Formal Operational Reasoning and Its Relationship to Complex Speech Patterns and Tentative Statement Use

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between formal operational reasoning and two language variables; subordinate clauses and tentative statements. It has been indirectly suggested in the literature that children who make greater use of these linguistic structures are at a more advanced stage in their cognitive development than their peers who make less frequent use of these structures. A total of 144 middle class, normal IQ boys served as subjects, 48 in each of grades 4, 6 and 8. A language sample was obtained from each subject, who was given three tasks of formal reasoning as well as the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The three formal reasoning tasks were selected so that one was verbal in nature, one was non-verbal in nature and one combined both verbal and non-verbal aspects. The results indicate that subordinate clause use was not related to performance on the reasoning tasks and tentative statement use, only minimally. These findings support Piaget's theoretical position, suggesting an independence between linguistic and cognitive development.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bernstein, B. ( 1961). Social class and linguistic development. A theory of social learning. In Halsey, A. H. , Floud, J. and Anderson, C. A. (eds.), Education, Economy and Society, ( New York).

Bernstein, B. ( 1962a). Linguistic codes, hesitation phenomena and intelligence . Language and Speech, 5, 31.

Bernstein, B. ( 1962b). Social class, linguistic codes and grammatical elements . Language and Speech, 5, 221.

Blishen, B.R. ( 1967). A socio-economic index for occupations in Canada . Canadian Rev. Sociol. Anthropol., 4, 41.

Flavell, J.H. ( 1963). The Developmental Psychology of Jean Piaegt, (New York).

Furth, H.G. ( 1971). Formal operations and language. A comparison of deaf and hearing adolescents. Int. J. Psychol., 6, 49.

Greenfield, P. ( 1972). Oral or written language: the consequences for cognitive development in Africa, the United States and England. Language and Speech, 15, 169.

Hawkins, P.R. ( 1969). Social class, the nominal group and reference . Language and Speech, 12, 125.

Hunt, K.W. ( 1965). Grammatical structures written at three grade levels. Resident Report No. 3, National Council of Teachers of English, Champaign, Ill.

10.

Inhelder, B. and Piaget, J. ( 1958). The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence , (New York).

11.

Jones, P.A. ( 1972). Formal operational reasoning and the use of tentative statements., Cog. Psychol., 3, 467.

12.

Jones, P.A. and Mcmillan, W.B. ( 1973). Speech characteristics as a function of social class and situation factors. Child Developm., 44, 117.

13.

Loban, W. ( 1963). The language of elementary school children. NCTE Research Report No. 1, Champaign, Ill.

14.

Lovell, K. ( 1961). A follow-up study of Inhelder and Piaget's The Growth of Logical Thinking. Brit. J. Psychol., 52, 143.

15.

Niemark, E.D. and Lewis, N. ( 1967). The development of logical problem-solving strategies . Child Developm., 38, 107.

16.

O'Donnell, R.C. , Griffin, W.J. and Norris, R.C. ( 1968). Syntax of kindergarten and elementary school children: a transformational analysis. NCTE Research Report No. 8, Champaign, Ill.

17.

Rackstraw, J. and Robinson, W.P. ( 1967). Social and psychological factors related to variability of answering behaviour in five-year-old children. Language and Speech, 40, 88.

18.

Turner, G.J. and Pickvance, R. ( 1971). Social class differences in the expression of uncertainty in five year-old children. Language and Speech , 14, 303.

19.

Weitz, L.J. ( 1971). A developmental and logical analysis of Piaget's sixteen binary combinations. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Albany. ,