Jean Piaget: The formal operations stage

According to Piaget, the highest level of cognitive ability begins at about age 11 to 12 and is known as the formal operational stage. The main accomplishment in this final stage is the ability to consider ideas that are not based on reality; that is, the individual is no longer confined to observable objects or experience-based thoughts. Abstract ideas are possible, which enables young people to resolve problems that violate their concept about reality in the world. Children in the concrete operational stage may be completely baffled by questions concerning abstract or nonexistent events or objects. In fact, the children may respond that there is no possible response because the concept under consideration is nonexistent. Formal operators, however, are challenged and enjoy the opportunity to ponder the new concept. According to Piaget, many individuals never achieve this stage of development. In fact, people who score below average on intelligence tests most likely have not achieved formal operations. Formal operators are also capable of performing what Piaget called interpropositional thought. This enhanced level of cognitive ability allows children to relate one or more parts of a proposition or a situation to another part to arrive at a solution to a problem. To illustrate, if confronted with the statement “The ball is in my left hand or it isn’t in my left hand,” the child in concrete operations may need to inspect his or her hands visually before responding. The young adolescent in formal operations, however, can determine that the statement, although somewhat unusual, is correct. By simultaneously considering the two propositions within the statement, the formal operator determines that the ball is either in the hand or it is somewhere else, which indicates that the statement is correct. This ability to perform interpropositional thought can be useful in many situations. In complex movement situations, this capability could enhance one’s success strategically. In many team activities, the positioning of two or more players, each a “movement proposition,” may indicate the onset of a particular play. A defender who can “read” the interrelationship between these movement propositions can prepare accordingly and help the team counter the play. An additional product of formal thought is what Piaget referred to as hypothetical-deductive reasoning. This term indicates a problem-solving style in which possible solutions to a problem are generated and systematically considered. This rational, systematic, and abstract form of reasoning facilitates the selection of the correct solution. Piaget believed that this new form of reasoning, which allows consideration of the abstract, has dramatic effects on the child’s emotional development, including the development of new feelings, behaviors, and goals. Newly emerging values may result from this enhanced cognitive capability. Frequently, young adolescents become increasingly idealistic as they ponder such magnanimous concepts as world peace or the search for the perfect energy source. Resolution of these problems may seem fairly simple to a young formal “operator” who can now think about what presently appear to be unrealistic situations. The changing values that Piaget believed emerge as a result of formal operations may also affect the young adolescent’s decisions concerning participation in movement endeavors. Because of increased idealism, the adolescent may decide that the competition common to many adolescent movement activities is not mutually beneficial to all involved and therefore choose not to participate. Or the adolescent may begin to become aware of the potential benefits of participation and learn to cherish the possibility of being exceptionally fit or successful in a movement endeavor. Source:«Human Motor Development”-A Lifespan approach (Greg Payne, Larry Isaacs) Recent Articles