Developmental Overview
- Jun 21, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 3, 2022
Adolescence is a developmental period where someone transitions from childhood to early adulthood. As stated by Santrock (2022), adolescence starts at the age of 10 to 12 years old and ends anywhere from 18 to 22 years old. The psychologist Jean Piaget theorizes adolescence begins with a formal operational stage that starts at the age of 11 years old. Where adolescents aren't limited to actual experiences to be their base of thought, but they can create make-believe or hypothetical scenarios. There's an abstract thought process occurring along with a logical thought process. The abstract thought process can lead to comparing themselves to others and problem solving by hypothetical-deductive reasoning.
Struggles adolescents may have are with adolescent egocentrism, imaginary audience, or personal fable. These have to do with a heightened self-consciousness, attention-getting behavior, and a sense of uniqueness or invincibility.
Piaget's theory has been challenged and discussed, how cognitive development is much more specific. Cultural and educational factors show a stronger influence on cognitive development than Piaget theorized. Furthermore, the stages of cognitive development aren't as unitary or individual as he thought. Meaning different aspects of a stage can come out at the same time, and some cognitive abilities may emerge earlier or later than expected.
Despite the challenges to Piaget's theory, he is well respected for creating a theory that sprung a tremendous amount of research focusing on children's cognitive development.
The YouTube video posted below shows how technology has advanced in conducting studies and showing the differences in brain activity between adolescents and adults. Cognitive neuroscientist, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, discusses cognitive development in the adolescent brain. This includes specific areas of the brain that show significant differences and how those dissimilarities have been measured; neuroimaging, structural MRIs, and fMRIs. Her research centers on social cognition, decision making, and mental health in adolescents and in adults. Blakemore and her group conduct these behavioral studies in schools and labs.
In terms of cognitive brain development during adolescence, Blackmore talks about how our limbic system is in charge of how we process our emotions and rewards. That feeling we get when we're doing things we think are fun, or even doing something risky. This portion of the brain has been found to be hypersensitive during adolescence to that rewarding feeling of taking a risk. Adolescents face developmental changes in their brain during early years of cognitive development and are very focused on the rewards from peers, including not being excluded by their peers. This occurs while the portion of the brain called the prefrontal cortex isn't completely developed yet to assist the adolescent with self-regulation.
That being said, the prefrontal cortex is not completely developed either until the age of 25 years old. This part of the brain is what helps stop us from taking those excessive risks. This is the location where the majority of our executive functions occur. Adolescents are known to have a tendency to take risks, more so than children or adults, especially when they're with their friends. Adolescents show heightened levels of risk-taking, poor impulse control, and self-consciousness, but shouldn't be shamed for it. This is a window of opportunity for cognitive development.
Mounts (2015) writes about how the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex can be important to help people cope with negative judgments from peers by helping lower levels of distress when this occurs. Mounts discusses how research has shown that this part of the brain is used more heavily by adults instead of adolescents when they're excluded. This reveals adolescents struggle to process distress and become more upset when they're excluded by their peers or friends.
The lateral prefrontal cortex is in charge of mature self-regulation and continuously develops over adolescence (Albert, et al, 2013). In a study done on early adolescents, late adolescents, and adults, results showed how the prefrontal cortex is used more by adults than early adolescents. All groups were given an online driving task to do when they were alone, and then again when paired with two friends their age (Gardner & Steinberg, 2005). This study showed that early adolescents are more likely to partake in risky driving when their friends were present observing them, late adolescents are somewhat more likely, and adults show no impact. The prefrontal cortex was used by adults during the online driving task, while adolescents used parts of the brain more associated with rewards.
"Adolescents and young adults take more risks than any other age group. This risk-taking includes dangerous driving (e.g. texting), drug use, binge drinking, and risky sexual behavior..." (Steinberg, 2008).
It is assumed that teens participate in risky behavior because they're not able to thoroughly evaluate the risk, but research shows that adolescents are as good as adults when it comes to evaluating risk. Why adolescents still participate in the risky behavior after knowing the risk is shown in MRI and fMRI tools used by researchers who found multiple changes in the brain during puberty (Blakemore, et al. 2010).
Adolescents show:
- Increased interest in peer relationships. (Larson & Richards, 1991)
- Increased susceptibility to peer influence during teen years, this peaks at 14 years old. (Berndt 1979)
- Areas of the brain make adolescents more sensitive to rewards of peer relationships than adults. (Albert, et al. 2013)
- Motivation to focus on peers when decision-making situations involving risky behavior occur.
Adolescents are known to be producers of their own development to a bigger extent than children are. A large amount of cognitive change in adolescence has to do with executive functions. Which is a general term for many higher-level cognitive processes that have to do with the development of the prefrontal cortex. Managing one's thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and exercise self-control, cognitive inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and goal setting.
"assumes a role of monitoring and managing deployment of cognitive resources as a function of task demands. As a result, cognitive development and learning itself become more effective...Emergence and strengthening of this executive (function) is arguably the single most important and consequential intellectual development to occur in the second decade of life." (Kuhn & Franklin, 2006)
Cognitive control is another aspect of cognitive development during adolescence that is vital. Being able to stick with a task, and avoid interfering with thoughts or environmental events, instead of doing what is most effective. Stopping and thinking before acting or continuing to work on something that's important instead of going out to do something fun. School is considered a major factor underlying the development of cognitive abilities.
The adolescent is malleable and easily shaped by education, rehabilitation, and involvement. The environment they are in, including the mentors (i.e. teachers, parents, primary caregivers) they form relationships with, shapes their brain.
So, how could a teacher, mentor, parent, or primary caregiver help assist an adolescent in more successfully handling relationships with their peers which could in turn affect their cognitive development?
Adolescents in the early years of development can benefit from an environment made to provide safe activities for them that focus on their need for sensation-seeking (Mounts, 2004; 2008).
- Adult-supervised outdoor activities with peers can be things like rock climbing, zip-lining, hiking, volleyball, mini-golf course, etc. These activities give them a great opportunity to experience the excitement and social relationships they need.
Supervising adolescents' interactions with their peers and giving rules for those interactions can help limit opportunities for risky behavior happening (Mounts, 2002; 2004; 2008; Steinberg, 2010).
Mentors should be aware of and implement graduated driving laws. The driving laws limit the number of peers that are allowed in a vehicle when teens are driving.
Mentors talking with older adolescents about their peers and friends is important. Having those conversations with adolescents about this can build their ability to self-regulate. It motivates them to identify and start developing strategies for handling peer situations where risky activity is more likely to occur (Mounts, 2004; 2008).
References
Mounts, S. (2015). Why are teen brains designed for risk-taking? Psychology Today.
Pizzorno, J., Murray, M. (2020). Prefrontal cortex. Textbook of Natural Medicine (Fifth Edition).
Santrock, J., Lansford, J., & Deater-Deckard, K. (2022). Children (15th edition). McGraw Hill LLC.
Comments