Adolesence

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to handle abstract ideas, to infer appropriate connections between cause and effect, and to reason logically and consistently (Huebner, 2002).
Whether these changes in cognitive ability are a result of the developmental stage, as Piaget suggests, or if these changes should be considered the result of accumulating knowledge that allows for new mental and moral perspectives, an enlarged capacity for making distinctions, and a greater awareness of and sensitivity to others, is a question that psychologists continually debate. Behaviorists such as Harvard's B. F. Skinner did not believe intellectual development could be divided into distinct stages. He preferred to emphasize the influence of conditioning experiences on behavior as a result of continuous punishments and rewards. Trying to prove that intellectual ability in adolescence differs from that of earlier years as a result of learning, or acquiring more appropriate responses through conditioning. Other investigators have found a strong tie between certain socioeconomic characteristics and adolescent intellectual achievement. Statistics suggest that well-educated, economically secure, small-sized families provide the kind of environment which intellectual development among adolescents is most apt to flourish. This environment should also include parental encouragement, individual attention, and an extended vocabulary use. Test scores, however, seem to be more related to the verbal ability than to the performance aspects of adolescents' intelligence(McKinney, Fizgerald, & Strommen).
Identity Formation: Psychologists also dis...