Association between formal operational thought and executive function as measured by the Tower of Hanoi-Revised

Abstract

Executive functions have been defined in the neuropsychological literature as those cognitive processes that underlie future-oriented, goal-directed behavior such as planning, working memory, inhibition, and self-monitoring. Piaget's final stage of cognitive development, formal operations, involves a systematic approach to problem solving that appears to overlap with many cognitive skills associated with executive function. The current study was designed to assess the degree to which formal operational reasoning, as measured by the Logical Reasoning Task (LRT; Burney, 1974) predicted performance on one measure of executive function, the Tower of Hanoi-Revised (TOH-R; ( Welsh & Huizinga, 2001) [Welsh, M. C., & Huizinga, M. (2001). The development and preliminary validation of the Tower of Hanoi-Revised. Assessment, 8 (2), 167–176]. A sample of 47 college students were administered the TOH-R, LRT, as well as tests of working memory, procedural learning, and fluid reasoning. The results indicated significant associations between formal operational thought and both fluid reasoning and TOH-R performance. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis confirmed that formal operational thought as demonstrated on the LRT was a stronger predictor of TOH-R performance than was fluid intelligence. These findings suggest that both inductive reasoning and the hypothetico-deductive processes characteristic of formal operations contribute to executive function.