Considers relationships of dialectical thinking to formal operational thought; general conceptions of cognitive structure to understanding thinking across specific domains; motivational and cognitive competence factors in adult reasoning; and contextualistic and dialectical conceptions of social intelligence. Outlines structural-developmental…

Assessed the relative availability of Piagetian formal reasoning concepts at different ages in adulthood and examined performance patterns on standardized intelligence tests, logical reasoning, immediate memory span, and personality measures. Results indicated that although the elderly students' performances were generally adequate, their scores…