THE ADOLESCENT

The Formal Operation Stage

Piaget set the beginning of the formal operation stage of cognitive development around age 11 to 12
and possibly later.

Emergence of Abstract Thought

 Hypothetical and abstract thinking- the ability to plan for the future and reason about
hypothetical situations.
 Scientific Reasoning- involves an increase in logic, understanding of abstract ideas

-At this point adolescents become capable of seeing multiple potential solutions to problem and
think more scientifically, about the world around them.

-Hypothetical Deductive Reasoning -Reasoning from general ideas or rules to their specific
implications.

Progress toward Mastery of Formal Operations

Decontextualize- Separate prior knowledge and beliefs from the demands of the task at hand.

Implications of Formal Thought

Formal operational thoughts contribute to other changes in adolescence some good, some not good.

Formal operational thought may prepare the individual to gain a sense of identity think in more complex
ways about moral issues, and understood other people.

The adolescents armed with hypothetical and scientific reasoning abilities can think more
independently, imagine alternative to present realities and raise questions about everything from why
parents set certain rules to why is there injustice in the world. Questioning can lead to confusion and
sometimes to rebellion against ideas that do not seem logically enough.

Adolescent Egocentrism
 Imaginary audience- phenomenon involves confusing their own thoughts with those of a
hypothesized audience for your behavior.
 Personal fable- a tendency to think that you and your thoughts and feelings are unique.

ADULT

Piaget indicated that the highest stage of cognitive development, formal operations was fully mastered
by most people between age 15 and 18.
 Limitations in Adult Cognitive Performance

Post-formal thought- ways of thinking that are more complex than those of the formal operation stage

 Relativistic thinking- understanding that knowledge depends on its context and the subjective
perspective of the knower. Whereas an absolutist assumes that truth lies in the nature of reality
and that there is only one truth, a relativist assumes that his starting assumptions influence the
truth discovered and that a problem can be viewed in multiple ways.
 Dialectical thinking- detecting paradoxes and inconsistences among ideas and trying to
reconcile them

In an attempt to integrate various post formal ideas, Helena Marchand suggest these common features:

1. Understanding that knowledge is relative, not absolute; there are far more shades of gray than
there are clear dichotomies of knowledge.
2. Accepting that the world (physical and mental) is filled with contradictions: inconsistent
information can exist side by side.
3. Attempting to integrate the contradictions into some larger understanding.

Aging and Cognitive Skills

The poorer performance of older groups does not necessarily mean that cognitive abilities are lost as
people age. It could be caused by a cohort effect because the average older adult today has had less
formal schooling than the average younger adult has had.

Older adults who perform poorly on unfamiliar problems in laboratory situations often perform far more
capably on the sorts of problems that they encounter in every day context.