Adolescent development week 3

3.1 | Theories of Cognitive Development

Neuroconstructivist View

The neuroconstructivist view of cognitive development emphasises that cognition emerges from the continuous and dynamic interaction between biological processes and environmental experiences. This perspective rejects the idea of fixed developmental stages or isolated genetic programming, instead proposing that development is shaped by the brain's ongoing adaptation to context. In adolescence, this view highlights the role of experience, learning, and social engagement in sculpting neural and cognitive systems. Cognitive abilities are seen not as static traits but as gradually constructed through reciprocal feedback between the developing brain and the adolescent’s interactions with their environment. From this standpoint, adolescent cognitive development is both biologically grounded and contextually sensitive, with individual trajectories reflecting unique combinations of genetic, social, cultural, and experiential influences.

Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): This is the most crucial region for higher-order cognitive functions, often referred to as the brain’s “executive centre.” The PFC is responsible for planning, decision-making, impulse control, evaluating consequences, and regulating attention. In adolescence, this region is still maturing, undergoing synaptic pruning and myelination, which improve processing efficiency. Because the PFC develops relatively late, adolescents may struggle with long-term planning or risk assessment, especially in emotionally charged situations.
Limbic System (including the amygdala and nucleus accumbens): This system, involved in processing emotions and rewards, matures earlier than the PFC. The amygdala is key for emotional responses like fear and aggression, while the nucleus accumbens is central to the brain’s reward system, responding to pleasurable stimuli. The early maturation of these areas, combined with an underdeveloped PFC, contributes to heightened emotional reactivity, sensation-seeking, and risk-taking behaviours often seen in adolescence.
Corpus Callosum: This thick band of nerve fibres connects the two hemispheres of the brain and facilitates communication between them. It continues to develop during adolescence, enhancing the integration of cognitive and emotional information across hemispheres. This improvement supports complex tasks like problem-solving and understanding social nuance.
Cerebellum: Once thought to be involved only in motor control, the cerebellum is now understood to contribute to cognitive processes such as attention, language, and emotional regulation. It continues to mature into the mid-20s, supporting the fine-tuning of thought and behaviour.

Together, these brain changes support adolescents’ growing ability to reason abstractly, reflect on their thoughts (metacognition), manage impulses, and navigate complex social situations. However, because emotional systems mature ahead of regulatory systems, adolescence is a period marked by imbalance—where emotional intensity often outpaces rational control.

The Information-Processing Approach

The information-processing approach offers a more continuous, fine-grained account of cognitive development during adolescence, focusing on how mental operations improve in efficiency and capacity. Rather than conceptualising development in stages, this perspective breaks cognition into components—like attention, memory, processing speed, and executive functions—that develop independently but interactively over time.

In adolescence, attention becomes more selective and sustained. Adolescents are better able to focus on relevant information and ignore distractions, although emotional stimuli can still disrupt attention more than in adults. They also improve in divided attention, allowing them to manage multiple tasks or streams of information simultaneously (though this still has limits, especially with complex tasks). This has important implications for learning and social functioning, particularly in today’s media-saturated environments.

Working memory capacity increases during adolescence, allowing teens to hold and manipulate more information at once. This contributes to better reasoning, problem-solving, and comprehension. Adolescents also begin to use more advanced strategies for encoding and retrieval, such as elaboration and organisation, which support long-term memory. Improvements in processing speed allow information to be handled more quickly and automatically, freeing up cognitive resources for higher-level thinking.

A major developmental leap in adolescence is the enhancement of executive functioning—a set of cognitive processes including inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and planning. These changes are linked to maturation of the prefrontal cortex. Executive functions enable adolescents to regulate their behaviour, resist impulsive actions, shift perspectives, and pursue long-term goals—skills essential for academic success, social relationships, and identity development.

The information-processing approach also provides insight into metacognition, which becomes more robust in adolescence. Teens become better at evaluating their own understanding, monitoring their learning, and adjusting strategies. This self-awareness allows for more independent and effective learning but can also lead to overconfidence or underestimation of knowledge, depending on the individual.

While this approach offers a detailed analysis of how specific cognitive abilities change, it has been critiqued for focusing too narrowly on mechanistic aspects of cognition, often overlooking the roles of emotion, context, and motivation. However, it remains a powerful framework for understanding the mental “architecture” underlying adolescent thinking and how cognitive growth supports their expanding intellectual and social capacities.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget’s formal operational stage begins around age 11 and is a key milestone in adolescent cognitive development. At this stage, individuals gain the capacity for abstract thought, meaning they can reason about hypothetical situations, symbols, and concepts not grounded in concrete reality. This is a major shift from the concrete operational stage of childhood, where thinking is tied to tangible, visible objects. Adolescents can now engage in deductive reasoning—starting with general principles and applying them to specific situations—as well as inductive reasoning, where they generalise based on observations.

A core feature of formal operations is hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Adolescents can formulate hypotheses and systematically test them to solve problems, which is crucial for engaging in scientific thinking and structured argumentation. For instance, in Piaget’s famous pendulum problem, adolescents can manipulate one variable at a time (e.g., string length or weight) to determine its effect on swing speed, showing an understanding of experimental control. This kind of reasoning underpins much of the intellectual work required in secondary education and is central to scientific and mathematical problem-solving.

However, Piaget acknowledged that not all adolescents reach the formal operational stage at the same time—or at all. Research has shown that many adolescents only use formal operations in familiar or well-practiced domains and may revert to concrete thinking in unfamiliar or emotionally charged contexts. Additionally, cultural and educational influences can strongly shape the extent to which formal reasoning develops. For example, students trained in logic, maths, or science tend to show stronger formal operational abilities.

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Vygotsky’s theory emphasises that cognitive development is fundamentally shaped by social interaction and cultural tools. Adolescence represents a key period where this socially mediated learning becomes increasingly complex. Unlike Piaget’s focus on individual discovery, Vygotsky argued that higher cognitive functions first appear in social interactions and are then internalised by the individual. Adolescents learn through dialogue with more knowledgeable others—such as teachers, parents, or peers—who provide scaffolding to support development within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

The ZPD is especially relevant in adolescence as educational demands increase. Adolescents are often asked to tackle challenging cognitive tasks—like literary analysis, scientific reasoning, or ethical debates—that they cannot master alone. When teachers scaffold these tasks through questions, prompts, and collaborative discussion, they help students move beyond their current level of functioning. Over time, the support is gradually removed as students internalise the cognitive strategies and knowledge for independent use.

Language remains central in Vygotsky’s view of adolescent development. As adolescents engage in more advanced conversations and reflective thinking, inner speech becomes more developed. This internal dialogue supports self-regulation, problem-solving, and planning. Adolescents may also use language to explore identity, values, and beliefs, especially in peer groups, where dialogue becomes a key tool for negotiating meaning and exploring different viewpoints.

Cultural tools—such as writing systems, technology, and educational systems—shape not only what adolescents learn but how they learn. In today’s context, digital media and collaborative learning platforms have become important cultural tools that influence adolescent cognition. For instance, online discussions or project-based learning environments can extend the ZPD by enabling adolescents to engage with peers and mentors outside their immediate environment.

Unlike Piaget, who viewed cognitive development as following a universal sequence, Vygotsky acknowledged the variability introduced by different cultural, historical, and social contexts. This makes his theory particularly valuable for understanding adolescents from diverse backgrounds, as it emphasises how learning is co-constructed and situated within real-world cultural practices.

Key Concepts/Definitions

Neuroconstructivist view: Emphasises that cognitive development results from dynamic interactions between biology and environment, with cognition shaped by ongoing brain adaptation to experience.
Prefrontal cortex: The brain’s executive centre responsible for decision-making, impulse control, and planning; matures gradually during adolescence, affecting self-regulation.
Limbic system: Includes structures like the amygdala and nucleus accumbens; matures earlier than the prefrontal cortex, contributing to emotional reactivity and sensation-seeking in adolescence.
Information-processing approach: Focuses on improvements in specific mental processes—such as attention, memory, and processing speed—that develop interactively over time.
Executive functioning: A set of cognitive skills including inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and planning that support self-regulation and goal-directed behaviour in adolescence.
Metacognition: The ability to think about one’s own thinking; improves in adolescence and supports self-monitoring, learning strategies, and academic independence.
Piaget’s formal operational stage: Begins around age 11 and enables abstract reasoning, hypothetico-deductive thinking, and scientific problem-solving.
Hypothetico-deductive reasoning: The ability to generate and test hypotheses systematically, a hallmark of formal operational thinking linked to adolescent problem-solving.
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory: Argues that cognitive development is shaped by social interaction and cultural tools, with learning internalised through guided support in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
Zone of Proximal Development: The gap between what an adolescent can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance; central to scaffolding in learning.

3.2 | Intelligence Testing in Adolescence

Intelligence Testing

Intelligence testing during adolescence is primarily guided by the psychometric approach, which seeks to measure individual differences in cognitive abilities through standardised assessments. Two of the most widely used tests for adolescents are:

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales
The Wechsler scales, including:
- WISC-V (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – ages 6–16)
- WAIS-V (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – age 16+)

These assessments evaluate both verbal and performance abilities, generating a composite IQ score. The Wechsler tests also provide subtest scores across specific domains such as:

Verbal comprehension
Visual spatial
Fluid reasoning
Working memory
Processing speed

This allows for a more detailed understanding of an adolescent’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses. These intelligence tests are norm-referenced, meaning scores are compared to a large, representative sample, with 100 as the average IQ.

1) Verbal Comprehension

Similarities subtest

Measures verbal reasoning, concept formation, abstract thinking
- WISC example: “How are a dog and a cat alike?”
  - Expected response: e.g., “They are both animals.”
- WAIS example: “How are a democracy and a monarchy alike?”
Expected response: e.g., “They are both systems of government.”
- Other subtests: Vocabulary, Information, Comprehension

2) Visual Spatial

Block Design subtest

Visual-spatial reasoning, the ability to analyse and
reproduce visual patterns
WISC example: Replicate 4-block pattern
WAIS example: Replicate 9-block pattern

Other subtests: Visual Puzzles

3) Fluid Reasoning

Matrix Reasoning subtest

Measures abstract problem-solving and
inductive reasoning
WISC example: 4-cell matrix
WAIS example: 9-cell matrix

Other subtests: Figure Weights, Picture Concepts, Arithmetic

4) Working memory

Digit Span subtest

Measures attention, short-term memory, mental manipulation
WISC example: “Repeat after me: 7–4–2.” → “Now say them backwards.”
Expected response: “2–4–7”
WAIS example:
“Repeat: 9–5–3–7–2–8.” → “Now say them in reverse order.” (backward span)
“Repeat these numbers in order from smallest to largest: 6–2–9–4–7.” (sequencing)
Expected response: “2–4–6–7–9”

Other subtests: Picture Span, Letter-Number Sequencing

5) Processing speed

Coding subtest

Measures Speed and accuracy of visual-motor coordination, symbol recognition
WISC example (shorter)
WAIS example (longer)

Other subtests: Symbol Search, Cancellation

Genetic and Environmental Influences

A major finding from longitudinal adoption studies is that the balance of genetic and environmental influences on IQ shifts during adolescence.

In early childhood, adopted children’s IQs tend to resemble those of their adoptive parents, indicating a strong environmental influence.
By adolescence, this resemblance diminishes, and their IQs become more aligned with those of their biological parents.

This pattern suggests a growing impact of genetic factors as adolescents gain autonomy and begin to shape their own environments—a phenomenon known as active gene–environment correlation. This illustrates that while early development is heavily shaped by environment, adolescence is a period where inherited cognitive potential is more fully expressed.

Validity and Criticisms of IQ Testing

Despite ongoing critiques, IQ tests in adolescence demonstrate strong predictive validity. High IQ scores during adolescence have been linked to:

Academic success
Occupational achievement
Lower risk of negative life outcomes, such as divorce or substance misuse in adulthood

However, debate continues regarding what IQ tests actually measure. Critics argue that standard IQ tests may overlook other important forms of intelligence, such as:

Creativity
Social insight
Practical problem-solving skills

In response to these limitations, alternative theories have broadened the conceptualisation of intelligence:

Sternberg’s triarchic theory: includes analytical, creative, and practical intelligence
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences: identifies distinct domains such as musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence

While these alternative frameworks offer a more holistic view of cognitive ability, traditional IQ tests remain widely used in educational and clinical contexts. They are instrumental in:

Identifying learning disabilities
Tracking cognitive development
Guiding academic interventions and support strategies

Key Concepts/Definitions

Psychometric approach: A method of measuring cognitive abilities through standardised tests that assess individual differences and provide an overall IQ score.
Wechsler and Stanford-Binet tests: Widely used intelligence assessments for adolescents that evaluate areas such as verbal comprehension, working memory, and processing speed.
Norm-referenced testing: A scoring system where an individual’s IQ is compared to a representative population, with 100 as the average benchmark.
Gene–environment correlation: A developmental shift in adolescence where genetic influences on IQ become more prominent as individuals begin selecting environments aligned with their inherited traits.
Critiques of IQ testing: While IQ tests predict academic and life outcomes, critics argue they miss broader forms of intelligence, prompting alternative models like Sternberg’s and Gardner’s theories.

3.3 | Practical Cognition

Practical cognition refers to how adolescents apply their cognitive abilities in real-world contexts, especially in critical thinking and decision making. Unlike purely academic or theoretical thought, practical cognition involves problem-solving and reasoning in everyday, emotionally meaningful situations.

Critical Thinking

During adolescence, individuals begin to show potential for critical thinking, which involves the ability to:

Analyse information
Evaluate its validity
Connect it to prior knowledge
Draw logical, reasoned conclusions

According to Keating (2004), this developmental shift is made possible by several cognitive advancements:

Improved long-term memory, which enhances access to relevant prior knowledge
The ability to consider multiple perspectives
Growth in metacognitive strategies, such as planning, self-monitoring, and reflection

However, the development of critical thinking is not automatic. It depends significantly on:

Educational environments that encourage dialogue and analytical reasoning
A strong foundation in factual knowledge built during childhood
Instruction that explicitly teaches metacognitive strategies and encourages students to question assumptions

Although secondary schools may vary in how well they support these skills, universities—particularly in fields that value argumentation and evidence-based reasoning—often provide more consistent opportunities for critical thinking development.

Decision Making

Adolescents also begin to resemble adults in their ability to make thoughtful decisions in calm, hypothetical situations. Behavioural decision theory outlines five core steps in this process:

Identifying options
Considering possible consequences
Evaluating the desirability of those outcomes
Estimating their likelihood
Integrating this information into a final decision

While adolescents are capable of executing these steps, their decision making is more vulnerable than adults’ to psychosocial influences, such as:

Peer pressure
Emotional arousal
Perceptions of risk

This helps explain why adolescents may demonstrate mature reasoning in structured tasks but still engage in impulsive or risky behaviours in real-world contexts.

Key Concepts/Definitions

Practical cognition: Refers to the application of cognitive skills like reasoning and problem-solving in real-world, emotionally meaningful situations.
Critical thinking: The ability to analyse information, assess its validity, connect it to prior knowledge, and draw reasoned conclusions; influenced by memory, perspective-taking, and metacognitive strategies.
Metacognitive strategies: Higher-order thinking skills such as planning, self-monitoring, and evaluating one’s own understanding, which support the development of critical thinking.
Behavioural decision theory: A model describing decision making as a five-step process involving option identification, consequence evaluation, and outcome integration.
Psychosocial influences: Factors like peer pressure, emotional arousal, and perceived risk that can affect adolescent decision making, especially in real-life contexts.

3.4 | Social Cognition

Social cognition refers to the ways individuals think about and make sense of their social worlds—including their understanding of other people, relationships, social roles, and institutions. During adolescence, this domain becomes significantly more advanced. As young people outgrow childhood egocentrism, they develop a deeper awareness that others have internal thoughts, feelings, and perspectives different from their own.

This growing sophistication is supported by key cognitive developments:

Abstract thinking, allowing adolescents to reason about hypothetical social scenarios
Metacognition, enabling reflection on one’s own and others’ thoughts and motivations

As a result, adolescents become better able to:

Reflect on how their actions affect others
Anticipate social reactions
Navigate complex social situations such as peer pressure, group identity, and conflict resolution

Perspective Taking

One of the most influential frameworks in this area is Robert Selman’s theory of perspective taking, which outlines developmental stages in how individuals understand others’ viewpoints.

In early adolescence (ages 10–12), most individuals attain mutual perspective taking—recognising that others can view them just as they view others.
By mid- to late adolescence, many reach social and conventional system perspective taking—understanding that people's views are shaped by social roles and societal norms.

This capacity is critical for:

Maintaining friendships
Resolving interpersonal conflicts
Moral reasoning and empathy

Selman’s research also finds that strong perspective-taking skills are linked to:

Greater peer popularity
Increased prosocial behaviours, such as helping and showing sympathy

Adolescent Egocentrism

Another central concept in adolescent social cognition is adolescent egocentrism, introduced by David Elkind. This includes two key phenomena:

Imaginary audience: The belief that others are constantly watching and judging one’s appearance and behaviour
Personal fable: The belief in one’s own uniqueness and invulnerability, often leading to feelings like “no one understands me” or a sense of being exempt from consequences

Although these distortions may increase self-consciousness and contribute to risk-taking behaviours, they also reflect an important developmental shift. Adolescents are learning to think about what others think—an advanced form of metacognition that may occasionally become exaggerated.

Some researchers argue that adolescent egocentrism is not simply a return to childhood self-focus, but rather a temporary by-product of developing social awareness, as adolescents work toward forming a stable identity and greater autonomy.

Key Concepts/Definitions

Social cognition: Refers to how individuals understand and reason about their social world, including relationships, roles, and other people's thoughts and intentions.
Perspective taking: A developmental skill described by Selman, involving the ability to understand others’ viewpoints; progresses through stages from mutual understanding to recognising societal influences.
Adolescent egocentrism: A cognitive pattern in adolescence involving heightened self-focus, including the imaginary audience and personal fable concepts described by David Elkind.
Imaginary audience: The belief that one is constantly being watched and judged by others, contributing to adolescent self-consciousness and social sensitivity.
Personal fable: The belief in one's own uniqueness and invulnerability, which can lead to risk-taking but also supports identity formation and autonomy.

3.5 | Culture & Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is not culturally neutral—it unfolds within the social and cultural environments in which individuals are raised. Despite this, most traditional theories of cognitive development (such as Piagetian, information-processing, and psychometric approaches) have historically sought universal principles, often neglecting the role of cultural variation.

In contrast, cultural psychology emphasises that cognition is inseparable from culture. This perspective finds its foundation in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which proposes that:

Cognitive development is social because learning occurs through interaction with others
It is also cultural, because what is learned and how it is learned are shaped by culturally valued practices, tools, and goals

A growing body of research shows that adolescents’ cognitive development is shaped by their participation in culturally meaningful activities. For example, Rogoff’s concept of guided participation illustrates how adolescents develop cognitive skills by engaging in real-world tasks—such as selling goods or crafting—alongside more experienced community members. These forms of learning:

Foster practical problem-solving skills
Involve the internalisation of cultural values (e.g., cooperation, responsibility, entrepreneurship)

The cultural approach to cognition highlights that what counts as “important knowledge” differs across settings. For example:

Inuit communities may emphasise hunting and navigation skills
West African communities may prioritise market trading expertise

In these contexts, adolescents develop memory, reasoning, and attention through practice embedded in everyday life, rather than through abstract or classroom-based instruction.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives

In the Australian context, understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives on cognition requires moving beyond Western-centric models toward holistic, relational frameworks. Indigenous research highlights that knowledge is passed on through:

Oral traditions
Observation and imitation
Storytelling
Relationships with land (Country), kinship networks, and Dreaming narratives

Learning is embedded in community life and often occurs through participation in:

Ceremonial practices
Hunting and ecological care
Cultural responsibilities

This aligns with Vygotsky’s emphasis on socially situated, guided learning, and supports the development of cognitive skills such as attentional control, spatial reasoning, and ecological knowledge—abilities often overlooked in Western cognitive assessments (Yunkaporta, 2009; Lowe, 2016).

Rethinking Intelligence and Assessment

Cognitive development in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities tends to emphasise relational and ecological intelligence over abstract or decontextualised reasoning. For example, children may acquire:

Complex navigational skills through songlines and stories that encode geographic and environmental knowledge

This reflects a worldview in which cognition is relational—rooted in connection to Elders, Country, and social responsibilities.

Standardised cognitive tests often fail to capture these competencies and may pathologise difference as deficit. In response, scholars advocate for:

Culturally responsive education
Strength-based assessments that recognise Indigenous ways of knowing
Pedagogical approaches that incorporate:
- Storytelling
- Visual-spatial learning
- Community engagement (Martin, 2008; Fogarty et al., 2015)

Culture shapes not only what adolescents learn, but also how they think, reason, and solve problems. While traditional cognitive theories offer valuable insights into structural changes across development, they risk overgeneralising when removed from cultural context. Integrating cultural perspectives into cognitive development research is essential for:

Recognising diverse forms of intelligence
Creating equitable educational systems that affirm and include Indigenous and other non-Western knowledge systems

This broader view ensures that adolescent cognition is understood not only in terms of neurological maturation or IQ scores but as deeply intertwined with culture, context, and community.

Key Concepts/Definitions

Cultural psychology: Emphasises that cognitive development is shaped by cultural values, tools, and practices, challenging universal models of cognition.
Sociocultural theory: Proposed by Vygotsky, it views cognitive development as a social and cultural process, where learning occurs through guided interaction with others.
Guided participation: A concept by Rogoff describing how adolescents learn cognitive skills by engaging in culturally meaningful activities alongside more experienced individuals.
Indigenous perspectives on cognition: Highlight holistic, relational, and ecological approaches to learning, where knowledge is passed through storytelling, observation, and connection to Country.
Culturally responsive education: Advocates for recognising and incorporating diverse ways of knowing—especially Indigenous knowledge systems—into teaching, learning, and assessment practices.