Development of Transitivity: Some Findings and Problems of Analysis

Verbal and concrete transitivity tests were presented to 320 subjects between 8 and 18 years of age. 2 criterion measures, correctness of answer and justification for answer, were employed. Both measures reflected an increase in transitive reasoning with increasing age; correct answers were not necessarily associated with adequate justifications, nor were incorrect answers with inadequate justifications. More correct answers, but less adequate justifications, were obtained with the concrete test; test differences were partly due to encoding difficulties introduced in verbal test. Analysis of the discrepancy between criterion measures indicates the importance of the process-achievement distinction for experimental developmental analysis.