The reasoning of adolescents in indeterminate situations was examined with particular attention given to how individuals incorporate the possibility that outcomes are determined jointly by more than one variable. Kuhn and Brannock's (1977) plant problem and two other similarly structured problems were administered to 25 inner-city adolescents…

The extent to which adolescents rely on rational versus experiential information processing was studied with 49 adolescents administered multiple measures of formal operations, two critical thinking questionnaires, a measure of rational processing, and a measure of ego identity status. Implications for studies of development are discussed in terms…

Examined high school students' scores on test of formal thinking and those on test of reading. Students' success on both tests was disappointingly low. Lack of motivation appeared to be major problem. Correlations between scores on two tests were relatively low, although there was suggestive similarity between distribution of scores for formal…

In an attempt to accelerate the development of formal operations in average young adolescents, up to 30 intervention lessons relating to all formal schemata were given by science teachers, over a period of 2 years, to classes in eight British schools. Boys starting the program aged 12 years-plus showed a pre-test, post-test effect size on…

A common concern raised by teachers from secondary schools and junior colleges in Singapore is the apparent inability or reluctance of adolescents to think critically and originally. Adolescent thought processes are probably shaped by the change in intellectual pace and quality between the primary and secondary school curriculum. This study of…