Skill· 11.8y–15.2y· 5 min

Teen Thinking

Parent reflects on eight cognitive and physical milestones for teenagers 12-15 years: consolidated abstract reasoning, emerging critical thinking, deductive reasoning, emerging ethical reasoning, developing impulse control, multi-context self-concept, strategic problem-solving, working memory at near-adult level, and mid-puberty physical development.

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What you'll need

No materials needed. Reflective parent discussion.

How it works

  1. 1~90s

    Four reasoning questions. First: does your child reason comfortably with abstract concepts — hypotheticals, philosophical questions, 'what if' scenarios well beyond the concrete? Can they hold a complex argument structure in mind? Second: does your child apply deductive reasoning — given that 'all X are Y' and 'this is X', does they conclude 'therefore this is Y'? Does they catch logical fallacies in arguments? Third: does your child think critically — question premises, consider whose interests are served by an argument, ask 'what evidence supports this'? Fourth: has your child started developing their own ethical positions — not just rules they were taught, but views about what's right and wrong that they've reasoned through? Tell me.

    Watch for: Abstract reasoning is consolidated and flexible

  2. 2~90s

    Three executive and self-concept questions. First: does your child have a strategic approach to difficult problems — not just trying harder, but changing strategy, seeking information, setting sub-goals? Second: how is your child's impulse control? Does they resist temptation, delay gratification, stop before speaking or acting in anger? Is it improving? Third: does your child have different self-concepts for different contexts — 'I'm funny with my friends, more serious at school, quieter at home' — and can they integrate these into a coherent sense of self? Tell me.

    Watch for: Teen applies strategic, adaptive approaches to difficult problems

  3. 3~90s

    Two final questions — working memory and body. For working memory: can your child hold a complex multi-step problem in mind — the steps of a proof, a multi-part essay argument, multiple pieces of information at once — and work through it without losing the thread? Is your child's working memory approaching adult-level? For body image and puberty: how is your child experiencing puberty? Is they comfortable with their changing body, or self-conscious and distressed? Has they formed a stable body image — 'this is my body, it's okay'? Tell me both.

    Watch for: Teen's working memory capacity approaches adult level

What this develops

Visual example

Coming soon