The Young Adult Mind: A Work in Progress
David Moore, Psychology
Brain development during adolescence and young adulthood:
Major processes and effects of development:
1) Increase in white matter (myelination) and decrease in grey matter (pruning)
 Speed and accuracy of encoding information
 Holding information in mind
 Transforming and manipulating information
 Task switching
2) Maturation of prefrontal cortex (females – early 20s; males - ~30)
 Planning and organizing
 Initiating and focusing attention
 Inhibiting irrelevant information
 Improved working memory
 Response flexibility
 Integrating information
 Self-regulation/monitoring
Correlates of immature prefrontal cortex:
 Impulsivity; action without reflection
 Novelty-seeking
 Distractibility by irrelevant stimuli
 Attention directed by emotion
 Difficulty initiating and focusing sustained attention
Brain development/maturation appears to set “upper limit” for cognitive functioning; it is necessary but
not sufficient for higher thought (as described by theories of cognitive/epistemological development
during the college years). Whether upper limit is reached depends almost entirely on experiences and
environmental influences/support.
Cognitive development during the college years
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Described by several different models (stemming back to William Perry’s model in 1970)
Despite researchers’ different labels for stages, there is a high convergence of findings in terms of
what develops (or what can develop) during the college years.
Model with most extensive research support is the Reflective Judgment Model
o Developed by Patricia King (U. Michigan) and Karen Kitchener (Denver U.)
o Reflective thinking/judgment involves use of evidence, reasoning, active construction of
knowledge, questioning of beliefs and knowledge (certainly related to, if not synonymous
with, “critical thinking”).
o Assessed by how individuals deal with “ill-structured problems.”
Course of development – non-linear and dynamic; tremendous variability within and across individuals.
Regression in response to learning a new skill is the norm vs. the exception; extensive practice necessary
to generalize to other tasks and domains.
Influences on development – Education and intellectual challenge – most important determinant.
Evidence that type of education matters (high support/challenge for thinking about multiple perspectives,
weighing and using evidence to support assertions, reasoning about open-ended/ill-structured problems).
Reflective Judgment: Approximate age ranges for Optimal1 and Functional2 levels
Stage of reflective judgment
Emergence
of optimal
level
Pre-Reflective judgment
Stage 3
-Dualistic/absolutist thinking
-Sources of knowledge: authority or
personal beliefs
-Failure to use evidence
-“Ignorant certainty” vs. “Intelligent
confusion” (Barry Kroll)
6-7 years
Quasi-Reflective judgment
Stage 4
-Beliefs can’t be known with certainty for
pragmatic reasons (incorrect reporting of
data, data lost over time)
-Evidence seen as important, but often used
inconsistently or in a way that is one-sided.
-After examining conflicting claims, prone to
making a decision based on intuition or “gut
instinct.”
10-12 years
Stage 5
-Knowledge is subjective; only interpretations of
evidence or events can be known.
-Quality of evidence is evaluated (strong/weak).
-Different types of evidence recognized (e.g.,
scientific, historical) & assertions are justified
based on “rules of inquiry” for a particular context
or discipline.
Reflective Judgment
Stage 6
14-16 years
19-21 years
-Knowledge is contextual & actively constructed,
based on one’s own & others’ evaluation of
evidence.
-Assertions must not only be based on relevant
data but must also be evaluated to determine their
validity (using criteria like coherence, fit with the
data, explanatory power, parsimony, etc.)
Stage 7
-Judgments seen as the outcome of a process of
rational inquiry, based on multiple considerations
(e.g., explanatory value of the interpretations, risk
of wrong conclusion, consequences of alternative
judgments) & their interrelationships.
-Beliefs justified probabilistically using evidence
& arguments; conclusions defended as
representing most complete, compelling, or
plausible understanding of an issue, based on
current evidence.
-Assertions continually re-evaluated, in light of
new evidence.
24-26 years
Emergence of functional/
independent level
Middle school, high school
12-17 years
Late high school, college, and
beyond
16-23 years
Never for many people and
domains
Early graduate school
19-30+ years
Never for many people and
domains
Advanced graduate school
23-40+ years
Never for many people and
domains
Advanced graduate school
30-45+
Never for many people and
domains
Notes. This table includes only stages 3 through 7 of the Reflective Judgment Model, excluding those stages that typically
characterize only young children.
1
Optimal level refers to the maximum skill level possible only in the presence of high contextual support and challenge.
2
Functional level refers to the skill level observed independently, in the absence of external support/challenge.
*Sources: Fischer & Pruyne (2002). Reflective thinking in adulthood. In Demick & Andreoletti (Eds.), Handbook of
Adult Development (pp. 169-198). Also http://web.missouri.edu/~wood/rjstages/rjstages.html