CHILD DEVELOPMENT PEDAGOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -By approximately 12 years of age, adolescents enter the formal operational stage that takes them into adulthood. Emerging abstract thought and hypothetical reasoning mark this stage of cognitive development. In earlier stages, children relied on trial and error to solve problems.

Detailed explanation-2: -The formal operational stage begins at approximately age twelve and lasts into adulthood. As adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in an abstract manner by manipulating ideas in their head, without any dependence on concrete manipulation (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958).

Detailed explanation-3: -This is known as hypothetical-deductive reasoning. It is an essential part of the formal operational stage.

Detailed explanation-4: -The formal operational stage is characterized by the ability to formulatehypotheses and systematically test them to arrive at an answer to a problem. The individual in the formal stage is also able to think abstractly and tounderstand the form or structure of a mathematical problem.

Detailed explanation-5: -Piaget stated that “hypothetico-deductive reasoning” becomes important during the formal operational stage. This type of thinking involves hypothetical “what-if” situations that are not always rooted in reality, i.e. counterfactual thinking.