ABSTRACT
As we discussed in Chapter 5, according to Piaget, intellectual development occurs progressively as the growing child moves through a series of stages, that are characterised by qualitatively different cognitive processes, and is confronted with new experiences that must be adapted to the existing mental schemes of the child. Through the processes of assimilation and accommodation, the child either incorporates new experiences into existing schemes or constructs or alters schemes to make them more useful. As the child develops, these intellectual schemes become more sophisticated, so that at the end of the formal stage the child is capable of the full range of logical operations characteristic of adult thought. In this chapter we examine features of formal operational thought which develop in adolescence and some of the challenges that have been levelled at Piagetian theorising and research. We also consider some further implications of Vygotskian theory in cultural context.
