Cognitive Development – Ch. 15 Jan 30-Feb 4, 2009 Classes #8-10

1. Adolescence:Intellectual Advancements Egocentrism Making Important Decisions – School, Work, Graduation, etc. Cognitive Development – Ch. 15 Jan 30-Feb 4, 2009 Classes #8-10

2. Basic cognitive skills continue to emerge Logic emerges Intuitive thinking becomes quicker and more compelling Intellectual Advances

3. Every basic skill of information process continues to develop Brain maturation continues myelination is ongoing, so reaction time shorter prefrontal cortex becomes more densely packed and more efficient helps in planning, analyzing, and being able to pursue goals Language mastery improves More and Better Cognition

4. Piaget’s formal operational thought, characterized by ability to think logically about abstract ideas Qualitatively different from children’s thoughts New Logical Abilities

5. NEW COGNITIVE ABILITIES • Abstract reasoning • Hypothetical reasoning • Reflective thinking • Greater flexibility in thinking

6. FAILURE TO OBTAIN FORMAL OPERATIONS • Neurological maturation makes formal operational thinking possible BUT NOT INEVITABLE • Education and culture must encourage & provide opportunities for skills to develop

7. Research Studies

8. Characteristic of adolescent thinking that sometimes leads young people to focus on themselves to the exclusion of others and to believe that their thoughts feelings and experiences are unique Adolescent Egocentrism

9. Adolescent Egocentrism • Invincibility Fable • Adolescents feel they are immune to the laws of mortality and probability (and nature) • They therefore take all kinds of risks • Personal Fable • Adolescents imagine their own lives as mythical or heroic • They see themselves destined for fame or fortune

10. Recent studies provide evidence that teen brains are incomplete • It seems that a vital part of their brain is closer to a child’s than an adult’s • Part of prefrontal cortex • Kuhn (2003); Bjork (2004); Giedd (2005) • New findings…link brain immaturity to teens making foolish judgments & reckless decisions

11. Adolescent Egocentrism • Imaginary audience • Adolescents fantasize about how others will react (opinions of onlookers) • They assume everyone else is judging their appearance • They’re not at ease with social world

12. Adolescents do these things…but is it really a waste of their time??? • Social Spotlight Effect • Researchers say we may overestimate the extent to which we’re in the public eye • Gilovich, Medvec, & Savitsky (1996, 2000) • The “un-cool T-shirt” experiments • These researchers got students to wear a “Barry Manilow” t-shirt into their classes

13. The Social Spotlight Effect 50% 40% The students who wore the t-shirt predicted that nearly half of the others would know who was on the shirt 30% 20% 10% 0% Predicted

14. The Social Spotlight Effect 50% 40% In reality, less than a quarter of the other subjects recalled who was on the shirt 30% 20% 10% 0% Predicted Actual

15. Nevertheless, many adolescents display… • Public self-consciousness • The tendency to have a chronic awareness of oneself as being in the public eye • Self Monitoring • The tendency to be chronically concerned with one’s public image and to adjust one’s actions to fit the needs of the current situation

16. Maybe it just begins in adolescence… • Why would someone want to undergo over 20 operations to try to obtain the “perfect” figure and face? • What would drive a woman to spend a fortune to look like a “Barbie”? • Cindy Jackson, the small town Ohio woman did just that…

17. Cindy: Before…

18. Cindy: After…

19. A total transformation?

20. 1979 1990 1994 2003

21. Cindy as a child…

22. For Michael Jackson it didn’t quite work out as well…

23. Lunch with Michael Jackson: What do you think they talked about?

24. Adolescence is a time for personal decisions and independent choices with far-reaching consequences Adolescents think about possibilities, not practicalities; thus, few decide important matters rationally egocentrism and intuitive thinking make it hard to analyze and plan ahead Adolescent Decision Making

25. Few adolescents can or should decide their future career Courses studied and leisure choices do make a difference Career Choices

26. Graduation from high school confers many benefits graduates stay healthier, live longer, are richer, and more likely to marry, stay out of jail, and buy homes Worldwide, more adolescents are attending high school High School:Graduate vs. Drop-out

27. Volatile mismatch current needs often conflict with traditional structures of schools person-environment fit—degree to which environment is conducive to growth of particular individual Reasons for Dropping Out

28. Secondary schools focused on the elite; thus, they do not reflect needs of most adolescents School schedules undercut education In large schools, only a few juniors and seniors can be involved in extracurricular activities Internationally, education systems vary in expectations, curriculum, pedagogical methods, and legal requirements Reasons for Dropping Out

29. Starting at the beginning… What we know and What we don’t

30. We know ... • General agreement on benefits of a high school education… • Compared to graduates, Dropouts… • are more likely to be unemployed • earn lower wages • have higher rates of public assistance • are more likely to be single parents • have children at younger age (for women)

31. Asking the Obvious Question Do we have a problem with graduation rates?

32. Is there a problem with graduation rates? • Answer 1: NO • Graduation rates are high and stable - probably can’t go much higher

33. Is there a problem? • Answer 2: YES • Graduation rates high BUT there some large disparities among groups

34. Answer 2: YES There are 4 Million ninth graders attending public schools this year 1.3 Million students of these ninth graders will not finish high school Most of those failing to graduate will be racial/ethnic minorities

35. How do we fix these problems? • Balfanz and Herzog (2005) • New collaborated study from John Hopkins University and Philadelphia Education Fund suggest looking at four variables effecting six graders

36. Why Look in the Middle Grades? • Students who enter high school two or more years behind grade level in math and literacy have only a 50/50 chance of on-time promotion to the 10th grade • Ninth grade retention is the biggest risk factor for dropping out of high school

37. Why Middle Grades? • Student attendance, behavior, and effort all influence the likelihood that students will significantly improve their achievement levels during grades 6-8 • Adolescence and living in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty have been shown to negatively impact student attendance, behavior, and effort • In combination, their impact is heightened

38. Balfanz and Herzog (2005) • Data and Methods • Followed all students enrolled in the 6th grade in 1996-1997 through 2003-2004 (one year beyond standard time to graduate) • Looked at more recent cohorts of 6th graders (1998-99, 2000-01, 2003-04) to verify our findings • Did a preliminary screen of about 20 variables (i.e., test scores, overage, course failures, attendance, behavior marks) to see which, if any, could identify as early as 6th grade students at high risk for falling off the graduation track

39. Data and Methods • They looked for variables with a high yield (i.e., 75% or more of students with this characteristic do not make it to 12th grade on time) • Once they identified these variables, they looked at their impact on four key schooling outcomes: • 8th grade test scores • age in 8th grade • 10th grade on- time promotion • graduation status (on-time and within one extra year)

40. Balfanz and Herzog (2005) • Findings: • 4 Powerful 6th Grade Predictors of ‘Falling Off Track’ • Attending school 80% or less of the time • Receiving a poor final behavior mark • Failing Math • Failing English

41. Balfanz and Herzog (2005) • Other Findings… • 6th graders who do not attend regularly, receive poor behavior marks, orfail math or English have no more than • a 10% chance of graduating on time • a 20% chance of graduating one year late

42. U.S. teenagers work more and learn less than teenagers elsewhere Teenagers usually oriented not toward future skills but to earn spending money The United States has fewer school-to-work arrangements than other countries Some kids must work to help their families Working Outside of School

43. International differences in teen birth rates are dramatic rate is higher in United States because more teens sexually active Cultural differences in onset of sexual intercourse before age 18 years are vast What Teenagers Decide About Sex

44. What Teenagers Decide About Sex • Teen birth rate worldwide is decreasing • Use of contraception, especially by teenage boys, has at least doubled in most nations since 1990 and tripled in the United States since that time • Being sexually active includes other sexual behaviors than penile-vaginal penetration

45. New wave of sex education more practical focus on social interaction: communication and specific knowledge information from friends, older siblings, and parents Teaching teens about sex does not necessarily lead them to act upon what they’ve learned Sex Education in School

46. Risk Taking, Decision Making, and Cultures Culture and national trends are very influential risk taking varies by ethnic group Final decisions about sex, drugs, school, and other matters tend to be made in consultation with families and peers and guided by the community

47. Credits • http://bhsu.edu//artssciences/psychology/ • http://www.laredo.edu/socialbehavior/facultyAndStaff/MHaslam/Psyc2314/ • http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/edpsyppt/ • http://www.all4ed.org/publications/MeasuringGraduationToMeasureSuccess/2 • http://www.philaedfund.org/powerpoint/4