Perspectives Of Jean Piaget's Theory Of Cognitive Development

The first type of development in young adulthood is cognitive development. According to Papalia and Feldman (2012), cognitive development is the transition of mental abilities. The mental abilities included “learning, memory, attention, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity” (Papalia & Feldman, 2012, p. 6). In young adulthood, ones cognitive abilities are at the peak. Crystallized intelligence increases as age gain while fluid intelligence shows otherwise (Fischer, Yan & Stewart, 2003). Meanwhile, there are four perspectives on the cognition of adulthood.

The first perspective is the beyond piaget perspective. The beyond piaget perspective is talk about how adulthood thinks in new ways. Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Aside from acknowledge Piaget’s theory on stage-like development, neo-piagetian theorist did link with other theories such as social-cognitive theory on how culture or experiences influence with the cognitive development. Moreover, the new ways of thinking in adulthood are dividing into two parts which are reflective thinking and postformal thinking. Furthermore, reflective thinking is logical thinking that becomes more important in adulthood. In 1910, reflective thinking was first defined by John Dewey. Dewey study (as cited in Papalia & Feldman, 2012) defined reflective thinking as active, determine and thoroughgoing consideration of information and belief in evidence that support them and lead to conclusion. Indeed, between the ages of 20 and 25 is where the capacity of reflective thinking

According to Sternberg (as cited in Papalia & Feldman, 2012), there are three aspects of intelligence in triarchic theory: analytical, creative and practical. Sternberg study shows that creative intelligence and practical intelligence become particularly important in adulthood. Psychometric test that is used to measure children’s intelligence is less useful in order to test adult’s abilities and intelligence. Analytical intelligent also called as componential element. The analytical intelligence is involved when applied in “analyze, evaluate, explain and compare or contrast” (Sternberg as cited in Howard, Mcgee, Hong & Shia, 1999, p. 2). This analytical ability is also a problem solving skills which usually applied in young adulthood for their academic performance. The second type of intelligence in triarchic theory is creativity intelligence also known as experiential element. Creativity intelligence is the “creating, designing, discovering or inventing” (Sternberg as cited in Howard, Mcgee, Hong & Shia, 1999, p. 2). According to Sternberg (as cited in Howard, Mcgee, Hong & Shia, 1999) study, practical intelligence also known as contextual element “involves individuals applying their abilities to the kinds of problems that confront them in daily life”. (p. 2)

The last perspective on adult cognition is emotional intelligence (EI). According to Salovey and Mayer (as cited in Papalia & Feldman,