Developmental Developmental PsychologyPsychologyChapter 12: Cognitive Development

Formal Operational Formal Operational ThoughtThought

Piaget’s final stage of cognitive development◦Ages 11 and up◦Integration of multiple

cognitive skills _________________ Logic _______________ Capacity to form and test

theories

Formal ThoughtFormal ThoughtIntrospection

◦Thinking about thoughtAbstract Thinking

◦Going beyond reality to potentiality____________________

◦Being able to consider all possible facts and ideas and to form correct conclusions

Hypothetical Reasoning◦Formulating hypothesis and examining

the evidence for them, considering multiple variables

Formal vs Earlier Forms of Formal vs Earlier Forms of Cognitive DevelopmentCognitive Development

Video 1

Video 2

Can you understand the differences in how these children are thinking?

What are the fundamental differences?

Teens as IdeologuesTeens as Ideologues

IdealismIdealismWhy are young people so idealistic?Why does it occur so suddenly in

adolescence?Why does it fade away as we age?

Their ability to distinguish between the possible from the real enables them to have a concept of what the world could be like. They compare the possible with the actual.

_____________ the focus of attention on social problems and the concerns of society(occurs later in adolescence).

Little Adults But Not Little Adults But Not ReallyReally

Adolescent egocentrism◦Heightened self awareness◦“on stage” with the world as an

audienceSelf Consciousness

◦Underlying insecurities______________

◦Less creativity as a result of growing pressures to conform

Does Everyone Get to Formal Does Everyone Get to Formal Thought?Thought?

Piaget noted that disadvantaged youth may see delays in the development of formal thought◦ 15 to 20 years of age

Acknowledged that social environment could accelerate or delay onset of formal thought◦ Low SES

One estimate suggests ___________of the adult population attain complete formal thought

Piaget still maintained that “all normal individuals are capable of reaching the level of formal operation”-given environmental influences

Piaget’s Goals for Piaget’s Goals for EducationEducation

1) The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of ________________________________________________________________________________________-men who are creative, inventive, and discoverers…….

2) The second goal of education is to form minds which can be critical, can verify and not accept everything they are offered. We need pupils who are active, who learn early to find out by themselves, partly by their own spontaneity and partly by material we set up for them……

Traditional vs Progressive Traditional vs Progressive EducationEducation

Please define each of these terms.

Make a list of pros and cons of each type

Which do you favor and why?

Generation LostGeneration LostCurrent Drop Out Rates

Why Students Drop Out?Why Students Drop Out? Your thoughts? Family Relationships

◦ Play a major role in academic success ______________________________

◦ One of the most common reasons for females to dropout Money and Employment

◦ Often financial circumstances lead towards dropping out Social Adjustment

◦ Rejection/ lack of social skills◦ ____________________________

School Apathy, Dissatisfaction, and Failure Truancy Personality Stress Socioeconomic Factors

Plans for New SchoolsPlans for New Schools1) Schools need to be smaller- trends

are headed towards SLC’s _________________________

2) Schools need to create a culture. A culture that promotes positive peer relationships, teamwork, and development of social skills

3) Schools need to provide youth with an experience of personal success and accomplishment. A model to build future successes.