Correct Answer - Option 1 : Personal fable
Cognitive Development refers to the development of the ability to think and reason. It refers to how a person perceives, thinks, and gains an understanding of his/her world through the interaction of genetic and learned factors. It takes a fast pace during adolescence.
Adolescence can be prolonged, brief, or virtually non-existent, depending on the type of culture in which it occurs. In simple societies, for example, the transition from childhood to adulthood tends to occur rather rapidly and is marked by traditionally prescribed passage rites. According to Elkind, adolescent egocentrism is evident through the phenomena of ‘imaginary audience’ and ‘personal fables’.
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Personal Fable: Adolescents tend to create ‘personal fables’ in which they dismiss or minimize the likelihood of experiencing negative outcomes for their actions, despite the actual occurrence of those same negative outcomes for the same actions in the case of their peers and others (e.g., “Other people get addicted on taking drugs, not me”).
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Young teenagers often believe they are completely unlike anyone else (Aalsa, Lapsley & Flannery, 2006; Elkind, 1981). They are opting to think their feeling are unique-that the people around them have never experienced such emotions. Hence they may insist that no one else, least of all parents and teacher, can know how they feel.
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Imaginary Audience: Adolescents often assume that everyone is focusing on, and thinking about, the same thing as they are thinking about – themselves. No wonder they are self-conscious all the time! This self-consciousness emerging from their feeling that they are constantly being observed by others is referred to as the ‘imaginary audience’.
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Adolescent egocentrism is also characterized by an imaginary audience with increased self-consciousness. They consider that their people around them especially peers observe their activities and may comment on them.
- They are extremely conscious of what others think of them, their appearance, and everything related to themselves. This way they perceive themselves as seen by them contributing to the development of self-confidence.
Hence, we can conclude that 'Young teenagers often believe that they are completely unlike anyone else.' This phenomenon is known as a Personal fable.
