What Constitutes Skilled Argumentation and How Does it Develop?

Authors

  • Marion Goldstein
  • Amanda Crowell
  • Deanna Kuhn

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22329/il.v29i4.2905

Keywords:

argument, argumentation, development, metacognition, causal reasoning

Abstract

We report our efforts to assess the skill of contemplating and evaluating argumentation. An adaptive forced-choice instrument was developed and administered to 6th grade students, 7th grade students who had participated in a year-long intervention that successfully strengthened their argumentation production skills, and expert arguers. The instrument was sensitive enough to detect differences in skill level across these groups. Despite their gains in production skill, however, 7th graders showed only modest superiority over the untrained 6th graders and performance well below that of experts. Meta-level demands involved in evaluation but not present in production, we propose, may make evaluation more difficult.

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Published

2009-12-17

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 4 (2009): Special Issue on Psychology and Argumentation

Section

Articles

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