Colorado PSY246A Cognitive Development, Faith, and Synthesis

PSY 246A CCU Cognitive Development, Faith, and Synthesis: Navigating Inconsistencies Essay

The transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood comes with a change in perspective that moves us from egocentric thinking to what your text defines as post formal thought. Kail and Cavanaugh (2019) say this level of thinking "recognizes that truth may vary from situation to situation, solutions must be realistic to be reasonable, ambiguity and contradiction are the rule rather than the exception, and emotion and subjective factors usually play a role in thinking." (p. 341). The challenge in this week's discussion is looking at this form of thinking and seeing how it relates to our faith and the development of our faith in Christ.

• Look back at your own faith development and identify a time when you were faced with an inconsistency between what you believed and what you experienced. In this situation, what was the thesis, or the belief you held? What was the antithesis, or the idea/belief/experience that conflicted with your thesis?
• How did post formal thinking allow you to form a new synthesis? What effect did this have on your faith?