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THE DISTRIBUTION OF PIAGETIAN STAGES OF THINKING IN BRITISH MIDDLE AND SECONDARY SCHOOL CHILDREN. II—14‐ to 16‐YEAR‐OLDS AND SEX DIFFERENTIALS
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1978
Year
Abilities DevelopmentEducationCognitionAdolescencePsychologySocial SciencesDevelopmental PsychologyPiagetian TheoryCognitive DevelopmentCognitive FactorAdolescent BiologyAnd Sex DifferentialsChild PsychologyCognitive ScienceSpatial RelationshipsCognitive VariableAdolescent PsychologyAdolescent DevelopmentDifferent Piagetian LevelsChild DevelopmentAdolescent CognitionSex DifferentialMental Development
The study measured Piagetian thinking levels in a representative sample of 1,200 15‑ to 16‑year‑olds. Formal operational thinking did not increase after age 15, and while boys continued to rise in Piagetian levels through age 16, girls plateaued after 14; girls performed significantly lower on spatial relationships and volume/density tests, whereas boys performed similarly across all tests. Summary.
S ummary . Continuing a previous study, the proportion of children in a representative sample of 1200 15‐ to 16‐ year‐olds showing different Piagetian levels of thinking was measured. No increase in the proportion showing formal operational thinking was found beyond the age of 15. On the three tests used a retrospective analysis of both surveys for sex differential showed no increase for girls after 14, while the boys continued for a further year. The pendulum problem showed no sex differential, and the boys indicated level was, on average, the same on all three tests. The girls' performance was substantially lower on the test on spatial relationships, and on the test on volume and density, throughout the age‐range 9 to 16.