PSYC 10 Midterm 3 | Cognitive Development in Adolescence

what are the characteristics of an adolescent’s thinking?

reasoning hypothetically (if-then), planning ahead, thinking about thinking (meta-cognition), thinking beyond conventional limits, more systematic, logical, and abstract

what are formal operations?

mental operations in which all possibilities are systematically considered in solving a problem AKA second-order operations (operations on operations; ex., 10/5 = 4/2)

what are piaget’s tasks?

combination of chemicals, balance beam, and pendulum

what do piaget’s task assess?

they assess formal operational thinking

what happens during piaget’s pendulum task?

participants are shown a string with weight and asked what determines the speed of the swing. some factors involve the length of the string, the weight of the object, and how high the object is raised

based on the pendulum task, how can you assess if an adolescent has formal operational thinking?

they might test different weights with the string length, or different string lengths with the same weight (they illustrate hypothetical-deductive [if-then] reasoning).

why are piaget’s tasks critiqued?

there are individual differences (variations in how much people use formal operations, education/experience makes a difference), cultural variation (the content of problems makes a difference; expertise/familiarity), and many life problems do not involve one correct solution

what are thoughts in childhood like?

limited to what is, concrete, haphazard approached to problem solving, focuses on view

what are thoughts in adolescence like?

consider possibilities, abstract, systematic problem solving, considers multiple perspectives.

what changes happen in the shift between childhood to adolescence?

changes in decision-making, moral reasoning, political thinking, relations with parents, self-concept/identity, egocentrism (imaginary audience, personal fable), idealism & “hypocrisy",” “pseudo-stupidity”

what is kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

an organization of moral reasoning

what are the three levels of kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

level 1 (preconventional), level 2 (conventional), level 3 (post-conventional)

what are the stages during the preconventional level of kohlberg’s theory?

stage 1 = heteronomous morality, stage 2 = instrumental morality

what are the stages during the conventional level of kohlberg’s theory?

stage 3 = good child morality (living up to others’ expectations), stage 4 = law and order morality (maintaining social order)

what are the stages during the post-conventional (formal operational) level of kohlberg’s theory?

stage 5 = social-contract reasoning

stage 6 = universal ethical principles

what are gillian’s two approaches to moral reasoning?

morality of justice, morality of care

what is morality of justice?

rights, fairness, equality, mainly associated with men

what is morality of care?

relationships, compassion, responsibility for others, mainly associated with women

what promotes moral reasoning?

child-rearing practices — warm, consistent parenting; conversations about moral issues (induction targets behavior, emotions and cognition)

education

interaction with peers