Chapter 15: Cognitive Development

Adolescence: Cognitive Development

• Age Range: Cognitive development during adolescence typically occurs between ages 11 and 18.
  • Marked by significant brain maturation.
  • Characterized by intense conversations, schooling, moral challenges, and increased independence.

Adolescent Thinking

• Imaginary Audience

  • Adolescents often think intensely about themselves and how others perceive them.
  • Belief that their experiences are unique, leading to misinterpretations regarding others’ judgments.

• Rumination

  • Defined as obsessive thinking about past experiences, impeding further action.

• Personal Fable

  • A belief that one's thoughts and feelings are more extraordinary and unique than others'.

• Invincibility Fable

  • Conviction that personal safety is guaranteed, leading to risky behaviors like unprotected sex, drug use, and reckless driving.

Egocentrism Reassessed

• Earlier perspectives suggested egocentrism leads to risk-taking behavior.
• New studies propose it may also protect against negative outcomes, with a sense of invincibility fostering resilience.

Formal Operational Thought

• Piaget's Stage
  • Fourth stage of cognitive development; involves systematic logic and abstract thinking.
  • Notable differences between primary school and high school in terms of thought processes.

Hypothetical Thought and Reasoning

• Hypothetical Thought
  • Reasoning about propositions that may not reflect reality.
  • Deductive Reasoning: Starts from a general premise to reach a specific conclusion (top-down reasoning).
  • Inductive Reasoning: Begins with specific observations to formulate a general conclusion (bottom-up reasoning).

Comparison of Reasoning

• Children rely on inductive reasoning, while adolescents develop deductive reasoning skills.
• Adolescents mainly depend on intuitive thought, gradually transitioning to more analytical approaches with age.

Two Modes of Thinking

• Intuitive Thought

  • Arises from emotion or instinct, influenced by culture and past experiences.

• Analytic Thought

  • Systematic evaluation involving pros and cons, much dependent on logic.

• Increasing maturity leads to a balance between intuitive and analytical thinking.

Dual Processing in the Brain

• The limbic system is activated by puberty; prefrontal cortex matures more gradually, affecting impulse control and risk-taking behaviors.

Education and Learning

• Secondary Education

  • Transition between elementary and tertiary education generally covers ages 12 to 18.

• High School Expectations

  • Assumption of mastered formal thinking, but not all students receive proper training for analytical thinking.

• High-Stakes Testing

  • Tests pivotal for graduation but may not assure college readiness.
  • Concerns that educational focus shifts to test-taking instead of fostering critical thinking skills.

Practical Cognition Measurement

• PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment)
  • International test assessing problem-solving and daily-life cognition in 15-year-olds.
  • U.S. students generally perform lower compared to international counterparts.

Factors in Achieving High Performance

• Valued education and individualized learning approaches correlate with high achievement.

Engagement and Dropout Rates

• Engagement is crucial in secondary education, with puberty contributing to potential disengagement.
• Disengaged students risk becoming “status dropouts.”

Attitudes Affecting Learning

• Stereotype Threat
  • Concern about confirming negative stereotypes can impact student behavior and learning.

Decision Making in Adolescents

• Sensation-seeking peaks during puberty while impulsivity declines gradually over adolescence; individual trajectories may vary.

Growth Mindset

• Students who embrace challenges and view failure as a learning opportunity tend to perform better.
• Contrasts with those holding a fixed mindset, attributing low performance to personal traits rather than effort or strategy.