Investigation of Intellectual Risk-Taking Abilities of Students According to Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development and Education Grade

The purpose of this study is to determine the cognitive development stages of students of 4-8th class and is to research the effect to ability of intellectual risk-taking of this periods and education grade. Survey method and clinical method are used in the study which practices for this purpose. In the study which 20 students from every grade, in total 100 students, 6 different activities which are improved and used by different researchers are applied to determine the cognitive development stages whose classification is made by Piaget with Intellectual Risk-Taking and Predictor Scale which was improved by Beghetto (2009). Activities that students made individualistically are marked with observation form and their cognitive development stages are determined according to responses of each. Cognitive development stages and intellectual risk-taking level of students are analyzed with descriptive statistics. In the research result it is seen that majority of students is in the transitional stage and as long as class level increases it is passed to formal operational stage from concrete operational stage. While it is seen that as long as education grade rise intellectual risk-taking abilities of students decreases, it is determined that cognitive development stages has not any effect on this ability. The research is completed with suggestions based on results