Adult Cognitive Development: Post-Piagetian Perspectives

Abstract

Research on adult cognitive development examines cognitive change beyond formal operations, the last of Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Formal operations as a formal logical mode of reasoning has limited applicability to everyday reasoning in adulthood. It is unable to account for styles of adult thinking that are constrained by the pragmatics of daily living and the uncertainty inherent in everyday problem solving. In response to these limitations, there has been a wave of research examining postformal thought. Postformal thought encompasses both relativistic and dialectical styles of thinking. Research indicates some evidence that adults reason more in a postformal manner than younger age groups. This provides a counter-perspective to research emphasizing an inevitable decline in cognitive functioning. However, these age differences are neither robust nor consistent. In addition, there is relatively little evidence that postformal thought represents a uniform stage of adult cognitive development. Thus, researchers have taken a functionalist approach, an approach which suggests that adaptive modes of thinking are evident in adulthood and are related to individual differences in experience. In other words, cognitive competence is evaluated in terms of how individuals' thinking is adaptive in relation to real-world problems in a daily context.