Describes examples of adolescent behavior which parents and school personnel find obnoxious. Explains why intelligent, reasonable, and well-adjusted teenagers periodically behave in this way, as something that is developmentally inevitable given the uneven development of competencies in several important areas. Adolescent incompetencies in four…

Investigates the relationship between cognitive developmental level and the ideal self in adolescence, sampling 223 male and female 12- and 13-, and 15- and 16-year-old working and middle class English comprehensive school students, hypothesizing that maturity of the ideal self would be related to cognitive development. (Author/RK)

Defines and describes the concept of social cognition and its relationship to various psychological positions. Outlines Selman's stage theory of social cognition and the influence of Piaget's theory. Issues of interpersonal understanding are related to concepts of the individual, friendship, peer group and parent-child relations. (JAC)

Eighty adolescents, grades 7-9, were assessed on empathy development and perceived competencies. Females proved more empathic than males, but no developmental trends in empathy development were observed. Social competence was positively associated with empathic skills, but cognitive and physical competencies showed a negative association,…

Investigated the relationship between the development of formal operations and the formation of ego identity in adolescence. Obtained significant positive correlations between combinatorial ability and degree of identity, suggesting that high identity may facilitate the application of combinatorial operations. Found some gender differences in task…

Discusses the concept of egocentrism and its relation to cognitive development. Describes the major stages of egocentrism: sensori-motor, preoperational, concrete operational, and adolescent egocentrism. Focuses on research support for the theory of adolescent egocentrism. Discusses educational implications. (RC)