PSYC 335 Developmental Psychology I Session 12 Cognitive development - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education

2014/2015 – 2016/2017

PSYC 335 Developmental Psychology I

Session 12 – Cognitive development in Adolescence Lecturer: Dr . Joana Salifu Y endork Department of Psychology Contact Information: jyendork@ug.edu.gh

godsonug.wordpress.com/blog

Session Overview

Slide 2

• The focus of this session is on the changes in the cognitive

domain of development in the adolescence stage. Both the gains and limitation in the Formal Operational Stage of Piaget’s theory of Đ

• gŶitiǀ e deǀ elopŵeŶt ǁ i ll ďe disĐussed.

Session Outline

Slide 3

The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• Cognitive changes in adolescence
• Consequences of abstract thoughts
• Sex differences in mental abilities

Reading List

Slide 4

• Read Chapter 11 of Development through the lifespan, Berk

(2006)

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• pic One

COGNITIVE CHANGES IN

Slide 5

ADOLESCENCE

Cognitive changes in adolescence

• Formal Operational Stage (age 11+): this is the stage where

adolescents develop the ability to think abstractly.

• The adolescent can operate on operation and do not

require concrete things and events for logical thought.

• They are able come up with new

, more logical rules through internal reflection

– More abstract than concrete operational thought – Increased verbal problem-solving ability – Increased tendency to think about thought itself

• Understanding knowledge (how/when gained)
• MoŶitoriŶg oŶe’s oǁ Ŷ ŵeŶtal states

Slide 6

Cognitive changes in adolescence

Slide 7

– Thoughts of idealism and possibilities

• ͞If-theŶ͟ thiŶkiŶg
• Connection between how things are and how they might have been
• r could be.

– More logical thought

• Hypothetico-deductive reasoning: involves creating a hypothesis

and deducing its implications

• Propositional thought: the ability to evaluate the logic of

propositions (verbal statements) without referring to real-world circumstances.

Piaget’s Pendulum Problem

Slide 8

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• pic Two

CONSEQUENCES OF ABSTRACT

Slide 9

THOUGHT

Consequences of abstract thought

Self-Consciousness and Self-focusing

• Cognitive changes lead to revision in how adolescents

view themselves, others and the world

• This leads to improved reflection on thoughts, physical

and psychological changes lead to heightened self- consciousness and self-focusing

– Adolescents also tend to think more about themselves

Slide 10

Consequences of abstract thought

Slide 11

• Adolescent egocentrism: difficulty distinguishing their

perspectives from others. Shown by 2 cognitive distortions

• Imaginary Audience: adolescents’ belief that they are the

foĐus of eǀeryoŶe else’s atteŶtioŶ aŶd Đ

• ŶĐerŶ

– Extremely self-conscious – Avoidance of embarrassment

• Explains hours spent on appearance
• Explains sensitivity to public criticisms

Consequences of abstract thought

Slide 12

• Personal Fable: involves a sense of uniqueness and

invincibility

– Invincibility attitudes are associated with reckless behavior

• Drug use
• Suicide
• Having unprotected sex
• Imaginary audience and personal fables are strongest

during early adolescence followed by a gradual decline

• Critiques hold that the distortions are not due to

egocentrism but gains in perspective taking

Consequences of abstract thought

Idealism and Criticism

• Because adolescents can think about possibilities, they

can imagine an ideal world and think about alternative systems of political, religious, family , and moral

• rganization
• Disparities between the worldview of adolescents and

adults, increase tension between teenagers and parents

– positive resolution of the conflict between the possible and the actual can lead to increases in volunteer behaviour , involvement in community, small and large efforts to make the world better – negative resolution of this conflict can lead to destructive rebelliousness, increased social isolation, unhappiness

Slide 13

Consequences of abstract thought

Decision making

• Adolescents often do not follow the steps of rational

thinking in their decision making:

– 1)identifying alternatives; – 2)identifying the pros and cons of each alternative; – 3)assessing the likelihood of various outcomes; – 4)choosing the alternative that has the best chance of achieving their goals; – 5)evaluating the outcome in terms of whether their goals were met; – 6)learning from their mistakes

Slide 14

Consequences of abstract thought

Slide 15

• They fall on intuition
• Adolescents may find decision making difficult because

– They do not have sufficient knowledge to predict potential

• utcomes

– Overwhelmed by choices – More likely to choose short-term positive goals over long-term positive goals

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• pic Three

SEX DIFFERENCES IN MENT AL

Slide 16

ABILITIES

Sex Differences in Mental Abilities

Skill Performance Biological Influences Environmental Influences Verbal Girls do better from early ages, throughout school Girls: advantage in left hemisphere of brain

• Parents talk more to

girls

• Language arts

considered 䇾 feminine䇿 Math

• Boys better at

abstract reasoning

• Gap larger at

higher levels, although shrinking Boys: better numerical memory, spatial reasoning

• Mathematics

considered 䇾 masculine.䇿

• Parents see boys as

better at math

Sample Question

Slide 18

• In what ways are the thinking of adolescents

different from that of children in the early childhood stage of human development?.