Chapter 2 - Summary Adolescence PDF

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Megan Troutman 1/23/17 Adolescence by Laurence Steinberg Chapter 2

Key Vocabulary  Deductive reasoning: a type of logical reasoning in which one draws logically necessary conclusions from a general set of premises, or givens  Metacognition: the process of thinking about thinking itself o Monitoring your own cognitive activity during the thinking process (consciously using a strategy to remember something, like an acronym; or making sure you’re understanding what you’re reading)  Imaginary audience: the belief, often brought on by the heightened self-consciousness of early adolescence, that everyone is watching and evaluating one’s behavior  Personal fable: an adolescent’s belief that he or she is unique and therefore not subject to the rules that govern other people’s behavior  Cognitive-developmental view: a perspective on development, based on the work of Piaget, that takes a qualitative, stage-theory approach  Sensorimotor period: the first stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning the period roughly between birth and age 2  Preoperational period: the second stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning roughly ages 2-5  Concrete operations: the third stage of development, according to Piaget, spanning the period roughly between age 6 and early adolescence  Formal operations: the fourth stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning the period from early adolescence through adulthood  Information-processing perspective: a perspective on cognition that derives from the study of artificial intelligence and attempts to explain cognitive development in terms of the growth of specific components of the thinking process (such as memory)  Selective attention: the process by which we focus on one stimulus while tuning out another  Divided attention: the process of paying attention to two or more stimuli at the same time  Working memory: that aspect of memory in which information is held for a short time while a problem is being solved  Long-term memory: the ability to recall something from a long time ago  Autobiographical memory: the recall of personally meaningful past events  Reminiscence bump: the fact that experiences from adolescence are generally recalled more than experiences from other stages of life o When certain chemicals are released at the time of an event, it is more easily remembered  chemicals are released at the time of strong positive or negative feelings  brain regions responsible for strong emotions are especially sensitive during adolescence  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): a technique used to produce images of the brain, often while the subject is performing some sort of mental task (recalling a list of words, etc.) o Examine patterns of activity

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o Also can be used to see how people act differently alone vs. with other people (or friends vs. parents) Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI): a technique used to produce images of the brain that shows connections among different regions o Scientists can see the ways in which various regions of the brain are connected and compare patterns of interconnections among people at different ages Brain structure: the physical form and organization of the brain o Certain parts of the brain are larger in adolescence than in childhood Brain function: patterns of brain activity o Adolescents may use different parts of the brain for the same task Electroencephalography (EEG): a technique for measuring electrical activity (in response to stimuli or events) at different locations on the scalp Event-related potentials (ERPs): changes in electrical activity in areas of the brain in response to specific stimuli or events o Compare between different ages Neurons: nerve cells Synapse: the gap in space between neurons, across which neurotransmitters carry electrical impulses Neurotransmitters: specialized chemicals that carry electrical impulses between neurons Synaptic pruning: the process through which unnecessary connections between neurons are eliminated, improving the efficiency of information processing o Results in a decrease in the amount of gray matter in the brain, which is often manifested in a thinning of the areas that have been pruned o Most dramatic in the visual system early in infancy, when our visual abilities are improving the most Myelination: the process through which brain circuits are insulated with myelin, which improves the efficiency of information processing Plasticity: the capacity of the brain to change in response to experience o Most in first 3 years of life, but also very malleable in adolescence Developmental plasticity: extensive remodeling of the brain’s circuitry in response to experiences during childhood and adolescence, while the brain is still maturing o Involves the growth of new brain cells and the formation of new brain circuits o Can be altered even when we don’t realize (or aren’t trying to)  Passive AND active experience o A risk bc drugs and toxins can severely affect malleable brains Adult plasticity: relatively minor changes in brain circuits as a result of experiences during adulthood, after the brain has matured o Doesn’t fundamentally alter the neural structure of the brain (like developmental plasticity does) o Brain is less malleable (like hardened clay) Prefrontal cortex: the region of the brain most important for sophisticated thinking abilities, such as planning, thinking ahead, weighing risks and rewards, and controlling impulses o Patterns of activation within the prefrontal cortex generally become more focused (don’t use parts of the brain that aren’t needed for a task, like children would do)

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Limbic system: an area of the brain that plays an important role in the processing of emotional experience, social information, and reward and punishment Response inhibition: the suppression of a behavior that is inappropriate or no longer required Executive function: more advanced thinking abilities, enabled chiefly by the maturation of the prefrontal cortex, especially in early adolescence Functional connectivity: the extent to which multiple brain regions function at the same time, which improves during adolescence Dopamine: a neurotransmitter especially important in the brain circuits that regulate the experience of reward Serotonin: a neurotransmitter that is especially important for the experience of different moods Zone of proximal development: in Vygotsky’s theory, the level of challenge that is still within the individual’s reach but that forces an individual to develop more advanced skills o We need to understand the nature of the environment that an adolescent develops in terms of its demands for intelligent behavior and its opportunities for learning o Adolescents learn best when encountered with problems that are not too easy or too hard Scaffolding: structuring a learning situation so that it is just within the reach of the student Social cognition: the aspect of cognition that concerns thinking about other people, about interpersonal relations, and about social institutions Mentalizing: the ability to understand someone else’s mental state Theory of mind: the ability to understand that others have beliefs, intentions, and knowledge that may be different from one’s own Social conventions: the norms that govern everyday behavior in social situations Behavioral decision therapy: an approach to understanding adolescent risk taking, in which behaviors are seen as the outcome of systemic decision-making processes o All behaviors can be analyzed as an outcome involving five steps: identifying alternative choices, identifying the consequences from each choice, evaluating the costs and benefits of each consequence, assessing the likelihood of each possible consequence, and combining all this according to some decision rule Sensation seeking: the pursuit of experiences that are novel or exciting

Changes in Cognition:  Adolescents are better at thinking about abstract things, possibilities, the process of thinking, multidimensional thoughts (more than one issue or factor), and relativity (rather than absolute)  Adolescents become better arguers (not just argumentative) bc they don’t just accept other people’s viewpoints anymore  Can recognize when insufficient information is given for a problem (can’t solve it) o The ability to stop yourself before acting automatically (and perhaps incorrectly) is controlled by a region of the brain that has been shown to mature during adolescence  Better at hypothetical thinking (if-then) o Includes taking the perspective of others  Can explain not only what they know, but why they know it

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Also understand that it is normal to go long periods of time without thinking, to have thoughts we don’t want to have, and that unwanted thoughts often return even when we try to get rid of them Adolescence egocentrism: self-consciousness (“an outfit at a concert with 10,000 people will really make a difference” and “my parents have never gone through this before” / “I won’t get pregnant”) o Still continues throughout adulthood Being able to look at things in multiple dimensions allows them to understand sarcasm o Combination of how things are said, what is said, and the context

Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescent Thinking:  Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development = cognitive-developmental view of intellectual development o Proceeds through a fixed sequence of qualitatively distinct steps o Adolescent thinking is fundamentally different from children’s thinking o During adolescence, individuals develop a special type of thinking that they use across a variety of situations o Sensorimotor period: the first stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning the period roughly between birth and age 2 o Preoperational period: the second stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning roughly ages 2-5 o Concrete operations: the third stage of development, according to Piaget, spanning the period roughly between age 6 and early adolescence o Formal operations: the fourth stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning the period from early adolescence through adulthood o Transition into higher levels of thinking happens when an adolescent is biologically ready o Abstract logical reasoning is the chief feature that differentiates adolescent and child thinking o One downfall is the stage-like fashion: advanced reasoning capabilities are gradual and continuous from childhood to adolescence and beyond  Information-processing perspective: a perspective on cognition that derives from the study of artificial intelligence and attempts to explain cognitive development in terms of the growth of specific components of the thinking process (such as memory) o Identify the specific abilities that improve from childhood to adolescence, rather than using one overarching concept (formal operations) to characterize o Attention  Improvements in selective and divided attention  Ability to inhibit an unwanted response: stop yourself from looking up at a commercial while you’re reading o Memory  Working memory, long-term memory, autobiographical memory, reminiscence bump o Processing speed o Organization

 Like using mnemonic devices or studying habits o Metacognition  Adolescents have greater sensitivity to social info, which is linked to specific changes in the brain that occur during puberty  Makes people very self-conscious (thinking about what other people think about them) The Adolescent Brain  Brain stops physically growing around age 10, but new technology makes it possible to study brain development  Differences in male and female brains are very small and unlikely to explain differences in the way they behave or think o Male brains are about 10% larger than females, but there is no connection between brain size and intelligence o Some parts of the brain are slightly larger for different genders  Neurons have 3 parts: a cell body, a longish projection called an axon (terminates in many small tips), and thousands of tiny antennae-like branches called dendrites (which themselves split off into smaller and smaller spines)  Each neurotransmitter has a specific shape to fit into a receptor, like a lock and key o The more a synapse is used, the stronger its electrical pathway becomes  At 1 year of age, the number of synapses in the infant brain is about twice the number in the adult brain o Synapses have an n-shaped growth (most in infancy and less in adulthood)  White matter = cells that make up the myelin sheath (fatty substance) and provide support and protection for neurons (insulation) o Carry messages faster o Increases throughout childhood and adolescence well into adulthood  Thinning of gray matter AND increase in white matter both affect brain structure  Better connectivity between prefrontal cortex and limbic system allows us to regulate emotions and coordinate thoughts and feelings o More likely to use multiple parts of the brain simultaneously and coordinate activity between prefrontal regions and other areas, like other portions of the cortex and the limbic system o Important for self-control o Children’s brains majorly rely on local connections, whereas older brains can utilize distant connections  Increased sensitivity in brain to social cues (peer pressure, embarrassment, facial expressions) Individual Differences in Intelligence in Adolescence  IQ (intelligence quotient) o Stanford-Binet, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III)  WISC and WAIS contain verbal tests (vocab, general info, comprehension, arithmetic) and performance tests (memory, perceptual reasoning, picture completion)

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o Divide mental age by chronological age, then multiply by 100 o More intelligent adolescents have a more dramatic and longer period of production of synapses before adolescence and a more dramatic pruning of them after, more connections between the prefrontal cortex and other brain regions, and a longer period of brain plasticity Robert Sternberg (1988) o “Triarchic” Theory: thorough assessment of intelligence must look at componential intelligence (abilities to acquire, store, and process info: intelligence tests), experiential intelligence (use insight and creativity), contextual intelligence (ability to think practically: “street smarts”) Howard Gardner (1983) o Multiple Intelligences: more to being smart than book smart: verbal, mathematical, spatial, kinesthetic (having to do with movement), self-reflective, interpersonal, musical

Adolescent Thinking in Context:  Social cognition allows for advances in identity, autonomy, intimacy, sexuality, and achievement  Theory of mind (are better able to understand someone’s POV), thinking about relationships (not all about including everyone anymore; decide for themselves which rules they have to follow and which they can make personal choices for), understanding social conventions (social norms), and conceptions of laws, civil liberties, and rights (right to be taken care of: “nurturance laws” vs. right to make their own decisions: “self-determination rights”)  Different age groups create different thoughts: social risks in not trying a drug for adolescents, and health risks in trying it for adults o Adolescents are more attuned to potential rewards = important to convince adolescents that rewards are small (people will look down on them for doing drugs, rather than telling them they’ll get in trouble)  Peer pressure, impulsivity, orientation to the present rather than the future, reward seeking o Quality of decisions declines when emotionally aroused  Two different thinking systems: deliberative and logical vs. intuitive and gut-level  Adolescents took longer to respond to questions about risky behavior (swimming with sharks) and activated regions associated with deliberative thinking (adults accessed gut thinking)...