Acquisition of Formal Operations: The Effects of Two Training Procedures

Summary A training study was designed in which factors leading to the acquisition of formal operational structures were examined. Two training procedures were developed. In the first, children were taught to control experimental variables; in the second, children were directed to conceptualize problems in terms of underlying continuous dimensions, rather than elements, in a task. The pretest sample consisted of 128 11- to 12-year-old girls. Of these, 84 of the children who were classified as nonformal operational on the pretest were randomly allocated to one of three groups: method training, dimension training, or controls. Effects of training were assessed by two posttests. The training procedures significantly improved performance on posttest 1 with both method and dimension training being equally effective. Similar results were obtained in posttest 2, confirming that both generalization and long-lasting effects of training were achieved. It is suggested that in both training procedures the children were directed towards an understanding of possible relationships: i.e., an hypothesis-testing attitude. The results were interpreted as supporting the model of adolescent thinking proposed by Inhelder and Piaget.