The Development Of Formal Thinking And Adolescence
When childhood ends, cognitive development undergoes a fundamental change. It is about the development of formal thinking; its main characteristic is that it allows leaving the concrete present to elaborate abstract representations.
During childhood, people hardly leave the ‘here and now’ when reasoning. However, as the years go by, the ability to establish operations that go beyond develops .
Thus, formal thinking would be the moment in which individuals acquire the ability to make hypotheses that are ‘beyond reality’. That is, their analyzes do not start from what they have in front of their eyes, but from the natural laws that explain this phenomenon.
An example could be the explanation of rain. While a child would say that water falls because there are clouds in the sky, a teenager over 13 or 14 would know, in general terms, what are the processes that produce it.
Characteristics of the development of formal thinking
Jean Piaget and Bärbel Inhelder are considered the two references in the study of formal thought. Therefore, it is essential to expose and analyze the characteristics they attributed to these mental processes.
First, the authors explain that, during adolescence, the brain’s flexibility causes new processes to be activated. They are important to, among other things, generate their own opinions and theories on different subjects.
In this way, young people are able to elaborate abstract explanations that can later be contrasted with reality.
As the development of formal thinking takes place, the importance of language to individuals stands out. The reason is that reasoning is no longer developed in relation to physical and concrete issues, but in relation to verbal proposals whose analysis is possible.
In this sense, the ability to understand more complex sentences also stands out; consequently, more comprehensive statements are achieved, capable of describing complex reasonings through subordinate and conditional clauses, among other resources.
Furthermore, among the many specificities that Inhelder and Piaget give to the development of formal thinking, the fact that it is very useful for solving problems is also emphasized. With this, teenagers access information that they organize, select and use to predict the results of their actions.
This process is certainly very important in academic terms. However, its relevance at the social level, a central aspect at this stage of life, should not be underestimated either.
When does formal thinking develop?
According to Jean Piaget, formal thinking occurs in all people, regardless of the social and educational context in which they are immersed.
For this author, adolescence occurs between 11 and 20 years of age. In addition, this phase also includes the last stage of people’s cognitive development, which is formal thinking. Before, came sensorimotor, pre-operational and concrete operations development.
The interpretation of the world through formal thinking
As we pointed out earlier, young people become capable of making another type of analysis of reality when they enter this phase. Now they no longer analyze behaviors or people, but pay attention directly to feelings or emotions.
More specifically, an example would be the following: while a child may love a sibling or parents because they are family, a young person is able to see other concepts in these relationships: faithfulness, love, unconditional, understanding, supportive.
It is normal for teenagers to adopt an egocentric posture at this stage. They think a lot about the world around them and the way they relate to it.
Added to this is the fact that they are in the process of personality formation. So it will be common for them to abstractly analyze many facts – such as injustice or discrimination – based on their own experiences.
On the other hand, some aspects also acquire other meanings. While for a child, patriotic, religious and even sporting symbols have a concrete denotation, the teenager goes even further. The young person sees in them a story, some facts and an identification with which he may or may not agree.
Finally, once the development of formal thinking begins, adolescents begin to think about their future. This is a central tool for them; as it will allow them to design their lives and pursue the goals that are set.
