Proposes a theoretical model of cognitive development and applies this model to the secondary analysis of two large-scale studies which focus on the acquisition of formal operational schemata by adolescents in the United States and Israel. Results support the "unity" hypothesis of cognitive development that the various schemata of formal…

The constructivist hypothesis that the acquisition of domain-specific conceptual knowledge (declarative) requires the use of general procedural knowledge was tested. Students (n=314) were classified as reflective, transitional, or intuitive thinkers and presented with four concept-acquisition tasks. Skill in hypothetico-deductive reasoning…

Students (n=46) were assigned to one of three instructional groups (descriptive, question design, and hypothesis testing) to test the hypothesis that descriptive learning cycles are not sufficient to stimulate students to reason at a formal operational level. Analyses indicated that the hypothesis-testing group exhibited a significant increase on…

Two years after the end of a two-year intervention program set within the context of science learning intended to promote formal operational thinking, achievement of students (n=234) was tested by their results on British National examinations taken at age 16. Male experimental subjects achieved an average of 40 percent more grades of C or above…

Reports a study that analyzes the importance of individual difference variables in explaining subject performance in formal reasoning in 72 first-year college students. (PR)

Reviews the neural modeling principles of learning, perception, cognition, and motor control, discusses their applications to sensory-motor problem solving, and explores possible relationships between that pattern of problem solving and aspects of higher order formal operational problem solving. Cites implications for science education. (ML)

A 1-year lag was found between the effect of an intervention intended to promote formal operational thinking in students initially 11 or 12 years of age and the appearance of substantial science achievement in the experimental groups. A one-year lag on cognitive development and an age/gender interaction were also reported. (Author/KR)

The reasoning abilities to be expected of the concrete operational and formal operational student, the percentage of secondary science students that are capable of each type of reasoning pattern, and effective strategies to teach science to concrete reasoners are described. Implications for curriculum development are discussed. (KR)

Reports on a study designed to determine the effectiveness of two video programs with an audience of varied ages, grade levels, and developmental levels. Indicates that a significant difference was found between concrete, transitional, and formal operational students on pretest scores and developmental levels and results on the posttest. (RT)

The effect of intervention lessons designed to accelerate the development of formal operations taught over a period of two years to adolescents was assessed. Results indicated that the experimental group had achieved a significantly greater gain in cognitive levels than the control group. Implications are discussed. (CW)

Three years after end of 2-year intervention program intended to promote formal operational thinking, achievement of students initially age 11 was tested by their results on British National examinations, taken at age 16 (experimental group n=88, control group n=103). In comparison with control classes, the effect size for science was 0.67,…

The purpose of a study was to explore the link between conceptual understanding, free exploration of hands-on science center exhibits, and Piagetian cognitive developmental levels. In this primarily qualitative study, which is based upon interview and observational data, patterns in children's behavior relating to specific hands-on science center…