Deck 18: Seciton 1: Emerging Adulthood: Cognitive Development

Question 1

Define stereotype threat and detail how it might explain women's comparatively low participation in technological fields.

Answer 1

Stereotype threat is the fear that one's appearance or behavior will be misused to confirm another person's oversimplified, prejudiced attitude. In other words, the worry that others will view you poorly, which can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hundreds of studies have confirmed that stereotype threat arouses emotions that can disrupt cognition and emotional regulation: Women underperform in math, older people act more forgetful, bilingual students stumble with English, and every member of a stigmatized minority in every nation performs less well.
There are three ways in which stereotype threat might affect women's participation in technological fields. Some women might be afraid to pursue fields associated with technology-an area sometimes thought to be a weakness for women-because 1) they believe that they will do poorly and their performance will be proof of the stereotype. 2) Women may actually believe the stereotype that they are technologically inept, and/or 3) may tell themselves that technological abilities are unimportant and, as a result, devalue these skills.

Question 2

Describe how thesis, antithesis, and synthesis are related with respect to dialectical thought. Indicate how a nondialectical thinker and a dialectical thinker would explain the dissolution of a romantic relationship.

Answer 2

Each idea, or thesis, implies an opposing idea, or antithesis. Dialectical thought involves considering both these poles of an idea simultaneously and then forging them into a synthesis-that is, a new idea that integrates the original and its opposite. Note that the synthesis is not a compromise; it is a new concept that incorporates both original ones in some transformative way.
With respect to the dissolution of a romantic relationship, a nondialectical thinker might believe that each person has stable, independent traits and thus would conclude that one partner (or the other) was at fault, or perhaps the relationship was a mistake from the beginning because the two were a bad match. By contrast, a dialectical thinker sees people and relationships as constantly evolving. Accordingly, this thinker would posit that a romance ends because the partners have changed without adapting to each other.

Question 3

Name and describe at least three characteristics of the proposed fifth stage of cognitive development.

Answer 3

Postformal thought is the proposed fifth stage of cognitive development. Postformal thinkers 1) do not wait for someone else to present a problem to solve. They take a 2) more flexible and 3) comprehensive approach, considering various aspects of a situation to 4) anticipate problems and 5) deal with difficulties in a timely manner rather than denying, avoiding, or procrastinating. As a result, postformal thought is 6) more practical, creative, and imaginative than earlier thinking is. In addition, it is 7) more dialectical (which means more capable of combining contradictory elements into a comprehensive whole).

Question 4

Differentiate between children and adults in identifying solutions to a problem.

Question 5

Describe Carol Gilligan's perspective on gender differences in moral thought. Also, state what more contemporary research indicates about gender differences in morality.

Question 6

Define massification and name at least three factors underlying it.

Question 7

Describe four ways in which adult thinking differs from adolescent thinking.

Question 8

One practical side of postformal thinking is the ability to combine subjective and objective thought. Briefly describe subjective and objective thought. Then, provide an example that illustrates the integration of these two patterns of thought.

Question 9

What evidence is there to support the existence of a fifth stage of cognitive development, and what doubts have been raised regarding the fifth stage?

Question 10

Describe the current trends in college education compared to the past. Be sure to include at least one fact about each of these: type of students, the reasons for attending, majors selected, and type of institutions.