1. Infants, Children, and Adolescents
Eighth Edition
Chapter 15
Cognitive Development in Adolescence

2. Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
15.1 What are the major characteristics of formal operational thought?
15.2 Discuss follow-up research on formal operational thought and its implications for the accuracy of Piaget’s formal operational stage.
15.3 How do information-processing researchers account for cognitive changes in adolescence?
15.4 Describe typical reactions of adolescents that result from their advancing cognition.
15.5 What factors contribute to sex differences in mental abilities during adolescence?

3. Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
15.6 Describe changes in vocabulary, grammar, and pragmatics during adolescence.
15.7 Discuss the impact of school transitions on adolescent adjustment.
15.8 Discuss family, peer, and school influences on academic achievement during adolescence.
15.9 What factors increase the risk of high school dropout?
15.10 Trace the development of vocational choice, and cite factors that influence it.
15.11 What problems do U.S. non-college-bound youths face in preparing for a vocation?

4. Piaget’s Theory: The Formal Operational Stage
Around age 11, young people develop capacity for abstract, systematic, scientific reasoning:
hypothetico-deductive reasoning
propositional thought
Formal operational adolescents can “operate on operations,” without referring to concrete things or events.

5. Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning
Steps in hypothetico-deductive reasoning:
Start with hypothesis: prediction about variables that might affect an outcome.
From hypothesis, deduce logical, testable inferences.
Systematically isolate and combine variables to see which inferences are confirmed in real world.

6. Piaget’s Pendulum Problem: Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning
Adolescents’ performance on pendulum problem illustrates hypothetico-deductive reasoning.
Hypothesis: Four variables might be influential:
Length of the string
Weight of the object hung on it
How high object is raised before it is released
How forcefully object is pushed
By varying one factor at a time, each variable is tested separately and, if necessary, also in combination.
Result: Only string length makes a difference.

7. Propositional Thought
Adolescents can evaluate logic of propositions (verbal statements) without referring to real-world circumstances.
In contrast, children can evaluate logic of statements only by considering them against concrete real-world evidence.
Piaget acknowledged importance of language in formal operations.

8. Follow-Up Research on Formal Operational Thought
Hypothetico-deductive reasoning:
School-age children show glimmerings of hypothetico-deductive reasoning.
They are less competent at it than adolescents.
Propositional thinking:
4- to 6-year-olds can reason logically in make-believe play.
In a verbal mode, they have difficulty reasoning from premises that contradict reality.
School-age children fail to grasp logical necessity of propositional reasoning.
Adolescents become better at analyzing logic of series of propositions, regardless of content.

9. Do All Individuals Reach the Formal Operational Stage?
People are best able to think abstractly and systematically on tasks in which they have had extensive guidance and practice.
Without opportunity to solve hypothetical problems, people in some societies may not display formal operations.
Formal operations may be a culturally transmitted way of thinking that is
specific to literate societies.
taught in school.

10. Gains in Information Processing in Adolescence
Attention becomes more selective.
Inhibition improves.
Strategies become more effective.
Knowledge increases, easing strategy use.
Metacognition expands.
Cognitive self-regulation improves.
Working memory increases.

11. Scientific Reasoning: Coordinating Theory with Evidence
Heart of scientific reasoning is coordinating theories with evidence.
Scientific reasoning improves steadily from childhood on.
Factors that support scientific reasoning:
Greater working-memory capacity
Exposure to increasingly complex problems
Sophisticated metacognitive understanding
Information-processing research confirms that scientific reasoning develops gradually out of specific experiences.

12. Hypothetical Thinking Task Which features of these sports balls—size, color, surface texture, or presence or absence of ridges—influence the quality of a player’s serve?
Figure 15.2: Which features of these sports balls—size, color, surface texture, or presence or absence of ridges—influence the quality of a player’s serve?
Figure 15.2
(Adapted from Kuhn, Amsel, & O’Loughlin, 1988.)

13. Consequences of Adolescent Cognitive Changes
Self-consciousness and self-focusing:
Imaginary audience
Personal fable
Idealism and criticism
Decision making:
Recognizing range of possible response options.
Identifying pros and cons of each alternative
Assessing likelihood of various outcomes
Evaluating one’s choice in terms of whether or not one’s goals were met

14. Sex Differences in Mental Abilities
Topic is controversial.
Girls and boys do not differ in general intelligence but do vary in certain specific abilities:
Reading
Writing
Spatial skills

15. Verbal Abilities
Girls score higher on tests of verbal ability throughout childhood and adolescence.
Differences in literacy skills contribute to widening gender gap in college enrollments.
Contributing factors:
Earlier development of left hemisphere in girls
More verbal stimulation given to girls
Regimented teaching methods at odds with boys’ higher activity level
For boys, lack of father involvement

16. Reading and Writing Achievement Gaps Favoring Girls
Figure 15.3: Reading and writing achievement gaps favoring girls at grades 8 and 12
Figure 15.3
(Adapted from U.S. Department of Education, 2012b, 2014b.)

17. Mathematical Abilities
Findings in early school grades are inconsistent.
Boys are advantaged once math concepts become abstract and spatial.
Male advantage is evident in most countries with equal access to secondary education.
Overall, gender gap is small and has diminished over past 30 years.
Gap is greatest among most capable, but also shrinking.

18. Sex Differences in Spatial Abilities
Gender gap favoring males is
large for mental rotation tasks and spatial perception tasks.
weak or nonexistent for spatial visualization tasks.
Males may gain spatial advantage from
prenatal exposure to androgen hormones.
more experience with manipulative activities (block play, model building).
greater adult encouragement.

19. Math Achievement Gender Gaps in Industrialized Nations
Figure 15.5: Math achievement gender gaps in nine industrialized nations, arranged in order of increasing gender equality
Figure 15.5
(Adapted from Guiso et al., 2008; OECD, 2012)

20. Language Development in Adolescence
Vocabulary and Grammar
Adding abstract words to vocabulary
Producing grammatically more complex sentences
Grasping figurative language, proverbs
More effectively analyzing and correcting grammar
Pragmatics
Improved capacity to adapt to social context
Use of slang as sign of group belonging

21. School Transitions in Adolescence
Grades decline with each transition as a result of
higher academic standards.
less supportive teaching–learning environment.
Self-esteem drops after transition
especially for adolescents who face added strains.
for African-American and Hispanic students moving to school with fewer same-ethnicity peers.
Multiple-problem youths show rise in truancy and out-of-school problems.

22. Increase in Truancy and Out-of-School Problem Behaviors in Transition to High School
Figure 15.6: Increase in truancy and out-of-school problem behaviors across the transition to high school in four groups of students
Figure 15.6
(Adapted from Roeser, Eccles, & Freedman-Doan, 1999.)

23. Helping Adolescents Adjust to School Transitions
Factors associated with better adjustment include parental involvement, monitoring, gradual autonomy granting, emphasis on mastery vs. grades.
Having close friends increases social integration and academic motivation.
K–8 buildings or smaller units within large schools can promote closer relations with teachers and peers.
Homerooms enable teachers to work closely with students and parents to promote favorable adjustment.

24. Supporting High Achievement in Adolescence
Child-rearing practices:
Authoritative parenting
Joint parent–adolescent decision making
Parent involvement in adolescent’s education
Peer influences:
Peer valuing of and support for high achievement
School characteristics:
Warm, supportive teachers who develop relationships with parents
Learning activities that encourage high-level thinking
Active student participation
Employment schedule:
Job commitment limited to <15 hours per week
High-quality vocational education for non-college-bound students

25. Academic Achievement in Adolescence
Factors that promote academic achievement include
authoritative parenting.
strong parent–school partnerships.
peer support for high achievement.
school environments that meet adolescents’ academic, emotional, and social needs.

26. Media Multitasking, Attention, and Learning
More than two-thirds of 8- to 18-year-olds report media multitasking while studying, including
listening to music.
watching TV.
using the Internet.
Media multitasking fragments attention span, greatly reducing learning.
Frequent media multitaskers report multiple executive-function difficulties in everyday life.

27. High-Stakes Testing
About two-thirds of U.S. students take exit exams for high school graduation.
Accumulating evidence identifies ways that high-stakes testing undermines education:
Teaching to the test
Neglecting needs of low-income/ethnic minority students and of gifted/talented students.
Promoting fear among students, teachers, and administrators
Tapping only small sampling of skills covered in the classroom

28. U.S. High School Dropout Rates by Ethnicity
Figure 15.7: U.S. high school dropout rates by ethnicity
Figure 15.7
(From DeVoe & Darling-Churchill, 2008; U.S. Department of Education, 2014b.)

29. Dropout Prevention Strategies
Strategies that show success in preventing high school dropout include
supplementary academic instruction and counseling that offer personalized attention.
high-quality vocational education.
efforts to address factors in students’ lives related to leaving school early.
opportunities for participation in extracurricular activities.

30. Periods of Vocational Development
Fantasy period:
Early and middle childhood
Gain insight into career options
Tentative period:
Ages 11 to 16
Evaluate careers in terms of interests, abilities, and values
Realistic period:
Late teens and early twenties
Exploration followed by crystallization: focusing on general vocational category, then settling on single career

31. Factors Influencing Vocational Choice
Personality: Personality type influences career choice.
Family: Vocational aspirations correlate strongly with parents’ jobs.
Teachers: Teachers who offer encouragement and act as role models foster high career aspirations.
Gender stereotypes: Career guidance programs are needed to promote girls’ aspirations, including interest in STEM fields.

32. John Holland’s Personality Types
Investigative: enjoys working with ideas
Social: likes interacting with people
Realistic: prefers real-world problems
Artistic: emotional, expressive
Conventional: likes well-structured tasks
Enterprising: adventurous, persuasive, strong leader

33. Vocational Preparation of Non-College-Bound Adolescents
U.S. non-college-bound high school graduates
have fewer work opportunities than high school graduates of several decades ago.
often hold low-paid, unskilled jobs
have few alternatives for vocational counseling and job placement.
National apprenticeship program (similar to Germany’s) would improve transition from high school to work for U.S. non-college-bound young people.
Small-scale school-to-work projects in the U.S. are attempting to build bridges between learning and working.

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