This theoretical paper reevaluates the Piagetian tradition in the study of propositional reasoning. Piaget's assertion that children's logic, prior to the stage of formal operations, is structurally adequate for dealing with objects and their properties, but is inadequate for fully competent propositional reasoning, is challenged on three grounds:…

There is considerable disagreement concerning the age of onset and universality of attainment of Piaget's stage of formal operations. This study examines developmental differences in response to brief prompts in the use of a formal operational approach to the solution of two tasks. The subjects were 10 males and 10 females from each of Grades 5,…

A major premise of Piagetian theory relative to the periods of concrete and formal operations is that competence in specific logical operations is a necessary but not sufficient prerequisite to competence in other specific logical operations. The present study tested for the existence of specific concrete operations and specific formal operations…

Two experiments which investigated the young child's ability to deal with multiplicative classes and relations (considered behavioral indices of concrete operations thought) in double series and cross class matrices are described and discussed. In the initial study, 160 children from preschool through grade 2 received six matrix subtasks…

The reasoning ability of 20 ninth grade, 20 eleventh grade, and 15 college freshman boys was explored. Three tasks in reasoning were given each student. In the "turtles task" the student was asked to test a hypothesis; from his responses the investigator determined whether the student tested the hypothesis by trying to find confirming instance or,…

This paper has attempted to outline some basic aspects of Piaget's theory and place them in cross-cultural perspective. Several questions concerning approaches and the relevance of cross-cultural research for classification of Piagetian theory were discussed: (1) What types of questions within Piagetian theory are amenable to cross-cultural…