Human Growthand

Development

Chapter Eighteen Early Adulthood:

Cognitive Development

PowerPoints prepared by Cathie Robertson, Grossmont CollegeRevised by Jenni Fauchier, Metropolitan Community College

Three Approaches

• Postformal picks up where Piaget left off

• Psychometric analyzes components of intelligence (see Ch. 21)

• Information-processing studies the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information during lifetime (see Ch. 24)

Postformal Thought

• Adult thinking and adolescent thinking differ in 3 ways, with adult thinking more:– practical– flexible– dialectical

A Fifth Stage of Cognitive Development?

• Postformal thought often viewed as fifth stage of Piaget’s theory

• In it, adults consider every aspect of a situation– use intellectual skills for real

life—work and relationships– understand that conclusions

and consequences matter

• During adulthood focus on skill application, not skill acquisition

The Practical and the Personal

• Arise from individual’s personal experiences and perceptions

• Traditional models devalued subjective thought

• Objective thought—abstract impersonal logic

• For adults combination of the two works best

Subjectivity & Objectivity

• Trying to combine both logic and emotions in dealing with an emotional issue is challenging– but at each stage of adulthood,

adults can achieve this balance in contrast to adolescents who believe in subjective or objective reasoning

Emotions and Logic

Cognitive Flexibility

• Awareness that your perspective is not the only one

• Awareness that each problem has many potential solutions and knowledge is dynamic

• Adult thought requires flexible adaptation, which allows adults to– cope with unanticipated

events– come up with more than one

solution to problem

Flexible Problem Solving

• The possibility that one’s appearance or behavior will be misused to confirm another person’s oversimplified, prejudiced attitude. For example,

• 3 ways young minority people cope with prejudice– identification, or identifying with their own group– disidentification, or deliberately refusing to identify with

their own group– counteridentification, or identifying with majority and

believing stereotype to be accurate

Stereotype Threat

• Cognitive flexibility at its most advanced

• Every idea or truth(thesis) bears within it suggestion of the opposite idea or truth(antithesis)

Dialectical Thought

Do Love Affairs Fail?

• Dialectical thinking involves considering the thesis and antithesis of an idea simultaneously and forging them into a synthesis—a new idea that integrates the original idea and its opposite, or the thesis and its antithesis

• Dialectical thought gives one a broader and more flexible perspective

• There are notable differences between Eastern and Western thought– more polar; right vs. wrong;

black vs. white—Western thought

– more of a combination or compromise—Eastern thought

Culture and Cognition

Culture and Cognition, cont.

• Developmentalists feel culture helps to shape thought– Life-span perspective is

multicontexual and multicultural, stressing adults change because of•maturation•experience

Adult Moral Reasoning

• Ethical issues often present themselves

• Taking responsibility for one’s own actions perceived by young adults of all ethnic groups as marker of adulthood

• Life Choices – parenthood– life events

• New and different qualities of moral reasoning appear

• Gilligan took into consideration that life experiences contribute to a broader understanding of moral reasoning

Addressing Specific Dilemmas

• Every young adult must make choices about– sexuality – reproduction – marriage and child rearing– issues caused by increasing globalization and

immigration

• Dilemmas also arise from popular culture– television– The Internet– popular music

Measuring Moral Growth

• Defining Issues Test – developed by James Rest– respondents rank their priorities, from

personal benefits to higher goals; this in contrast to Kohlberg’s open-ended questions

– ranking items leads to number score– scores generally rise with age and

education which make people less rigid and more flexible

Measuring Moral Growth, cont.

• The development of faith follows a similar path– stage 1: Intuitive-projective faith

•believes in power of God and the mysteries of birth and death (3 -7)

– stage 2: Mythical-literal faith•takes myths and stories of religion

literally and believes in the power of symbols (8-13 and adulthood); prayers are “banked” for the future

• Development of faith, cont.– stage 3: Synthetic-conventional faith

•has tacit acceptance of cultural/religious values in the context of interpersonal relationships

•conformist stage of faith characterized by concern about others and what feels right

• Development of faith, cont.– stage 4: Individual-reflective faith

•detaches from values of culture and approval of others

•can be brought on by college or major life change such as divorce, etc.

• Development of faith, cont.

– stage 5: Conjunctive faith•incorporates power of unconscious ideas and rational conscious values

•willingness to accept contradictions

• Development of faith, cont.– stage 6: Universalizing faith

•powerful vision of universal compassion, justice and love that compels people to live their lives in a way that seems saintly or foolish

•personal welfare is put aside; a transforming experience can convert an adult to this stage

Cognitive Growth and Higher Education

• The relationship between college education and adult development– healthier, wealthier, as well as

deeper, more flexible thinkers

The Effects of College

• Education powerfully influences cognitive development– improves verbal and

quantitative skills, and specific subject knowledge while enhancing reasoning, reflection, and flexibility of thought

The Effects of College, cont.

• Educational influences, cont.– year-by-year progression of

students’ thinking – end of college finds students

have generally moved from simplistic either/or ideas to recognition of multiplicity of perspectives

Possible Factors in Cognitive Growth During College

• Other Factors To Consider– Change in Students– Change in Institutions

• The sheer numbers have increased greatly, worldwide

• In all nations, increased student diversity – more women students– more older students– more culturally diverse students in United

States– more low-income students– more working students

Change in the Students

Changes in the Institutions

• Structure of higher education changing with student population changes

• Almost twice as many U.S. institutions of higher learning today than in 1970– community college enrollment up 144 percent– more career programs– more part-time faculty– more women and minority instructors

Evaluating the Research

• Factors that may prevent college education from being as powerful a force in producing cognitive growth as it could be– cohort effects– selection effects– dropout rates

Evaluating the Research, cont.

• The weight of evidence suggests that college– advances income– promotes health– deepens thinking– increases tolerance of different

political, social, and religious views