The Development of Reasoning

Abstract

This chapter discusses the course of development for deductive and inductive forms of reasoning across childhood and adolescence. Key theories of how best to account for that course are critiqued. The development of deduction is considered primarily with respect to syllogistic and conditional reasoning. Mental logic, metacognitive, and mental models accounts of deduction are contrasted and compared and the potential for rapprochement is identified. The development of inductive reasoning is discussed with respect to three primary types of induction—category‐based induction, causal induction, and inductive processes in scientific thinking. The discussion of the development of reasoning provided in this chapter is situated within a dual systems or dual process account of cognition. According to this account, human cognition consists of two distinct systems (1 and 2) or types of processing, with the primary basis for the distinction being the question of whether processing engages working memory resources. By adopting this framework, it becomes possible to shed light on the processes that underlie deductive and inductive reasoning and to trace how the development of each type of reasoning is related to changes in these underlying processes. Among the key conclusions of the chapter is that while the development of certain aspects of System 1 processing contributes to age‐related changes in performance on reasoning tasks, the most significant changes in both deductive and inductive reasoning result from key developments in System 2 processing.

Income within context: relative income matters for adolescent social satisfaction and mental health

“…However, the NICHD has a wide gap between the wave at age 15 and the previous wave, which occurred 5 years earlier. We chose to examine relative income as a process within adolescence, as what is known about adolescent social cognition led us to believe that they should be more perceptive of the complex, subtle, and abstract signals of SES (Harter, ; Keating, ; Ricco, ). We believe the present study offers a distal snapshot of the proximal relation between relative income, social dissatisfaction, and internalizing and externalizing problems.…”

Metamotivation: Emerging research on the regulation of motivational states

“…Researchers should consider examining these possibilities developmentally, as people may acquire metamotivational beliefs via different routes depending on age. For example, it might be unreasonable to expect young children to acquire metamotivational knowledge via logical deduction given what we know about their cognitive development (Ricco, 2015).…”

Can Engaging in Science Practices Promote Deep Understanding of Them?

“…That deep engagement in science practice foster understanding of the epistemological foundations of science is of critical importance, rather than merely desirable. Students must come to recognize scientific claims not simply as accumulated (unquestioned and unchanging) facts or freely chosen opinions ("I personally don't believe in climate change"), but rather as judgments requiring evaluation in a framework of alternatives and evidence (Greene, Sandoval, & Braten, 2016;Moshman, 2015;Ricco, 2015). Science as argument has come into broad favor in science education (Berland & Hammer, 2012;Kuhn, 1993Kuhn, , 2010Manz, 2014;McNeill, 2011;Osborne, Erduran, & Simon, 2004), but without the epistemological foundation just indicated, debating scientific claims is a practice that can have only limited meaning to students.…”