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AN ORDERING ANALYSIS OF A PAPER-AND-PENCIL TEST OF PIAGET'S 16 BINARY COMBINATIONS
Abstract
Inhelder and Piaget (1958) suggested that formal logical reasoning can be described by 16 combinations of binary propositions. Several studies (Airasian, Bart, & Greaney, 1975; Jansson, 1979, 1986) have used ordering analysis to examine individually administered propositional logic games to investigate the hierarchical order of the 16 binary combinations. Ordering analysis examines the qualitative, logical relationships among items or tasks to yield hierarchical orderings. Research using the individually administered propositional logic games has yielded similar hierarchical orders. This study investigated whether or not using a paper-and-pencil test of propositional logic yields the same hierarchical order as that yielded by individually administered tests. Also, it investigated whether or not using a college age subject pool and allowing subjects to practice some propositional logic problems would further discriminate the order of the more difficult binary combinations. Past research found junior high and high school age subjects unable to do the more difficult binary combinations. Subjects recruited from classes in a large midwestern university were administered one of two test forms. Form 1 was a paper-and-pencil version of the Geometric Garden game (Jansson, 1986). Form 2 was the same test except practice problems were provided for subjects to work. Subjects were given class credit for their participation. An ordering analysis of the paper-and-pencil test yielded a hierarchical order of the 16 binary combinations similar to that found for the individually administered propositional logic games. However, using college age subjects and providing subjects practice problems had no apparent effect on discriminating the more difficult binary combinations. The paper-and-pencil test of Piaget's 16 binary combinations appears to be a valid measurement methodology. The use of a paper-and-pencil test eliminates some of the measurement problems inherent in an individual test administration. Further, it allows many subjects to be tested resulting in substantial time savings for the researcher of propositional logic.
Subject Area
Educational evaluation|Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
ALLIGER, RANDALL JAY, "AN ORDERING ANALYSIS OF A PAPER-AND-PENCIL TEST OF PIAGET'S 16 BINARY COMBINATIONS" (1986). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8620801.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8620801