Young&Adulthood&(2)&
Cognitive&Development&
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Cognitive Maturity:
• No one under age 20 reached the advanced “integrated” stage,
but some adults of every age had.
• The largest shift in self-description toward higher levels
occurred between adolescence & emerging adulthood.
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Stereotype Threat
• someone else will judge one’s appearance or behavior
negatively and thereby confirm that person’s prejudiced
attitudes.
• The mere possibility of being negatively stereotyped arouses
anxiety that can disrupt cognition and distort emotional
regulation.
• makes people of all ages doubt their ability, which reduces
learning if their anxiety interferes with cognition.
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Cognitive Growth and Higher Education
• Most contemporary students attend college primarily to secure
their vocational and financial future.
• College also correlates with better health: College graduates
everywhere smoke less, eat better, exercise more, and live
longer.
• There is no doubt that tertiary education improves verbal and
quantitative abilities, knowledge of specific subject areas, skills
in various professions, reasoning, and reflection.
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Continuity and Change
• Psychological research on personality traits of twins from ages
17 to 24 finds both genetic continuity and developmental
improvements.
• Emerging adults are open to new experiences.
• The trend is toward less depression and more joy, along with
more insight into the self.
