Abstract

In the brief period since a preceding review in the Encyclopedia of Adolescence (Keating, 2011), overlaps in research on adolescent cognitive development, neurocognitive development, and developmental neuroscience have increased rapidly. Accordingly, this review addresses those related topics, although with a concentration on the cognitive aspects of the overlapping literatures. The relevance of this research for practice and policy has also become an increasing focus, and those applied issues have been a significant driving force in the research agenda. This review thus includes three sections: research on cognitive development per se during adolescence; research on neurocognitive development during adolescence, with reference to specific aspects of developmental neuroscience; and an overview of the major policy and practice implications of this research. One overarching note merits attention. Adolescent development is now seen as extending beyond the traditional age range of “the teen years” by noting the dual criteria of brain maturity and shifting social contexts, including educational expectations, career development, economic independence, and family formation. Whether viewed as a period of emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2016) or elongated adolescence (McDonagh, 2018), the period through the early 20s is increasingly seen to include key psychological and biological changes affecting many features of traditional “adolescent” development.

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