Formal operational thought among American and Chinese college students.

Abstract

This research involved an analysis of the results of the formal reasoning total scores and eight subtest scores obtained from the Arlin Test of Formal Reasoning (ATFR). American and Chinese college students' ATFR scores were compared. The purposes of the present study are threefold: one, to examine the cross-cultural differences; two, to examine the effect of gender differences; and three, to examine the effect that major field has on formal reasoning ability. The data were obtained from two groups. The first group included 44 American college students (17 males and 27 females, 14 of whom were science majors and 39 of whom were non-science majors). The mean age of the American group was 21.9 years. The second sample included 50 Chinese college students (24 males and 26 females, 22 of whom were science majors and 28 of whom were non-science majors). The mean age of the Chinese group was 24.3 years. All the subjects were given the ATFR. Results obtained from the ATFR indicated that about the same proportion of students from the two cultures functioned at each cognitive level, namely the high concrete, transitional, low formal, and high formal levels. None of the subjects performed at the concrete level. In addition, the present study indicated a significant difference that favors science majors, a difference indicated by both total scores and the "informs of conservation beyond direct verification" subtest. For the probabilistic reasoning, no significance was found among Americans; however, the male Chinese science majors surpassed the female Chinese science majors. In the "frames of reference" subtest, female nonscience majors scored significantly lower than female science majors and male non-science majors. No significance was found among scores in the other five subtests. The fact that science majors scored significantly higher than non-science majors suggests that the aptitude or learning interest in science or technology may be closely associated with the development of formal reasoning. In addition, because of the discrepancy between the Chinese males and females, it is conjectured that Chinese society and the educational system have not focused equitably on science training for females. Further, the higher scores of the science majors raises a question of scientific bias in the ATFR. Because of the suspected bias, it is suggested that further investigation be conducted to analyze the correlation between individuals' aptitude test scores and their ATFR scores.