El desarrollo de los procesos meta-lógicos y el razonamiento lógico durante la adolescencia

Zusammenfassung

The aim of this paper was to study the development of the metalogical processes (the understanding of the structure of syllogistic task and the necessary nature of logical conclusions, and the applying of the strategy of the searching for counterexamples), and logical reasoning through adolescence. We carried out a transversal study in which 125 students of four school levels (between 12 and 18 years old) were asked to solve syllogisms of varying difficulty, to say if they conclusions were probable or necessary, and to search for counterexamples. The results showed a narrow relationship between the development of metalogical abilities and logical performance. Likewise, there was a significant developmental tendency in all the measures taken. Younger subjects found considerable difficulties in understanding of the logical structure of the syllogisms and the necessity of logical conclusions. On the contrary, older subjects showed an adequate development of metalogical understanding, as well as certain ability to search for counterexamples. These results seem to support prior studies on the development of metalogical processes, and the importance of the searching for counterexamples in deduction, held by the mental model theory