Following Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, at which stage of development, concepts requiring hypothetical – deductive reasoning should be presented to students?

Following Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, at which stage of development, concepts requiring hypothetical – deductive reasoning should be presented to students? Correct Answer Formal – operational

Jean Piaget made a systematic study of cognitive development among children of different age groups and he categorized it into different developmental stages. These stages are-

• Sensory-motor stage (0 to 2 years)
• pre-operational stage (2 to 6 years)
• Concrete operational stage (6 to 11 years)
• Formal Operational stage (11+ years to adolescence).​

Key Points

• Hypothetical deductive reasoning:  Hypothetical deductive reasoning is the ability to think scientifically through generating predictions, or hypotheses, about the world to answer questions.
• Piaget stated that “hypothetical-deductive reasoning” becomes important during the formal operational stage. This type of thinking involves hypothetical “what-if” situations that are not always rooted in reality, i.e. counterfactual thinking.
  • It is often required in science and mathematics.​
• ​So option (4) is the correct answer.

Additional Information 

• According to Jean Piaget, Development in a child is only based on two factors, which are-
  • ​Physical Environment.
  • Biological abilities.​
• But in reference to Language development, he only recognizes cognition, According to him language is developed in a child only by his cognition, there is no interference from the environmental factor during language development.