Adolescence:
Cognitive Development

Adolescent Thought

nAdolescents often combine

¨ego

¨ logic

¨emotion

ninvolve egocentrism, formal operational, and postformal thought.

Adolescent Egocentrism

n A tendency to focus on oneself:

¨Personal Fable

¨Invincibility Fable

¨Imaginary audience
Adolescent Egocentrism

nThink of & discuss real life examples of the invincibility fable, personal fable, and imaginary audience.

Middle School: A Low Point

nThe first year of middle school is often a “low ebb” of learning.

nStudents are dealing with a variety of issues

Issues in Middle School

nkids must deal with :

¨Puberty

¨Relational bullying

¨Greater competition

¨Short class periods

Designing a School

nideas to help middle schoolers:

¨Longer class periods

¨Teachers rotate classes

¨Use of “pods”–

Compared to Young Kids, Adolescents:

nare better arguers

nhave a larger knowledge base

nuse better memory strategies

nare faster thinkers

Piaget’s Highest Stage

nAdolescents are in Piaget’s 4th stage, formal operational thought, characterized by:

¨logical thought

¨hypothetical thought

¨abstract thought

¨deductive reasoning

Deductive Reasoning

nThis begins with an idea or premise and then uses logic to draw specific conclusions.

Inductive Reasoning

nReasoning from one or more specific experiences to a general conclusion

Formal Operational Thought

nAdolescents can think about possibilities and about the future.

nThey often question adult values.

nThey are often idealists.

Two Types of Thought

nAnalytic (formal operational)

nIntuitive: thoughts spring from feelings, memories

Learning in High School

nEmphasis is on the use of formal operational thought

nTeachers are specialists in their field.

nThe curriculum is rigorous

nMath and science emphasized most.

High-Stakes Testing

ntests to determine whether a student is promoted in school.

¨Are there higher drop out rates as a result?

¨Do they increase ethnic, economic, and sexual inequality?

¨Do they decrease student motivation?

Student Motivation

nMany adolescents express boredom and unhappiness with school.

nhigh school teachers say “student apathy” is their most serious problem.

nTeens emphasis is on “fitting in” with peers.

Increasing Student Motivation

nStudies suggest that engaging students via extracurricular activities creates connectedness, and contributes to student learning.

nPrimary prevention of school violence is needed.

Postformal Thought

nResearchers’ “fifth stage” of thinking

n more balanced thought.

nIt develops during early adulthood.

Cognitive Flexibility

noften multiple perspectives.

n involves cognitive flexibility, (the ability to show or hide emotion as appropriate to the situation.)