Discuss about the Cognitive Development in Adolescents.
The lifespan perspective that I chose was adolescence which refers to the transitional phase from childhood to adulthood between the ages of 13 and 19 and the developmental characteristics that accompany these stage. Adolescents experience cognitive development characteristics and as presented by Jean Piaget in his theory of cognitive development, they include hypothetic-deductive reasoning which refers to the ability of the adolescent to think abstractly in a logical and scientific approach. The other characteristic is the imaginary audience awareness whereby the adolescent’s awareness of others is heightened and acquires the habit of observing, interpreting and judging others (Crain, 2015). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory has an impact on these characteristics in that the microsystem, the exosystem the mesosystem, and the macrosystem directly influence the cognitive development of an adolescent. The essay will discuss on hypothetic- deductive reasoning and imaginary audience awareness development characteristic in adolescents.
The lifespan of the adolescents’ perspectives begins at the onset of puberty which is the early stage of adolescence and is carried forward for a long-term period of time that extends to the early adulthood or emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood refers to the stage between adolescence and the full-fledged adulthood phase. It is usually between the ages of 18-25 where adolescents begin to explore various life possibilities and become more independent from their parents (Arnett, 2014)
During the lifespan perspective of adolescents, they experience hypothetic-deductive reasoning which entails thoughts about propositions that reflect on reality and imaginations then making inferences about the imagined incidences and finally interpreting the repercussions of the imagined affairs (Heckhausen and Schulz, 2015). There are mental simulations involved that help to explore the casual knowledge about the real world and puts into place the conditions and possibilities specified in the mental demeanor of an alternative existence and finally enables the adolescent to establish the possible outcome of their intended actions. According to Piaget in his theory of cognitive development, adolescents are capable of forming various hypotheses about reality and going ahead to test them out(Mahoney, 2015). The hypothetic-deductive model, lets the adolescent expect all logical consequences of acting on an imagined hypothesis. Adolescents can, therefore, reason systematically and objectively and estimate the various variables that may influence the possible outcomes. This theory helps us understand the unique way by which their imagination is based on an abstract reasoning system that brings about the hypothetical deductions and logical reasoning pertaining to a systematic objective of considerablepossible results (Labouvie, 2015).
According to the research conducted by Rosa and Tudge(2013), the ability of hypothetic- deductive reasoning gives an individual the ability to solve problems by handling part of the problem. For instance, if an individual enters a dark room and tries to switchthe lights on which are not functional, the person makes the assumption that the bulb is not working. However after inserting the new bulb and still does not light, he will check if the light is plugged in, this is exactly how hypothetic- deductive reasoning works which are part of the developmental characteristics of adolescents.
According to Bronfenbrenner’s theory, adolescent’s cognitive development characteristics are greatly influenced by the environment one lives in as explained by Urie Bronfenbrenner in his ecological systems theory. Bronfenbrenner’s macrosystem is the most far-fetched and largest set of people to an adolescent and it entails matters such as the relative levels of freedom allowed by the authorities, cultural values or the economy. These factors can influence the adolescent’s hypothetic-deductive reasoning characteristic because they will have to put these ecological factors into consideration as they form an abstract hypothesis and deduce the possible results and consequences of their imagined reality (Shaffer and Kipp, 2013).
The other cognitive developmental characteristic experienced by adolescents in their lifespan perspective is the imaginary audience awareness whereby an adolescent develops a new awareness of those around them due to the changes taking place in their bodies. It is an egocentric state where the adolescent imagines and feels that they are under the scrutiny of other people and this makes them be very self-conscious. Through their observations and interpretations of other people’s behavior, appearance, comments, and expressions they make reasonable conclusions regarding what the next person is thinking about or feeling(Arnett, 2014). In his theory, Piaget described egocentrism as confusion between the adolescent’s ego and the external world. He said that it features the cognitive characteristic whereby the person is not able to differentiate between their own preoccupations pertaining to self and what the others are really thinking of them. This theory helps us to understand the reasons as to why during puberty, the early adolescence stage, egocentrism is highly influential on the social cognition of an adolescent (Weil, Fleming, Dumontheil, Kilford, Weil, Rees, Dolan, and Blakemore, 2013).
Bronfenbrenner’sexosystem refers to all the people that an individual rarely interacts with but still has a large impact on them. These persons could be the entire neighborhood or the extended family members. The Microsystems is the adolescent’s immediate environment that comprises of the nuclear family, the church or the school. Additionally, the mesosystem refers to the different parts of the adolescent’s microsystem that work hand in hand for the sake of the adolescent (Blakemore, 2013). These ecological systems form the imaginary audience that the adolescent thinks that are constantly watching them and as a result, they become self-conscious and ego-centric (Berk, and Meyers, 2015). Therefore, the ability of an adolescent to develop appropriately will substantially depend on the environment.
In addition, Labouvie (2015) argues that the imagery audience is a sensitive understanding of others which gives an individual the ability to make a concise judgment, observe, and interpret events. In adolescents, this characteristic develops over time as their bodies are changing. In this case, adolescents feel the analysis from others making them develop the same scrutiny towards other. Further, this trait makes adolescents start comparing themselves to others which make them develop the ability to notice their strengths and weaknesses (Larson, Uthando, and Armstrong, 2014).
The theory of cognitive development by Piaget helps us to understand how an adolescent creates an abstract model of the world and how their perspectives are influenced by changes taking place in their bodies and their interaction with the environment. His theory has triggered thorough research in an attempt to gain a better understanding of adolescence cognitive development. A collaborative research study called the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study helps us understand the many factors that disrupt or enhance an adolescent’s intellectual growth. With the help of recent advances in technology, such studies can explore the environmental and biological factors that have an impact on adolescents’ cognitive development by incorporating functional and structural brain development, neuropsychology, behavioral and health assessments of the young people. As a result, we gain an understanding of the dramatic changes taking place in adolescent’s cognitive development by linking the genetic and environmental impacts on their intellectual and brain development.
Conclusion
To sum up, the cognitive developments in an adolescent are the hypothetic-deductive reasoning and the imaginary audience awareness which can be explained using Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in adolescents. This theory together with extensive research studies helps us to understand the nature of hypothetical thinking of an adolescent and to come to terms with the fact that adolescents can be ego-centric and self-conscious due to their awareness of the imaginary audience. The environment surrounding an adolescent as explained in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological models greatly influences their cognitive development because how the adolescent thinks and feels about themselves is affected by those around them.
Reference List
Arnett, J.J., 2014. Adolescence and emerging adulthood. New York, NY, USA: Pearson Education Limited.
Berk, L.E. and Meyers, A.B., 2015. Infants, children, and adolescents. Pearson.
Crain, W., 2015. Theories of development: Concepts and applications. Psychology Press.Heckhausen, J. and Schulz, R., 2015. A life-span theory of control. Psychological review, 102(2), p.284.
Labouvie-Vief, G., 2015. Cognitive–Emotional Development from Adolescence to Adulthood. In Integrating Emotions and Cognition throughout the Lifespan (pp. 89-116). Springer International Publishing.
Larson, R.W., Lampkins-Uthando, S. and Armstrong, J., 2014. Adolescents’ development of new skills for prospective cognition: Learning to anticipate, plan, and think strategically. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 13(2), pp.232-244.
Mahoney, J.W., 2015. The development of mental toughness in adolescents: utilising established theories (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Birmingham).
Rosa, E.M. and Tudge, J., 2013. Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory of human development: Its evolution from ecology to bioecology. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 5(4), pp.243-258.
Shaffer, D.R. and Kipp, K., 2013. Developmental psychology: Childhood and adolescence. Cengage Learning.
Weil, L.G., Fleming, S.M., Dumontheil, I., Kilford, E.J., Weil, R.S., Rees, G., Dolan, R.J. and Blakemore, S.J., 2013. The development of metacognitive ability in adolescence. Consciousness and Cognition, 22(1), pp.264-271.
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