Adolescent Cognitive Development: Chapter 15 Human Development & Learning

Coming up… Adolescent egocentrism Adolescent thinking Personal fable Invincibility Imaginary audience Adolescent thinking Formal operational thought Two modes of thinking: Dual processing Religiosity and religious thinking Teaching and Learning Secondary education College

Adolescent Egocentrism Adolescent egocentrism: An aspect of adolescent thinking that leads young people (ages 10 to 14) to focus on themselves to the exclusion of others. Extreme self-consciousness Adaptive?

Adolescent Fables Personal fable Invincibility fable An adolescent’s belief that his or her thoughts, feelings, or experiences are unique, more wonderful or awful than anyone else’s. Invincibility fable An adolescent’s egocentric conviction that he or she cannot be overcome or even harmed by anything that might defeat a normal mortal, such as unprotected sex, drug abuse, or high-speed driving. The importance of fate

Hilarious. I know this is a song lyric, but could this tattoo trend BE anymore stereotypical. It conveys…personal fable, adolescent egocentricism, invincibility fable, imaginary audience.

Kinds of Stories Narrative psychology (If I ever teach a personality psychology class, we will talk about this a lot!) holds that people experience their lives as stories. There are many different kinds of stories. I think that healthy development could be expressed as a movement from a personal fable, a story that revolves around a single person/hero/the self, to more mature kinds of stories. In Game of Thrones, the story transcends individual characters…it recognizes that people are situated in space and time and that the world goes on without them. The Catholic perspective recognizes that we are each situated in a redemption story…one that involves us and one that is bigger than us.

Imaginary Audience Imaginary audience: The other people who, in an adolescent’s egocentric belief, are watching and taking note of his or her appearance, ideas, and behavior. This belief makes many teenagers self-conscious

Adolescent Thinking Formal operational thought Hypothetical thought Piaget’s fourth and final stage of cognitive development, characterized by more systematic logic and the ability to think about abstract ideas. Hypothetical thought Reasoning that includes propositions and possibilities that may not reflect reality. Reasoning about if-then propositions.

The Real vs. The Possible IF all human are men and Sarah is human, THEN is Sarah a man? Yes. Focus on possibility as alternate reality. Idealistic thinking Relativistic thinking?

Adolescent Thinking Deductive reasoning (top-down reasoning) Reasoning from a general statement, premise, or principle, through logical steps, to figure out (deduce) specifics. Inductive reasoning (bottom-up reasoning) Reasoning from one or more specific experiences or facts to a general conclusion; may be less cognitively advanced than deduction.

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning IF all human are men and Candace is human, THEN is Candace a man? Yes. If Candace is a human, then she will be either male/female.

Hypothetical-deductive Hypothetical-deductive reasoning involves creating a hypothesis and deducing its implications.

FYI The following three slides describe the components of formal operational reasoning. I have included them to make a point; you DO NOT have to know these.

Groupings of possibility By conjunction:  “Both A and B make a difference” (e.g. both the string’s length and the pendulum’s weight). By disjunction:  “It’s either this or that” (e.g. it’s either the length or the weight). By implication:  “If it’s this, then that will happen” (the formation of a hypothesis). By incompatibility:  “When this happens, that doesn’t” (the elimination of a hypothesis).

Logical operations Identity: “It could be the string or the weight.” Negation:  Negate the components and replace or’s with and’s (and vice versa). “It might not be the string and not the weight, either.” Reciprocity:  Negate the components but keep the and’s and or’s as they are.  “Either it is not the weight or it is not the string.” Correlativity:  Keep the components as they are, but replace or’s with and’s, etc.  “It’s the weight and the string.”

Operating on Operations Someone who has developed his or her formal operations will understand that: the correlate of a reciprocal is a negation the reciprocal of a negation is a correlate the negation of a correlate is a reciprocal the negation of a reciprocal of a correlate is an identity *Read this in a fast voice and try not to take a breath until you’re done! This is how I would do it in person.  Given the demands of formal operational thought, it is not surprising that adolescents would not always use it even if they have the capacity to do so. Too much work!

Two Modes of Thinking Adolescents find it much easier and quicker to forget about logic and follow their impulses. Dual-process model (of adolescent cognition) The notion that two networks exist within the human brain: 1) emotional processing and 2) analytical processing of stimuli.

Intuitive, Emotional Thought Intuitive thought Arises from an emotion or a hunch, beyond rational explanation, and is influenced by past experiences and cultural assumptions. Analytic thought Results from analysis, such as a systematic ranking of pros and cons, risks and consequences, possibilities and facts. Depends on logic and rationality. (Adolescents are better than children at both intuitive and analytical thought. Adolescents are not great at engaging in analytical thought about emotional charged topics. Here, their emotions are more likely to “carry them away.”)

Common Fallacies Sunk cost fallacy Mistaken belief that when a person has spent money, time or effort that cannot be recovered, they should continue to try to achieve the goal so that effort was not wasted (i.e. staying in a class that you cannot possibly pass).

Common Fallacies Base rate neglect A common fallacy in which a person ignores the overall frequency of a behavior or characteristic in making a decision (i.e. texting while driving, despite statistics, until a friend is severely injured doing so.)

Thinking About Religion In a study by Christian Smith (2005), most adolescents reported: Feeling close to God (71%) Believing in heaven, hell, angels Identified with the same religion as their parents (78%) Adolescent religious beliefs tended to be egocentric, faith being a personal tool Three years later, they held less conventional beliefs, but felt that they had become more religious (Denton et al, 2008).

Teaching and Learning Secondary education Middle school The period after primary education (elementary or grade school) and before tertiary education (college). It usually occurs from about age 12 to 18, although there is some variations by school and by nation. Middle school A school for children in the grades between elementary and high school, usually grades 6-8.

“Traditional” Range Fancy name What we really call it Grades 1-6 Primary Education Grade School Grades 7-12 Secondary Education: Junior High (7 & 8) Senior High (9-12) High School College/University Tertiary Education “Higher,” “post-secondary” education Middle School Grades 6-8

Middle Schools According to research, are U.S. middle schools developmentally regressive? 1. Is a middle school (grades 6 to 8) or a junior high (grades 7 to 8) grouping better for adolescents today? As average age of puberty has declined over the past century, young adolescents are ready for intellectual challenge. 2. Why does academic achievement decrease while behavioral problems arise during middle school? Puberty itself may be part of the problem. For rats and other animals, especially under stress, learning slows down at that point in their growth (McCormick et al., 2010). 3. How do changes in student-teacher relationships affect middle school students? Instruction: What does developmentally regressive mean? It is when a child who has been normal in his or her developmental to date starts losing the acquired milestones. Or, in the case of middle schools, it can be a school environment that affords students fewer opportunities for continued growth than previous environments. Click each question to reveal related research findings. Secondary education usually occurs from about age 12 to 18, although there are some variations by school and by nation. In middle school, grades usually fall because teachers mark more harshly and students become less conscientious. After-school activities that welcome all 11- to 13-year-olds, neither treating them like children nor expecting them to act like adults, are scarce. During middle school, sports become competitive; fragile egos avoid coaches, teammates, or observers. With subject rather than class teachers, students have less personal connections with teachers, leading to less learning and more risk taking among adolescents (Crosnoe et al., 2004). 4. How do parents influence their children during middle school? When parents encourage academics, middle school children achieve more, unless the parents directly help with homework instead of merely guide (Hill & Tyson, 2009). 24 24 24

Teaching and Learning Technology and Cognition The digital divide is the gap between students who have access to computers and those who do not. In the United States and most developed nations, this gap has now been bridged due to computers in schools. The Internet and other forms of electronic technology can accelerate learning, but what they have to teach may not always be beneficial.

The Dangers of Technology Adolescent cognitive growth benefits from shared experiences and opinions. Often communication via the Internet bolsters fragile self-esteem. Adolescents sometimes share personal information online without thinking about the possible consequences. Sexual abuse and addiction of technology can occur

The Dangers of Technology Cyberbullying occurs via Internet insults and rumors, texting, anonymous phone calls, and video embarrassment. Some fear that the anonymity provided by electronic technology brings out the worst in people. One expert on bullying believes that cyberbullying is similar to other forms, new in mode but not in intent or degree of harm.

The Dangers of Technology Some teens use the Internet to pursue a secret action, such as extreme dieting, abusive prejudice or self-mutilation. Cutting An addictive form of self-mutilation that is most common among adolescent girls and that correlates with depression and drug abuse. Pro-ANA websites (These are kinds of websites that promote anorexia. I think that you should be aware that these exist and have some idea what they are like but! Warning: This website may be a trigger. There are also pro-cutting websites where people share things like tips for hiding self- mutilation wounds. These sites may also provide a forum for mutual support, but they are often dangerous.)

The Transition to a New School Entering a New School The transition from one school to another often impairs a young person’s ability to function and learn. Changing schools just when the growth spurt is occurring and sexual characteristics are developing is bound to create stress.

Teaching and Learning High School In theory and sometimes in practice, high schools promote students’ analytic ability. In the United States, an increasing number of high school students are enrolled in classes that are more rigorous and require them to pass externally scored exams. Another manifestation of the trend toward more rigorous education is the greater number of requirements that all students must fulfill in order to receive an academic diploma.

Teaching and Learning High-stakes test An evaluation that is critical in determining success or failure. A single test that determines whether a student will graduate or be promoted In 2009, 26 U.S. states required students to pass a high-stakes test in order to graduate.

Teaching and Learning In the U.S., one result of pushing almost all high school students to pursue an academic curriculum is college preparedness. Another result is that more students drop out of high school. East Asian nations are moving in the opposite direction due to stressed out students.

Those Who Do Not Go To College 1/3 of U.S. high school students and 2/3 worldwide do not go to college PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) A test designed to measure cognition needed in adult life. Taken by many 15-year-olds in 50 countries to test how well they can apply what they have learned. U.S. students tend to not do well.

Those Who Do Not Go To College

Formal Thought in College? High school teachers are generally selected for their field expertise, not how well they relate to kids. (What about college professors?) They may presume formal thought/analytical thinking rather than teaching it. How does this effect university instruction?