Adolescence: Cognitive Development

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Part V
Chapter Fifteen

• Adolescence Cognitive Development

Adolescent Thinking Teaching and Learning
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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• adolescence combines ego, logic, and emotions
  ego overwhelms logic sometimes emotions
  overrides both

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Egocentrism
• a characteristic of adolescent thinking that
  leads young people (ages 10-13) to focus on
  themselves to the exclusion of others
• believe that his or her thoughts, feelings, and
  experiences are unique, more wonderful or awful
  than anyone elses.

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• The Invincibility Fable
• an egocentric conviction that he or she cannot be
  overcome or even harmed by anything that might
  defeat a normal mortal

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Imaginary Audience
• the other people are watching, and taking note
  of, his or her appearance, ideas, and behavior

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Egocentrism Reassessed
• recent waves of research has found that many
  adolescents do not feel invincible.
• egocentrism may signal growth towards cognitive
  maturity (Vartanian, 2001)

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Formal Operational Though
• Piagets fourth and final stage of cognitive
  development, characterized by more systematic
  logic and the ability to think about abstract
  ideas

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• formal operational thought allows one to imagine
  all possible determinants, and systematically
• vary the factors one by one
• observe the results correctly
• keep track of the results
• draw the appropriate conclusions

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Hypothetical-Deductive Though
• formal operational thought is the capacity to
  think of possibility, not just reality
• hypothetical though
• reasoning that includes propositions
  possibilities that may not reflect reality

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• DeductiveReasoning
• reasoning from a general statement, premise, or
  principle, through logical steps, to figure out
  (deduce) specificstop-down thinking
• Inductive Reasoning
• reasoning from one or more specific experience or
  facts to a general conclusion, may be less
  cognitively advanced than deductionbottom-up
  reasoning

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Intuitive, Emotional Thought
• because adolescents can use hypothetical-deductiv
  e reasoning does not mean that they use it
• adolescents find it easier and quicker to forget
  about logic and follow impulse

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Two Modes of Thinking
• dual-process model
• the notion that two networks exist within the
  human brain, one for emotions and one for
  analytical processing of stimuli

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Intuitive thoughts
• thought that arises from an emotion or a hunch,
  beyond rational explanationpast experiences,
  cultural assumptions, and sudden impulses are the
  precursors of intuitive thoughtcontextualized or
  experiential thought
• Analytic thought
• thought that results from analysis, such as a
  systematic ranking of pros and cons, risks and
  consequences, possibilities and facts analytic
  thought depends on logic and rationality

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Comparing Intuition and Analysis
• sunk cost fallacy
• the belief that if time or money has already been
  invested in something, then more time or money
  should be invested

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Adolescence Cognitive Development

• Better Thinking
• adolescents use their minds with more economy
  than children
• with age thinking is more efficient and less
  likely to go off on a tangent
• analytic mode joins the intuitive mode

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Teaching and Learning

• Given the nature of the adolescent mind, we are
  left with the question to ponder What and how
  should teenagers be taught?

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Teaching and Learning

• Secondary Education
• it usually occurs from about age 12 to18,
  although there is some variation by school and by
  nation
• traditionally grades 7th through 12th

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Teaching and Learning

• separate schools have been created for children
  who have outgrown primary school
• once called high school, with younger students
  put in separate schools called junior high
  (7th,8th,9th grades)

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Teaching and Learning

• middle school
• grades between elementary and high
  school...middle school can begin with 5th grade
  or and usually ends with 8th grade
• with puberty occurring earlier than in years
  pastoften at age 11 many intermediate middle
  schools have been established to educate 6th
  graders with 7th and 8th graders
• 9th graders have been reassigned to high schools

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Teaching and Learning

• middle school
• academic achievement often slows down and
  behavioral problems become more commonplace
• the first year of middle school is called the
  low ebb of learning
• long term academic trajectories are strongly
  influenced by experienced in grades 6th-8th

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Teaching and Learning

• middle school
• middle school scheduling means teachers have
  many students
• bonding between students and teachers is key to
  learningyet, doesnt always occur do to
  scheduling
• students relationships with one another
  deteriorate... due to the numbers of people they
  come in contact with in schools

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Teaching and Learning

• middle school
• answers are not clear adolescent egocentrism is
  particularly strong in early adolescence and the
  intuitive thought generally overwhelms logic
• research finds that egocentrism, intuitive
  thought, and logic coexist in every classroom

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Teaching and Learning

• Technology and Cognition
• is no longer limited only to developed nations
• teenagers worldwide use the Internet
• adults hope that computers will be a boon to
  learning
• some fear that technology will undercut respect
  for adults and schools

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Teaching and Learning

• Transitions and Translations
• students find that changes, even positive ones,
  are disruptive
• transitions from one school to another are
  difficult, decreasing a persons ability to
  function and learn
• changing schools just when the growth spurt and
  sexual characteristics develop is bound to create
  stress

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Teaching and Learning

• Transitions and Translations
• hormones, body shape, sexual impulses, family and
  culture contribute to disorders in transition

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Teaching and Learning

• Teaching and Learning in High School
• adolescents think abstractly, analytically,
  hypothetically, logically personally,
  emotionally, intuitively and experientially
• by high school, the curriculum and teaching style
  is often analytic and abstract
• adolescents can use logic to override the biases
  that not only preserve existing beliefs but also
  perpetuate stereotypes and inhibit development.

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Teaching and Learning

• Focus on the Brightest
• an evaluation that is critical in determining
  success or failure if a single test determines
  whether a student will graduate or be promoted,
  that is a high-stakes test

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Teaching and Learning

• Focus on the Dropouts
• not every student who begins secondary school
  stays until finished
• developed nations typically require students to
  stay in school between 14 and 18, with age 16
  being the average
• in the U.S. and Canada 90 are high school
  graduates
• most dropouts leave at the age of 17

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Teaching and Learning

• Student Engagement
• students who are capable of passing classes are
  as likely to drop out as those with learning
  disabilities
• persistence, diligence, and motivation play more
  crucial roles than intellectual ability when it
  comes to earning a high school diploma

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Teaching and Learning

• Student Engagement
• many students express boredom and unhappiness
  with school
• honor students and delinquents have high rates
  of boredom, alienation, and disconnection from
  the meaningful challenge of school

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Teaching and Learning

• students are often disengaged
• usual because formal operational thought is
  promoted
• egocentric and intuitive thought, are more
  rational and social, and are usually excluded
• teachers are hired for their expertise in one or
  more academic fields, rather than their ability
  to relate to adolescents

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Teaching and Learning

• possible improvements
• keep high schools small
• 200 to 400 students
• encourage extracurricular activities

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Teaching and Learning

• School violence
• The same practices that foster
• motivation and education can also
• prevent violence.
• students are less likely to be destructive or
  afraid if
• they are engaged in learning
• bond with teachers and fellow students
• are involved in school activities

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Teaching and Learning

• School violence
• studies also show that metal detectors, and
  strict punishment, are more likely to increase
  violence than decrease violence

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Teaching and Learning

• School violence
• primary prevention to improve school climate
• increase friendships
• strengthen teacher-student relationships
• promote student involvement
• programs that teach conflict resolution have also
  had some success