COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESENCE

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CHAPTER 16

• COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESENCE

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ADOLESCENT COGNITION Piagets Theory
Adolescence is characterized by formal
operational thought wherein abstract reasoning
becomes more sophisticated. Adolescents can
develop hypotheses and can test them through
questions and tests. Another characteristic is
assimilation of new information into existing
knowledge, but the world is perceived
subjectively and idealistically.
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Adolescent Egocentrism A consciousness in
which adolescents believes that others are as
interested in them as they themselves are.
Elkind calls this the imaginary audience, the
adolescents attempt to get attention. He also
notes that adolescents have a sense of personal
fable in which they feel invulnerable and unique.
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• Information Processing
• Memory Long-term memory increases substantially
  in the middle and late childhood years. Learning
  activities are directly correlated with long-term
  memory improvement.
• Decision making Adolescence is characterized by
  better decision making more competent than each
  successive group of younger children.
• Critical thinking Adolescence is considered a
  transitional period for critical thinking
  characterized by increased speed, greater range,
  and spontaneity.
• Self-regulatory learning Characterized by
  setting goals for extending their knowledge,
  monitoring their progress, evaluating obstacles,
  and revising their strategies.

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VALUES AND RELIGIONValues Beliefs and
attitudes that form their ideologies. Todays
college students are strongly motivated to gain
wealth, with some indication that many are
beginning to shift their incentives toward
greater welfare for the American society, with
the increase in service learning where students
involve themselves in community service.
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• Moral Education
• The hidden curriculum Often referred to as the
  moral atmosphere of the school, children can
  learn a great deal of morality by experiencing
  peer and adult roles, school regulations, and the
  general value of their environment.
• Character education A proactive role in
  actually teaching children how to achieve good
  character traits, values, and morals.
• Values clarification Also a proactive technique
  to outline exactly what is and what is not to be
  valued in our society. The exercise exemplified
  on page 522 of the text is typical of a class
  strategy in values clarification.
• Cognitive moral education An increasingly
  popular effort to inculcate an appreciation for
  justice, democracy, and the role of citizenship
  in a moral society.

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Religion Religion is an important aspect in the
lives of many American teenagers.

• Developmental changes Early adolescence is when
  they begin to challenge the beliefs taught by
  their parents. Children seem to develop along
  the lines of Piagets three cognitive stages
  going from not understanding Biblical stories
  (preoperational), to composing their own
  interpretations of the stories (concrete), to
  constructing possible alternative interpretations
  (formal).
• Religiousness and sexuality in adolescence
  Studies show that teenagers who attend religious
  services regularly are less apt to become
  involved in problem behaviors, especially in the
  matter of sexuality.

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SCHOOLSThe Transition to Middle or Junior High
SchoolThe advent of the middle school placed in
the ninth grade within the configuration of high
school, but many junior high school structures
still remain where ninth graders are still not
participating in high school curricula or
activities. There are indication that the
transition from elementary to middle school can
be stressful. A typical result of this
transition is an overall drop in grade average
however, many middle schools have effective
programming to override the transitional effects.
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Effective Schools for Young Adolescents
Successful middle schools attend to the
individual differences of their students, provide
advising and counseling, and monitor student
progress with frequent feedback to parents.
Effective schools have low teacher-student
ratios, incorporate a community lifestyle, and
work hard on integrating curriculum for relevance.
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High School Dropouts A characteristic of a high
school dropout is that their educational
deficiencies are brought into the workforce and
depress their chances for success.

• Dropout rates Although the dropout rate is much
  higher than that of the 1940s (more than 50 to
  11.8), it is higher among minorities. A
  distaste for school and economic pressures are
  the chief reasons offered by dropouts.
• Reducing the dropout rate A step-up of career
  information and a focus on localized community
  services seem to be the initiatives that help
  school dropouts.

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Cross-Cultural Comparisons The American system
of education differs considerably from those of
other nations. National curriculum, a national
test, and a de-emphasis on sports are three major
areas of difference. Accordingly, when American
students vie with foreign students in tests of
academic achievement, there are often great
discrepancies.
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CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND WORK
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• Career Development
• Theories of career development There are three
  main theories Ginzbergs developmental theory,
  Supers self concept theory, and Hollands
  personality-type theory.
• Ginzberg Adolescents go through three career
  choice stages fantasy, tentative, and
  realistic.
• Super Individuals self-concept plays a central
  role in career choice.
• Holland The career choice should e matched with
  the individuals personality.

• Exploration, decision making, and planning
• Unfortunately, most teens are not given the
  guidance necessary to make good career choices
  therefore, many adolescents have an unrealistic
  and uniformed approach to choosing a career.

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• Sociocultural influences
• Socioeconomic status Adolescents with parents
  who graduated from college are more likely to
  pursue higher education as an immediate career.
  Where you come from is where youre going.
• Parents and peers Parents have a tremendous
  influence on career choices both by support and
  modeling.
• School influences Too few counselors and too
  little time for teachers are two factors that
  inhibit quality counseling for adolescents making
  career choices.
• Ethnic minority adolescents Once again,
  parental influence is strong in decisions made by
  this cohort.

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• Work
• Part-time work The number of students working
  part-time has increased tremendously since the
  1940s. These jobs are almost always in the
  service sector, pay minimum wage, and affect how
  students work at and view their school lives.
• Gender Males do more labor-type jobs and get
  paid more overall than female adolescents.
• The advantages and disadvantages of part-time
  work in adolescence Adolescents are often
  fatigued from working, have less time to work on
  school projects, and tend to withdraw from
  extracurricular activities however, they manage
  their time better, have a greater sense of
  responsibility and maturity, and become more
  goal-oriented than their counterparts who do not
  work.