Psych 2

Changing during adolselsnce 

Student learning outcomes  

-upon successful completion of this topic, you should be able to: 

-Describe the congnitive changes that occur during adolescence 

-Explain Piagets theory as it applies to adolescents 

Descrube egocentricism as it applies to adolescent thing and behavior 

-Explain Vygotsky throry  

-Descrube the various aspecrs of the information process approcah and how it 

Return to Piaget 

-Sensorimotor(birth-2 years) 

-infant and toddlers “think”with their hands ,eyes,ears 

-Preoperational(3 to 6) 

-thinking in terms of metnal representations/symbols 

-CANNOT use logic/reasoning to solve problems 

-Concrete-operational (7 to 11) 

-CAN think logically( but only about “conctete” situations 

-CANNOT think about hypothetical situations 

-Formal operational (12 and up) 

-More systematic logical thinking  

Includes concrete situations/objects as well as hypothetical situations and abstract ideas 

Formal Operations 

• Adolescents can think beyond the here and now 

-Thinking about the past, future, and hypotheticals 

• Helps adolescents to be better “scientific” thinkers 

-Imagine all possible elements of a problem 

-Systematically vary the factors one by one 

-Observe and keep track of results 

-Draw conclusions 

• Educators generally agree with this  

-Curriculum changes from primary to secondary school 

Younger children  

• Math  

-4x8x5 

• Social studies 

-Daily life of different cultures 

• Science 

-Water plants 

Adolescents 

• Math 

-(2x)(3y) 

• Social Studies  

-Link between GNP and gobal politics 

• Science  

Learn about the molecultes in H2O 

Hypothecial-Deductive Reasoning  

• When faced with a problem, adolescents come up with a lot of hypotheses  

-Evaluate/test each hypothesis to come up with and answer 

Example 

Pendulum, Task (inhelder & Piaget,1958) 

• Gave children and adolescents vairous strigns and weights to create a pendulum  

-Asked them to determine what impacts the speed with which a pendulum swings through an arc 

Pendulum Task 

• Adolescents hypothesized/tested four factors 

• Adolescents could use the “control a variable strategy 

-Isolate one carriable at a time, while holding all others constant 

-Concluded that string length was the main factor 

• Concrete operational children did not demonstrate this ability 

Propositional Thought 

• Adolescents can thnk abstactly 

-Can evaluate the logic of if-then propositions without referring to real world circumstances 

If you hit glass with a hammer, the glass will break 

Don hits the glass with a hammer 

What happens to the glass? 

Adolecent Reasoning 

• Adolescents also demonstrate a profound ability to use decutive reasoning  

-Start with a general statement (i.e.,abstact idea/hypothesis/premise), and then use logic to use draw sprcific conclusions 

• Making an inference based on facts or premises 

• NOTE: this is different from Inductive reasoning 

-Making an inference based on observations 

Differences in Reasoning 

• INductive(Spectific-> General  

-5 out of my 8 co-workers order the BLT for lunch (specific) 

-Therefore, the BLT must be a good sandwich (general) 

• Deductive(General-> specific) 

-My co-worker pulled out a roll that is spilt lengthwise(general) 

-Therefore it must be a hot dog bun 

-Begins with a premise and use logic to draw conclusions 

Third eye task 

• Childten in middle childhood  

-ON the forehead  

-thats where eyes are supposed to go  

• Based on their concrete experiences 

• Adolescents  

-Gave a varity of answers 

-Provided imaginative rationales  

-Demonstrated the ablity to think hypotechitcally  

Schedules of Partical Reinforcement 

• Continuous reinforcement:Brhavior is reinforced each time it occurs 

• Ptoduces faster learning 

• Less common in real world situations 

• Partial reinforcement:Behavuor is occasionally reinforced 

• More common in real world situations 

Fixed Interval Schedule 

Reinfocring the occurrence of a particular behavior after a predetermined amount of time has passed since the last reward 

Variable interval schedule (VI): reinforcing the occurrence of a particular behavior after an unpredictable and varying amount of time since the last reward  

• Example:pop quiz 

• More consistent reponse rates than fixed interval  

Fixed ratio schedule(FR): reinforcing a particular behavior after that behavior has occurred a predetermined number of times  

Example:paid by the completed task 

Variable interval schedule (VI):reinforcing the occurrence of a particular behavior after an upredictable and varying amount of time since the last reward 

Example:pop quiz 

More consistent repsonse rates than fixed interval 

Partical reinforcement extinction effect: THe behavior lasts longer under partial reinforvement than under continuous reinforcement  

• To condition behavior to preisit 

• Use continuous reinforcement intially 

• Slowly change to partial reinforcement 

Operant Conditioning 

• Parental punishment is often ineffective to be effective punishment must be 

• Reasonable ‘Unpleasant  

• Applied immediately 

• Clearly connected to the unwanted behavior  

Postice Punishment is often ineffective 

• Often ineffective for ar least three reasons  

• Wrongly applied after a behavior this is actually desirable  

• Leads to negative emotions(fear anxiety) 

• Fails to offset the reinforcing aspects of the undesired behavior 

Observational Learning 

Also called social learning theory 

Four Parts or Stages 

1.Attention 

2.Retention 

3.Initiation 

4.Motivation 

Base-Rate Neglect 

• Ignoring the overall frequency of a behavior or chaeacterisitic when making a decision 

Example.. 

-Ignoring the statistics concerning the number of farmers compared to the number of orchestra members 

-Ignoring the statistics concerning the prevalence of STIs 

Failures in Adolescent Thought 

• Intuitive thought is often based on heuristics rather than logic 

-Simple,generic “rules of thumb” that people use to form judgements and make decisions 

Question... 

• What kills more people annually? 

-Homicide or Diabetes? 

Diabetes 

-Asthma or Tornados? 

Asthma 

-Sharks or Coconuts? 

Coconuts 

The Avalitablity Heuristic  

• Make judgements based on how easily certain information comes to mind 

-Likelihood of an event based on its availability in our memory 

Adolescent Egocentrism 

-Adolescents can also reflect on their own thoughts  

-Metacognition 

-Metacognition &awareness of own physical and psychological changes can  lead them to be extremely self-focused 

-Adolescent Egocentrism 

Egocentrism 

• Spotlight effect (Gilovich et al.,2000) 

-Belief that others are paying more attention to our appearance and behavior than they actually are 

• Golovich et.al(2000) 

-HAd peoplem wear a t-shirt with a face on it 

-Either an embarrassing or non-embarrassing t-shirt 

• Dependet VAriavles 

-Had P’s estimate how many people would remeber the shirt 

-Asked the people who saw the shirt if they could remember the face.. 

Key Components of Identity 

• Self-Concept  

-Our perceptions of our selves  

-Constructed from opinons and beliefs about ones self  

• Self-Efficacy 

-Our preceptions of our ability 

-Depends on the task 

• Self-Esteem 

-Our perceptions of our self-worth 

Self-Concept:Multiples Selves  

• Existential Self  

-MOst basic part of our self-concept 

-Knowledge that one is separate and distinct from others 

• Categorical Self 

-Understanding that we differ from other people  

-Children focus on physical traits 

-Adolescents focus on their vaules,thoughts, and opinions 

• Adolescents can conceptualize multiple “possible selves” 

• Public Self 

-What others can see  

-Adolescents will explore different selves  

-Can lead to abrupt changes in self-presentation 

-Choose/reject different qualities/behaviors 

• Private Self 

-Inner-most self character 

-Not immediately known by others  

• Our self-concept is heavily influenced by how others view us 

• Looking-Glass Self 

-We make judgements about our self-concept by considering how others view us  

Conflicting Selves  

• Differences between our own perceptions and others perceptions of us can lead to discrepancies 

• Self-Discrepancy Theaory(Higgins,1987) 

-Actual self 

-Ideal self 

-Ought self 

Self efficancy 

• A persons belif that he/she/they can effectively perform a given task 

• Does not focus on our ablities in general  

• Focuses on our ablities on certain task s 

Mindset 

• Fixed((entity) mindset 

-Ability is a stable trait  

-If I fail,then I am NOT good enough 

-If I need to put in effort then Im not food at it 

• Growth (incremental) Mindset 

-Ablity is changeabe  

-If I fail then I am not good enough YET 

- Ineed to put more effort into it if I wan t to be successful  

• How do adolescents develop a Growth vs.Fixed Mindset? 

-Parents/Teachers praise(critize)ablities->Fixed Mindset 

-You are so smart 

-You are good at math 

-You just not an artist 

• Parents/Teachers praise effort-->Growth Mindset  

-you put in a lot of effort  

-Your hard work/studying really paid off 

-Practice makes perfect 

Self-Esteem &Self-Worth 

• Self-Esteem->the extent to which we value our selves 

-Based on our self-concept 

• Also based on how tothers view us  

-Relational self-esteem 

-Self esteem can be derived from our relationship with significant others 

-Addolescents with close relationships with their parents tend to have higher self-esteem 

-Adolescent females with supportive friendships tend to have higher self-esteem 

-Social comparisons  

-Evaluations of self-worth based on coomparisons to others  

-Adolescents tend to have lower self-esteem when eentering middle school 

How important is Self-Esteem? 

• High self-esteem associated with.. 

-pisitive relationships 

-Increased confidence in ones ablities 

-Open to learning new things  

-open to feedback 

-More resilient to challenges  

Downplay weakness and focus on strengths  

• Low selg-esteem asspciated with..  

-less favorable veiw of self 

-Increased anxiety 

-stress  

-loneliness 

-Depression 

-Focus on Failure 

-Downplay strengths 

Can high self-esteem be a bad thing? 

• Fraglie vs. Stable High Self-esteem 

-Stable High Self-Esteem 

-People accept themselves despite knowing they arent perfect 

• Fragile high self esteem 

-people strive to be perfect and cannot accept failure 

-can becone verbally defensive 

-Felling good becomes a major motivatior 

-May engage in risky behavior 

Defining key terms 

• Whats the difference between sex and gender? 

• Sex+biological factors 

-Different reproductive organs  

-Physical differences (e.g., breast development,etc.) 

• Gender=social factors 

-stereotype, roles, expectations 

• Gender Identity 

-The way that one thinks about their own gender and how they choose to identify 

-Can be cisgender,nonbinary,gender-fluid,genderqueer 

-How you think about yourself 

• Gender Stereotype 

-Overgeneralizations about the behavior,traits, and characteristics typical of each gender 

• Gender Role Standard 

-Societal standards for how men and women are expected to behave 

-Behaviors,motives, and values that are appropriate for each gender 

• Impact activates and jobs 

-Example of stereotypical jobs for each gender? 

Gender Role standards in the US (Historically) 

• Men are expected to be... 

-Competent,self-reliant,independent,powerful/assertive 

-instrumental roles 

• Women are expected to be... 

-Nurturing/kind, interdependent, passive 

-Expressive roles 

• Over time we learn(and accept or reject) society's gender roles 

Evolutionary Theory 

• Men and women faced different evolutionary pressures over the course of human history 

-Natural selection 

• Men--> competitive ,assertive, and aggressive 

• Women-->kind, gentle, and nurturing 

Minangkabau 

• West Sumaha,Indobesia 

• 4 million people 

• Only women can own property  

• Men are the political/spirtual leaders 

• Women have own sleeping quarters 

• A man must leave early and return to his mothers home 

• Women slect politcal leaders but will remove him from office if he isnt fulfulling his duties 

Development of Gender Identity  

• Children adopt labels around 2-3 years  

• Also start to learn gender stereotypes 

• Around 5-7 children start to think that gender is unchanging 

Socializing Girls and Boys 

• Parents Behaviors 

-Teach children how to behave by reinforcing “appropriate” behavior and discouraging “inappropriate” behavior 

-Direct Tuition (aka differential reinforcement) 

• Encourage children to play with “gender appropriate” toys  

• Have different messages for boys and girls 

• “Thats not very lady like” 

• “Boys dont cry” 

• “Boys will be boys” 

-Such generic utterances affirm gender stereotypes 

Gender Intensification 

• Magnifying sex differences 

-Conforming to gender roles 

-Starts in early adolescence 

- “Boy” toys 

- “Girl” toys 

Socializing Women and Men 

• We live in a patriarchal society 

• Men are viewed as powerful,tough, strong  

-Men are expected to behave a certain way 

• The “Man Box” 

-Dont cry, demostrate power, makes descisions, view women as sexual objects, dont express emotions 

Something to think about... 

• Who is more gender-typed? Males or Females? 

• In general fathers tend to be more insistent that boys conform to gender roles 

-They place more pressure to achieve on sons than on daughters and are less tolerant of “cross-gender” behavior in sons 

-More concerning for a boy to be a “sissy” than a girl to be a “tomboy” 

-Reflected in peer-group social pressures as well  

• Pigets fourth (and final) stage of development 

-Abstract/hypothetical thought 

• Deductive vs. Inductive Reasoning 

• Analytical vs. Intutive Thought 

-Failures in Adolescent Thought 

• Egocentrism 

-Impact on adolescent thought