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.
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