Adolescence: Chapter 3 Brain and Cognitive Development

Formal operational Stage

11 to 15 years of age. Thought is more abstract than concrete operational thought. can conjure up events that are purely hypothetical possibilities or strictly abstract propositions and try to reason logically about them.

Neuroconstructivist View

Biological processes and environmental experiences influence the brain's development. The brain has plasticity and is context dependent. Development of the brain is linked closely with cognitive development. (These factors constrain or advance the construction of cognitive skills )

Postformal thought

Reflective, relativistic, and contextual. Provisional. Realistic. Recognized as being influenced by emotion.

Neurons (nerve cells)

The nervous system's basic units. Three basic parts: cell body, dendrites - the receiving parts of the neuron, the axon - which carries information away from the cell body to other cells

Working memory

a kind of mental "workbench" where individuals manipulate and assemble info when they make decisions solve problems, and comprehend written and spoken language. found that the prefrontal cortex plays a more important role in working memory in late adolescence than early adolescence. adolescence important for improvement in working memory

Limbic system

a lower, subcortical system in the brain that is the seat of emotions and experience of rewards. This system is almost completely developed by early adolescence.

schema

a mental concept or framework that is useful in organizing and interpreting information

Early formal operational thought

a newfound ability to think in hypothetical ways produces thought that is unconstrained, too subjective, and too idealistic; assimilation is the dominant process

Equilibration

a shift in thought from one state to another

Dopamine activity

activity is greater in the limbic system pathways in early adolescence than at any other point in development.

Mental Age (MA)

an individual's level of mental development relative to others. developed by Binet.

Executive Function

an umbrella-like concept that involves higher-older, complex cognitive processes (exercising cognitive control, making decisions, reasoning, thinking critically, thinking creativley, metacognition) Two categories are Hot Executive (logic) function and Cool Executive (emotional) function

Mindfulness

being alter, mentally present, and cognitively flexible while going through life's everyday activities and tasks- is an important aspect of thinking critically

Neurotransmitters

chemicals that carry information across synaptic gaps between neurons. with the onset of puberty, the levels of neurotransmitter change

Metacognition

cognition about cognition, or "knowing about knowing"

Piaget Criticisms

cognitive abilities have been found to emerge earlier or other emerge later. adolescents' cognitive development is not a stage-like. Neo-Piagetians, culture exerts a stronger influence on development what he believed.

Divided attention

concentrating on more than one activity at the same time

Attention

concentration and focusing of mental effort

Neo-Piagetians

conclude that Piaget's theory doesn't adequately focuse on attention, memory, and cognitive strategies that adolescents use to process informaiton, and that Piaget's explanations of cognitive changes are too general

Piaget's Theory contributions

current field of cognitive development, current vision of children as active, constructive thinkers. developmental trajectory

Fuzzy trace theory dual-process model

decision making is influenced by two cognitive systems - one analytical and one experiential - that compete with each other. the model emphasizes that it is the experiential system that benefits adolescents'

Piagets four cognitive stages

each stage consists of distinct ways of thinking, one more advanced than the last. Sensorimotor, preoperational concrete operational, formal operational.

Psychometric/Intelligence View

emphasizes that importance of individual differences in intelligence. (many advocates for view favor intelligence test) Individual differences are the stable consistent ways in which people are different from each other

social constructivist approach

emphasizes the social contexts of learning and the construction of knowledge through social interaction.

Selective Attention

focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others

synapses

gap between neurons where connections between the axon and dendrites takes place

Piaget

in adolescents gain, logical thought, deductive reasoning. Step theories, punctuated equilibrium.

improved critical thinking during this period are enabled by several cognitive changes

increased speed, automaticity, and capacity of information processing. greater breadth of content knowldege in a variety of domains. increased ability to construct new combinations of knowledge. a greater range and mroe spontaneous use of strategies and procedures for obtaining and applying knowledge.

Information-Processing View

information processing includes ow information gets into adolescent's minds, how it is stored, and how adolescents retrieve information to think about and solve problems

Cognitive flexibility

involves being aware that opitions and alternatives are available and adapting to the situation. confidence in one's ability to adapt their thinking is also an important factor

Cognitive control

involves effective control and flexible thinking in a number of areas, including controlling attention, reducing interfering thoughts, and being cognitively flexible. this increases with age

controlling attention

is a key aspect of learning and thinking in adolescence and emerging adulthood

Wisdom

is expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life that permits excellent judgement about important matter. Openness to experience, and creativity, better predictors of wisdom.

Information processing

is influenced by both the capacity and speed of processing

Amygdala

limbic system structure especially involved in emotions such as anger

Short-term Memory

limited-capacity system in which info is retained for as long as 30 seconds unless the information is rehearsed, in which case it can be retained longer. this increases in adolescents but more slowly

sustained attention

maintaining attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period

White Matter

myelinated axons, whitish in color, in adolescence there is an increase of this type of matter in the prefrontal cortex, which is due to the increased myelination.

Decision Making

older adolescents seen as more competent at decision-making than younger adolescents. being able to make competent decisions does not guarantee that individuals will make them in everyday life.

new brain cells generated in adolescence

only two brain regions that had neurogenesis are hippocampus and the olfactory bulb. But the new cells only last for several weeks

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

person's mental age divided by chronological age (CA), multiplied by 100 (IQ= MA/CA x 100)

Executive attention

planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances. increase in this supports the rapid increase in effortful control to effectively engage in complex academic tasks.

myelination

process of forming the myelin sheath on the axons, increasing the speed and efficiency of information processing in the nervous system.

Synaptogenesis

process where there is a dramatic increase in connections between neurons. Begins in infancy and continues through adolescence.

Gray Matter

refers primarily to dendrites and cell body of a neuron, in adolescence there is a decrease of this type of matter in the prefrontal cortex

Long-term memory

relatively permanent memory system that holds huge amounts of information for a long period of time. Long-term memory increases substantially in middle and late childhood years. improvement in adolescence is uncertain.

Vygotsky's view knowledge as

situated and collaborative

analytical intelligence

the ability to analyze, judge, evaluate, compare, and contrast

creative intelligence

the ability to create, design, invent, originate, and imagine

Hypothetical-deductive reasoning

the ability to develop hypotheses, or best guesses, about how to solve problems.

Intelligence

the ability to solve problems and to adapt and learn from everyday experiences

practical intelligence

the ability to use, apply, implement, and put ideas into practice

Accommodation

the adjustment of a schema to new information

Adolescent egocentrism

the heightened self-consciousness of adolescents, which is reflected in their belief that others are as interested in them as they are themselves, and in their sense of personal uniqueness and invulnerability

assimilation

the incorporation of new information into existing knowledge

Memory

the retention of information over time, is central to mental life and to information processing

Social Cognition

the way individuals conceptualize and reason about their social worlds.

emotional intelligence

theory that emphasizes interpersonal, intrapersonal, and practical aspects of intelligence. Ability to perceive and express emotion accurately and adaptively, ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge, ability to use feelings to facilitate thought, ability to manage emotions in oneself and others

corpus callosum

these nerve fibers connect the brain's two hemispheres; they thicken in adolescence to process information more effectively.

Critical thinking

thinking reflectively and productively and evaluating evidence.

Prefrontal cortex

this "judgement" region reins in intense emotions but doesn't finish developing until at least emerging adulthood

Late formal operational thought

through accommodation, intellectual balance is restored as adolescents test their reasoning against reality

making better decisions

when calm rather than emotionally aroused. when adolescents around peers are more likely to make risky decisions (social context playing a role)

Imaginary audience

which involves attention-getting behavior

Personal fable

which involves the sense of personal uniqueness and invulnerability