Judgement and Decision Making in Adolescense - Coursework Example

Judgment and Decision making in Adolescence Introduction It is well documented that no group is more likely to engage in risky behavior compared to the adolescents. Today for instance, the adolescents are the most likely group to use varied illicit substances, to drive recklessly, to drive on highways while intoxicated, to have unprotected sex and to generally engage in both minor and major antisocial behavior. All these can be linked to issues of decision-making and problem solving amongst the adolescent (Rivers et al., 2008). It is however true that as we grow up we all experience adolescence. We all go through the fight for independence from our family members particularly the parents, the unique exploration of self-identity the need for our peer approval (Jacobs & Klaczynski, 2005). All these are neurological changes that gradually develop from adolescence to young adulthood. Adolescence is often seen as a challenging time for many young individuals as they navigate seemingly overprotective parents, social cliques at school, and more often than not partial confusion from the inner self. Many researchers have argued that if we are to create resiliency in the young group or the future generation to overcome these problems, the positive teenage development efforts should be focused on both decision-making and problem-solving. There are many factors that influence adolescents decision-making processes of this group of individuals including peer pressure, lack of experience and brain development (Albert et al., 2009). Nonetheless, cognitive psychologists have developed various models and theories including classical conditioning theory, Heuristics and biases and fallacies to help understand adolescence decision making. Likewise they offer various approaches that can assist individuals in this challenging developmental stage to cope with pressure and make an informed judgment (Steinberg, 2008). Process of decision-making The process of decision-making and judgment in adolescence is a little bit complex and many times difficult to understand. In general terms, Decision-making and judgment can be regarded as the cognitive procedure that results in the choice or a belief in various alternative possibilities. According to Jacobs & Klaczynski (2005), decision making in adolescence is always influenced by "maturity of judgment" and this always proves to be a great challenge since few reason individually or rationally. Their research further adds that "maturity of judgment" can be broken down into two sub facets: psychosocial factors and cognitive capacity. Cognitive capacity during adolescence is that aspect that "shapes the decision-making process," and encompasses: "understanding (i.e., the ability of the adolescent to clearly information relevant to the decision) and reasoning (i.e., the ability of the individual to use given information logically to make a prompt choice)." In addition, cognitive capacity includes the processing of information, logical reasoning and a time deliberative thinking (Rivers e al., 2008). On the other hand, for individual psychosocial factors normally influence the actual decision outcome. Psychosocial factors are such as impulsivity, the acceptance by peers, and understanding of the risk and the preference of short-term impacts as opposed to the long-term impacts Steinberg, 2008). More often than not the adolescent perceptions of various situations are affected by these psychosocial factors. Subsequently, this affects the way adolescent make decision process. Since decision-making is affected by these issues, this group is always less likely to reflect about alternative decisions or restrain impulsivity. It is important to state that, an adolescents cognitive skills are equally mature by age 16, nonetheless, since they are more vulnerable to psychosocial immaturity, adolescents tend to be less mature compared to adults when it comes to making judgment or decision-making capacity. Basis of decision making in adolescence i) Heuristics model and adolescent decision making Adolescence is a stage in which important changes occur to an individual for becoming an adult thus considered important in decision making. In recent days, Heuristic models of the neuropsychology of adolescent behavior and decision making have emerged, promoting the idea that they tend to ignore simple rules or follow shortcuts when making a judgment. A number of heuristic neural systems models and research done in this area indicate that many adolescents deviate from the truth and avoid logic (Steinberg, 2008). Heuristics usually govern automatic, intuitive judgments as they help explain the propensity for risk-taking and sensation-seeking that typifies adolescent behavior. Adolescents have their peers with them and more often than not strive to impress them. Many times their judgment is heuristics simply mental short cuts that minimize the cognitive burden related to decision making or judgment (Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). Research done by Shah and Oppenheimer indicated that heuristics minimizes work in adolescent decision making in many ways and this is what they prefer. In various situations that an adolescent is presented with a situation that they are to make a decision, hey prefer scrutinizing few alternative choices. Further, in any adolescent heuristics diminish the task of retrieving or storing information in memory during any judgment process; streamlining it by reducing the amount of integrated details necessary in making the decision or passing judgment in their daily routine(Shah & Oppenheimer, 2008). And more often than not this leads to "cognitive biases". The adolescent tend to be left with regret over the previously past judgment. Many research including that done by Sagi and Friedland (2007) indicated that the aftermath of adolescent decision is what counts. They added that after they make a decision, there are various differing outcomes, such as regret and satisfaction. ii) Classical conditioning Various behaviorisms studies conducted in cognitive psychology have indicated the nature of the association between various environments and the fact of observable behavior. These have been essential in understanding the manner in which the adolescents make a judgment. Adolescent’s decision making is based on changes in behavior based on experience. This is to say, stimuli that happen repeatedly together finally influence behavior in the same way, presumably since the neural relationship between the stimuli are formed. One can argue that as the adolescent grows to a young adult the brain is not develop as that of a mature adult. Likewise, a behavior that is constantly followed by a given outcomes can be decreased or increased by that judgment, depending on whether the judgment is generally ‘good’ or ‘bad’. This prejudiced emphasis on stimulus-driven judgment has resulted in the tendency of adolescents to be impulsive and more likely to orientate towards external as opposed to internal cues that are essential in decision making. iii) Fallacy and adolescent judgment Adolescence is a time of critical change and individual development on all levels (biological, social and psychological). Along with all these transformation, they are confronted with situations in which they are expected to make significant choices and decisions. Many studies including that done by Jacobs & Klaczynski (2005) indicated that adolescents perceive risks but they rarely incorporate these into individual decision making process or judgment. It has been suggested that fallacy plays a critical role in adolescent’s lack of risk evaluation. During decision making they have a tendency to presume that specific conditions or scenarios are more probable compared to general ones. One can argue that this is due to lack of experience making the adolescents to make a judgment on the general peer group perceptions. A major part of judgment and decision-making rotates around a critical analysis of a finite prearranged of alternatives designated in terms of evaluative criteria (Steinberg, 2008). In addition, one of the solid predictors of delinquent behavior in this particular group is affiliation with adolescent delinquent peers, a relationship that has been credited in varying notches to peer socialization and friendship choices, where adolescents certainly gravitate toward one another. Furthermore, many of adolescents prefer a mistaken belief, particularly those based on unsound argument. Practical approaches to enhancing decision making in adolescence Basing on the fact that judgment and decision-making possess a challenge among the adolescent, there is a need for practical strategies and approaches to help this vulnerable group. The importance of proper judgment is essential as problem-solving is a daily responsibility. However, there are various ways to enhance this including continuous education in life skills and Programs targeting adolescent health and social behaviors. i) Programs targeting adolescent health and social behaviors Many of the judgment leading to decision making by adolescents are normally concerning their health and social behavior. Various stakeholders should design various programs targeting this group. Such programs should offer various practical interventions designed to inform adolescent’s decisions in a wide range of domains, for instance, sexual behavior, eating disorders, negative peer influence, physical activity, obesity, smoking, and drug use (Segalowitz et al., 2012). It is advisable that many of these programs be tailored towards understanding adolescents’ real world decisions (Brown & Larson, 2009). These programs examine and boost how adolescents make judgment and decisions and thus should be based on normative analyzes of individual’s social and health behaviors. The aim of such interventions is to help predict actual behaviors and offer solutions promptly. This is particularly among adolescents, which could be less able to behave as expected, when confronted with real-world pressures on judgment and decision-making. ii) Continuous education in life skills Life skills can be considered as educative behaviors that enable one to adapt to and handle the challenges and demands of life effectively (Brown & Larson, 2009). There exist various such skills, but primary life skills are such as the ability to make better judgment given various alternatives to choose from. The life skills approach as an alternative for adolescents can prove effective in boosting cognitive skills as it emphasizes on an educative and interactive methodology that not only aim at transmitting knowledge but likewise shape character and develop individual’s brain in relating to various decisions of life. The other goal of the life skills technique is to enhance adolescents’ ability to take responsibility for resisting negative pressures, making healthier choices, and avoiding various risk behaviors. iii) Rewards and motivation approach. Researchers have in recent years indicated that cognitive psychology as field offers a broad ray of reward mechanisms that can assist in offering practical approaches to enhancing decision making in adolescence. Adolescents are motivated by reward especially when the have made right judgments or better decisions. An experiment using various adolescents illustrated the effectiveness reward system in enhancing judgment. The Same experiment found that incidental positive motivation elicited via the reward system caused participants to give more thought subsequently before making judgment given various alternatives. This was contrary to participants who were denied these privileges (Winkielman et al., 2009). Such an approach can be enhanced better decision-making to help shape adolescent developmental stage. Concluding comments As exemplified in the paper, judgment and decision-making forms an important part of the adolescent developmental stage. Adolescence is a developmental stage in where individuals transition from childhood through to adulthood, normally illustrated as bridging the teenage years. This group of individuals faces various important decisions in their lives, normally for the first time. These problematic decisions may be such as smoking cigarettes, engaging in premarital sex, drinking alcohol among other vices (Albert et al., 2009). Decision making is an essential area of research in cognitive psychology. Detailed understanding the way by which adolescents make decisions is critical to understanding the judgment they make. In recent years, various researchers have singled out factors they consider to be influencing adolescent decision making. Those factors are, cognitive biases, past experiences and individual differences, and an escalation of adolescent’s commitment. However, there are practical strategies that have been seen to go a long way in boosting the judgment and decision making among the adolescents. Nonetheless, one can argue that issues dealing with adolescents are sensitive and apart from the initiatives, each adolescent should be treated as an individual rather than a group since each have a unique neurological psychology. References Albert, D., O’Brien, L., DiSorbo, A., Uckert, K., Egan, D. E., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2009, April). Peer influences on risk taking in young adulthood. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO. Brown, B. B., & Larson, J. (2009). Peer relationships in adolescents. In Steinberg, R. M. L. (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology, Contextual influences on adolescent development (Vol. 2, 3rd ed., pp. 74–103).Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Crone, E. A., Bunge, S. A., Latenstein, H., & Van der Molen, M. W. (2005). Characterization of children’s decisionmaking: Sensitivity to punishment frequency, not task complexity. Child Neuropsychology, 11, 245 – 263 Jacobs, J. E., & Klaczynski, P. A. (Eds.). (2005). The development of judgment and decision making in children and adolescents. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Rivers, S. E., Reyna, V. F., & Mills, B. (2008). Risk taking under the influence: A fuzzy-trace theory of emotion in adolescence. Developmental Review, 28, 107 – 144. Segalowitz, S. J., Santesso, D. L., Willoughby, T., Reker, D. L., Campbell, K., Chalmers, H., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (2012). Adolescent peer interaction and trait surgency weaken medial prefrontal cortex responses to failure. Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7, 115–124. Sagi, A., & Friedland, N. (2007). The cost of richness: The effect of the size and diversity of decision sets on post-decision regret. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(4), 515-524. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.93.4.515. Shah, A.K., & Oppenheimer, D.M. (2008).Heuristics made easy: An effort-reduction framework. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 207-222. DOI: 1.1037/0033-2909.134.2.207. Smith, A., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2011, November). Developmental differences in reward processing in the presence of peers. Paper presented at the 42nd annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC. Steinberg, L. (2008). A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Review, 28, 78-106. Steinberg, L., & Monahan, K. C. (2007). Age differences in resistance to peer influence. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1531–1543. Winkielman, P., Knutson, B., Paulus, M. P., & Trujillo, J. L. (2007). Affective influence on judgments and decisions: Moving towards core mechanisms. 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