So, with adolescents comes a new kind of cognitive ability according to Piaget
and he called this stage formal operational. He called it formal operational
because formal logic, or making inferences is possible for the first time. This
stage begins around age 12 and goes up through adulthood. And the hallmark
characteristic of formal operational thinking is the ability to think about
abstract ideas and also, the ideal. So, for instance we start to wonder about
what we believe about religion, about politics, and whether what our parents
told us is really beliefs that we hold. We also get into gaming, and avatars,
and fantasy. Because those things are about the ideal and the possible rather
than the real. So, another cognitive skill that we see in formal operations is
called metacognition, and metacognition is the ability to think about your
thinking, to reflect on your beliefs. So, for instance, we see this in
hypothesis testing and scientific reasoning. And an hypothesis testing requires
that the person understand that what they believe is tentative, may or may not
be true and needs to be tested against evidence. So, this is a scale that we
see in formal operational thinking. So, another important point to make about
formal operational thinking, is that in contrast to the other stages of
cognitive development, progression through it is not automatic. So we see even
in adults who have superstitious beliefs for instances, and these beliefs are
not tested against evidence. And in fact, when you ask people for why these
believe these things like belief in UFOs or palm reading or astrology, people
say, oh I just believe it. It's just true. So, just because you're an
adolescent or an adult doesn't automatically mean you're thinking formally or
scientifically or critically. So it's not just thoughts that are changing
during adolescence, it's also your brain. So we're going to throw you back to
Lauren who will tell you about brain changes in adolescence.
