Sources for Further Studys

Byrnes, James P. Minds, Brains, and Learning: Understanding the Psychological
and Educational Relevance of Neuroscientific Research. New York: Guilford
Press, 2001. Provides a stimulus for rethinking assumptions regarding the
connection between mental and neural processes. The author challenges
some of Piaget’s ideas on formal operational thought. Gives a clear and
readable overview of current neuroscientific work, especially for those
relatively new to the field.

Elkind, David. The Child’s Reality: Three Developmental Themes. Hillsdale, N.J.:
Lawrence Erlbaum, 1978. Discusses the ways in which adolescent cognitive
skills are reflected in personality and in social behavior. Excellent
presentations on egocentrism, ideologies, personal fable, and imaginary
audience.
Flavell, John, Patricia Mill, and Scott Miller. Cognitive Development. Rev. ed.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 2001. Presents theory and research
on cognitive development from an information-processing approach.
Discusses relationship between information-processing and Piagetian
theory. An excellent effort to compare and contrast these two perspectives.
Ginsburg, Herbert, and Sylvia Opper. Piaget’s Theory of Intellectual Development.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1988. In its latest edition, this
now classic work contains an updated presentation of Piaget’s theory of
cognitive development, including a detailed analysis of formal operational
thinking.

Kuhn, D. “Adolescence: Adolescent Thought Processes.” In Encyclopedia of
Psychology, edited by Alan E. Kazdin. New York: Oxford University Press,
2000. This is an outstanding reference source for cognitive development
in general. Kuhn provides a good evaluation of Piaget’s work.
Muuss, R. E. “Social Cognition: Robert Selman’s Theory of Role Taking.”
Adolescence 17, no. 67 (1982): 499-525. Discusses the relationship between
adolescent cognitive skills and the ability to adopt another person’s point
of view. Includes an overall summary of Robert Selman’s model of social
cognitive development.

Pruitt, David B., ed. Your Adolescent: Emotional Behavioral and Cognitive Development
from Early Adolescence Through the Teen Years. New York: Harper-Collins, 2000.Written with the parent in mind, this resource covers a wide
range of concerns and issues. It is published by the American Academy of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and complements a similar book written
for the childhood years. The approach is more practical than scholarly.
Lisa Friedenberg; updated by Lillian J. Breckenridge
See also: Adolescence: Sexuality; Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget;
Identity Crises; Learning. 22