Jean Piaget understood that children in different age groups have different thinking patterns. Piaget suggested some important principles for understanding the shift from concrete thinking (child) to abstract thinking (adult). He taught that cognitive development is the combined result of environmental influences and the maturation of the brain and nervous system. He observed four cognitive developmental stages in people, moving from concrete (what I see and hold is what exists) to abstract (I can think in terms of the possible and theoretical).

The first two, sensorimotor and preoperational, are the stages where children function. At about age seven, children move into what Piaget has identified as the concrete operational stage. You might observe that an eight- or nine-year-old can understand that "nine times five" is the same thing as "five times nine" or that a short bowl can actually hold as much liquid as a tall pitcher. You may even notice that they have the ability to consider that there are other people in the universe besides themselves (and you are also correct that the adolescent years bring on a sort of a "relapse" into egocentrism).

Preteens begin to overcome the deficiencies in preoperational thought such as egocentrism and irreversibility and start to think logically about concrete things. Piaget suggests that about age 12 youth move into the early stages of abstract thinking and what is called the formal operations stage. They can begin to understand abstract concepts such as social justice and rational, aesthetic, or social ideals (Piaget 1972, cited in Rice 1999, 136-38). Doug Stevens also suggested that further investigation shows not all people reach this fourth level of mental sophistication or only make use of it in certain settings. The key factor in being able to think abstractly (and that is a good thing!) is an environment that encourages thought and creativity. Otherwise, apart from such prodding and practice, the capacity may remain unrealized (Stevens 1985, 55).

David Elkind (cited in Rice 1999, 140-41) was helpful in making adolescent egocentrism a bit clearer. In considering egocentrism, and its affect on adolescent behavior, you may recognize characteristics of some teenagers that you know and love. You may even recognize your own voice (in a fit of honesty, I heard my voice calling from my adolescence!):

Idealism-messianic complex—"There is nothing I can't do, nothing I can't fix. Why would my friends need counseling when they have me?"

Egocentrism—"What do you mean, I am not the center of the known universe?" The main difference between the egocentrism of children and adolescents is that adolescents are fully aware of their selfishness. They just consider it an entitlement.

Personal fable—"I am the only one that has life as hard as I have it. All of my friends get to stay out until four in the morning, going wherever they please, with whomever they want. I am an island, and you don't understand me."

Imaginary audience—"When I walk into a room, all eyes are on me. Will they like my clothes? Will they like my hair? Will they notice the zit on my forehead that I have tried to cover with layers of cosmetics? Will they notice me at all?" The reality is that other adolescents in the room are just as consumed with egocentrism, but the perception of an individual adolescent is as powerful as reality.

Pseudostupidity—Stupidity on demand as well as the inability to let the obvious be obvious. "No, I didn't actually think you would mind if 16 of my friends rode in the car with me to the movies." Elkind formally defined it as "the tendency to approach problems at much too complex a level and fail, not because the tasks are difficult, but because they are too simple" (cited in Rice 1998, 140).

David Elkind has interpreted this new development in thinking as "thinking in a new key." The adolescent adjustment resulting in worldview is one of the major developmental tasks people will ever face. These new mental powers become a new filter that brings about a transformation in the way teenagers react to their new physical appearances. This heightened sense of self-awareness and enhanced self-consciousness is not just a product of physical and bodily changes but also a response to the qualitative difference in thinking. These new intellectual structures not only produce a new type of thinking but are a precondition to advanced thinking and related concepts such as personality development, identity development, moral reasoning, and religious commitment (Elkind 1984).

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Although Christian education benefits from viewing secular perspectives, these must always be intentioned with biblical perspectives.