The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence - Assignment Example

Presently, фdolescence is viewed differently across various cultural contexts. For example, in the African context, adolescents are perceived as young adults and are groomed for adulthood. On the other hand, in Western cultures, adolescents are charged with minimal responsibilities. This goes to prove that adolescents are perceived differently across various cultures.

There are major changes that take place in a person’s life during this period in life emotionally, physically, and socially. First, adolescents are highly emotional and sensitive to any changes that take place in their environment. Secondly, they go through some social changes where some of them withdraw and spend most of their time locked in their rooms. Thirdly, they go through major physical changes in their reproductive system; experience a general increase in body weight and size. For males, their voice grows deeper and they become more masculine (Piaget and Barbel 21). On the other hand, females look more feminine and their feminine features become more pronounced like breasts and hips.

An adolescent’s brain undergoes various changes and studies have shown this structurally. Scans have revealed that the volume of the gray matter increases while that of the cortex region increases and later decreases. This is an integral part of the maturation process. This explains why teenagers are impulsive and less self-aware than adults (Piaget and Barbel 33). In my opinion, teenagers should not be charged with crimes in a similar way as adults. This owes to the fact that their brains are not fully developed and thus immature. As such, they are more susceptible to engaging in highly impulsive and irrational actions.

Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of cognitive development are essential in the education setting and can be used to structure assignments and lessons for high school learners. This is because the theories state that teenagers learn by observing what is in their environment and this is the most effective way of learning (Piaget and Barbel 42). In other words, the interaction with social and physical surroundings is vital for cognitive development. Vygotsky stated that play is imperative for cognitive development and this should be incorporated in the learning process.

Erik Erikson stated that the psychosocial crisis of identity versus role confusion is experienced. An identity crisis means that an individual has failed to attain self-awareness during puberty. This is also viewed as an imperative stage in development.