Transcript Adolescence * Cognitive Development

ADOLESCENCE – COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
OT 500
Spring 2016
WHAT IS MEANT BY THE STAGE OF FORMAL OPERATIONS?
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Cognitive maturity in Piaget’s theory; highest level
Major achievements
Classification
 Logical thought and deductive reasoning
 Ability to hypothesize
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Can think about abstract ideas
Hypothetical thinking
Can project beyond immediate experience
 Involved in lengthy fantasies and “what if” scenarios
 Thought is flexible and reversible
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HOW MIGHT WE CLASSIFY OCCUPATIONS ??
WHAT IS MEANT BY THE STAGE OF FORMAL OPERATIONS?
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Hypothetical thinking
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Can project beyond immediate experience; what if?? What
might be??? What is expected??
 May sometimes wrapped up in lengthy fantasies
Sophisticated use of symbols (alegebra)
Understand, create and use metaphors
Deductive reasoning in moral judgments
Utopian thinking ( ideal vision of society; positive view)
THE PENDULUM PROBLEM
Figure 15.1
REEVALUATION
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PIAGET’S THEORY
Changes in reasoning do occur during this age
Formal operational thought is not universal
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Abstract thinking is more prevalent in technological
societies
May occur later than Piaget suggests, or not at all
Do not apply formal operational thought with unfamiliar
tasks
You are a cyclist in a cross-country race. Just before the crossing finish
line you overtake the person in second place! What place did you finish
in?
You are on the bank of a river. You have to get a fox, a hen, and corn
to the other site of the river. If left alone, the fox will eat the hen, the
hen will also eat the corn if left alone. The boat is only big enough to
take you and one other at a time to the other side.
HOW IS ADOLESCENT EGOCENTRISM SHOWN IN THE
IMAGINARY AUDIENCE AND IN THE PERSONAL FABLE?
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Imaginary Audience
Belief that others are concerned with our appearance and
behaviors
 May account for desire for privacy
 Explains preoccupation with appearance
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Personal Fable
Our feelings and ideas are special
 Invulnerability
 Encourages risk-taking behaviors
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WHAT ARE THE SEX DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE
ABILITIES?
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Females excel in verbal ability
Girls acquire language earlier
 Boys more likely to have reading problems
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Boys excel in visual-spatial ability
Visualize objects and mentally manipulate them
 Difference is greatest on mental rotation tasks
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Origins of the sex differences
Biological
 Evolutionary
 Gender stereotypes
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WHAT ARE THE SEX DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE
ABILITIES?
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No sex differences for performance in math
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Most Americans have different expectation for boys and
girls
Girls tend to be more vulnerable when confronted with
difficult math problems
Sex differences are represented by group, not individual
differences and are related to represent cultural
expectations
Women still underrepresented in many fields such as
STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)
WOMEN FLOOD PROFESSIONS ONCE POPULATED
ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY BY MEN
Figure 15.3
THE ADOLESCENT IN JUDGMENT
Moral Development
WHAT ARE KOHLBERG’S VIEWS ON
MORAL REASONING IN ADOLESCENCE?
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Postconventional Level
Based on person’s own moral standards, and the ability to
reason using ethical principles
 Teens begin to look at the themsleves to set moral
standards
 Stage 5 Contractual-legalistic orientation
 Laws are agreed upon, but rights should not be violated
 Rights, rules represent agreed upon values; however
there are reasons, situations that might warrant
breaking the rules
 Stage 6 Universal ethical principles
 Reciprocity, respect, justice, fairness
 One’s actions affect others; people depend on one
another to treat each other morally
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CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN MORAL
DEVELOPMENT
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Post-conventional thinking more likely found in urban
cultural groups and middle-class populations
Self-oriented moral judgment in individualistic cultures
Caring orientation in cultures with greater emphasis on
others
Americans tend to be more likely to have “justice”
orientation” rather than a “caring orientation”
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Female – socialized to focus on need of others – caring
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Male – socialized to focus on justice
IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MORAL COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT AND MORAL BEHAVIOR?
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Positive relationship between moral cognitive
development and behavior
Postconventional does not appear until age 13
Formal-operational thinking may be a prerequisite
 Education may play a role
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EVALUATION OF KOHLBERG’S THEORY
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Research supports moral development in sequence
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Kohlberg advocated an innate sequence; universal
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Underestimated influence of social, cultural, and education
institutions
Postconventional thinking is all but absent in
developing societies
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Although most children do not reach postconventional level
Universal principles may not be universal
Ethical principles of Stage 6 may have western
orientation
THE ADOLESCENT IN SCHOOL
HOW DO ADOLESCENTS MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO MIDDLE, JUNIOR HIGH, OR HIGH
SCHOOL?
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Often move from smaller neighborhood school to larger
impersonal setting
In transition, adolescents
Move from “top dog” to “bottom dog”
 Often experience decline in grades, participation in activities
 Drop in self-esteem
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Transition tends to be more difficult for girls
Schools can ease the transition process
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF DROPPING OUT OF
SCHOOL? WHY DO ADOLESCENTS DROP OUT OF SCHOOL?
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High school dropouts
Tend to be unemployed and make lower salaries
 Show problem behaviors, including substance abuse
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Who drops out
Children from lower income families and older students have
higher dropout rates
 Early predictors of school dropout
 Excessive school absence
 Reading below grade level
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PREVENTING DROPPING OUT
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Preschool intervention
Early identification of high-risk
Small class size, individualized attention
Link learning to work experiences
Involvement of family
Positive school climate
Reasonable educational goals
THE ADOLESCENT AT WORK
Career Development and
Work Experience
HOW DO ADOLESCENTS MAKE CAREER CHOICES?
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Career aspirations become more realistic as child matures
Social Cognitive Perspective
 Abilities and personality traits
 View of career and relationship to student
 Expectancies
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Self-efficacy expectations
HOLLAND’S CAREER TYPOLOGY
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Match personality and careers to predict adjustment
Six personality types
Realistic
 Artistic
 Enterprising
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- Investigative
- Social
- Conventional
May combine more than one personality type
ASSESSING AN ADOLESCENT’S CAREER TYPE
BY ATTENDING A “JOB FAIR”
Figure 15.6
HOW MANY AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS HOLD JOBS?
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About 50% of sophomores, 2/3 juniors, and almost 3/4 seniors
work during the school year
Girls and boys equally likely to work
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Boys work more hours
2 to 3 million adolescents work illegally
PROS AND CONS OF ADOLESCENT EMPLOYMENT
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Benefits of adolescent employment
Develop sense of responsibility, self-reliance, discipline
 Acquire positive work habits and values
 Enhance occupational aspirations
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Middle class adolescents do not work to supplement family income
Students who work long hours (more than 11-13 hours per
week)
Report lower grades, higher rates of drug and alcohol use
 More delinquent behavior, lower self-esteem
 Spend less time in family activities
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