Ed602 Lesson 1

Lecture Information: Formal Operations

Characteristics of this stage
At about 11 years of age and beyond, Piaget proposes that people become cognitively mature. This coincides with the physical maturity that the body is going through as well. There is some evidence of abstract thinking taking hold at this stage as well. Sometime in middle school, maybe 8th grade or so, a child becomes more interested in abstractions like beauty, attractiveness, taste, style, and such issues. They develop tastes in music, country/rock/folk/Caribbean blues,etc. It becomes important to have the right kind of jeans. They go to a certain place to get the "right" kind of haircut. For the most part, these issues were not very important before this stage. Suddenly, it becomes essential.

Also at this stage, the concept ego-centrism returns with a bit of a twist. The ego-centrism for toddlers can be understood as an "inability," the child doesn't realize that other points of view exist. For the adolescent, that is not the case. They understand that there are other points of view, but simply value their viewpoint more. The adolescent is more likely to attend to their perceived needs first before validating other's needs. It is often expressed in the form of having an "imaginary audience." They can't go to the dance that night because of the pimple on their left cheek, stating frantically, "But everybody will see!"

Cognitive challenges of this stage
Development of effective reasoning strategies at this stage and for the rest of their life is the central challenge of this stage. There are many, many styles of reasoning that adults use everyday. Sometimes these are referred to as Critical Thinking skills.

Reasoning Skill	Description	Example
Compare	Reasoning in terms of similarities	"Painting with a bristle brush is similar to using an air brush"
Contrast	Reasoning in terms of differences	"Painting with a brush is different from a roller."
Induction	Drawing conclusions based on details	"These green apples were sour so green apples must be sour."
Deduction	Drawing a conclusion based on general truths	"The radio said road construction, so I'd better find a different way."
Analysis	Reasoning in terms of breaking a system into parts	"Explain the nervous systems and how it works."
Synthesis	Reasoning in terms of making a system of different parts	"You have one week to build a working car from these junk parts."

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