1
Chapter 2
Cognitive Development
I.
Changes in Cognition
A.
Thinking about possibilities
1.
less bound to concrete events
2.
wonder why or how things could be different
3.
move easily between specific and abstract
4.
can reason more systematically – applying learned strategies
5.
production of counterarguements- become better arguers
6.
hypothetical thinking – if –then thinking; reasoning beyond the
observable
a.
suspending our beliefs; devil’s advocate
b.
ability to take perspective of others (how would you feel_
c.
keeping ahead of the opposition (but you let John go out at
16)
d.
planning ahead to see consequences (if I do this, then I
can’t do that)
B.
Abstract thinking – things not experienced directly through the senses
1.
puns, proverbs, analogies and metaphors
2.
social cognition – thinking about relationships, politics, religion
and morality
C.
Metacognition – thinking about thinking
1.
using a strategy to remember , i.e. mnemonics
2.
appraising one’s own comprehension of material
3.
increased introspection, self-consciousness, and intellectualization
4.
increased introspection may lead to adolescent egocentrism –
increased self-absorption
a.
imaginary audience – heightened self-consciousness
b.
adolescent fable – I am unique and immortal; you can’t
possibly understand what I feel; careless and reckless
behavior ) driving too fast; unprotected sex
D.
Multidimensional thinking; moving beyond centration
1.
ability to evaluate materials i.e. books along many different
dimensions
2.
describe self and others in more complicated terms (I’m quiet and
outgoing)
3.
view problems multidimensionally seeing 2 sides of an argument
4.
see more aspects of people’s personalities
E.
Adolescent relativism
1.
move beyond black and white to shades of gray
2.
less accepting of other’s “facts”
3.
increased questioning of parental values and rules
2
4.
II.
with increased questioning comes uncertainty which may lead to
cynicism and skepticism
Theories on Adolescent Thinking
A.
Piaget
1.
cognitive-developmental view
2.
4 stages of development
 sensorimotor (0-2)
 preoperational (2-7)
 concrete operations (7-11)
 formal operations (11+)
3.
emphasis placed on interaction between biological changes and
environmental stimuli
4.
prepositional logic – system based on theoretical or formal
principles of logic; if A is true or B is true, then C is true;
transitive inference
B.
Growth of formal-operational thinking
1.
different from childhood thinking
a.
thinking about possibilities
b.
thinking multidimensionally
c.
thinking about abstract concepts
2.
develops in 2 steps
a.
step 1 emergent formal operations - use formal thought in
some instances and not others; develop sequentially
b.
step 2
formal thinking becomes consolidated used
across situations
3.
competence-performance distinction – performance on
sophisticated logical reasoning tasks as a function of both the
individual’s underlying cognitive competence and features of the
task
4.
not all people use formal thinking all the time; while most can use
it in given situations, some people never us it as adults
5.
unlike Piaget, it is now felt that development may be gradual and
continues throughout childhood and adolescence
C.
Information Processing view
1.
Sternberg’s Componential Approach – breaking tasks into
component parts link a computer program
a.
deficiencies is any component interferes with accuracy
b.
some strategies are more efficient
2.
changes in abilities
a.
5 sets of gains
1.
attention
a.
selective attention – focus on one stimulus
and tune out others
3
divided attention – ability to deal with 2 sets
of stimuli i.e. reading while listening to
music
memory
a.
short-term memory
b.
long-term memory
c.
younger children prematurely terminate
information processing perhaps because of
overload of short-term memory
speed of processing – older adolescents work faster
organizational strategies – use know strategies
more often and more efficiently
metacognition - knowledge of own thinking
processes; self-monitoring of thinking
b.
2.
3.
4.
5.
D.
III.
Theoretical directions
1.
Are there qualitative differences in thinking (in addition to
quantitative changes)?
2.
Robbie Case
a.
integration of Piagetian and Information Processing
theories
b.
gains in attention, memory, metacognition, and
organization permit automatization of thinking
c.
transitions from one stage to another linked to physical
changes in the brain
3.
Demetriou
 specialized structural systems – specialized cognitive structures
used to solve different types of problems
Intelligence
A.
Measurement of IQ
1.
Stanford-Binet and Wechsler most used
2.
Original test developed by Binet to determine which children
would benefit from formal education (read about IQ norms)
B.
Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
3 types of intelligence
1.
componential – ability to acquire, store and process information
(like IQ tests)
2.
experiential – use of insight and creativity
3.
contextual – practical thinking (street smarts)
C.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
7 types
1.
verbal
2.
mathematical
3.
spatial
4.
kinesthetic (movement)
5.
self-reflective
4
E.
F.
IV.
6.
interpersonal
7.
musical
Culture and intelligence
1.
IQ tests based on white population
2.
Language differences
3.
Culture-fair tests – based less on verbal and more on performance
abilities
Test performance
1.
fairly stable over time
2.
scores in early adolescence same as late adol.
3.
people become more intelligent but scores remain same relative to
peers
4.
higher education can increase IQ – read about differences between
boys and girls
Adolescent Thinking
A.
Changes in social cognition – thinking about people, social relationships
and social institutions
Types of:
1.
impression formation
5 main directions
a.
differentiated – use narrower descriptions of self and others
b.
less egocentric – know their views are not shared by
everyone
c.
more abstract – movement away from concrete attributes
such as physical characteristics toward attitudes and
motives as descriptors
d.
greater use of inference – interpret other’s behavior and
infer motives, beliefs and feelings of others
e.
more highly organized – making judgements about how
people act in different situations
2.
Implicit Personality Theory – why people are the way they are and
how develops during adolescence
3.
Social Perspective Taking – looking at events from another’s point
of view
 mutual role taking – ability to see 2 differing points of view as
objective 3rd party
4.
morality and social convention – social norms that guide daily
behavior
B.
Adolescent risk taking
1.
sensation seeking – the enjoyment of new or intense experiences
2.
felt that adolescents engage in decision-making similarly to adults
but evaluate consequences differently or make decisions based on
faulty or incomplete information
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