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Characteristics of Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development
Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development
The development of thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving skills is referred to as cognitive development. Jean Piaget, known as the “father of cognitive development,” created the theory of cognitive development. He was a Swiss psychologist who studied the development of children’s thinking processes. Jean Piaget states that
“Cognitive development is a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience.”
The formal operational stage of cognitive development is the stage that Jean Piaget believes to be the most crucial in a child’s development. The sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage, according to Piaget, are the four fundamental phases of cognitive development. At 12 years old, the formal operational stage of cognitive development starts, and it lasts until maturity.
Characteristics of Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development
- At this point, the thoughts begin to become more fluid and abstract.
- Children begin to consider the effects of their activities and begin to hone their problem-solving abilities.
- Deductive reasoning, which is the process of using one or more assertions to get at a logical conclusion, begins to emerge in children.
- Children also begin to use inductive reasoning, which is the act of extrapolating individual findings into broader conclusions.
- Children at this age also begin to comprehend that game rules are decided upon by both players.
- Teenagers begin to consider topics that need for theoretical and abstract reasoning during this stage, such as moral, social, ethical, political, and philosophical concerns.
- At this level, individuals learn how to manipulate concepts and think abstractly.
