Cognitive Development in Undergraduate Emerging Adults: How Course-Taking Breadth Supports Skill Formation

Theories of cognitive development among emerging adults posit that environmental and age-related influences are responsible for individual differences in complex reasoning abilities. Exposure to and engagement with a diverse set of ideas and perspectives is stipulated to provide a context for which individuals are positioned to coordinate, integrate, and form new abstractions. This notion is implicit in the general education and elective requirements of university programs. In this study, we draw upon the cognitive psychology literature on emerging adult development to examine how intellectual breadth via course-taking patterns relates to gains in cognitive skills. Using recently collected longitudinal data of undergraduates enrolled at a large public university, we leverage a unique set of cognitive measures that tap a string of related constructs. We find moderate associations between intellectual breadth and reasoning skills, with notable differences across cognitive dimensions. Additionally, intellectual curiosity moderates the association between course breadth and cognition. Implications for theories of intellectual development are discussed in relation to undergraduate experiences. notReviewed other

成年初显期个体的认知发展理论认为，环境因素与年龄相关因素是造成复杂推理能力个体差异的原因。学界提出，接触并参与多元思想与观点的交流互动，能够为个体提供协调、整合并形成新抽象概念的情境。这一理念隐含在大学课程的通识教育与选修学分要求之中。本研究依托成年初显期发展的认知心理学相关文献，探讨通过选课模式体现的智力广度与认知技能提升之间的关联。研究使用某大型公立高校本科生的最新纵向追踪数据，采用一套独特的认知测评工具，覆盖一系列相关心理构念。结果显示，智力广度与推理技能之间存在中等程度的关联，且不同认知维度间存在显著差异。此外，求知欲会对选课广度与认知能力之间的关联起到调节作用。本研究结合本科生培养经历，探讨了该结果对智力发展理论的启示。notReviewed other