Question

1. Discuss ten (10) characteristics of young adolescents’ intellectual development with relevant examples.
2. Discuss with relevant examples how families, communities, religious bodies and schools can all contribute to helping the youth develop positive peer relationships.

Answer 1

There is great variability observed in the intellectual development of the adolescents. These are observed in areas of cognition, psychosocial as well as physical development. There are different areas of cognitive development that occurs which are as follows:

- more advanced reasoning skills:

• young adolescents start to explore all the possibilities in a given situation: a young adolescent, if he has to chose from the various fields of major, he would look at the different possibilities. Identify the career prospects, the kind of work they would have to do and also the possible life course.
• think hypothetically: they might begin to imagine situations to understand pros and cons. Here, in the example, the adolescence might imagine his life course after choosing one major, and way it with the other. Proper visualization.
• Logical thought process: they would put in efforts. To decide among a number of subjects and shortlisting 3 and then further deciding amongst those, implies that the adolescents is using logical flow of thinking.
  

- the adolescent also begins to think about abstract ideas. They begin to realize the idea of love, and spirituality. Most get attracted towards the idea of love and try to find someone that resonates with their feelings.

- here their orientation and choices also start to become clear.

- the adolescent starts to identify themselves with one or the other gender and forms their gender identity.

Here, the culture plays a major role. Depending on the kind of peer interactions, the dominant ideas that persisted in the family, the adolescent is able to relate to the ideas prevailing in the society. In only a very few cases it happens that there occurs a disconnect with the ideas that are prevailing. Only in such cases might there be deviation.