alleryA pendulum task asks if length, weight or push controls the swing. It tests for:
AFormal operations
BConcrete operations
CPreoperational thought
DSensorimotor thought
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Formal operations
1. In Inhelder and Piaget's pendulum problem, the learner must reason out the answer mentally, not by trial and error.
2. The learner has to imagine varying one factor at a time while holding the others constant.
3. This systematic, hypothetical testing of variables defines **formal operations**.
4. Most children under about 12 cannot isolate the variables in this task.
**Why not the others:** Concrete operational thinkers reason about real objects but do not systematically test hypotheses.
_Source: Seifert and Sutton, Educational Psychology, 2nd ed. (2009, CC BY 3.0), Ch 3, section "The formal operational stage: age 11 and beyond", p. 50_
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