1. Emerging Adulthood: Cognitive Development
Part VI
Chapter Eighteen
Emerging Adulthood: Cognitive Development
Postformal Thought
Morals and Religion
Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
Prepared by Madeleine Lacefield Tattoon, M.A.

2. Cognitive Development in Emerging Adulthood
Cognitive development can be described as the…
stage approach
evaluates whether a new stage or level is reached—postformal stage of thinking and reasoning in adulthood
psychometric approach
analyzes intelligence by means of IQ tests and other measures
information-processing approach
studies how the brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information

3. Postformal Thought Postformal thought
a proposed adult stage of cognitive development
by being more practical, more flexible, and more dialectical
more capable of combing contradictory elements into a comprehensive whole

4. Postformal Thought The Fifth Stage
self-protective—high in self-involvement, low in self-doubt
complex—valuing openness and independence above all
integrated—able to regulate emotions and logic

5. Postformal Thought Combining Subjective and Objective Thought
subjective thought
rises from the personal experiences and perceptions of an individual
objective thought
devalues subjective feelings, personal faith, and emotional experience while overvaluing objective, logical thinking

6. Postformal Thought Consolidating Emotions and Logic
complex problem solving is the crucial intellectual accomplishment of adulthood
combining affect (emotion) and logic (cognition)

7. Postformal Thought Cognitive Flexibility the ability… to be practical
to predict
to plan
to combine objective and subjective mental processes

8. Postformal Thought Cognitive Flexibility plans can go awry:
corporate restructuring
failure of birth control
parent’s illness
adults with cognitive flexibility avoid retreating into either emotions or intellect

9. Postformal Thought cognitive flexibility problem-solving
talking through problems with others
changing your mind once you made a mistake
behavioral changes

10. Postformal Thought cognitive flexibility
more likely to imagine several solutions for every problem and then choose the best one
research on problem-solving abilities concludes that emerging adults are better problem solvers than both adolescents and the oldest adults

11. Postformal Thought Countering Stereotypes cognitive flexibility
to change one’s childhood assumptions
younger adults hold less gender-stereotyped views
stereotype threat
the possibility that one’s appearance or behavior will be misread to confirm another person’s oversimplified prejudiced attitudes

12. Postformal Thought Dialectical Thought
a most advanced cognitive process, characterized by the ability to consider a thesis and its antithesis simultaneously and thus to arrive at a synthesis
makes possible an ongoing awareness of pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, possibilities and limitations

13. Postformal Thought Dialectical Thought thesis antithesis
a proposition or statement of belief; the first stage of the process of dialectical thinking
antithesis
a proposition or statement of belief that opposes the thesis; the second stage of the process of dialectical thinking

14. Postformal Thought Dialectical Thought synthesis
a new idea that integrates the thesis and its antithesis, thus representing a new and more comprehensive level of truth; the third stage of the process of dialectical thinking

15. Postformal Thought A “Broken” Love Affair nondialectical thinker
likely to believe that each person has stable, independent traits
concludes that one partner is at fault
a mistake from the beginning – “bad match”

16. Postformal Thought A “Broken” Love Affair dialectical thinkers:
see people and relationships as constantly evolving
partners are changed by time as well as by their interaction

17. Postformal Thought Culture and Dialectics
dialectical thought affects priorities and values
notable differences in culture are the result of nature, not nurture
“cognitive differences have ecological, historical, and sociological origins"

18. Morals and Religion
adult responsibilities, experiences, and education affect moral reasoning and religious beliefs.
maturation of values appears first in emerging adulthood and continues through middle age.

19. Morals and Religion morals and culture morals culture
affected by circumstance, including national background, culture, and era
culture
determines whether a particular practice is a moral issue

20. Morals and Religion
the power of culture makes if difficult to assess whether adults morality changes with age
moral thinking improves with age

21. Morals and Religion Dilemmas for Emerging Adults sex sexuality
reproduction
relationships
contraception
abortion
drugs
education
vocation

22. Morals and Religion Stages of Faith – James Fowler
Stage 1: Intuitive projective faith
Stage 2: Mythic-literal faith
Stage 3: Synthetic-conventional faith
Stage 4: Individual-reflective faith
Stage 5: Conjunctive faith
Stage 6: Universalizing faith

23. Morals and Religion Stages of Faith – James Fowler
…faith progresses from a simple, self-centered, one-sided perspective to a more complex, altruistic (unselfish) and many-sided view.
…faith is one way people combat stress, overcome adversity, and analyze challenges.

24. Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
The Effects of College
students attend college
to secure better jobs, learn specific skills
general education
college correlates with
better health
less smoking
better eating
more exercise
longer life

25. Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
Changes in the College Context
the fact that colleges and universities are designed to foster cognitive growth does not necessarily mean that they succeed
Changes in the Student
students and social structures change over time
Changes in the Institutions
current colleges offer more career programs and hire more part-time faculty

26. Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
Evaluating the Changes
what do today’s students get out of attending college?
colleges no longer produce the “great intellectual flexibility” that earlier research found

27. Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
Evaluating the Changes
Diversity and Enrollment
evidence on cognition suggests that interactions with people of different backgrounds and various views lead to intellectual challenges and deeper thought

28. Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
Evaluating the Changes
Graduates and Dropouts
many young students lack the cultural knowledge or cognitive maturity to acquire the “social know-how” needed to navigate through college
some “adapt to complexities better as they proceed through college…”