Cognitive Development in Adolescence

1. Cognitive Development in Adolescence

2. Cognitive Development • Piaget’s –formal operational stage-abstract scientific thinking • Hypothetico-deductive reasoning- problem solving strategy- begins with general theory and deduce specific hypotheses which is tested • Concrete operational children experiment unsystematically.

3. Piaget-Cognitive Development • Stage 1 – Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-2) • Infant tries to coordinate senses with motor skills • Develops symbolic thought (mental images) • Object permanence – around 9 months, mastered 18 months

4. Stage 2 – Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs) • Has not achieved conservation – the awareness that as something changes in physical qualities, the quantity does not change • Centration-they only have the ability to focus on one aspect of a problem at a time • Irreversibility-they are unable to envision reversing an action that has already been done

5. Egocentrism-they are unable to take another’s point of view Animisim-when child assigns human qualities to inanimate objects Artificialism-the child’s belief that natural objects are manmade Literalism-takes the spoken word seriously

6. Egocentrism

7. Stage 3 – Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) • Child attains conservation, ability to reverse, they are able to decentrate, experience less egocentrism, less artificialism, less animism, less literalism

8. Stage 4 – Formal Operational Stage (11 years and up) • Child now achieves abstract, hypothetical thought

9. Formal Operation Stage • Propositional thought-formal operational reasoning in which teens assess logic of verbal statements without referring to real-world circumstances • Piaget agreed that language plays a significant part of adolescent development due to reasoning about abstract concepts

10. Formal Operations • About 40% to 60% of college students fail Piaget’s formal operational problems • Abstract thinking comes from extensive experience in that area • Some villages and tribal societies do not include formal operations

11. Cognitive Development of Teens • Can argue more effectively • Become more self-conscious and self-focused • Become more idealistic and critical • Become better at everyday planning and decision making

12. Adolescent Cognition • Piaget’s Theory: Adolescent was in formal operational stage of cognition where thought is more abstract & adolescents are no longer limited to actual, concrete experiences as anchors for thought • They can now conjure up make-believe situations & events that are hypothetical possibilities & then try to reason logically about them • In this stage: adolescent has ability to develop hypotheses, or best guesses to solve problems as in algebraic equation • They systematically deduce, or conclude best path to follow in solving equation

14. Adolescent Egocentrism • Heightened self-consciousness of adolescents which is reflected in their belief that others are as interested in them as they are & in their sense of personal uniqueness David Elkind proposes two types of social thinking: • imaginary audience: a belief that they are ‘on stage’ and that their every act is being viewed by an imaginary audience • personal fable: sense of uniqueness making them feel that no one can understand them

15. Information Processing in Adolescents • Ability to process information improves in areas of memory, decision making critical thinking & self-regulatory learning • Robert Sternberg found that solving problems, such as analogies, requires individuals to make continued comparisons between newly encoded information & previously encoded information • Adolescents probably have more storage space in short-term memory

16. Adolescent Cognitive Capacities Adolescents have: • Increased speed, automaticity & capacity of information processing • More breadth of content knowledge, • Increased ability to construct new combinations of knowledge • Greater range for applying or obtaining knowledge • Capacity to set goals for extending knowledge • Awareness of their emotional makeup to: periodically monitor their progress, fine-tune their strategies, evaluate obstacles & make adaptations

17. Adolescent Thinking: The Information-Processing View Five areas of improvement: Selective attention and divided attention Working memory and long-term memory Processing speed Organization Metacognition

18. Problem Solving • Crystallized intelligence • Information that we know • This is better than in children, but not as good as adults • Fluid intelligence • How quickly we process novel information • Better than children, but also better than when we are older

19. The Adolescent Brain Brain maturation is studied using noninvasive imaging techniques: fMRI DTI EEG Brain maturation in adolescence is linked to behavioral, emotional, and cognitive development during this period (Keating, 2004)

20. How your Brain Works A Typical Neuronal Cell also called the Soma • Your brain contains about 100 billion neurons Terminal feet Terminal buttons

21. The Synaptic Cleft: How Neurons Communicate

22. What Changes in The Brain? • Both structural and functional changes in the brain during adolescence • Important changes in: • The prefrontal cortex • The limbic system

23. Changes in Brain Structure during Adolescence Changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) improve efficiency of information-processing: Synaptic "pruning” Myelination Decrease in grey matter and increase in white matter Increased white matter reflects improved connectivity within and across brain regions.

24. Changes in Brain Function during Adolescence Full Maturation of PFC Not complete until mid-20s Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex Important for planning ahead Ventromedial prefrontal cortex Important for gut-level, intuitive decision making Orbitofrontal cortex Important for evaluating risks and rewards

25. Changes in Brain Function during Adolescence

26. Changes in Brain Function during Adolescence • Two important changes in brain function involving the prefrontal cortex: • Patterns of activation within PFC generally become more focused • Activity in the PFC becomes increasingly coordinated with activity in other parts of the brain.

27. Changes in Brain Function during Adolescence • Functional change in the limbic system • Changes in the levels of several neurotransmitters • Dopamine • Serotonin • Changes make individuals: • More emotional • More responsive to stress • More likely to engage in reward seeking and sensation seeking behavior

28. Changes in Brain Function during Adolescence

29. 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

30. 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 Verbal, mathematical, spatial, kinesthetic, self-reflective, interpersonal, music

31. Test Performance in Adolescence Intelligence test scores become increasingly stable during childhood (age 6 or 7) and are remarkably stable during adolescence. Sex differences

32. Culture and Intelligence Vygotsky emphasized context in which intellectual development occurs Zone of Proximal Development Scaffolding

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. Adolescent Thinking in Context: Risk-Taking • Age differences in values and priorities • Adolescents and adults evaluate the desirability of possible consequences differently • Adolescents are more attuned to the potential rewards than adults are • Might be more beneficial to convince adolescents that the rewards of a risky activity are small than to persuade them the costs are large