1. Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach Chapter 3
Cognitive Foundations

2. Chapter Overview Change in thinking Problem solving
Memory and attention
Cognitive development
Theories of cognition
Role of culture

3. Piaget’s Theory Children of different ages think differently
Changes in cognitive development proceed in distinct stages (e.g. discontinuous)
Each person’s cognitive abilities are organized into one coherent mental structure
His approach is known as the cognitive-developmental approach
The driving forces behind development from one stage to the next is maturation

4. Maturation Piaget portrayed maturation as an active process
Children seek out information and stimulation in the environment that matches the maturity of their thinking
This is in contrast with other theories such as behaviorism who viewed the environment as acting on the child through rewards and punishments

5. Piagetian Schemas Schemas Assimilation
Occurs when new information is altered to fit an existing scheme
Accommodation
Entails changing the scheme to adapt to the new information

6. Piagetian Stages Stages Age Brief Description Sensorimotor 0-2
Cognitive development involves learning how to coordinate activities of the sense with motor activities
Preoperational
2-7
Capable of representing the world symbolically (e.g. language)
Concrete Operations
7-11
Become more adept at using mental operations which leads to a more advanced understanding of the world
Formal Operations
11-15+
Allows adolescents to reason about more complex tasks and problems involving multiple variables

7. Adolescents are aware of their thinking processes.
The capacity for “thinking about thinking” enables adolescents to learn and solve problems more efficiently
This is called ……
… Metacognition!

8. Limitations of Piaget’s Theory
The stage of formal operations has been the most critiqued
The limitations of Piaget’s theory of formal operations fall into two categories:
Individual differences in the attainment of formal operations
Cultural basis of adolescent cognitive development

9. Limitations - Individual Differences
A great range of individual differences exist in the extent to which people use formal operations
Even in emerging adulthood and beyond, a large proportion of people use formal operations either inconsistently or not at all
Adolescents who have had courses in math and science tend to exhibit formal operational thought
Concrete operations are sufficient for most daily tasks and problems

10. Limitations – Cultural Basis
While formal operations may be a universal potential the form it takes in each culture is derived from the kinds of cognition requirements people face
There is likely to be considerable variation in the extent to which adolescents and adults display formal operational thought

11. … Beyond Piaget Post-formal thinking Reflective Pragmatism Judgment
Piaget’s research has inspired theories of cognitive development beyond formal operations known as:
Post-formal thinking
Pragmatism
Reflective
Judgment

12. Pragmatism
Involves adapting logical thinking to the practical constraints of real-life situations
Cognitive development in the early twenties is distinguished from adolescent development by a greater recognition and incorporation of practical limitations to logical thinking

13. Reflective
Judgment
The capacity to evaluate the accuracy and logical coherence of evidence and arguments
Perry (1970; 1999) investigated reflection in adolescence and emerging adulthood which included:
Dualistic thinking
Multiple thinking
Relativism
Commitment
NOTE: Formal operations is a necessary but not sufficient condition for reflective thinking

14. Information-Processing Approach
Views cognitive change as continuous – gradual and steady
Focus is on the thinking processes that exist at all ages
The original model for this approach was the computer
The computer analogy was to try to break down human thinking into separate capacities of attention, processing, and memory

15. Information Processing
Recent models have moved away from a simple computer analogy and recognized the brain is more complex than any computer
In human thinking the different components operate simultaneously

16. Information Processing
Information processing begins with
Stimulus Information
that enters the senses
Much of what you see, hear and touch
is processed no further

17. Information Processing
Long Term Memory – memory for
Information that is committed
to longer-term storage
The capacity of long term memory
is unlimited and information
is retained indefinitely
Short Term Memory – memory for
information that is currently
the focus of your attention
Two types of short term memory:
input and storage and
working memory

18. Processing Information
Speed
Adolescents are faster than children at processing information
There is an increase in speed of processing from age 10 through the late teens
Automaticity
This is how much cognitive effort the person needs to devote to processing the information
Adolescents show greater automaticity of processing than pre-adolescents
Automaticity depends more on experience than on age alone

19. Limitation of Information Processing
Reductionism
Breaking up a phenomenon into separate parts to such an extent that the meaning and coherence of the phenomenon as a whole becomes lost
Holistic Perspective
Information processing scholars have those the holistic perspective that characterized Piaget’s work
Computer Analogy
Computers have no capacity for self-reflection, no awareness of how their cognitive processes are integrated, organized and monitored – which leaves the analogy insufficient and inadequate

20. The potential for critical thinking …Daniel Keating’s perspective
According to Keating adolescence provides the potential for critical thinking in several ways
A wider range of knowledge is available in long-term memory, across a variety of domains
The ability to consider different kinds of knowledge simultaneously is increased
More cognitive strategies are available for applying or gaining knowledge
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS DO NOT DEVELOP AUTOMATICALLY!
Critical thinking requires a basis of skills and knowledge obtained in childhood along with an educational environment in adolescence that promotes and values critical thinking
The American educational system does a poor job of promoting critical thinking

21. Social Cognition
Social cognition is the tem used to describe the way we think about other people, social relationships and social institutions

22. Three aspects of social cognition
Perspective taking Selman’s research
Implicit personal theories - Barenboim’s research
Adolescent egocentrism Elkind’s research

23. Perspective Taking
Is the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others
Selman’s theory of perspective taking is based on a stage approach that children and adolescents go through
The egocentrism of childhood gradually develops into the mature perspective-taking ability of adolescence

24. Perspective Taking in Adolescence
In early adolescence (ages 10-12) children become capable for the first time of mutual perspective taking
Just as you understand that another person has a perspective that is different from you own, you also realize that other persons understand that you have a perspective that is different from theirs

25. Perspective Taking in Adolescence
In late adolescence children become capable of social and conventional perspective taking
Adolescents come to realize that their social perspectives and those of others are influenced not just by their interaction with each other but also by their roles in the larger society

26. Implicit Personality Theories
Making judgments about what other persons are like and why they behave the way they do
How would this 7 year-old describe her best friend?
She is very nice because she gives me toffee
She is a kind girl but is naughty and silly most of the time

27. Adolescent Egocentrism
Personal Fable
The belief in an imaginary audience that is highly conscious of how you look and act leads to the belief that there must be something special, something unique about you
Imaginary Audience
Results from adolescents’ limited capacity to distinguish between their thinking about themselves and their thinking about the thoughts of others
These diminish with age but never disappear entirely for most of us

28. Optimistic Bias A concept related to the personal fable
Comes from health psychology research
The tendency to assume that accidents, diseases and other misfortunes are more likely to happen to others than ourselves
Both adolescents and adults have an optimistic bias with regard to health risk behaviour
Adolescents tend to have a strong optimistic bias than adults

29. Studying Optimistic Bias: Smoking
Strong majorities of both adolescents and adults,
both smokers and non-smokers, believed that smoking is
addictive and deadly “for most people”

30. Brief Facts about Intelligence Testing
Attempting to understand human cognition by evaluating cognitive ability with intelligence tests is known as the psychometric approach
The first intelligence test was developed in 1905 by a French psychologist named Alfred Binet
It was just 30 items and assessed performance in areas such as memory and abstract thinking
Louis Terman of Stanford University made some of the most important revisions to the original test and the test is now known as the Stanford-Binet
This test results in an overall score called the IQ (intelligence quotient)
Other widely used tests include: 1) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III); and 2) Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III)

31. “Intelligent” Distinctions
Fluid Intelligence
Refers to mental abilities that involve speed of analyzing, processing, and reacting to information
These are the kinds of abilities tapped by the Performance subtests on IQ tests
This kind of intelligence peaks in emerging adulthood
Crystallized Intelligence
Refers to accumulated knowledge and enhance judgment based on experience
Subtests like Information, Comprehension and Vocabulary assess this kind of intelligence
This kind of intelligence tends to improve through the twenties and thirties

32. Absolute vs. Relative Performance
Relative performance on IQ tests is very stable
For example, people who score higher than average in childhood tend to score higher than average as adolescents and adults
Absolute performance on IQ tests is not as stable
For example, absolute scores on Verbal sub-tests generally improve from age 16 to 38
Check out the graph that illustrates this ‘absolute’ point

33. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)
Most American college students have taken the SAT as a requirement for applying to colleges and universities
The SAT started out as an IQ test in the 1920s
The original goal was to test innate intelligence rather than what had been learned in school
It was hoped that this would make it possible to identify bright young people from humble backgrounds
It was thought that this would help colleges identify people with the greatest natural intelligence rather than those from the most privileged families
Do you think the SAT is true to its original purpose?

34. The new SAT will be used in 2005!
The truth about the SAT
Its ability to predict success in college has always been modest
It has been accused of discriminating against minorities and against females
It has been accused of favoring the elite
Because performance can be enhanced by learning test taking strategies, wealthier students are more likely to affect test preparation courses
In response to these criticisms the SAT has recently
been dramatically revised to be an achievement test
rather than an intelligence test.
The new SAT will be used in 2005!

35. Other Conceptions of Intelligence
Alternative theories of intelligence have been proposed to present a conception of intelligence that is much broader than the traditional one
Two of the most important alternative theories have been presented by:
Robert Sternberg – Triarchic Theory
Howard Gardner – Theory of Multiple Intelligences

36. Triarchic Theory
Includes three distinct but related forms of intelligence
Componential intelligence – the kind of intelligence that IQ tests measures which involves acquiring, storing, analyzing, and retrieving information
Experiential intelligence – involves the ability to combine information in creative ways to produce new insights, ideas, and problem-solving strategies
Contextual intelligence – is practical intelligence, the ability to apply information to the kinds of problems faced in everyday life, including the capacity to evaluate social situations

37. Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Includes eight types of intelligence
Linguistic
Logical-mathematical
Spatial
Musical
Bodily-kinesthetic
Naturalist
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Gardner argues that school show give more attention to the development of
all eight kinds of intelligence and develop programs that would be tailored
to each child’s individual profile of intelligence

38. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
According to this theory, cognitive development is inherently both a social and cultural process
It is social because children learn through interactions with others and require assistance from others in order to learn what they need to know
It is cultural because what children need to know is determined by the culture they live in

39. Vygotsky’s Most Influential Ideas
Zone of Proximal Development
Is the gap between what adolescents can accomplish along and what they are capable of doing if guided by an adult or a more competent peer
Social Process of Learning
Scaffolding
Refers to the degree of assistance provided to the adolescent in the zone of proximal development
Scaffolding should gradually decrease as children become more competent at a task

40. Building on Vygotsky’s Legacy
Barbara Rogoff has extending Vygotsky’s theory with the idea of Guided Participation
Refers to the teaching interaction between two people as they participate in a culturally value activity
This guidance is “the direction offered by cultural and social values, as well as social partners
Research shows!
Despite the rise of a cultural approach to studying psychology far more research is conducted using the cognitive-developmental, information processing and psychometric approaches