Formal Operational Stage.

Formal Operational Stage.

1. STAGE 4. 12 years+

   • Features.
     • 11 years onwards.
     • Think logically.
     • Think hypothetically (If...then) leading to systematic reasoning.
     • Use abstract ideas and concepts.
     • Think symbolically.
     • Ability to conserve area.
   • In the formal operational stage adolescents can understand and use abstract concepts.
     • An abstract concept is one which refers to things that are not real or tangible.
       • Examples of abstract concepts include ideas such as obsession, calm, horror and boredom. Although we know what these concepts mean, we cannot see or touch them because they do not exist as real things.
     • Formal operational thinkers can now apply operations to concrete situations and to abstract concepts.
       • Algebra is a useful example of the application of formal operations. In algebra, symbols are used to represent unknown variables. Arithmetical operations can then be performed - for example, the value of 'a' can be calculated if we are told that 4a = 20 (the answer is = 5).
         • Transitivity tasks can also be performed with unknown variables: if P is two times older than Q and Q is two times older than R, how many times older is P and R?
   • Formal operational thinking can also be hypothetical, meaning that thinking is not constrained to the real and actual but can be speculative.
     • In other words, a person in the formal operational stage can imagine situations that have never happened and can imagine what it would be like 'if' something were to happen.
       • For example, what it would be like if the school leaving age was raised to 21 years.
     • One simple test of hypothetical thinking as a feature of formal operational thought was the 'third eye problem' proposed by Piaget.
       • Children were asked where would be a good place to have an extra eye if it were possible.
         • Schaffer (1988) found that 9-year-olds made fairly conventional suggestions like 'on the forehead'. 11-year-olds were more capable of hypothetical thinking, making more innovative suggestions, for example, proposing that the extra eye could go on a hand so that we could spy around corners.
   • Formal operational thinkers can be much more flexible in their approach to problem solving than children in the concrete operational stage. If one method of solving a problem does not meet with success, a range of different strategies can be applied to find a solution.
     • Formal operational thinkers use hypothetico-deductive reasoning, testing hypotheses in a systematic way to arrive at a solution to a problem.
     • RESEARCH CARD: Inhelder and Piaget (1958).

2. How are concrete and formal operations different?

   • From about 12 years children can follow the form of a logical argument without reference to its content.
   • Concrete operations are carried out on things whereas formal operations are carried out on ideas.