formal operational stage

Question 1

overview of the cognitive changes

Answer 1

• occurs for those 12 years and older
• more complex thought processes and thinking becomes increasingly sophisticated
• thinking doesn’t rely on being able to see or visualise things in order to understand concepts.
• children are able to think methodically about both physical and abstract concepts.

Question 2

define one accomplishment

Answer 2

reason and logic: logic is the ability to objectively consider a problem and all possible solutions. Reasoning involves using logic to process a concept and to reach a sensible and valid conclusion.

Question 3

one original example of this accomplishment

Answer 3

The logic is that oak trees have trunks. The reasoning is that all trees have trunks, and an oak tree is a tree.

Question 4

describe how a child who has acquired this accomplishment would play with the toy

Answer 4

the child would understand that they need to place 4 tokens of the same colour either diagonally, vertically, or horizontally to win the game. As the opposing player also places their tokens, the child should be able to work around them in order to try and ‘Connect 4’.

Question 5

describe how a child without this accomplishment would react

Answer 5

A child without this accomplishment may place the tokens randomly, in no particular order. They do not understand the objective to win, by place 4 tokens in a row, of the same colour.