Child and Adolescent

Looking at Learners at Different Life Stages

Unit 1 Basic concepts and Issues
on Human Development
- Brenda B. Corpuz, Ph.D
 Module I
Human Development: Meaning,
Concepts and Approaches
Meaning of human Development
 Human development is the pattern of movement or change that
begins at conception and continues through the life span.
 Development includes growth and decline.
 This means that development can be positive or negative. (santrock,
2002)
Some major principles of human development
1. Development is relatively orderly.
2. While the pattern of development is likely to be similar, the
outcomes of developmental process and the rate of development
are likely to vary among individuals.
3. Development takes place gradually.
4. Development as a process is complex because it is the product of
biological, cognitive and socioemotional process (Santrock, 2002)
Two approaches to human development
1. Traditional - is the change from birth to adolescence, little or no
change in adulthood and decline in late old age.
2. Life-span development – an adulthood development change takes
place as it does during childhood.
Paul Baltes, an expert in Life-span Development, gives the ff.
characteristics:
1. Development is lifelong.
2. Development is multidimensional.
3. Development is plastic.
4. Development is contextual.
5. Development is involves growth, maintenance and regulation.
 Module 2
The Stages of Development and
Developmental task
Concept of developmental tasks
Robert Havighurst defines developmental tasks are as one that
“arises at a certain period in our life, the successful achievement of
which leads to happiness and success with later tasks while failure
leads to unhappiness, social disapproval, and difficulty with later task.”
Developmental Stages
The eight (8) stages cited by santrock and compare them to
those listed by Havighurst did not include prenatal period. Havighurst
combined infancy and early childhood while Santrock mentioned them
as two (2) separate stages.
The Developmental tasks (Santrock, 2002)
1. Prenatal period (from conception to birth)
2. Infancy (from birth to 18-24 months)
3. Early childhood (end of infancy to 5-6 years ( Grade 1)
4. Middle and late childhood ( 6 – 11 years of age, the elementary
school years)
5. Adolescence (10-12 years of age ending up to 18-22 years of age)
6. Early childhood (from late teens or early 20s lasting through the
30)
7. Middle adulthood ( 40 to 60 years of age)
8. Late adulthood ( 60s and above)
 Module 3
Issues on Human Developmet
Activity
Small group Debate
Divide the class into 3 small groups. Let the group choose their topic for
debate. Here are the topics and issues:
1. Nature versus Nurture – Which has a more significant influence on
human development? Nature or nurture?
2. Continuity versus Discontinuity – Does development involve
gradual, cumulative change (continuity) or distinct changes
(discontinuity)
3. Stability versus Change – Is development best described as
involving stability or as involving change?
Report to the whole class what transpired in your small group debates.
 Module 4
Research is Child and Adolescent
Development
Research design
Researches that are done with high level of quality
and integrity provide us with valuable information
about child and adolescent development. To be able to
conduct quality research, it is important that you know
various research design and different data-gathering
techniques used by developmental researchers.
Research Design
1. Case Study – an in-depth look at an individual.
2. Correlation Study – a research design that determines association
3. Experimental – a research design that determines cause-and-effect relationship.
4. Naturalistic Observation – a research design that focuses on children’s
experiences in natural settings.
5. Longitudinal – this research design studies and follows through a single group over
a period of time.
6. Cross-sectional – a research strategy in which individuals of different ages are
compared at one time.
7. Sequential – this is combined cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches to learn
about life-span development.
8. Action Research – is a reflective process of progressive problem-solving led by
individuals working with others in teams or as part of a “community of practice” to
improve the way they address issues and solve problems.
Data Gathering Techniques
1. Observation – can be made in either laboratories or materialistic settings.
In naturalistic observation, behavior is observed in the real world like
classrooms, home in neighborhood.
2. Physiological Measures – certain indicators of children’s development such
as, among others, heart rate, hormonal levels, bone growth, body weight,
and brain activity are measured.
3. Standardized tests – these are prepared tests that asses individuals’
performance in different domains. These tests are administered in a
consistent manner.
4. Interviews and Questionnaires – involve asking the participants to provide
information about themselves based on the interview or questionnaire
given by the researcher.
5. Life-History Records – these are records of information about a lifetime
chronology of events and activities.
 Module 5
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development
1. Oral stage (birth to 18 months)
2. Anal stage ( 18 months to 3 years old)
3. Phallic stage ( ages 3 to 6 )
4. Latency stage ( age 6 to puberty)
5. Genital stage ( puberty onwards)
Freud’s Personality Components
1. The id – it operates on the pleasure principle. It
focuses on immediate gratification or satisfaction of
its needs.
2. The ego – it operates using the reality principle. It is
aware that others also have needs to be met.
3. The superego – it embodies a person’s moral aspect.
It likened to conscience because it exerts influence
on what one considers right and wrong.
Topographical Model
The Unconscious – Freud said that most what we go through in our
lives, emotion, beliefs, feelings and impulses deep within are not
available to us conscious level.
The Conscious – Freud also said that all we are aware of is stored in
our conscious mind.
The Subconscious – this is the part of us that we can reach it
prompted, but is not in our active conscious.
 Module 6
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
Basic Cognitive Concepts
• Schema – it refer to the cognitive structures by which individuals
intellectually adapt to and organize their environment.
• Assimilation – this is the process of fitting a new experience into
an existing or previously created cognitive structure or schema.
• Accommodation – this is the process of creating a new
schema.
• Equilibration – Is the achieving proper balance between
assimilation and accommodation. When our experience do not
match our schema or cognitive structures, we experience
cognitive disequilibrium.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage 1. Sensori-motor Stage
the first stage corresponds from birth to infancy. This is the stage
when a child who is initially reflexive in grasping, sucking and reaching
becomes more organized in his movement and activity.
Stage 2. Pre-operational
it covers from about two to seven years old, roughly
corresponding to the preschool years.
symbolic function – this is the ability to represent objects and
events.
egocentrism – this is the tendency of the child to only see his
point of view and to assume that everyone has his same point of view.
 centration – this refers to the tendency of the child to only focus on
one aspect of a thing or event and exclude other aspects.
irreversibility – pre-operational children still have the inability to
reverse their thinking. They can understand that 2+3 is 5, but cannot
understand that 5-3 is 2.
animism – this is the tendency of children to attribute human like
traits or characteristics to inanimate objects.
transductive reasoning - this refers to the preoperational child’s type
of reasoning that is neither inductive nor deductive.
Stage 3. Concrete-Operational stage
this characterized by the ability of a child to think logically but only in
terms of concrete objects.
Decentering – this refers to the ability of the child to perceive the
different features of objects and situation.
 Reversibility – the child can now follow that certain operations
can be done in reverse.
Conservation – this is the ability to know that certain properties
of object like number, mass, volume, or area do not change even if
there is a change in appearance.
Seriation – this refers to the ability to order or arrange things on
a series based on one dimension such as weight, volume, or size.
Stage 4. Formal Operational Stage
in the final stage of formal operations covering ages between 12
and 15 years, thinking becomes more logical.
Hypothetical Reasoning – this is the ability to come up with
different hypothesis about a problem and to gather and weigh data in
order to make a final decision or judgement.
Analogical Reasoning – this is the ability to perceive the
relationship in one instance and then use that relationship to
narrow down possible answers in another similar situation or
problem.
Deductive Reasoning – this is the ability to think logically by
applying a general rule to a particular instance or situation.
 Module 7
Erikson’s Psycho-Social theory of
Development
The Eight Psychosocial Stages of Development
• Stage One
 Module 8
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development
 level
Preconventional Level
Moral reasoning is based on the
consequence/result of the act, not on the
whether the act itself good or bad.
Conventional
Moral reasoning is based on the conventions
or “norms” of society. This may include
approval of others, law and order.
Post-Conventional
Moral reasoning is based on enduring or
consistent principles. It is not just recognizing
the law, but the principles behind the law.
stage description
1 Punishment/Obedience.
One is motivated by fear of punishment. He will act in order to
avoid punishment.
2 Mutual Benefit
One is motivated to act by the benefit that one may obtain later.
You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
3 Social Approval.
One is motivated by what others expect in behavior – good boy,
good girl.
4 Law and Order
One is motivated to act in order to uphold law and order. The
person will follow the law because it is the law.
5 Social Contrast
Law that are wrong can be change. One will act based on social
justice and the common good.
6 Universal Principles
This is associated with the development of one’s conscience
 Module 9
Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory
Activity
1. As a child, recall a skill that you wanted to learn and eventually
learned well, through the help of another person.( like swimming,
riding a bike, playing the piano, skating, etc,)
_________________________________________________________
2. What made you interested to learn the skill?
_________________________________________________________
3. Who taught or assisted you?
_________________________________________________________
4. Describe how you went about learning the skill. Describe what steps
or actions the person did in order to help you learn.
__________________________________________________________
 Piaget Vygotsky

More individual in focus More social in focus

Believed that there are Did not propose stages but
universal stages of cognitive emphasized on cultural
development factors in cognitive
development

Did not give much emphasis Stressed the role of

on language language in cognitive
development.
 Module 10
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
Theory
Bronfenbrenner’s model known as the Bioecological System theory presents
child development within the context of relationship systems that comprise
that child’s environment. It describes multipart layers of environment that has
an effort on the development of the child.
Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological Model: structure of Environment
• The Microsystem – is the layer nearest the child. It comprises structures
which the child directly interacts with. It includes structures such as one’s
family, school and neighborhood.
• The Mesosystem – this layer serves as the connection between the
structures of child’s microsystem.
• The Macrosystem – this layer is found in the outermost part in thechild’s
environment.
• The Chronosystem – it covers the element as it relates to a child’s
environment.
 Part II
Development of Learners at
Various Stages

Unit 1 Prenatal
Development
The Stages of Pre-natal Development
1. Germinal period
- first 2 weeks after conception
- this includes the
a. creation of the zygote
b. continued cell division
c. the attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall
- in germinal period, the differentiation of cells already begins as
inner and outer layers of the organism.
Blastocyst – the inner layer of the cells that develops during the
germinal period, develops later into embryo.
Trophoblast – the outer layer of cells that develops also during
the germinal period, later provides nutrition and support for the
embryo.
2. Embryonic Period
- 2-8 weeks after conception
- in this stage, the name of the mass cells, zygote, become embryo. The
ff. developments take place.
a. cell differentiation intensifies
b. life-support systems for the embryo develop
c. organs appear
3. Fetal period
- 2 months to 7 months conception
- growth and development continue dramatically during this period.
Teratology and Hazards to Prenatal Development
Teratology
- is the field that investigates the causes of congenital defects.
The clusters of hazards to prenatal development:
1. Prescription and nonprescription drugs – these include
prescription as well as non-prescription drugs.
2. Psychoactive drugs – these include nicotine, caffeine and illegal
drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin.
3. Environmental hazards – these include radiation in jobsites and X-
rays, environmental pollutants, toxic wastes, and prolonged exposure
to heat in saunas and bath tubs.

4. Other maternal factors such as Rebulla (German measles), syphilis,

genital herpes, AIDS, nutrition, high anxiety and stress, age, ( too
early or too late beyond 30)

5. Paternal factors – father’s exposure to lead, radiation, certain

pesticides and petrochemicals may cause abnormalities in sperm that
lead to miscarriage or diseases such as childhood cancer.
Unit 2 Infancy And Toodlerhood
Physical Development of Infants and Toodlers
Cephalocaudal and proximodistal Pattern
cephalocaudal – is the postnatal growth from conception to 5
months when the head grows more that the body.
proximodistal – is the prenatal growth from 5 months to birth
when the fetus grows from the inside the body outwards.
Height and Weight
- a baby’s weight usually triples during the first year but slows
down in the second year of life.
- in general, an infants length increases by about 30 percent in
the first five months.
Brain Development
- among the most dramatic changes in the brain in the first two years
of life are the spreading connections of dendrites to each other.
Myelination or myelinization – the process by which the axons are
covered and insulated by layers of fat cells, begin prenatally and continues
after birth.
Motor Development
along this aspects of motor development, infants and toddlers begin
from reflexes, to gross motor skills and fine motor skills.
Reflexes – the newborn has some reflexes which are, of course automatic
and serve as survival mechanisms before they have the opportunity to learn.
Ex. Are sucking reflex, rooting reflex, gripping reflex, curling reflex,
startle/moro reflex, galant reflex and tonic neck reflex.
Gross Motor Skills
- it is always a source of excitement for parents to
witness dramatic changes in the infant’s first year of life.
Fine Motor Skills
- are the skills that involve a refined use of the small
muscles controlling the hands, fingers, and thumb.
Sensory and Perceptual Development
- the newborn sense the world into which he/she is born
through his/her senses of vision, hearing , touch, taste and
smell.
Cognitive Development of Infants and Toodlers
- refers to development in the way a baby thinks. This includes
his/her language, communication and exploration skills.
Sensorimotor stage – the first stage of the four stages of cognitive
development. In this stage, infants construct an understanding of the
world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motoric
actions.
Object Permanence – is the understanding that object continue to exist
even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched.
Language Development
1. cooing – comprises largely vowel sounds.
2. babbling – comprises consonant as well as vowel sounds.
3. one-word utterances
4. two-word utterances and telegraphic speech
5. basic adult sentence structure
LAD – Language Acquisition Device
- is the metaphorical organ that is responsible for language
learning.
Socio-emotional Development of infants
Temperament – is a word that captures the ways that people differ,
even at birth, in such things as their emotional reactions, activity level,
attention span, persistence, and ability to regulate their emotions.
The Development of Emotions
1. Early infancy (birth – six months)
2. Later Infancy ( 7 – 12 months)
3. Toodlerhood ( 1 – 2 years)
 Unit 3
Early Chilhood
(The Preschooler)
Big ideas about the Physical Development of
Preschoolers
1. There are significant changes in physical growth of preschoolers.
2. The preschoolers’ physical development is marked by the
acquisition of gross and fine motor skills.
3. Preschoolers can express themselves artistically at a very early age.
4. Proper nutrition at the right amount of sleep are very important for
the preschoolers.
5. Caregivers and teachers can do a lot in maximizing the growth and
development of preschoolers.
6. Preschoolers with special needs in inclusive classrooms can thrive
well with the appropriate adaptations made in the classroom,
materials and activities.
Significant Changes in Physical Growth
Physical growth increases in the preschool years, although it is
much slower in pace that in infancy and toddlerhood.
Gross and Fine Motor Development
Gross Motor – it refers to acquiring skills that involve the large
muscle.
It categorized into three:
1. Locomotor skills – one place to another.
2. Non-locomotor skills – the child stays in place.
3. Manipulative skills – projecting and receiving objects.
Fine Motor – refers to acquiring the ability to use the smaller muscles
in the arm, hand and fingers purposefully.
Stages of Drawing
Stage 1: Scribbling stage
- this stage begins with large zig-zag lines with later become
circular markings.
Stage 2: Preschematic stage
- at this point adults may be able to recognize the drawings.
Stage 3: Schematic stage
- children usually draw from experience and exposure.
 Cognitive Development of Preschoolers
Symbolic substage – preschool children show progress in their cognitive
abilities by being able to draw objects that are not present, by their dramatic
increase in their language and make-believe play.
Intuitive substage – preschool children begin to use primitive reasoning and ask
a litany question.
Brain Connections in the Preschool years
Because of fascinating developments is neuroscience, brain development
young children have been of great interest to the field of early childhood.
Language Development
Young children’s understanding sometimes gets ahead of their speech. As
children go through early childhood, their grasp of the rules of language
increases ( morphology, semantics, pragmatics).
Fast mapping – a process by which children absorb the meaning of a
new word after hearing it once or twice in conversation.
Language and Social Interaction
Vygotsky believed that young children use language both to
communicate socially and to plan, guide and monitor their behavior in
a self regulatory fashion – called inner speech or private speech.
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) – refer to tasks too difficult for a
child to master alone but can be mastered with the guidance and
assistance of adults or more skilled children.
Scaffolding – refers to the “changing support over the course of a
teaching session, with the skilled person adjusting guidance to fit the
child’s current performance level”.
Information Processing Theory-Attention and Memory
The Information Processing model is another way of examining
and understanding how children develop cognitively. This model
conceptualizes children’s mental processes through the metaphor of a
computer processing, encoding. Storing, and decoding data.
Rehearsal and Organizing Information – are deliberate mental
activities that can be employed to improve the processing of
information. Young children typically, however, do not use rehearsal
and organization.
The Young Children’s Theory of Mind
Theory of mind refers to individuals’ thoughts about how mental
processes work.
Cognitive Development of Preschoolers
• Preschoolers engage in symbolic and intuitive thinking.
• Brain connections are made when preschoolers interact with
the environment.
• Preschoolers’ language development occurs in four areas:
phonology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.
• Vygotsky believed that language and social interaction are
very important to cognitive development.
• Preschoolers improve in their ability in process information.
• Preschoolers’ cognitive development is marked by the
emergence of a theory of mind.
Socio-Emotional Development of the Preschoolers
Big Ideas on Preschoolers’ Socio-emotional development
1. The development of initiative is crucial to the preschoolers.
2. A healthy self-concept is needed for preschoolers to interact
with others .
3. Environmental factors influence gender identity in young
children.
4. Preschoolers’ social development is shown through the stages of
play.
5. The care-giving styles of parents and children affect the
preschoolers’ socio-emotional development.
6. Preschoolers are interested in building friendships.
Self-Concept and the Preschooler
Self-concept – refers to the way one sees himself, a general
view about mainly focuses on observable characteristics and
hi/her usual beliefs, emotion and attitudes.
Self-esteem – which specifically refers to one’s judgements
about one’s worth.
Gender typing – the process of forming gender roles, gender-
based preferences and behaviors accepted by society.
Parten’s Stages of Play
Play is the main agenda of the preschool years. Play has a
social dimension. As a preschooler develops, social interaction
with playmates increases.
 Parten’s Stages of Play
1. Unoccupied The child appears not to be playing but
directs his attention on anything that
interests him
2. Onlooker The child spends time watching others play.
3. Solitary play The child spends time watching others play.
4. Parallel Play The child plays with toys similar to those
near him, but only plays beside and not with
them. No interaction takes place.
5. Associative play The child plays with others. There is
interaction among them, but no task
assignment, rules and organization are
agreed upon.
6. Cooperative The child plays with others bound by some
Friendship in Preschool
As they continue to grow, preschoolers become interested in
having friends.
Caregiving Styles
Caregiving styles affect the socio-emotional development of the
children. Caregivers here refer to both parents and teachers and even
other adults that care for the child.
Responsiveness – refers to caregiver behaviors that pertain to
expression of affection and communication. It refers to how warm,
caring and respectful the adult is to the child.
Demandingness – refers to the level of control and expectations.
 Unit 4
The Primary Schooler
Physical Development of the Primary Pupil
Physical Growth – during the primary school years is slow but steady.
Physical development involves:
1. having a good muscle control and coordination
2. developing eye-hand coordination
3. having good personal hygiene
4. being aware of good safety habits
Factors could indicate how much a child grows
Genes
Food
Climate
Exercise
Medical conditions
Diseases / illnesses
• Unimanual – required the use of one hand
• Bi-manual – require the use of two hands
Different Motor skills
1. Coordination – a series of movements organized and time to occur in a
particular way to bring about a particular result
2. Balance – is the child’s ability to maintain the equilibrium or stability of
his or her body in different positions.
3. Static balance – children have improved balancing skills.
4. Dynamic balance – ability to maintain equilibrium while moving.
5. Speed – ability to cover a great distance in the shortest possible time
6. Agility – one’s ability to quickly change the direction of the body.
7. Power – ability to perform a maximum effort in the shortest possible
period.
Cognitive Development of Primary Schoolers
Jean Piaget is the foremost theorist when it comes to
cognitive development.
Inductive logic – involves thinking from a specific
experience to a general principle.
Deductive logic – a general principle to determine the
outcome of a specific event.
Sequential manner – meaning they need to understand
numbers before they can perform a mathematical
equation.
Socio-emotional Development
the developmental theorist, Erik Erikson, formulated eight stages of man’s
psychosocial development. Preschool children belong to the fourth stage of
Erikson’s psychosocial stage, “industry vs. inferiority”.
Understanding the self – one’s self concept is the knowledge about the self,
such as belief regarding personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities,
values, goals, and roles.
Antisocial behavior
• Expose the children to kid-rich environments.
• Create a play group in your class and let the children mingle with their
classmates.
• When your children hit other children, remind them that their behavior hurts
others.
• Coordinate with the parents and other teachers so that the children will have
greater opportunity to interact with other children.
 Unit 5
Late Childhood
•Physical Development of the Intermediate
Pupil
Activity
1. What initial characteristics of children ages 9 to 12 did you observe?
2. What activities were commonly done by these children which help
them to develop physically?
3. Based on your observations and readings, do boys follow a different
growth pattern compared to the girls? Explain your answer.
Physical changes
Children in their late childhood stage always seem to be in a
hurry. They get so busy with their school work, exploring other possible
activities, but this period of physical development seems to take on a
leisurely pace.
Children must be given opportunities to engage themselves in
worthwhile activities that:
-promote healthy growth
-give them a feeling of accomplishment
-reduce the risk of certain diseases
Cognitive Development of intermediate schoolers
Activity
Write your understanding on the statement below.
INTELLIGENCE is..
• the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is
valued in a culture;
• A set of skills that makes it possible for a person to solve problems in
life;
• The potential for findings or creating solutions for problems, which
involves gathering new knowledge.
-Howard Gardner
Socio-Emotional Development of Intermediate Schoolers
Self-competence – one of the most widely recognized characteristics of this
period of development.
Perspective taking enables the child to:
a. judge others’ intentions, purposes and actions
b. give importance to social attitudes and behaviors
c. increase skepticism of others’ claims.
Emotional intelligence has four main areas:
• Developing emotional ( self-control)
• Managing emotions ( self-control)
• Reading emotions ( perspective taking)
• Handling emotions ( resolve problems)
Building Friendship
There are five types of Peer status:
• Popular – frequently nominated as the bestfriend and one who is
rarely disliked by peers.
• Average – receives an average number of positive and negative
nominations from peers.
• Neglected – very seldom, nominated as bestfriend but one is not
really disliked.
• Rejected – infrequently nominated as a bestfriend but one who also
disliked by peers.
• Controversial – frequently nominated as a bestfriend but at the same
time is disliked by peers.
Family
family support is crucial at this stage which characterized by
success and failure. If children do not a supportive family when they
find their interest, they can easily get frustrated.
Big ideas
• During late childhood, wide variety of biological, psycological and
social changes take place across the developmental domains.
• As children progress through late childhood, the family environment
remains extremely important, while the community environment –
including the school – also becomes a significant factor in shaping the
child’s development.
• During late childhood, peers have an increasingly strong impact on
development; peer acceptance becomes very important to well-
being.
 Unit 6
Adolescence
Physical Development of the High School Learners
Defining Adolescence
the period of adolescence begins with biological changes of
puberty and ends with the role and work of adult life.
Early Adolescence – characterized by puberty mostly occurring
between ages 10 and 13.
Middle Adolescence – characterized the identity issues within the ages
of 14 and 16.
Late Adolescence – marks the transition into adulthood at ages 17 and
20.
Adolesence is a period of transition in terms of physical, cognitive, and
socio – emotional changes, physical transition being particularly
coupled with sexual transformation.
Pubertal changes - in all cultures, biological change comprises the
major transition from childhood to early adolescence. This is
manifested by a change in physical appearance, a more rapid rate of
development known as growth in spurs.

The Growth Spurts – throughout life, the growth hormone conditions

gradual increases in body size, weight, but hormone flooding occurs
during adolescence causing an acceleration known as the growth spurt.

Sexual Maturity – the series of hormonal changes accompanying

puberty is complex.
Hormones – recognized to be powerful and highly specialized chemical
substances that interact with bodily cells.

The secular trend – the striking tendency for children to become larger
at all ages has been perceived during the past one hundred years.

Adolescent sleeping habit – studies show that teenagers are not

getting enough sleep, and would want more sleep. Lack of sleep is
likely caused by changes in adolescent behavioural patterns.

Exploration – adolescents become aware of changes in sexuality, thus

undergoing a period of exploration and adjustment.
 Cognitive Development of the High School Learners
Piaget’s Formal Operational Thinker

Piaget formulated the theory of Formal Operational

Thinking which demonstrates how the cognitive capacity of
the adolescent allows him or her to go beyond the sensible
and concrete to dwell on what is abstract, hypothetical,
multidimensional and possible.
a. Propositional Thinking – making assertions outside visual evidence,
and stating what may possible in things not seen by the eyes.
b. Relativistic thinking – subjectively making an opinion on facts -
involving one’s own bias, prejudice of distortion of facts which may be
either right or wrong.

c. Real versus possible – examining a situation and exploring the

possible in terms of situations or solutions.

Sieglar’s Information-processing Skills

As in information-processing theorist, Robert Sieglar views the
influence of the environment on thinking. He sees cognitive growth,
not as stages of development, but more of a sequential acquisition of
specific knowledge and strategies for problem solving.
Metacognition
Among the developmental cognitive advances in adolescence is
metacognition. This involves the ability to think above thinking,
evidenced by awareness of capacity to identify one’s own thinking

Overachievers – Achievement and IQ tests are standard measurements

of the learner’s abilities as well as potentials for success in given areas.

Underachievers – individuals whose performance are below the

measured IQ levels are labelled underachievers.

Parental involvement – generally the influence of parents appears to

be the dominant influence on the adolescent’s achievement level.
Possible adolescent behavior during cognitive growth
a. Egocentrism – the tendency among adolescent to think too much
of themselves, such as to be too sensitive to social acceptance of
their appearance, actions, feelings, ideas, etc.
b. Idealism – the adolescent opens thought on the possible, an
avenue to possibly imagining. What is far fetched.

Developing occupational skills – generally, the high school curriculum

tends to focus on academic cognitive learning, neglecting attention to
occupational skills.
Extracurricular activities
School activities outside the subjects for classroom study are
mechanisms for further development of the adolescent student,
allowing the acquisition of new attitudes, knowledge, and skills.
Socio-Emotional Development
Self-Understanding
Physical and cognitive developments do not come in isolation,
but are accompanied by growth in self-image and maturation of
feelings among adolescence.
Stereotypes in gender differences
Scholars make reference to gender differences, as studies in
countries like U.S. show that boys have higher self-esteem in
achievement and leadership, while girls see themselves better in terms
of congeniality and sociability.
Developing self-esteem
Self-esteem means appreciation of one’s self or self-love,
regardless of genetic potential endowments.
Friendship and intimacy
teenage friendship is a social system which can be wholesome in terms
of sharing of thoughts and feelings, caring for one another, and responding to
one anothers deeper psychological needs.
Identity issues
The active search which adolescents engage in to try to gain a new
understanding of self along sexual, occupational, religious, political self-image
is referred to as identity issues.
Phases of Identity status
identity foreclosure – this is the case of an adolescent who is follower,
finding security in others not in his/her self.
moratorium – this is the case of an adolescent searcher.
Identity achiever– this is the point where the adolescent fully
himself/herself.
identity diffusion – this is the case of the adolescent failing to find
himself/herself.
Moral development
1. Conventional level – at this stage, adolescent is able to
understand and conform to social conventions, consider the motives of
peers and adults, engage in proper behavior to please others, and
follow the rules of society.

2. Post-Conventional level – at this stage, the adolescent wishes

to confirm to:
a. law and order
b. the social contract
c. Universal ethical principles
Development of Guilt
Guilt is a sense of feeling responsible for one’s actions, particularly
when harm has been done to oneself or others.
on negative side, guilt can threaten self-image, such that if one is
unable to thresh out guilt feelings, there can be serious problems in adjusting
to normal living.
On the positive side, guilt makes us aware of possible wrongdoing,
serving as a regulator for individuals to be more responsible in upholding
esteemed social values.
Influences in moral behavior
Peers can encourage positive behaviors, although they can also
encourage misconduct or inappropriate behaviors. Peer influence should not
be underestimated.