Transcript PSYC 2314 Lifespan Development

PSYC 2314
Lifespan Development
Chapter 18
Early Adulthood:
Cognitive Development
Adult Thinking
• 3 Approaches
– Postformal: possible emergence of a new stage
of thinking and reasoning in adulthood that
builds on the skills of formal operational
thinking.
– Psychometric: analyzes components of
intelligence such as those measured by IQ tests,
specifically describing which components
improve or decline during adulthood.
Postformal Thought
• Subjective Experience
• Cognitive Flexibilities
Postformal Thought
• The difference between the reasoning
maturity of adolescents and that of young
adults is particularly apparent when the
problems to be solved are emotionally
charged. Older adults regulate their
emotions better than younger ones and are
less cognitively and physiologically
overwhelmed by deep and complex
emotions.
Postformal Thought
• Dialectical Thought: characterized by
ongoing awareness of the pros and cons,
advantages and disadvantages, and
possibilities and limitations.
– Synthesis of ideas
Postformal Thought
• Critic: characteristics of postformal thought
are not universal and do not necessarily
build on the prior accomplishments of
formal operations.
Adult Moral Reasoning
• Carol Gilligan’s view
– Males tend to be concerned with the question of rights
and justice, whereas females tend to put human needs
above justice principles.
– People’s life experiences expand, particularly as they
become committed to, and responsible for, the needs of
others, they often shift from ideological or personal
moral reasoning to moral reasoning based on principles
that are relative, changeable, and forged from a
synthesis of ethical principles with life experiences.
Development of Faith
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Intuitive-Projective Faith
Mythic-Literal Faith
Synthetic-Conventional Faith
Individual-Reflective Faith
Conjunctive Faith
Universalizing Faith
Defining Issue Test
• A series of questions developed by James
Rest and designed to assess respondents’
level of moral development by having them
rank possible solutions to moral dilemmas.
Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
• Effects of College
– Enhances the flexibility and resourcefulness of
reasoning abilities
– More tolerant of differing views
– Be more flexible and realistic in their attitudes
College Student of Today
• Less concerned about developing a
meaningful life philosophy and more
concerned about finding a good job.
• Include more women, low-income, ethnicminority, older, part-time and careerfocused.
• Work during college years.
Cheating
• Academic (cultural) System
– Cheating is an attack on education
• Students’ Value System
– Encourage cooperation (helping a friend)
– Purpose of school is to get good grades, not to
learn
Cognitive Growth and Life Events
• Many life events, specific notable
occurrences, can trigger new patterns of
thinking and thus further cognitive
development
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Parenting
Intimate relationship
Job promotion or dismissal
Loss of a loved one
Adult Thinking
• Information-Processing: studies the
encoding, storage, and retrieval of
information throughout life, considering
whether the efficiency of these processes
changes as the individual grows older.