1. Cognitive Development in Adolescence
Children 16
Cognitive Development in Adolescence
John W. Santrock

2. Cognitive Development in Adolescence
How Do Adolescents Think and Process Information?
What Characterizes Adolescents’ Values, Moral Education, and Religion?
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
How Do Adolescents Experience Career Development and Work?

3. Piaget’s Theory Stage of formal operations Abstract thinking Idealism
How Do Adolescents Think and Process Information?
Piaget’s Theory
Stage of formal operations
Abstract thinking
Idealism
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning
Develop and test hypotheses; deduce best ways to solve problems
Challenges to Piaget’s ideas

4. Adolescent Egocentrism
How Do Adolescents Think and Process Information?
Adolescent Egocentrism
Heightened self-consciousness
Two types of social thinking
Imaginary audience
Believe others are as interested in them as they are in themselves
Personal fable
Sense of personal uniqueness and invulnerability

5. Information Processing
How Do Adolescents Think and Process Information?
Information Processing
Improvements in
Memory
Decision making
Critical thinking

6. Memory Short-Term Working Long-Term Improvements in problem solving
Improves through early 20s
Related to reading comprehension
Long-Term
Continues to improve in adolescence

7. Decision Making Increased decision making
How Do Adolescents Think and Process Information?
Decision Making
Increased decision making
Older adolescents better than younger adolescents at decision making
Adolescent decision making linked to some personality traits
Need opportunities to practice and discuss realistic decision making

8. How Do Adolescents Think and Process Information?
Critical Thinking
Adolescence is important transitional period with increases in
Speed, automaticity, and capacity of information processing
Breadth of content knowledge
Ability to construct new combinations of knowledge
Range and more spontaneous use of strategies

9. Values Beliefs and attitudes about the way things should be
What Characterizes Adolescents’ Values, Moral Education, and Religion?
Values
Beliefs and attitudes about the way things should be
Changing values: more concern for own well-being than service to others
Self-fulfillment
Self-expression

10. What Characterizes Adolescents’ Values, Moral Education, and Religion?
Values and Education
Service learning: education that promotes social responsibility and service to community
Moral education
Hidden curriculum
Character education: teaching basic moral literacy

11. What Characterizes Adolescents’ Values, Moral Education, and Religion?
Values and Education
Values clarification: helping people clarify what their lives are for and what is worth working for
Cognitive moral education: learn to develop such values as democracy and justice

12. Religion Positive effects Better grades
What Characterizes Adolescents’ Values, Moral Education, and Religion?
Religion
Positive effects
Better grades
Encourages socially acceptable behavior; caring and concern for others
Role models
Religious organizations serve community
Exploration of meaning of life

13. Developmental Changes and Religion
Erikson’s Theory
Adolescents grapple with religious questions as part of search for identity
Piaget: Stages of Religious Thought
Preoperative intuitive: up to 7–8 years
Concrete operational: 7–8 to 13–14
Formal operational: 14 onward

14. Religious Beliefs and Parenting
Religion: created to socialize children
Most adults adopt the religion raised in
Affected by quality of parent-adolescent relationship; securely attached more likely to adopt parents’ choice
Religious changes and reawakenings most likely during adolescence

15. Religion and Adolescent Sexuality
Aspects of religiousness related to
Selecting friends with restrictive attitudes
Fewer partners outside romantic relationship
Perception of unprotected sex as high risk
Responsible contraceptive use
Fewer sexual encounters

16. The American Middle School
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
The American Middle School
Transition
Can be stressful
Occurs during time of many changes
Puberty
Cognitive development
Changing relationship with parents
Top-dog phenomenon

17. Effective Middle Schools
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Effective Middle Schools
Lessen impersonal nature; be smaller
Lower student-to-counselor ratios
Involve parents and community leaders
Develop challenging curricula
Team-teach in flexible curriculum blocks
More fitness and health programs

18. The American High School
Prepare for modern, demanding jobs
Enable all students to graduate
Hold higher achievement expectations; especially in senior year
Get students better part-time jobs with shorter hours; keep grades up

19. High School Dropouts Serious educational, societal problem
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
High School Dropouts
Serious educational, societal problem
Adults with educational deficiencies
Affects economic and social well-being
Overall rates declined in 21st century
Native Americans may have highest rate; Latino rate also remains high
Males more likely to drop out than females

20. Causes of Dropping Out School-related Economic and family-related
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Causes of Dropping Out
School-related
Don’t like school; suspended, expelled
Economic and family-related
Low SES more to help support families
Peer-related
Personal reasons
Pregnancy or marriage

21. Reducing the Dropout Rate
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Reducing the Dropout Rate
Provide effective programs in
Early reading and tutoring
Counseling and mentoring
Create caring environment
Offer community service opportunities
Implement early detection

22. What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Career Development
Ginzberg’s stages of development career choice theory
Fantasy: lasts to about age 11
Tentative: from ages 11 to 17
Realistic: from ages 17 to 18
Criticisms of theory
Ignores individual differences

23. Career Development Super’s Career Self-Concept Theory
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Career Development
Super’s Career Self-Concept Theory
Self-concepts play central roles in choices; constructed during adolescence
Occurs in five phases

24. Career Development Stage Age Description Crystallization 14-18
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Career Development
Stage
Age
Description
Crystallization
14-18
Develop ideas about work with existing global self-concept
Specification
18-22
Choices narrow; initiates behavior to enter some career
Implementation
21-24
Complete education or training; enter world of work
Stabilization
25-35
Decide specific/appropriate career
Consolidation
35+
Seek advancement, high status

25. Career Development Holland’s Personality-Type theory
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Career Development
Holland’s Personality-Type theory
Make effort to match individual to career
Matching personality to career promotes:
Happiness in job
Longevity in workplace
Six main personality types

26. Career Development Personality Career Realistic
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Career Development
Personality
Career
Realistic
“masculine” traits; construction, labor, truck driving, or farming
Intellectual
“thinkers”; math and science careers
Social
“feminine” traits; teaching, social work, or counseling
Conventional
Structure: bank teller, clerk, secretary
Enterprising
“verbal” and dominating; politics, sales, or management
Artistic
“expressive”; art and writing

27. Exploration, Decision Making, and Planning
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Exploration, Decision Making, and Planning
Important roles in adolescents’ choices
Approached with ambiguity, uncertainty, and stress
Many adolescents
Receive little direction from school guidance counselors
Do not know what information to seek and how to seek it

28. Sociocultural Influences on Career Choice
What Are Schools for Adolescents Like?
Sociocultural Influences on Career Choice
Genetic limitations
Parents and peers
School influences
Counselors and teachers
Socioeconomic status
Ethnicity
Gender

29. Work Sociocultural context of work
How Do Adolescents Experience Career Development and Work?
Work
Sociocultural context of work
Three-fourths of high school seniors have had work experience
Most work 16 to 20 hours per week
Most work in service jobs
Males work longer hours and are paid more per hour than females

30. Advantages and Disadvantages of Part-Time Work
How Do Adolescents Experience Career Development and Work?
Advantages and Disadvantages of Part-Time Work
Pros
Understand how business world works
Learn how to get and keep a job
Manage money
Budget time
Take pride in their accomplishments
Evaluate goals
Cons
Little on-job training; distanced to adult coworkers
Give up sports
Miss sleep, social affairs with friends
More stress to life
Lower grades

31. Work Profiles of Adolescents Around the World
How Do Adolescents Experience Career Development and Work?
Work Profiles of Adolescents Around the World
Many developing countries
Adolescents do not attend school
Boys earn more income than girls
Girls do more unpaid labor than boys
Unschooled populations: labor exceeds 8 hours per day
European and East Asian adolescents work much less than U.S. adolescents

32. Children 16
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