1. CHAPTER 3: Cognitive Development
Adolescence involves changes in cognitive abilities that are just as monumental as the
biological changes we described in the previous chapter. While children tend to be more
______ , more tied to ______ and tied to the ______ , adolescents are more ______ ,
______ and ______ . For example, adolescents can appreciate ______ and ______ , they
can easily think about things that don’t ______ . They can test ______ ideas against
______ . Adolescents are motivated to ______ their world because doing so is ______
adaptive. Adolescents actively ______ their own ______ worlds; information is not just
poured into their minds from the environment. Adolescents ______ their ______ and
separate the important ______ from the less important ones. They connect one idea to
another, and ______ their ______ to include new ideas.
Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget is credited with study of cognitive change in adolescence.
Piagetian theory describes adolescents as constructing a ______ to organize ______ as
they acquire it. ______ (plural for ______ ) are ______ for ______ , which can be
______ and eventually aid in development of new ______ . Unlike younger children
whose ______ are ______ , for adolescents, they become more ______ and ______ .
Adolescents add and organize new information through ______ . ______ is the process
of ______ new experiences into already existing ______ . Adolescents restructure the
______ through ______ as they acquire new, ______ and ______ facts. Through the
process of ______ , teens alter existing ______ to fit new experiences.
Through ______ and ______ teens make sense and adjust to the changing world around
them. ______ represents the ______ in people’s thought processes when we seek a
______ between our ______ knowledge and what we ______ at the time. Piaget called
process of ______ the mechanism for change in cognitive ability. ______ happens when
a child’s existing ______ does not match their ______ . Since the ______ and ______
cannot both be ______ , then a new and more advance state of ______ forms. Piaget
explained the lifelong cognitive developmental process as occurring in four stages:
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Such
phenomena as object permance, understanding of symbols, animism, egocentric quality,
conservation that happen prior to the formal operation.
Formal Operation stage begins at about ______ years, and is characterized by ______
cognitive changes. However, these changes occur ______ . As they enter this stage,
adolescents are ______ bound by ______ and begin to think about ______ . So,
adolescents are no longer ______ by their present ______ . The new ability to look
beyond the present reality combined with their need to be independent of their parents,
causes ______ with their ______ lives. In some instances, ______ actually becomes
______ in importance, as teens begin to have ______ , such as ending ______ and
______ .
Piaget identified ______ -______ reasoning, the ability to develop ______ , problem-
______ strategies, as a cognitive process that emerges during adolescence. They begin to
form ______ explaining particular ______ , and ______ from these ______ what should
or should not happen. This ability allows them to think ______ , understand the ______
method, and analyze ______ . Teens can also imagine ______ situations, such as
supposing that there were no ______ , or that people could ______ , and then ______
from these premises. Furthermore, adolescents begin to generate all possible
2. combinations from a group of possibilities. Adolescents use ______ logic to generate
______ solutions to ______ and even ______ properties of objects or events to solve
______ tasks.
The fundamental change that occurs between the ages of ______ and ______ is the
ability to understand ______ principles, such as ______ , ______ of speech, ______ of
religion, etc. This ability leads to development of ______ systems of over-riding ______
and ______ . This ability also allows teens to think about their thought patterns. In
another word, they begin to ______ about ______ . They can analyze their own ______
and ______ , and think ______ about them.
Critics of Piaget point to ways in which adult thinking is more ______ that adolescent
thinking. Adult thinking can be characterized as being more ______ and ______ .
Adults are more likely to face ______ with corresponding decrease in ______ . Adult
thinking is also more ______ and ______ . Adults become aware of diverse ______ and
multiple ______ .
Neo-Piagetians have pieced together descriptions of adult thinking and proposed a
______ stage of cognitive development, ______ thought, emerges as young adults engage
in ______ thinking and emphasis on ______ and ______ . In ______ thought, there is an
acceptance of ______ in the world and recognize the ______ of ______ . It means that a
person’s ______ depends on his or her ______ experiences and ______ . So people
begin to think beyond the simple domains of ______ and ______ ; they see things as
______ . It allows them to accept that not all people would ______ the events ______ .
Vygotsky described the cognitive developmental process as one stemming from ______
relationships. This suggests that ______ can best be advanced through ______ with
others in ______ activities. He was interested in how ______ transmit ways of ______
and ______ from one generation to another. His position contradicted Piaget’s who
argued that mental functioning arises from within the child, and as such processes as
thinking, memory and attention apply exclusively to the individual. Vygotsky argued the
opposite position that cognitive processes such as thinking begin as ______ social
______ , which then shape the mind. So, Vygotsky focuses more on formal ______ and
______ than did Piaget. Vygotsky also described the concept of ______ . ______ is used
by effective ______ who define the ______ and demonstrate ______ necessary to
complete the ______ . Also, it’s what ______ do when they ______ them important
______ , such as how to drive a car. He believed learning occurs only with ______ , and
he described this as the zone of proximal development. Learners successfully complete
activities because of help provided by skilled mentors. Zone of proximal development
describes this ______ between a child’s ______ development when working ______ ,
and his or her level of ______ development when problem solving with ______ of a
______ partner or mentor.
Neither Piaget nor Vygotsky provide explanation of the basic processes that are needed
for ______ to occur. Information processing (IP) provides another framework for
explaining ______ development. IP approach focuses on the process that is involved in
______ . Robert Siegler described three main characteristics of information processing:
1) Thinking processes to respond successfully to ongoing changes in ______ and
______ ; 2) Change mechanisms by actively engaging in ______ (the process by which
information is transferred from one form to another in memory), establishing ______ (the
3. ability to perform highly practiced cognitive operations without conscious attention),
participating in ______ construction, and ______ the information to other problems; and
3) Self-modification: successful ______ by assessing and ______ performance.
Information-processing capacity increases with ______ , and this leads to refinement in
______ strategies. The information-processing view has been used to understand
adolescent cognition in a number of areas, including 1) Attention—focusing mental effort
that depends on ______ and ______ capacities. For example, in a class the student needs
adequate ______ span (the time during which an individual can focus psychological
resources on a particular task), as well as ______ attention (the ability to concentrate on
one stimulus and ignore extraneous stimuli), both of which begin to show significant
______ in ______ to ______ adolescent. 2) Memory— retaining information temporarily
in ______ -term or ______ memory and ______ in ______ -term memory. The ______
teens have over children is the ______ at which they ______ and ______ visual
information. This is perhaps because teens are capable of ______ much better on the
______ stimuli. Information tends to be stored in neural networks, with association
developed between information that’s been organized based on related concepts. 3)
Decision making —evaluating the ______ , weighing the ______ , and making a ______
choice. 4) Critical thinking— ______ thinking about information, ______ looking at
______ and decide what to ______ or not. 5) Creative thinking— ______ information in
______ ways to form ______ solutions. Of course creativity required both ______ and
______ approach. 6) Convergent thinking: arriving at an answer given a particular set of
______ . This is the primary skill measured in ______ tests. 7) Divergent thinking:
related to ______ and involves seeing ______ between thing and ______ a problem in a
new way that is still ______ for the situation. 8) Metacognition: ______ about ______ .
Metacognitive knowledge involves ______ and ______ on one’s current or recent
thoughts. Metacognitive activity occurs when adolescents use self-______ to ______ and
manage their ______ when they are solving ______ and ______ . 9) Self-regulatory
learning: self-______ and self-______ of thoughts, ______ , and ______ to reach a goal.
Intelligence is another way of looking at cognitive development. The
psychometric/intelligence view of cognition emphasizes the importance of ______
differences that reflect intelligence. It relies on sophisticated ______ analysis. Current
examples of these approaches include: Binet Tests, Wechsler Scales. IQ tests must be
updated continually to remain useful. As the society changes and children are exposed to
new types of knowledge, new tests are required.
Sternberg proposed existence of three kinds of human intelligence: ______ (skills needed
to do well on standardized ______ tests and ______ related subjects, it requires skills
such as ______ , ______ and ______ abilities, mentioned earlier); ______ Intelligence
(ability to use ______ to formulate ______ ideas and problems); and ______ intelligence
(ability to size up situations, figure them out, and do what is required to ______ to their
demands). According to Sternberg, the reason IQ tests correlate highly with ______
performance is because both tap into ______ intelligence. ______ performance is best
predicted by ______ and ______ intelligence.
We know ______ play an important role in intelligence. This knowledge is based on
______ studies. There is ample evidence that ______ factors also influence intelligent
scores. The best predictor of IQ is ______ and the ______ level of ______ . Children
4. born into ______ face the greatest chance of ______ and ______ problems, which in turn
could impact their ______ . In general, families that can provide more ______ to their
children provide them with more ______ environment. Because children spend so much
time with their ______ , her level of ______ means a more or a less ______ environment.
Variability in the scores of males and females differs. Males are more likely to have very
high or very low scores. Males score better on nonverbal tasks.
Impact of ______ on intelligence is a ______ one. ______ vary in how they describe
______ . Early intelligence tests were ______ biased. Although researchers have
developed ______ -fair tests, tests developed not to be ______ , studies show that various
groups don’t score equally on IQ tests. For example, in US ______ -Americans score
higher than ______ students and ______ children. ______ and ______ children score
below ______ children. Studies also show the existence of ______ threat. It is the
______ that one’s ______ might confirm a negative ______ about one’s group, could be
the cause.
Adolescents demonstrate an important consequence of improved cognitive abilities
through ______ cognition; that is, the ability to apply ______ thinking and ______
-solving strategies to successful ______ interaction. Adolescents’ ______ successes
correlate highly with ______ in other life domains. Adolescents reflect newly acquired
______ thinking ability in heightened ______ of ______ through adolescent ______.
Adolescent ______ can be dissected into two type of ______ thinking: ______ ______
(believing everyone is ______ at and ______ them and believe people are ______ with
their ______ and ______ ), and ______ ______ (belief that what they are ______ about
and ______ is ______ , ______ and ______ - this sense of ______ might be contributing
to their belief that they are ______ from ______ , contributing to ______ taking, such as
______ sexual practices). Simultaneously, awareness of the feelings of others, ______
______ (the ability to assume another person’s ______ and ______ his or her ______ and
______ .), and development of ______ cognition signifies successful completion of a
major task of adolescence.
