Chapter 13- part 2: Early Adulthood

1. Chapter 13- part 2:Early Adulthood Module 6Cognitive Developmentin Early Adulthood

2. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

3. Intellectual Growth in Early Adulthood Physical development slows down during early adulthood, but does cognitive? ~ What did Piaget propose? 329

4. Postformal Thought • Giesela Labouvie-Vief • Adult predicaments are sometimes solved by relativistic thinking rather than pure logic • Postformal thought acknowledges that world sometimes lacks purely right and wrong solutions so adults must draw upon prior experiences to solve problems 329

5. K. Warner Schaie • ACQUISITIVE STAGE • ACHIEVING STAGE • RESPONSIBLE STAGE • EXECUTIVE STAGE • REINTEGRATIVE STAGE 331

6. How Information Is Used: Schaie’s Stages 331

7. Review and Apply REVIEW • Cognitive development continues into young adulthood with the emergence of postformal thought, which goes beyond logic to encompass interpretive and subjective thinking. • Perry suggests that people move from dualistic thinking to relativistic thought during early adulthood. • According to Schaie, people pass through five stages in the way they use information: acquisitive, achieving, responsible, executive, and reintegrative. 332

8. Review and Apply APPLY • Can you think of situations that you would deal with differently as an adult than as an adolescent? Do the differences reflect postformal thinking? 332

9. Intelligence: What Matters in Early Adulthood? • Sternberg - TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE • Intelligence is made up of three major components: • Componential aspects (analytical) • Experiential components (creative) • Contextual factors (practical) 332

10. Expanding on Sternberg’s Theory… • Psychologist Seymour Epstein • Constructive thinking • Form of practical intelligence • Underlies success in such areas as social relationships and physical and emotional health 333

11. CREATIVITY Early adulthood Peak of creativity Many of professional problems are novel Willing to take risks Creativity: Novel Thought in Early Adulthood 335

12. Life Events and Cognitive Development • Major life events may lead to cognitive growth • Think about the world in novel, more complex, sophisticated, and often less rigid ways • Apply postformal thought (Labouvie-Vief) 336

13. Review and Apply REVIEW • New views of intelligence encompass the triarchic theory, Practical intelligence, and emotional intelligence. • Creativity seems to peak during early adulthood, with young adults viewing even longstanding problems as novel situations. • Major life events contribute to cognitive growth by providing opportunities and incentives to rethink one’s self and one’s world. 336

14. COLLEGE: PURSUING HIGHER EDUCATION

15. Higher Education College is period of developmental growth that encompasses mastery not just of particular bodies of knowledge, but of ways of understanding world. 336

16. College: Pursuing Higher Education • Nationwide, a minority of high school graduates enter college • Only about 40% of those who start graduate from college in 4 years • Influenced by race and gender variables 336

17. Who goes to college? • 40% of college students today are 25 years of age or older • Average age of a community college student is 31 • College degree is becoming increasingly important in obtaining and keeping job • Absolute number of minority students enrolled in college has increased BUT overall proportion of minority population has decreased over past decade 337

18. Why is there a gender gap in college attendance? Will it continue? • Men have more opportunities to earn money when they graduate • More women enrolled in college 337

19. The Changing College Student: Never Too Late to Go to College? • According to Sherry Willis, adults return to college for several reasons: • To understand their own aging • To keep up with rapid technological and cultural advances • To combat obsolescence on the job • To acquire new vocational skills • To broaden their intellectual skills 337

20. College Adjustment: Reacting to the Demands of College Life • First year adjustment reaction • Particularly affects unusually successful students in high school • Passes for most as friends made and integration into college life occurs • Serious psychological consequences for few 339

21. The Informed Consumer of Development When Do College Students Need Professional Help with Their Problems? • Psychological distress that lingers and interferes with a person’s sense of well-being and ability to function • Feelings that one is unable to cope effectively with the stress • Hopeless or depressed feelings • Inability to build close relationships with others • Physical symptoms 340

22. Depression in College Students 340

23. Why do differences exist in gender distribution in classes and attrition rates?

24. Gender and College Performance • Prejudice and discrimination • Hostile sexism • Benevolent sexist • Differences exist in gender distribution in classes and attrition rates 341

25. Stereotype Threat and Disidentification with School African Americans don’t do well in academic pursuits. Women lack ability in math and science. 341

26. Review and Apply REVIEW • Rates of college enrollment differ across racial and ethnic lines. • The average age of college students is steadily increasing as more adults return to college. 344

27. Review and Apply REVIEW • The phenomena of academic disidentification and stereotype threat help explain the lower performance of women and African Americans in certain academic domains. 344

28. Review and Apply APPLY • How would you educate college professors who behave differently toward male and female students? What factors contribute to this phenomenon? Can this situation be changed? 344