Adolescent development is characterized by biological, cognitive, and social changes. Physical changes associated with puberty are triggered by hormones. Cognitive changes include improvements in complex and abstract thought, as well as the development that happens at different rates in distinct parts of the brain and increases adolescents’ propensity for risky behavior because increases in sensation-seeking and reward motivation precede increases in cognitive control. Adolescence is characterized by risky behavior, which is made more likely by changes in the brain in which reward-processing centers develop more rapidly than cognitive control systems, making adolescents more sensitive to rewards than to possible negative consequences.

Review of Learning Objectives

1. Identify the components and development of executive functions in adolescent cognitive development.
2. Compare and contrast theories of cognitive development in adolescence.
3. Discuss the importance of family, peers, and school settings in cognitive development.
4. Examine how biological and social factors influence the school experience.

Review of Key Terms

• Critical thinking: analyzing information presented as facts, evidence, or arguments and being able to make a decision.
• Bandwidth tax: the cognitive load or mental effort required to manage multiple tasks or information streams simultaneously.
• Formal operational stage: Piaget’s final stage of cognitive development, in which individuals develop the ability to think abstractly, logically, and systematically, formulate hypotheses, consider multiple variables simultaneously, and engage in deductive reasoning.
• Cognitive plasticity: the ability of the brain and cognitive abilities to change over time.
• Transitivity: the ability to understand the relationship between two objects.
• Egocentrism: an adolescent’s belief that others are as attentive to their behaviors and appearance as the adolescent themself.
• Imaginary audience: the belief that others are constantly observing and scrutinizing one’s behavior and appearance, as if one is the center of attention in a hypothetical audience. This phenomenon often leads adolescents to feel self-conscious or overly concerned about how they are perceived by others.
• Personal fable: the way adolescents tend to see themselves as unique or invulnerable is another example of biased thinking that occurs during adolescence.
• Inductive reasoning: using specific observations, or comments from those who are perceived to be knowledgeable, to draw general conclusions.
• Deductive reasoning: reasoning begins with a general principle that then leads to proposed conclusions.
• Heuristic thinking: a problem-solving approach that employs practical and efficient methods, often based on experience and intuition, to make decisions or solve problems quickly.
• Pruning: a process in which the brain eliminates unused neurons and connections, which helps speed transmissions between different regions of the brain.

Optional resources

• The mysterious workings of the adolescent brain [Streaming Video].
• Brain changes during adolescence | Behavior | MCAT | Khan Academy [Streaming Video].
• Executive Functioning in Online Environments [Website]

Metacognition in the classroom:

• Vanderbilt University- Center for Teaching-Metacognition [Website]
• Edutopia-Metacognition: Nurturing Self-Awareness in the Classroom [Website]

Study: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health [Website]) is a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7–12 in the United States during the 1994–95 school year. Add Health combines data on respondents’ social, economic, psychological, and physical well-being with contextual data on the family, neighborhood, community, school, friendships, peer groups, and romantic relationships.

Licenses and Attributions for Conclusion

“Conclusion,” adapted from Psychology Through the Lifespan by Alisa Beyer and Julie Lazzara, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.