2. 1. Introduction
2. Fact or Fiction?
3. Adolescent Thinking
4. Teaching and Learning
5. Teaching and Learning in High School
6. Closing Thoughts

3. [Video: Adolescence Introduction]
Instruction:
Click to play video
This presentation on adolescent cognitive development follows brain maturation and cognitive growth between ages 11 and 18, which can lead to adolescent egotism, abstract thinking, additional years of schooling, moral challenges, and increased independence.
[Video: Adolescence Introduction]

4. Physical Development Fact or Fiction? Fiction Fact
1. Teens tend to overestimate the extent to which others are thinking about them.
2. Unlike younger children, adolescents typically are not egocentric in their thought patterns.
3. Adolescents are able to reason about positions that may or may not reflect reality (i.e., abstract concepts like “freedom”), while younger children are still tied to concrete operational thought (i.e., the idea of “freedom” in terms of real-life events).
Instruction: Click to reveal each question, then the category.
Please note, this page is available to use with a clicker system.
4. Compared to younger children, adolescents have little difficulty in transitioning to new schools.

5. Egocentrism What forms does adolescent egocentrism take?
Personal fable
Invincibility fable
An aspect of adolescent egocentrism characterized by an adolescent’s belief that his or her thoughts, feelings, and experiences are unique, more wonderful or awful than anyone else’s.
An adolescent 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.
Instruction:
Click each term to reveal details of this aspect of adolescent egocentrism.
Adolescent thinking is mostly associated with young people ages 10 to 13.
Egocentrism is a common explanation for risk taking in adolescence (Leather, 2009).
Research has found that some adolescents do not feel invincible; in fact, some have exaggerated perceptions of risks (Mills et al., 2008).
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 very self-conscious.
adolescent egocentrism: A characteristic of adolescent thinking that leads young people to focus on themselves to the exclusion of others. 5 5 5

6. Formal Operational Thought
Who can solve the balance-scale problem?
Age 7: weights are the same and on opposite sides of the fulcrum, why don’t they balance?
(a)
Age 4: weights are the same, why don’t they balance?
(b)
5kg
5kg
5kg
5kg
AGE 14: If equal weights need equal length lever arms, then 5 times the weight (or 4 times in the book) must need 1/5 the length!
Age 10: equal weights, equal distances, wow! Got it!
(c)
(d)
Instructions:
Keep in mind that formal operational thinking is Piaget’s fourth and final stage of cognitive development,
Click on scales to reveal how a 4-year-old (a), 7-year-old (b), 10-year-old (c), and (d) 14-year-old attempt to balance the scale.
To master this task, a person must realize that the heaviness of the weights and their distance from the center interact reciprocally to affect balance. Therefore, a heavier weight close to the center can be counterbalanced with a lighter weight far form the center.
Click to see a video that shows a test of formal operational thought with a 14-year-old.
In this video clip, Juana attempts to solve a problem about how many possible sandwiches can be made from a list of ingredients.
Click to see a video of a 19-year-old attempting the same test for formal operational thought.
In this video clip, the older teenager uses formal operational thought to attack the sandwich problem.
10kg
2kg
10kg
5kg
formal operational thought: More systematic logical thinking; the ability to understand and systematically manipulate abstract concepts. 6 6 6

7. Intuitive, Emotional Thought
Do adolescents think more intuitively (emotionally) or analytically?
Intuitive thought
Analytical thought
Thought that arises from an emotion or hunch, beyond rational explanation, and is influenced by past experiences and cultural assumptions.
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.
Instructions:
Based on the story you’ll hear, which of these statements are more likely to be true?
First read the description of Timothy below. Tell the class that based on this description, the teenager in the photograph will rank the statements.
“Timothy is a very good-looking, strong, and does not smoke. He likes hanging around with his male friends, watching sports on TV, and driving his Ford Mustang convertible. He’s very concerned with how he looks and with being in good shape. He is a high school senior now and is trying to get a college scholarship.”
With this description in mind, put yourselves in the shoes of the teenager in the photograph. Have him/her rank each statement about Timothy in terms of how likely it is to be true, with 1 “most likely” and 6 “least likely”.
How would an adolescent most likely rank these statements about Timothy? One study reported that 73 percent made at least one analytical error, ranking a double statement (e.g., popular and an athlete). They intuitively jumped to the more inclusive statements, rather than sticking to logic.
Almost all the adolescents were analytical and logical on some of the 19 problems, but not on others. Klaczynksi (2001), who created this logic problem, found that logical thinking improves with age and education, although not with IQ. He went on to say, “Most adolescents do not demonstrate a level of performance commensurate with their abilities” (p. 854).
Researchers have found that essentially logic is more difficult than intuition, and it requires examination of comforting, familiar prejudices. Once people of any age reach an emotional conclusion (sometimes called a “gut feeling”), they resist changing their minds. As people gain experience in making decisions and thinking things through, they become better at knowing when analysis is needed (Milkman et al., 2009).
dual-process model: The notion that two networks exist within the human brain, one for emotional and one for analytical processing of stimuli.
( )
Timothy has a girlfriend.
Timothy is an athlete.
Timothy is popular and has a girlfriend.
( )
Timothy is a teacher’s pet and has a girlfriend.
Timothy is a teacher’s pet.
Timothy is popular.
( )
( )
( )
( ) 9 9 9

8. Adolescent perspective
Decision Making
How do adults and adolescents, in general, judge “good thinking” ?
Adult perspective
Adolescent perspective
Believes in resisting impulses and making careful decisions
More inclined to make impulsive decisions
Takes long-term risks into account, valuing successful life over immediate satisfaction
Instruction:
Click to reveal differences between adult and adolescent perspectives.
With maturity, adolescents are less likely to be paralyzed by too much analysis or to plummet into costly intuition.
Logic increases from adolescence to adulthood (and then decreases somewhat in old age) (De Neys & Van Gelder, 2009).
Click to watch a video of teens in a classroom during a discussion.
This video clip shows a classroom discussion in which students analyze the play “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Click to watch a video about adolescent decision-making.
In this video clip, teens describe decisions they make about their academic futures.
Values current social acceptance over concern about distant risks
Doesn’t want to waste precious time and wants to act
Prefers systematic, analytic thinking 10 10 10

9. Time Spent Playing Video Games per Week
Technology and Cognition
How did adolescents respond to a questionnaire about video game use?
Time Spent Playing Video Games per Week
Hours 25 20 15 10
Instruction:
Click each age group to reveal the findings.
The average adolescent boy spends more time playing video games than reading, eating, doing homework, talking with friends, playing sports, or almost anything else except sleeping or sitting in class. Some even skip school or postpone sleep to finish a game.
Internet use and video games improve visual-spatial skills and vocabulary (Greenfield, 2009).
There are some dangers, too, since technology encourages rapid shifts of attention, multitasking without reflection, and visual learning instead of invisible analysis (Greenfield, 2009). 5
8-11
12-14
15-18
Age group
Source: Gentile, 2009 12 12 12

10. 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).
secondary education: Literally, the period after primary education (elementary or grade school) and before tertiary education (college). 13 13 13

11. Transitions and Translations
What are some problems students have during their secondary education?
How can these alter the learning environment?
Technology
Transition to a New School
Cyberbullying
“A number of disorders and symptoms of psychopathology including depression, self-injury behavior, substance abuse, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia have striking developmental patterns corresponding to transitions in early and late adolescence.”
(Masten, 2004, p. 310)
Bullying that occurs when one person spreads insults or rumors about another by distributing embarrassing videos
Instruction:
Click to show a term, category or to reveal findings.
Middle school adolescents also experience stress from hormones, body changes, sexual experiences, family conflict, and cultural expectations.
The biology of puberty may activate genes that predispose a person to pathology (Erath et al., 2009).
Many schools wisely have grouping or programs for entering classes, because the difficulty for new students is suddenly finding oneself in the minority and in a context that is unfamiliar.
Click to see video interview with teenagers.
In this video clip, teens discuss their psychological awareness and relationships with parents; Psychologist Anne Petersen discusses parental guidance.
Click to see another video interview with teenagers.
The adolescents in this video clip discuss conformity and possible high-risk behaviors with drinking and drugs. 14 14 14

12. How many students graduate or drop out of U.S. high schools?
Four-Year Graduation Rate, United States
Percent of all high school students 80 79 78 77 76 75 74 73
Instruction:
Click to reveal the findings.
Some experts say that the 10-year decrease in dropout rates from 1970 to 1980 occurred because more adolescents dropped out before ninth grade; others say high school became easier.
Graduation rates vary from less than 10 percent in the poorest nations (such as Niger and Cambodia) to 99 percent in the richest (such as Japan and Sweden). The United States is neither best nor worst. 72 71 70
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Year
Source: Digest of Education Statistics, 2009. 17 17

13. Closing Thoughts
How does a teens’ change in thinking influence his behavior?