Adolescent sexual behaviour can impose a significant health risk to teenagers through a range of sexually
transmitted infections (STIs). Sexually transmitted infections are bacterial and viral infections that enter
the body via the mucous membranes of the mouth and the sex organs following physical contact. Sexually
transmitted infections include syphilis, gonorrhoea, genital lice, scabies, chlamydia, herpes, genital warts,
trichomoniasis, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
With the exception of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and genital herpes, STIs can be cured using antibiotics,
antiparasitics and antiviral agents. Left untreated, many STIs result in infertility and several can involve
life-threatening complications. For example, the human papilloma viruses (HPVs) responsible for genital
warts are implicated in the later development of cervical cancer. Sexually transmitted diseases such
as gonorrhoea cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which places women at risk for infertility and subsequent
ectopic pregnancy. Untreated syphilis results in heart and neural damage, and premature death.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), is a viral infection involving the human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV), which compromises the body’s immune system. Antiviral drugs that slow the progress and
ameliorate the symptoms of AIDS are available, but the condition remains incurable and may result in
premature death from pneumonia or other complications.
Adolescents have the highest rates of STIs of any age group, with about 25 per cent of sexually active
adolescents becoming infected with an STI in any one year. Moreover, the rates of STIs are increasing
worldwide in adolescent and adult populations, with 498.9 million new cases of STIs appearing annually
(WHO, 2012). Since females are more easily infected by males than the reverse, adolescent girls have
the highest rates of gonorrhoea, genital herpes, chlamydia and pelvic inflammatory disease of any age
group. These rates are only exceeded by adult prostitutes and gay men (Shafer & Moscicki, 1991). In
Australia, chlamydia then gonorrhea are the most reported STIs contracted by teenagers (Department of
Health, 2013). Other STIs include genital warts, trichomoniasis, HIV/AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis B.
The reason for the high rates of STIs in adolescents is that this age group is more prone to sexual
experimentation and risky sexual behaviours than other age groups. Risky sexual behaviour includes
unprotected sexual activity without using barriers such as condoms, sexual activity involving multiple
partners and sexual activity involving partners whose sexual history is not known. The only certain
way to avoid STIs is to abstain totally from all mutual sexual behaviour. However, such a requirement
is unrealistic. The strong sex drive of most adolescents makes abstinence difficult. Western society’s
current permissive attitudes to adolescent sexuality, as well as the burgeoning cultural value put on sexual
intimacy and expression as portrayed in the various media, promote sexual activity rather than abstinence.
Practising ‘safer sex’ has therefore been widely promoted as a workable alternative to abstinence in
many developed countries, including Australia and New Zealand. Recommended safer sex strategies
include having only one sexual partner, knowing the partner’s sexual history, using barrier methods
during penetrative sex, and engaging in non-penetrative sex as an alternative means of gratification.
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Male and female condoms are one of the better ways of reducing the risk of contracting an STI, but, for
adolescents, condom use is declining in favour of birth control pills, which effectively avert pregnancy, but
provide no protection against STIs. As well, embarrassment and deceit may prevent teenagers gaining an
accurate idea of their partner’s sexual history and STI status. Like many adults, adolescents tend to view
themselves as invulnerable to sexual infection, especially when they have been in a relatively long-term
relationship (Tinsley, Lees, & Sumartojo, 2004). In accordance with the health belief model described
earlier, this might militate against individuals adopting the recommended safer sex practices. Moreover,
the very nature of teenage sexuality makes long-term and committed monogamous relationships difficult
to achieve at a time typified by sexual experimentation and multiple sexual partnerships. Some sexual
practices, such as manual mutual masturbation and superficial kissing, are safer than others, such as
vaginal and anal sex, in that they significantly reduce but do not totally eliminate the risk of contracting
STIs (AIDS.Gov, 2011; DeVita, Hellman, & Rosenberg, 1997). Adolescents therefore need to be aware
that apart from auto-erotic behaviour such as self-masturbation, there is no such thing as sex that is
totally safe.
Most teenagers in industrialised nations receive sex education as a mandatory part of the school curriculum.
Nonetheless, research in Australia and overseas has noted some deficiencies in this strategy
aimed at reducing sexual health risks for adolescents. Sex education may not be effectively delivered
by teachers who have little specialist knowledge, or it might not target the social issues around sex that
are most pressing for today’s teenagers; concentrating instead on factual, biological information. Also, it
may occur too late for high school students who are already engaged in sexual activities, particularly as
the age of puberty has become progressively lower. Sex education now needs to be instigated during the
primary school years in order to be effective.
Despite widespread sex education, surveys have revealed confusion and ignorance about sexual
matters, including sexual disease risk. For example, in Australia, Moore and Rosenthal (2006)
discovered that basic sex education messages including important STI information have not been
assimilated by many teenagers. Professor Rosenthal has therefore established an award-winning website,
http://yoursexhealth.org, which gives factual information on a range of sexual health matters, and
includes true stories and voice-over examples with photographs of young people to clearly illustrate
various points in a format that is appealing to today’s teenagers. Nonetheless, even with extensive knowledge,
the link between understanding STI risk and applying it to sexual behaviour is far from perfect. For
example, even though teenagers fully comprehend that a condom is their best way of preventing STIs,
they choose not use one because it is embarrassing, or they believe it is a signal that they do not trust their
sexual partner, or they feel that it reduces sexual pleasure. Thus, interventions to improve adolescents’
sexual health need to take into consideration social and emotional factors as well as knowledge.
Substance abuse
Experimentation with psychoactive substances is widespread during adolescence. Psychoactive
substances are naturally occurring or artificial materials that act on the nervous system, altering
perceptions, mood and behaviour. They range from naturally occurring substances, such as alcohol,
which is produced from the fermentation of plant sugars by yeasts, to designer drugs such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine
(MDMA or ecstasy) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which are the result
of complex pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. Psychoactive substances known as drugs are used
therapeutically under medical supervision to ameliorate adverse physical conditions, such as the use of
barbiturates as painkillers after operations. Medical supervision is important, since most drugs have side
effects that can be detrimental to health and that are sometimes life-threatening. For instance, overdoses
of barbiturates can depress respiration, resulting in death.
Adolescents can self-administer psychoactive substances non-therapeutically, purely for their tropic
effects, or the alteration in mood and perceptions that they produce. This is known as recreational drug
use. Because of the physical and psychological harm that the side effects of unsupervised recreational drug
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use can do, some classes of psychoactive substances have been outlawed for recreational use. However,
so-called ‘illegal’ drugs are also used therapeutically, such as heroin for pain relief in cancer patients,
and cannabis (marijuana) for the alleviation of the symptoms of arthritis. It is therefore the usage rather
than the drug itself that is illegal.
Many teenagers experiment with different substances, constituting substance use, and in some individuals
experimentation escalates into habitual or repeated usage known as substance abuse. Substance
abuse differs from substance use when it occurs at a frequency, a time or in a situation that is considered
inappropriate, according to societal norms. Binge drinking and public drunkenness are examples of
substance abuse. When the individual loses control of the frequency, time, place and occasion of using
substances, and obtaining and using the substance replaces many of their normal life activities, they are
considered to be addicted. Addiction involves both physical and psychological dependency. Biochemical
changes in the brain and highly unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, as well as a dependence on the
substance to cope with negative emotional states, make it extremely difficult for the addicted individual
to curb their use of the substance. Moreover, tolerance to the substance increases with prolonged use,
requiring higher doses to maintain the same level of tropic effect and thus increasing the user’s exposure
to negative side effects.
In situations of abuse and addiction, the side effects of excessive or prolonged ingestion of psychoactive
substances pose considerable short- and long-term health threats. For example, even short-term
use of drugs such as heroin, cocaine and ecstasy exposes the user to physical risk of accidents and
violence while in a drug-induced state, and to increased risk of death due to overdose or drug contamination.
As well as immediate health threats, in the longer term there are significant social, psychological
and physical risks in drug addiction. For example, heroin-addicted teenagers might become involved in
drug dealing, prostitution or violent criminal acts in order to support their drug habit. They are also at
increased risk of drug contamination and overdose, as well as of contracting hepatitis or HIV/AIDS from
sharing needles. Moreover, substance abuse and addiction during adolescence have detrimental effects on
development, replacing adaptive coping strategies with maladaptive ones, so that the individual fails to
meet the normal responsibilities of school, work, family and friends, which has long-term repercussion in
adulthood.
In Australia, the most commonly used psychoactive substances are alcohol and tobacco, with
90.7 per cent and 47.1 per cent of the population respectively ever having used these substances (Ross,
2007). The use of these substances is both socially and legally condoned in Australia for adult use, in
contrast to cannabis, which is the only drug of illicit use whose prevalence approaches that of tobacco
and alcohol, with 33.6 per cent lifetime prevalence. Figure 10.3 shows the prevalence of drug use by
Australian adolescents in 2011, including tobacco, alcohol, and over-the-counter and illicit substances,
according to different ages. These statistics indicate that for all adolescent age groups, analgesics, alcohol
and tobacco were the most commonly used substances. Nearly 90 per cent of older adolescents aged
16 to 17 years had used alcohol at some stage, and nearly 40 per cent had tried cigarettes (White &
Bariola, 2012). Cannabis was the most commonly used illicit drug, although the use of alcohol and
tobacco is also legally restricted for adolescents in these age groups. By contrast, usage statistics for
other drugs such as opiates, hallucinogens and cocaine show rates well under 10 per cent of the adolescent
population. The statistics also suggest that experimentation with all substances increases with age
(White & Williams, 2016).
The prevalence rate of approximately 27 per cent for cannabis use in 16 and 17 year olds is concerning,
with cannabis experimentation next in prevalence to trying cigarettes (see figure 10.3). The average
age for first cannabis usage is currently around 14 years, with the average age showing a decreasing
trend (Ross, 2007). This trend is deleterious, since the lower the age of first-time usage, the more likely
is regular ongoing use, and the more strongly is cannabis use associated with negative educational outcomes.
These include leaving school with no qualifications and non-progression to tertiary studies. A
study of New Zealand adolescents by Fergusson, Lynskey, and Horwood (1996) found that early initiators
of cannabis were three times more likely than later initiators to leave school prematurely. Increasing
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evidence is also connecting early and prolonged cannabis use to the development of psychosis in vulnerable
individuals, as well as a link between cannabis use and anxiety disorders (Fergusson, Horwood, &
Swain-Campbell, 2003; Verdoux, Gindre, Sorbara, Tournier, & Swendsen, 2003). Additionally, prolonged
cannabis usage may have similar detrimental health effects to tobacco smoking (Copeland, Gerber, &
Swift, 2006).
FIGURE 10.3 Percentage of students in three age groups who had ever used any licit or illicit substance,
Australia 2014
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Analgesics
Alcohol
Tobacco
Cannabis
Inhalants
Tranquilisers
Amphetamines
Ecstasy
Hallucinogens
Opiates
Cocaine
Steroids
Percent
12–13 years
14–15 years
16–17 years
Source: White & Williams (2016, p. 108).
Prevalence for cannabis use in Australian 14 to 19 year olds declined from 45 per cent in 1998 to
25 per cent in 2004 (Ross, 2007). However, prevalence rates were similar in 2008, 2011 and 2014 (White
& Williams, 2016). The use by teenagers of socially condoned drugs such as alcohol and tobacco has
also shown an encouraging downward trend in most instances. For example, smoking declined in 12 to
15 year olds after 1996, and continued declining through the last survey in 2014. There was a similar
drop for older adolescent smokers after 1999, and the smoking rates for teenagers in 2014 were the
lowest compared to any other surveyed time since 1984. As well, risky drinking by 16 to 17 year olds
has reduced, and was lower in 2014 than in 2011, 2005 and 2002 (White & Williams, 2016). However,
the most worrying statistic occurred for both 12 to 13 years olds and 14 to 15 year olds who increased
their alcohol consumption.
Nonetheless, a significant proportion of Australian teenagers engage in regular alcohol ingestion or in
binge drinking (Hayes, Smart, Toubourou, & Sanson, 2004). Binge drinking is defined as the consecutive
ingestion of five or more standard drinks in less than two hours. Such alcohol abuse is an important
threat to adolescent health through its association with accidental injury and death (Tillman, 1992), and
with interpersonal violence and suicide (Hunt & Zakhari, 1995). Chronic alcohol use can lead to severe
medium- and long-term health problems, including destruction of the liver and damage to the central
nervous system. It also seriously disrupts the drinker’s ability to function effectively in school, at work and
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in personal relationships. Nonetheless, alcohol is socially valued as a sign of adulthood and independence.
In addition, as a potent anxiety reducer and releaser of inhibitions, it continues to be a highly popular
social lubricant among young adolescents, despite the legal drinking age in most Western countries of
18 years. Current statistics on underage drinking (e.g. Hayes et al., 2004a, 2004b) indicate that a legal age
for drinking, whether it is 18 years or even older (e.g. 21 in the United States), does not seem to be a very
effective deterrent to underage drinking. Without better policing of violations and greater responsibility
by parents and other adults who may condone drinking or supply alcohol to minors, the presence of
legislation is only part of the answer to this problem.
Despite teenagers being aware of the health risks involved, cigarette smoking and drug taking is still attractive to some
because it makes them feel more grownup and accepted by their friends.
Like alcohol, the use of tobacco products has also been widely promoted as a sign of adulthood, with
early adolescents particularly prone to adopting smoking because of its spurious grown-up image. Experimentation
quickly escalates to abuse, as nicotine, the psychoactive ingredient in tobacco, is a highly
addictive substance. As few as ten cigarettes are needed to establish a physical and psychological dependency
that is very difficult to break (Haberstick et al., 2007). Tobacco smoking that usually begins in the
teenage years has serious short- to long-term health implications through coronary heart disease, respiratory
illnesses and cancers. For instance, if the current cohort of Australian adolescent smokers, estimated
at 200 000, continues to smoke, approximately 100 000 of them are expected to die from smoking-related
diseases at some time during adulthood (Quit Victoria, 2008). Thus, tobacco smoking is one of the most
damaging forms of substance abuse, significantly affecting the health of adolescents currently and in the
longer term.
Because of the serious and widespread health impacts of smoking, the Australian government instigated
several primary prevention strategies during the late 1990s. The National Tobacco Campaign that began
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in 1997 featured media advertisements with the theme ‘every cigarette is doing you harm’. This was
followed by taxation changes in 1999 that significantly increased the price of cigarettes. Between 1999
and 2002, smoking was banned in public places in several Australian states. Twelve to seventeen year olds
surveyed during the period of The National Tobacco Campaign felt that the health messages applied to
them personally, and that cigarette smoking was less desirable than previously (White & Hayman, 2004).
Smoking prevalence in Australian teenagers decreased significantly between 1999 and 2002, attesting to
the effects of primary prevention strategies. There is also evidence of a cohort effect in smoking, due to
large-scale attitudinal shifts in adolescents regarding smoking. Smoking prevalence in 12- to 15-year-old
Australians more than halved from 20 per cent in 1984 to 7 per cent in 2008; and from 30 per cent to
15 per cent in 16 to 17 year olds over this time (White & Smith, 2009). However, the latest data from
2014 (White & Williams, 2016) shows that while the rate for 12 to 13 year olds remains the same, rates
for 14 to 15 year olds and 16 to 17 year olds show an increase that reflects the 1984 rates. The reasons
behind this reversal are currently being investigated.
Substance use is strongly influenced by family and peer factors. For example, patterns and levels
of drinking, smoking and illicit drug use among adolescents are mirrored by very similar patterns of
use among their family members. Peer pressure also significantly affects the type, quantity, frequency
and circumstances of substance use in teenagers (Kawaguchi, 2004). For example, Ali, Amialchuk, and
Dwyer’s (2011) study showed that if the proportion of friends and classmates using marijuana increased
by ten per cent, then there was a five per cent increase in the likelihood of individual use of the substance.
Another study examining drinking behaviour showed similar effects (Ali & Dwyer, 2010). These factors
are increasingly taken into consideration in designing effective prevention programs for substance
abuse in adolescence. Thus, many school-based secondary prevention programs go further than primary
prevention strategies that have a wide target audience and are usually based on media campaigns or
changes in legislation. Secondary prevention programs aim to train adolescents in important life skills
that will assist them in developing the confidence to reject drugs. These programs feature risk assessment,
decision making, self-directed behaviour change, conflict resolution and how to cope with anxiety
in adaptive ways. Such programs are designed to increase knowledge and self-confidence, which will
‘immunise’ adolescents against substance abuse; as well as train them in specific techniques to resist
peer pressure to experiment with substances (Hamburg, 1997; Lynch & Bonnie, 1994).
However, for teenagers who are already addicted to various substances, primary and secondary
preventive interventions are already too late. More intensive tertiary interventions are needed, and
involve individually targeted treatments. In Australia during 2006 and 2007, 633 agencies delivered
147 325 closed treatment episodes, with 95 per cent of these treatments involving clients’ own drug issues.
Of the treatment episodes, 17 598 were for clients aged 10 to 19 years, representing 12 per cent of the
total treatment episodes in Australia. For these clients, the most common drug of concern was cannabis
(47 per cent of treatment episodes) followed by alcohol (29 per cent of treatment episodes). Most treatment
episodes for affected teenage clients involved some form of counselling, while a minority involved
drug withdrawal management (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2008).
FOCUSING ON
Adolescent risk-taking: is education an effective intervention?
Millions of dollars are spent worldwide on educational programs to address issues such as unhealthy
eating, substance abuse, sexually transmitted disease and dangerous driving. These programs often target
adolescents, who are a high-risk group for these health threats. Alongside these risky behaviours is an
increase in social and emotional problems in adolescents. Laurence Steinberg, an expert on adolescent
development from Temple University in Philadelphia, United States, argues that the dollars expended on
educational programs to address such health threats may be money misspent. For example, didactic
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efforts targeting adolescents’ knowledge about
the risks involved in unprotected sex, reckless
driving and substance abuse typically show
expected increases, but result in disappointingly
few changes in actual risk-taking behaviour (Steinberg,
2004). The same can be said of social
and emotional problems — a heightened awareness
can occur through the use of educational
programs, but little reduction in the problems is
observed (Swabey et al., 2009).
Steinberg (2007a, 2007b) has developed a
theory to explain this phenomenon, based on
cumulative research findings from brain and
behavioural science. At the centre of his model are two interlocking brain systems—the social–emotional
network and the cognitive control network. The social–emotional network is found in the internal brain
regions including the amygdala, ventral striatum, orbitofrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex and superior
temporal sulcus. It is highly sensitive to emotional and social stimuli and is implicated in rewarding
behaviours (Monk et al., 2003). This system exhibits dramatic development during puberty and is affected
by the hormonal changes that take place at this life stage. The cognitive control network is found in the
external regions of the brain and consists of the lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices and the parts
of the anterior cingulate cortex to which they are connected. This system is responsible for executive
functions such as planning ahead and self-regulation. It develops gradually over an extended period of
time through young adulthood and takes much longer to mature than the social–emotional network.
Steinberg (2007a, 2007b) maintains that the asynchronous development of the social–emotional and
cognitive networks is responsible for the heightened risk-taking behaviours frequently observed during
adolescence. Risk-taking decisions necessitate competitive involvement of the two systems, with the
cognitive control network responsible for overriding pleasure-seeking impulses that originate in the
social–emotional network. For example, the thrill of driving at 150 kilometres per hour must be overcome
by the logical conclusion that it could result in a very bad crash and that the sensation is not worth the
risk. The anticipation of increased sexual pleasure by not using a condom must be overcome by
the knowledge that it could expose both partners to sexually transmitted disease.
According to Steinberg’s (2007a, 2007b) theory, the cognitive network with its more gradual developmental
trajectory is still not sufficiently strong during adolescence to overcome the signals from the
social–emotional network (such as when the social–emotional network is highly aroused — generally
when strong emotions are experienced or when the individual is in a social situation with peers). When
the individual is alone, or is not excited, the cognitive network generally prevails. However, it is not
until adulthood that the cognitive network is sufficiently developed to overcome the impulses from the
pleasure-seeking social–emotional network during periods of high excitement or under strong social
influences. As the systems that govern social and emotional information and reward are so closely
interconnected during adolescence, it might explain why so much risk-taking behaviour takes place in
groups rather than when the individual is alone.
Steinberg’s most recent work with colleagues (Botdorf, Rosenbaum, Patrianakos, Steinberg, & Chein,
2017) describes how risk-taking behaviour is predicted by individual differences in maintaining cognitive
control over emotional impulses, but not non-emotional, response conflict.
Steinberg argues that the increasing focus of educational programs on health threats is relatively
ineffective in view of a biologically driven asynchrony in the neurological development of teenagers. Interventions
that address these developmental issues might be more effective, such as legislation aimed at
controlling the circumstances where adolescents’ pleasure seeking is most likely to overcome their good
judgement. Examples of this are the Australian state and federal laws that limit the number of passengers
less than 21 years of age allowed in cars during the provisional licence period, increasing access to
contraception, and raising the price of cigarettes and ‘alco-pop’ drinks. Additionally, in relation to social
and emotional problems, education programs are useful to raise awareness and should be included
or continued in schools — but in order to change behaviour, more substantial community changes are
required.
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WHAT DO YOU THINK?
- Do you believe social and emotional problems are on the rise in the adolescent population? If so, why?
If not, why not? - How well does the asynchronous brain development outlined by Steinberg account for the risky
behaviours observed during adolescence? Which other mechanisms might play a vital role?
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Teenagers like Abbey not only experience profound physical changes during adolescence — they also
undergo a revolution in the way they are able to think. They show a type of logical thought allowing
them to systematically manipulate a number of different factors simultaneously, which is not apparent in
younger children’s modes of thinking. For example, using formal operational thought, teenagers are capable
of weighing up the pros and cons of such issues as embarking on a sexual relationship, or whether or
not to experiment with drugs. As well, teenagers are able to think abstractly, entertaining possibilities that
are freed from the constraints of the here-and-now. For example, they are able to contemplate hypothetical
situations, such as, ‘What if I had been born really poor or fabulously rich?’ or ‘What would happen
to society if a nuclear war broke out?’ Unlike younger children, adolescents can imagine what these situations
might be like even though they have not experienced them (Keating & Sasse, 1996). These new
skills in speculative thought also stimulate adolescents to think critically about their own actions and
feelings and to make more astute inferences about other people’s actions and feelings; for example, an
adolescent may theorise, ‘Perhaps she said she didn’t want to go out with me because she’s grossed out
by my pimples . . . ’
Psychologists have uniformly recognised these new cognitive capabilities but have tried to explain them
in different ways. Two major theoretical viewpoints have emerged: the cognitive developmental viewpoint
of Jean Piaget and the neo-Piagetians; and the more recent approach of information-processing theory,
which analyses human thinking as a complex storage, retrieval and organising system for information,
much like a computer. Both theories have been discussed in previous chapters and in relation to early and
middle. Here, we focus on how they relate to adolescence.
10.6 Piaget’s theory: the stage of formal operations
LEARNING OUTCOME 10.6 Demonstrate how Piaget conceptualises cognitive development during
adolescence and explain what has been discovered since Piaget had these ideas.
According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, between the ages of about 12 and 15 years,
cognition undergoes a qualitative transformation from concrete operational thought that typifies middle
childhood, to a more abstract way of thinking called formal operational thought that typifies
adolescence and adulthood. Concrete operational thought involves mental manipulations (operations)
performed in observable situations or on actual objects. However, formal operational thought is characterised
by ‘operations on operations’; in other words, the individual can perform mental manipulations
using internal representations (thoughts) alone, and is not tied to observable situations and things.
Like the conservation tasks of the concrete operations stage, Piaget and his colleague B¨arbel Inhelder
developed a number of tasks to identify the different aspects of formal operational thought that sets
it apart from earlier types of thinking. Piaget and Inhelder typified formal operational thought as
hypothetico-deductive, propositional and combinatorial, relating to the different cognitive tasks they
used, two of which are described below (Bond, 2004).
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Hypothetico-deductive reasoning
Piaget found that around age 13, individuals are first able to make hypotheses from their own observations
and can test them systematically. This ability, known as hypothetico-deductive reasoning, underpins
the scientific method used in experiments in all branches of science. Inhelder and Piaget (1958) devised
several tests of hypothetico-deductive reasoning, including the classic pendulum problem. This problem
involves a frame from which different-sized weights are suspended using strings of different lengths, like
a clock pendulum. There are usually four different weights and four different string lengths. The problem
is to work out which factor is responsible for the speed at which the pendulum swings — string length,
size of the weight, or the height from which the weight is dropped. In formal operations, individuals use a
systematic approach to the problem and are able to arrive at the correct solution—the length of the string
is the only variable affecting the rate of movement in the pendulum. However, to Piaget and Inhelder, the
correct solution was less important than the method individuals used to arrive at the answer.
Many teenagers are able to solve problems using the scientific method, reflecting one aspect of formal operational
thought called hypothetico-deductive reasoning.
Hypothetico-deductive reasoning is demonstrated when an individual reasons that in order to determine
which of the variables affects the speed of the pendulum swing, all other variables must be held
constant while a single variable is tested. Adolescents who have attained formal operations arrive at this
type of systematic reasoning. However, it is beyond the cognitive capabilities of younger children who
usually try to vary both the weight and the string length simultaneously, which leads them to an indefinite
conclusion. This approach is typical of a child who is still in the stage of concrete operations, and who
finds it very difficult to deal systematically with multiple factors or dimensions in a problem. In formal
operations, adolescents begin with the abstract possibilities, such as making hypotheses about what will
cause the pendulum to swing faster, and then practically test these possibilities using a systematic method.
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By contrast, concrete operational children are tied to the here-and-now of the experiment, trying to make
different combinations of the concrete elements work in order to solve the problem. However, they are
unable to make the conceptual leap to the more abstract idea that one aspect should be tested at a time,
while holding all the other aspects constant.
Propositional reasoning
Another feature of individuals who have attained the stage of formal operations is their understanding
of propositional reasoning. This type of reasoning involves making inferences from premises which are
presented as true, so the concluding statement is also true. For example, the premise, ‘All men are mortal’,
is presented along with the second premise, ‘Socrates is a man’, followed by the logical conclusion,
‘Therefore Socrates is mortal’. Thus, propositional reasoning uses abstract manipulations that are freed
from the concrete, and may take on premises that are not factually true. For example, a premise might
consist of, ‘Cats run faster than sports cars’. The second premise might be, ‘Sports cars run faster than
family sedans’, with the logical conclusion that ‘Cats must therefore run faster than family sedans’.Within
the system of formal logic, the conclusion would be recognised as valid from the premises, and this is
understood by adolescents who have reached the stage of formal operations. However, given the same
set of premises, a concrete operational child would insist on the concrete reality that cats cannot run as
fast as a sports car, and would therefore judge the conclusion to be invalid (Pillow, 2002). This example
illustrates the inability of concrete operational children to distinguish the factual content of the problem
from the logic of the argument, an operation that older adolescents aged 15 to 18 years of age are able to
do (Markovits & Vachon, 1989; Venet & Markovits, 2001).
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