Studies exploring the transition from early to middle adolescence have found a significant increase in formal-operational thinking, but it is questionable whether the typical adolescent is capable of consistently applying formal operational logic. To examine the relationship between Piagetian-based training techniques and formal-operational…

Interactions between metaphor comprehension and level of operational thought were examined to determine what advantages individuals at the formal operational level had in natural language tasks such as the understanding of figurative language. After 30 undergraduate students were classified as either late concrete, early formal, or late formal…

Examines from an existential view the development of abstract thought in adolescents and the conflicts arising from its process. Proposes an existential model that views various types of adolescent behavior as the manifestation of the adolescent's defense mechanisms developed in response to existential conflict; presents specific examples of…

One of the most challenging daily experiences of teaching young adolescents is helping them transition from Piaget's concrete to the formal operational stage of cognitive development during the middle school years. Students who have reached formal operations can design and test hypotheses, engage in deductive reasoning, use flexible thinking,…

The difficulties experienced by deaf parents' hearing children (n=10) as they approached puberty were studied and compensatory education programs sought for them through residential and regular schools. The children exhibited conversational difficulties, memory problems, reasoning difficulties, and poor language comprehension. Children's…