Adolescence – Cognitive Dev.Ages 11 to 18

How do adolescents think?

Adolescent thinking

What is adolescent egocentrism? Egocentrism

Belief that they are more socially significant than they actually are

Focusing on themselves more than others

Other types of egocentrism The personal fable The invincibility fable Imaginary audience

What is the personal fable? Personal fable - “I am

unique” “My thoughts & feelings

have not happened to anyone else”

Difficult to see another person’s perspective▪ “You just don’t understand!”

What is the invincibility fable? “I will not be hurt”

Smoking, drugs, STD’s, high-speed driving

Does not apply to all adolescents

What is the imaginary audience? “Everyone is watching me”

Makes teenagers self-conscious

Do you remember?

What is adolescent egocentrism? What is the personal fable? What is the invincibility fable? What is the imaginary audience?

Piaget’s formal operational thought Fourth and final stage

Use abstract ideas Hypothetical thought▪ Thinking of possibilities, not just reality▪ If-then propositions

E.g. Balance experiment A 14 year old will understand that both

weight and distance from the center must be considered when balancing a scale

What types of reasoning are there? Deductive – Top down

General to specific Inductive – Bottom-up

Specific to general Both are used in research

Theory(Gener

al)Research(Specific)

Deductive

Inductive

What types of thought are there? Intuitive thought (Intuition)

From an emotion or hunch beyond rational explanation

Based on past experiences and cultural assumptions

Analytic thought Depends of logic & rationality Analysis of pros & cons, risks &

consequences Possibilities & facts

What are thinking fallacies? Sunk cost fallacy

“I have invested so much, I must keep going”

Know when to cut your losses Base rate neglect fallacy

Ignoring the overall frequency or probability of an effect from a behavior

E.g. Smoking, not wearing a helmet Lottery tickets & gambling

Do you remember?

Which of Piaget’s stages are adolescents in? What is one of the major achievements in

this stage? What is the difference between

inductive and deductive reasoning? What is an example of each

What types of thought are there? What are the thinking fallacies?

Give an example of each

Technology and Cognition (Learning)

What are the positives with technology? Broadens students’ horizons

New education & experiences Gets them past the egocentric thought

Reduces social isolation

What are the negatives with technology? Internet addiction

Gambling or video games▪ Escape from problems

Cyberbullying Spreading insults and rumors

Negative specialties (Online) Cutting, extreme dieting, prejudice

Negatives result more from the antisocial attitudes and/or depression of the person, not the technology

Sexting, Facebook pages, etc

Do you remember?

What are the positives of technology related to adolescent egocentrism and social isolation?

What are the negatives of technology related to antisocial attitudes, depression, and cyberbullying?