Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byLucy Wilkerson Modified over 9 years ago
1
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Adolescence 8th edition By Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D. Chapter Two: Cognitive Transitions Insert Image
2
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Chapter 2 Overview What are the major changes in cognition that take place during adolescence? What are the major theoretical perspectives on adolescent thinking? What changes take place in the adolescent brain? Are there individual differences in intelligence in adolescence? How do changes in cognition affect real-world situations that adolescents encounter?
3
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 Changes in Cognition (Thinking) Main advantages over children’s thought: (1) Thinking about possibilities (2) Thinking about abstract concepts (3) Thinking about thinking (Metacognition) (4) Thinking in Multiple Dimensions (5) Seeing knowledge as relative (Relativism)
4
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Thinking about Possibilities Example: Ways in which their lives might be affected by different career choices Moves easily between the specific and the abstract to generate alternative possibilities Development of deductive reasoning” “If-then” thinking Major intellectual accomplishment
5
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Deductive Reasoning All hockey players wear mouth guards. Kim is a hockey player. Does Kim wear a mouth guard? All hockey players wear mouth guards. Kim is wearing a mouth guard. Is Kim a hockey player?
6
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 Inductive Reasoning Kim, John, Julie, Tom, and Kendra are all hockey players. Kim, John, Julie, Tom, and Kendra all wear mouth guards. Do all hockey players wear mouth guards? Inference is made based on accumulated evidence (first statements, your own experience, etc.)
7
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 Thinking about Abstract Concepts Ability to comprehend higher-order abstract logic: Puns, proverbs, metaphors, and analogies The growth of social thinking (social cognition) during adolescence is directly related to the young person’s improving ability to think abstractly
8
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Metacognition: Thinking About Thinking Monitoring one’s own cognitive activity during thinking Increased introspection: thinking about our own emotions Increased self-consciousness: thinking that others are thinking of us Increased intellectualization: thinking about our own thoughts
9
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 Metacognitive Consequences Adolescent Egocentrism Imaginary audience Believe that everyone is watching Behavior is the focus of other’s concern Personal fable Experiences are unique Nothing bad can happen to them because they are special
10
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 Thinking in Multiple Dimensions Ability to view things from more than one aspect at a time More sophisticated understanding of probability Understand sarcasm Understand double-entendres
11
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Adolescent Relativism Ability to see things as relative rather than as absolute Skepticism becomes common Everything may seem uncertain No knowledge seems completely reliable
12
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Adolescent Thinking: Piaget’s View SENSORIMOTOR STAGE BIRTH TO 2 YEARS PREOPERATIONAL 2 TO 6 YEARS CONCRETE OPERATONAL 6 TO 11 YEARS FORMAL OPERATIONS 11+ YEARS
13
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 Adolescent Thinking: Piaget’s View Cognitive-developmental view Interaction between biological change and environmental stimulation Leads to intellectual growth Each stage is characterized by a particular type of thought
14
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Adolescent Thinking: Piaget’s View Propositional logic Based on formal principles of logic Applies to abstract, complicated thinking as well as to concrete, literal thinking Competence-performance distinction A large gap exists between what can be done and what is done in daily life
15
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 Adolescent Thinking: The Information-Processing View Question of Interest What is it about the ways that adolescents think about things that make them better problem solvers than children? Techniques used to write computer programs can help understand human reasoning processes
16
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 Adolescent Thinking: The Information-Processing View (1) Selective attention and divided attention (2) Working memory and long-term memory (3) Processing speed (4) Organization (5) Metacognition
17
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 The Adolescent Brain Research is conducted using fMRI, PET, and DTI scans Brain maturation in adolescence is linked to behavioral, emotional, and cognitive development during this period (Keating, 2004)
18
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Among the most important brain changes to take place at adolescence: The prefrontal cortex The limbic system What Changes in The Brain?
19
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 The Adolescent Brain Changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) improve efficiency of info- processing: Synaptic "pruning” Myelination Changes in levels of neurotransmitters in the limbic system affect reward sensitivity: Dopamine
20
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 The Synaptic Cleft: How Neurons Communicate
21
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 A Typical Neuronal Cell
22
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 22 Maturation of the Prefrontal Cortex Full Maturation Sometime between adolescence and early adulthood Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex Important for planning ahead Ventromedial prefrontal cortex Important for gut-level, intuitive decision making
23
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 23 Intellectual Abilities that Decline in Adolescence Brain regions involved in language acquisition grow rapidly in preadolescence These regions stop growing at puberty Language-learning more difficult during adolescence than childhood
24
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 24 Implications of the Timing of Brain Maturation Limbic system matures at puberty Seek novelty, reward, stimulation Prefrontal cortex matures several years later Time gap may explain why adolescence is a period of heightened experimentation with risk
25
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 25 Individual Differences in Intelligence in Adolescence Measurement of IQ Intelligence quotient First test developed in 1905 Most widely used – and misused – psychological instrument Cohort A group of people born during the same historical era
26
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 26 Individual Differences in Intelligence in Adolescence Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence Componential Experiential Contextual Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences Seven types of intelligences
27
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 27 Test Performance in Adolescence Intelligence test scores become increasingly stable during childhood (age 6 or 7) and are remarkably stable during adolescence. The SAT predicts one’s likelihood of success in college, but is only one of many useful predictive factors
28
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 28 Culture and Intelligence Vygotsky emphasized context in which intellectual development occurs Zone of Proximal Development Scaffolding Insert Picture
29
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 29 Culture and Intelligence Culture-fair tests Intelligence tests that attempt to reduce sources of ethnic or cultural bias Based less on verbal skills Oriented toward performance tasks
30
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 30 Adolescent Thinking in Context: Social Cognition Adolescents’ conceptions of interpersonal relationships become more mature: Understanding of human behavior is more advanced Ideas about social institutions and organizations are more complex Ability to figure out what other people think is more accurate
31
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 31 Adolescent Thinking in Context: Social Cognition Studies fall into three categories: (1)Impression formation (2)Social perspective-taking (3)Conceptions of morality and social conventions
32
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 32 Adolescent Thinking in Context: Risk-Taking Risk-taking is more common among males than females This gender gap has been narrowing over time Young people behave in risky ways because a variety of emotional and social factors influence their judgment
33
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 33 Adolescent Thinking in Context: Risk-Taking Behavioral decision theory Decision making is rational and individuals try to maximize benefits of alternative courses of action and minimize costs Personal fable about invulnerability Early adolescents less likely than young adults to feel invulnerable Adolescents vary more than adults in interpreting words describing risk
34
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 34 Adolescent Thinking: In The Classroom American youth have difficulty with critical thinking Schools should teach adolescents ways of: Focusing attention Improving short- and long-term memory Organizing information Monitoring thought processes
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.