Which development during adolescence is linked to improved abstract reasoning and perspective-taking?

Which development during adolescence is linked to improved abstract reasoning and perspective-taking?

• A. Social thinking grows
• B. Short-term memory grows
• C. Procedural memory replaces declarative memory
• D. Retrospective memory declines

Answer: (B)

During adolescence, working memory—the active part of short-term memory that lets you hold and manipulate information—improves as the brain matures. This greater capacity lets teens juggle multiple ideas at once, spot abstract relationships, and think through hypothetical scenarios. That ability directly supports abstract reasoning and the ability to consider another person’s perspective, since you can keep multiple viewpoints and pieces of evidence in mind at the same time. The other ideas don’t align as directly with this cognitive shift: social thinking grows describes broader social cognition rather than the specific mental tool for reasoning and perspective-taking; procedural memory replacing declarative memory isn’t a typical adolescent change; retrospective memory declines aren’t characteristic of adolescence.

During adolescence, working memory—the active part of short-term memory that lets you hold and manipulate information—improves as the brain matures. This greater capacity lets teens juggle multiple ideas at once, spot abstract relationships, and think through hypothetical scenarios. That ability directly supports abstract reasoning and the ability to consider another person’s perspective, since you can keep multiple viewpoints and pieces of evidence in mind at the same time. The other ideas don’t align as directly with this cognitive shift: social thinking grows describes broader social cognition rather than the specific mental tool for reasoning and perspective-taking; procedural memory replacing declarative memory isn’t a typical adolescent change; retrospective memory declines aren’t characteristic of adolescence.