Adolescent Cognition Adolescent Cognition

Extra Eye Where would yours go?

Piaget’s Theory Formal Operations Stage- Capacity for abstract thought Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning

Situation Man lying face down in the middle of a desert and a backpack on top of him. How did he get there? How do you know?

Piaget’s Theory Formal Operations Stage- Capacity for abstract thought Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning –General theory of all possible factors –Deduce specific hypotheses –Test systematically –Pendulum Problem Concrete operational teenagers experiment unsystematically –11 & 12 yr olds Training and rolling ball transfer task

Piaget cont. Propositional Thought- Type of formal operational reasoning –Logic of verbal statements –No real-world reference (i.e., separation of mind and body) Language plays an important role –Involves verbal reasoning about abstract concepts

If it is white then it is round. Discussion: If it is white then it must be round, but if it is tiled then it doesn't matter if it is round or not. So the white circle fits but the white square does not. The tiled figures all fit because the statement only tells us about white figures.

Information Processing Approach Defn- cog ∆=attention, storage strats, representation, retrieval, knowledge, metacognition, processing capacity Scientific reasoning: coordinating theory with evidence –Young participants ignore conflicting evidence or distort it in ways consistent with their own theories

Info Proc cont. How Sci Reasoning Develops –↑ information processing capacity and metacognition Coordinating theory with evidence –Years of schooling –Repeated practice across tasks –Not stage-like (in contrast to Piaget) Develops gradually Research supports this- 11 & 12 yr olds

Consequences of Abstract Thought Argumentativeness –Remain focused on principles and teaching values- can promote development Self-Consciousness and Self-Focusing –↑ metacognition + physical psychological ∆ ----  ↑Thoughts about self –Imaginary Audience- focus of attention –Personal Fable- Others’ understanding Uniqueness  invincibility –“Mom, you don’t understand true love”

More consequences… Idealism & Criticism –Abstract thinking  used to define values, tastes, preferences, investigate new realms of experience –Mentally construct perfect world Conflict with parents Planning & Decision Making –Cognitive self-regulation- Planning, monitoring progress, re-directing actions –Overwhelmed

Sex Differences

Girls-Higher reading scores, lower remedial referrals –Still present in adolescence, though very slight In Adolescence, boys start to do better in math, especially in abstract prob solving –Heredity or social influence/pressure? –Sex difference declined Adol Girls regard math as less useful and blame errors on lack of ability  fewer math classes in high school/college