Analysis Of Piaget's Formal Operational Theory In The Breakfast Club

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Piaget’s Formal Operational Theory leads to the understanding that adolescents, around the age of 11-12, are believed to enter a developmental stage in which they gain the ability and capacity to think abstract and reason scientifically. This dramatic leap in Andrew Clark’s case in The Breakfast Club shows that he understands exactly how his father acts and what kind of person he is as well as the kind of person his father expects him to be. He can logically see the expectations that his father has for him. If he is not the best at wrestling then his father will be disappointed and punish him via verbal abuse. Andrew also talks about how much pressure his father puts on him to be perfect; he understands the hypothetical possibilities that could …show more content…

Andrew’s behavior is a lot like that in the movie. It suggests that is why Andrew decided to join the rest of the students smoke in the library. He reasons logically with the fact that if everyone else is stressed out and smokes, then maybe it will help him relieve his anger and stress towards detention and his father. In addition, Andrew can also understand how everyone else in detention portrays him in real life: A jock who is popular and is able to get away with everything. He recognizes what “crowd” everyone is a part of and in his teenage mind, he thinks that it is logical to not associate with anyone unless they are in the same “crowd” as him. Toward the end of the movie, however, his reasoning changes. He sees Allison as another person instead of the “clique” she belongs to. He then realizes that just because someone is from a different “group” it is okay to associate yourself with them showing his cognitive transition into the adult …show more content…

He then continues to say, “Do you want to miss a match? Blow your ride?” The pressure that his dad puts on him to be rebellious like him made Andrew get into detention in the first place simply because he got caught. Andrew describes that he “taped Larry Lester’s buns together”, he then goes on to say “that the bizarre thing is that I did it for my old man.” This further proves that Andrew’s dad has influenced the way he has behaved, and his parent-adolescent conflict worsens as his push for freedom establishes a harsher, goal-seeking father. Instead of becoming close in a new, harmonious way, it appears Andrew and his father will eventually distance themselves from one another. He wonders if he will end up like his parents or not: “Oh God, are we gonna be like our

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