Early Adulthood Flashcards
Define post formal thought
Cognitive development beyond Piaget’s formal operational thinking (more flexibility in problem solving, try to align thinking with the dilemmas of adulthood)
Define epistemic cognition
Theory based on post-formal thought
theory of intellectual and ethical development
Name the 3 components of epistemic cognition
Dualistic thinking: dividing info into right or wrong
Relativistic thinking: awareness of a diversity of options on many topics
Commitment: making considerate choices by being chose in the face of legitimate alternatives
Define Labouvie-Vief’s Pragmatic thought theory
Adulthood brings increased experience w real world problems, new ways of thinking tha thrive on contradiction and compromise, an increase in cognitive-affective complexity, and multifaceted thinking (awareness of own’s and other’s perspectives)
Define Erikson’s crisis of “ego idenditiy vs role confusion” between 12 and 18?
Questioning “who am I?”
Too strict parents in terms of exploration = role confusion
Desire to fit in society
Role confusion makes the next stages more difficult
Define Erikson’s crisis of “intimacy vs isolation” between 18 and 40?
Making a permanent commitment to an intimate partner (secure identity associated with fidelity) OR loneliness, self-absorption an state of searching
Define the emerging adulthood period as coined by Arnett
From 18-25 y.o.
Testing out different possibilities and developing self
Marked by a change to an unstructured, unpredictable path
Affected by changing society
Also called period of “role-less role”
What is the entry point of emerging adulthood?
“Nest leaving” - moving out of children’s home
Does leaving home produces better parent-child relationships?
YES - continuation of adolescence (gain in independence)
Does leaving home make people more adult?
Not necessarily
What is the end point of emerging adulthood?
No clear end point
Social clock is defining milestones and the age at which they should be reached (more flexible now than before)
Not following it is associated with judgement
Define identity as Erikson does
Life task of deciding who to be as a person in making the transition to adulthood
Define role confusion
A situation in which an adolescent does not seem to know or care what his/her identity is (AKA identity diffusion)
Define moratorium
Adolescent’s choice of a socially acceptable way ot postpone making identity-achievement decisions, with going to college as a common example
Define foreclosure
Premature identity formation, which occurs when an adolexcent adopts parent’s or society’s roles and values wholesale, without questioning or analysis
