Adolescence
Chapter 8
DEP 2004 Human Development
Across the Lifespan
Guiding Questions
• How do theorists view adolescents’ thought
and understanding?
• How do these views inform our ideas about
adolescents’ development of the self?
• How do these views inform our ideas about
adolescents’ moral reasoning abilities?
Information Processing
• Adolescents improve on attention tasks
– Selective attention—focus on relevant
information
– Divided attention—two things at once but
learning is still detrimentally effected
• Memory also improves
– Use of memory strategies (mnemonic
devices)
– Experience and knowledge is enhancing
Advances in Adolescence from an
Information Processing Perspective
• Working Memory and Processing Speed
– Have adult-like working memory and processing speed, enables
them to process information efficiently
• Content Knowledge, Strategies, and Metacognitive Skill
– Greater knowledge of the work facilitates understanding and
memory of new experiences
– Better able to identify task-appropriate strategies and monitor
effectiveness of those strategies
• Problem Solving and Reasoning
– Solve problems analytically by relying on math or logic, able to
detect weaknesses in scientific evidence and logical arguments
Vgotsky’s Contribution
Lev Vygotsky
•Zone of Proximal
Development
•Scaffolding
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
Piaget’s Contribution
• Formal operations
– Hypothetical
Deductive
reasoning
– Ex: Pendulum
problem
Social Cognition: Imaginary
Audience and Personal Fable
• Adolescent Egocentrism has two
aspects
– Imaginary audience
• Leads to feeling of self-consciousness
– Personal fable
• Can lead to anguish and high risk behavior
Piaget’s Formal Operations
Critiques
• Individual differences
– Not seen in every instance of teen life
– Adolescents with math and science
exhibit it more
• Cultural differences
– Traditional Piagetian tasks show little
success
– Success if task relevant to culture
The Self and the Social
Environment in Adolescence
• Adolescence thought to be a time of
storm and stress
• Experience Sampling Method (ESM)
has shown that
– In U.S. it is a time of emotional volatility
– Self-conscious, embarrassed, moody,
lonely, and nervous
The Self and the Social
Environment in Adolescence
• Source of distress a combination of
cognitive and environmental factors
• Transitions coupled with how events
are interpreted contribute to
volatility
The Self and the Social
Environment in Adolescence
• Adolescent self—conceptions become
complex
• Composed of:
– Actual self—true self conception
– Possible self—what you could become
• Ideal self—would like to be
• Feared self—possible to become but fears
becoming it
– False self—what is shown to others
The Self and the Social
Environment in Adolescence
• Discrepancy between actual self and
ideal self can lead to feelings of
failure and depression
• Self-esteem tends to fluctuate during
adolescence
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
 Created narratives of moral dilemmas and studied the
reasoning process that people underwent when
considering the problem
 All possible choices have both positive and negative
consequences
 Classic (1969) story of Heinz and his dying wife
 Presented narratives to people of different ages
 Developed stages of moral reasoning to reflect
qualitative changes at different stages
Cultural Beliefs
Moral Development
• Classified moral reasoning into three
levels composed of two stages each
– Preconvention—likelihood of rewards
and punishments
– Conventional—value conforming to
moral others
– Post conventional—objective principles
of right and wrong
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development
Preconventional
Conventional
Postconventional
• Stage 1Punishment
and obedience
• Stage 2Individualism
and purpose
• Stage 3Interpersonal
Concordance
• Stage 4- Social
Systems
• Stage 5Community
Rights
• Stage 6Universal Ethics
Promoting Moral Reasoning
• Factors that can promote more sophisticated moral
reasoning:
–
–
–
–
Noticing one’s current thinking is inadequate
Observing others reasoning at a more advanced levels
Discuss moral issues with peers, teachers, parents
Involvement in a religious community that connects
adolescents to a network of caring peers and adults
– Not all people achieve the highest stages of moral
reasoning
Issues with Kohlberg’s Theory
• Kohlberg proposed a universal theory of
moral development. It may be more
context-specific.
• His focus was on the structure of moral
reasoning.
• Kohlberg’s theory is very Western and reflects
Judeo-Christian values not shared in all cultures,
leading to different responses to moral dilemmas.
Cultural Beliefs
Moral Development
• Alternate view of moral reasoning
focuses on the individual’s worldview
• World view provides basis for:
– Moral reasoning—explaining right or
wrong
– Moral evaluations—outcome of moral
reasoning
– Moral behaviors—actions that reinforce
world view