By Andrew Laux
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Born August 9, 1896 in Neuchatel, Switzerland
Died September 16, 1980
wrote over 50 books, 180 major studies, 500 papers, 37
volumes in the series Etudes d'Epistemologie
Genetique, and published, brief autobiographies.
Studied at the University of Neuchatel and University
of Zurich
Professor at the Sorbonne, University of Geneva,
University of Lausanne and University of Neuchatel
Director of the International Bureau of
Education, director of the Rousseau Institute in
Geneva
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Sensorimotor Period (0-2 years old)
Pre-Operational Period (2-7 years
old)
Concrete Operational Period (7-11
years old)
Formal Operational Period (11+
years old)
YES!
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In order to advance from the concrete operational stage to the
formal operational stage, a child must be able to :
Think abstractly
Incorporate principles of logic
Think hypothetically and not just concretely
“There is no doubt that the most distinctive feature of formal
thought stems from the role played by statements about
possibility relative to statements about empirical reality. Thus,
compared to concrete thought, formal thought constitutes a new
equilibrium”- Piaget
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Hypothetico-deductice reasoning- Thinking of all possible factors
that could affect the outcome when facing a problem, even those
not immediately suggested by the concrete features of the
situation. Then trying them out in a step-by-step fashion to find
out which ones work in the real world.
Propositional though- Able to evaluate the logic of statements by
reflecting on the statements themselves. Does not need to consider
them against real-world circumstances.
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I gave 8 children and 8 adults a test made up of
hypothetical questions to see if they think
differently as Piaget suggests.
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The children’s answer will differ from the
adult’s answers showing that they think
differently.
The children will probably have a wide variety
of answers due to a lack of logic and inability
to do hypothetico-deductive reasoning.
The adults will be probably have very similar
answers.
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If you could have a third eye, where would
you put it?
On your forehead
On the back of your head
On the top of your head
On your hand
Other, explain_______________________________________
__________________
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What would you do if you were walking
through the woods and saw this bear?
Run
Play dead
Ignore it
Throw something at it
Other, explain _______________________________________
_________________
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What would you do if a homeless man
asked you for money?
Give him some money
Tell him no
Buy him some food
Ignore him
Other,
explain________________________________
_________________________
If you won a million dollars, what is the
first thing that you would buy?
A house
A car
A TV
Food
Other, explain
_______________________________________
_____________________
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What would you do if there was a fire
in your house?
Run outside
Walk outside
Grab all of your favorite stuff and
then go outside
Try to put the fire out
Other, explain__________________________________
________________________
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What would you do if you saw one of
your favorite celebrities (athlete, actor,
singer, etc.) a few feet away from you?
Ask for an autograph
Get a picture with him/her
Try to have a conversation with
him/her
I would be too scared to approach
him/her
Other, explain
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What would you do if your dog ran
away?
Drive around looking for it
Put up signs with a picture of the dog
Do nothing and hope it comes back
Get a new dog
Other,
explain___________________________
______________________________
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What would you do if someone took
your lunch?
Tell on them to a teacher or policeman
Confront them and try to get your
lunch back
Go buy something else for lunch
Ask a friend if you can have some of
their food
Other, explain
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8 children
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Ages 7,7,8,9,9,10,11,11
6 boys (7,7,8,9,10,11) 2 girls (9,11)
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8 adults
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 Ages (21,21,22,22,23,37,40,42)
 5 boys(21,21,22,23,40) 3 girls (22,37,42)
#(Age 1(21
Gender) B)
2 (22 3 (23 4 (22 5 (21 6 (40 7 (37 8 (42 9 (7
B)
B)
G)
B)
B)
G)
G)
B)
10 (9 11 (10 12 (11 13 (7 14 (8 15 (11 16 (9
B)
B)
B)
B)
B)
G)
G)
Q1
D (3)
D (3)
B (3)
B (3)
D (3)
B (3)
B (3)
D (3)
A (1)
A (1)
C (1)
A (1)
E (1)
B (3)
D (3)
B (3)
Q2
A (3)
B (3)
B (3)
B (3)
A (3)
B (3)
A (3)
B (3)
A (3)
A (3)
D (1)
B (3)
B (3)
B (3)
B (3)
B (3)
Q3
C (2)
B (3)
B (3)
A (2)
C (2)
B (3)
B (3)
B (3)
A (2)
B (3)
A (2)
B (3)
A (2)
D (1)
B (3)
C (2)
Q4
A (3)
B (3)
A (3)
A (3)
B (3)
A (3)
B (3)
A (3)
E (1)
B (3)
D (1)
E (1)
E (1)
C (1)
E (1)
E (1)
Q5
B (3)
D (3)
B (3)
B (3)
A (2)
D (3)
D (3)
B (3)
A (2)
A (2)
C (1)
A (2)
B (3)
C (1)
A (2)
B (3)
Q6
C (3)
A (3)
C (3)
A (3)
A (3)
C (3)
D (2)
A (3)
B (1)
B (1)
B (1)
A (3)
B (1)
D (2)
B (1)
B (1)
Q7
C (3)
B (3)
C (3)
B (3)
C (3)
C (3)
B (3)
B (3)
A (1)
A (1)
D (1)
A (1)
E (1)
D (1)
B (3)
B (3)
Q8
B (3)
B (3)
B (3)
C (3)
C (3)
B (3)
C (3)
C (3)
A (1)
A (1)
D (1)
D (1)
A (1)
D (1)
A (1)
A (1)
23
24
24
23
22
24
23
24
12
15
9
Scale: 3pts-adult answer 2 pts- in between 1 pt- child answer
15
13
13
17
16
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The 7 and 8 years olds had some trouble
understanding the questions and took the
longest to finish.
One 7 year old answered the question “If you
could have a third eye, where would you put
it? with “I’m not sure”
The two children that were girls had the
highest scores of the children
0 adults picked E (other) while E was picked 7
times by children.
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4. If you won a million dollars, what is the first
thing you would buy?
A zoo
 A bunch of toys
 PlayStation 4
 Clothes
 Shoes
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This question was used by Piaget
The adults all said “on the back of your head”
or “on your hand” which are the two most
logical answers.
The children selected all 5 answers, which
proves their inability to think logically or use
hypothetico –deductive reasoning
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Adults had little variance in their answers. 5/8
questions had only 2 different answers 3/8 had 3
answers.
Children had much more variance. 1/8 questions had
2 different answers, 3/8 had 3 answers, 3/8 had 4
answers, 1/8 had all 5 answers.
Adults answer were practical and logical
Children’s answers had more creativity, but were often
illogical
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My hypthesis was correct. Piaget was correct in
saying that children think differently than
adults
The children were able to answer some
questions like adults, but many of their
answers showed a lack of logic and inability to
use hypothetico- deductive reasoning
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It would have been helpful to have more
participants
I could have tested adolescents to get a better
idea of when children start to think like adults
I could have been beneficial to do multiple
tests, such as an interview in addition to the
written test to get a better idea of how the
participants think
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Inhelder, Barbel and Jean Piaget. Trans. by Anne Parsons and Stanley
Milgram. The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence.
USA: Basic Books, Inc., 1958.
Phillips, John L. Piaget’s Theory: A Primer. San Francisco: W.H.
Freeman and Company, 1981.
Piaget, Jean. trans. by Joan and Andrew Tomlinson. The Child’s
Conception of the World. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams, and Co., 1969.
Piaget, Jean. trans. by Anita Tenzer and David Elkind. Six
Psychological Studies. New York: Vintage Books,1968.
Piaget, Jean. trans. b Derek Coltman. Experiments in Contradiction.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Pass, Susan. "A Biographic Comparison Tracing The Similarities In
The Lives Of Jean Piaget And Lev Vygotsky." (2003): ERIC. 2013.
http://dante.udallas.edu/edu3327/piaget_formal.htm