaking tests is the real skill.
What we do and do not claim
Confirming first is not a flaw of yours; it is often sensible. This game measures the habit so you can choose it, not to grade it.