Cognitive Development

*Cognitive-concerned with the act or process of knowing, perceiving, etc. : cognitive of or relating to
the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted with emotional
and volitional processes

Jean Piaget

- Considers the active role of an individual as an important factor in human development.

- He believes that an individual grows through a dynamic process in which the body’s internal systems
interacts with the environment.

- One needs to strike a balance, a state he called equilibrium.

*equilibrium – process of achieving balance

- Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development tries to explain how a child understands the world; how
he thinks, reasons out, remembers and solves problem.

- He considers education as a key element in developing one’s cognitive skills.

Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987)

- Studied how children understand what is right and wrong and how we develop a sense of morality.

*Morality

Weiten (2014,2011) defines it as the “ability to distinguish right from wrong and to behave accordingly.

- Kohlberg recognized the role of cognitve ability in developing moral reasoning of children.
- He believed that there are three main levels with two stages in each level.
TOPIC: THE CHALLENGES OF MIDDLE AND LATE ADOLESCENCE

ADOLESCENCE

• Transitional period in human development from puberty to adulthood

• Marked by the adjustment to physiological changes, search for identity, progress in cognitive abilities.
Flight of independence and establishment of meaningful ties with others.

• This is a challenging phase with a crucial task of planning the future.

• It is important that an adolescent, aside from enjoying youth, should direct one’s energy in developing
talents and skills that will expand repertoire of abilities needed to pursue dreams.
• This is the point in life when one has to start learning to make commitment to some goals that will
determine what he/she will do later in life.

Challenges

1. Freedom and independence

- It is not about doing anything that one likes BUT choosing and doing what is good for oneself
and others.
- Challenge in using freedom responsibly is consideration of the elements: CHOICE AND
CONSEQUENCES
- Academic Achievement and Career Paths
- Fulfilling academic requirements
2. Study/work-life balance
- They need to balance activities and manage time well to be productive in both work and
recreation.
3. Relationships
- Adolescents need to work and must be helped by other adults on how to establish effective
communication with their parents.
4. Financial Management
- Adolescents need to manage their finances because if they don’t it may put to waste the hard-
earned money of their parents.
5. Maturity and Life Goals
- For adolescents, there seems to be a very thin line dividing needs and wants; between essential
and frivolous. Differentiating and understanding these will help them form the right personal
philosophy, make moral decisions, and perform their duties and responsibilities that gradually
define their future.

WHOLE PERSON DEVELOPMENT

Facets of Whole Person Development

1. Physiological
- At the onset of puberty, adolescents undergo observable physiological or anatomical changes
brought by the physical development.
- Adolescents need to understand themselves and that certain emotional and psychological
states are partly affected by physiological factors.
2. Cognitive
- Adolescents are now able to do self-reflection and introspection, making a deeper analysis and
deeper understanding of the things that are happening to them.
- They can be idealistic and at the same time face reality by generating creative and alternative
solutions to problems.
- They are also capable of philosophical reasoning, critical thinking, and making moral
judgements necessary for life.
- Intellectual discussions are encouraged, to help them acquire cognitive and logical thinking
skills in order to grasp universal truths.
3. Psycho-social
- A good deal of their development is influenced by their dealings with others.
- Adolescents must be able to establish meaningful and healthy relationships with their family
members, friends, peers and other significant adults.
- They need to feel acceptance, affirmation, appreciation, approval and attention from these
social circles.
- They must be loved and must learn to love back.
4. Spiritual-moral
- The most important ingredient of development is spiritual faith rooted in the core of our
existence, the soul.
- The spiritual soul is the principle of life and must be perfectly nurtured the way one does with
the body.
- Spiritual faith is a gift from God which must be asked and developed.
- Morality is not only knowing what is right and wrong in things but in having a true
understanding why they are such.
- An authentic whole person development includes the formation in faith and morality that shape
the character of a person.