Adolescent Development Test 1

Developmental Trends in BMR

BMR increases at beginning of adolescence. Continuous drop later until age of 20 and another drop occurs at 30. Huge ethnic differences in BMR. Natural selection--nomadic tribes--people who survive have low BMRs and they pass genes for low BMRs but now they no longer need it leading to obesity.

Piaget and Formal Operations

Based on hypothetical-deductive reasoning--able to think using these strategies. Formal thinking takes time Testing for formal operations--the pendulum problem.

What do IQ tests predict?

Better with elementary than high school success Success in life?--what do you call successful? The older you get the less you care? or the less motivated? Also in high school you take more classes that aren't as related to IQ tests.

Performance IQ

Block design, mazes, picture completion, and picture arrangement Less culturally sensitive but still has some.

Brain Structure and Function

Brain structure: the physical form and organization of the brain. Certain parts of the brain are relatively smaller in childhood than adolescence, while others are relatively larger. Brain function: patterns of brain activity Adolescents may use different parts of teh brain than children when performing the same task.

Brain systems

Brain systems that govern self-regulation are less influenced by pubery, so the secular trend has not affected the age at which the maturation of impulse control takes place.

Fuzzy Trace Theory

Brainerd and Reyna: two cognitive processes necessary for cognition--verbatim representation and fuzzy gists, verbatim develops earlier. Fuzzy gists develop later in adolescents.

Event-related potentials (ERPs)

Changes in eletrical activity in areas of the brain in response to specific stimuli or events.

Which statement regarding increases in cognitive abilities is true?

Changes in levels of neurotransmitters lead to an increase in sensation seeking

Food--What we eat

Changes in parenting? What factors predicted adult obesity--the amount of soda drank during adolescence. Decrease waste?--need for water bottles. Obesity is more complicated than just stop playing video games.

Social Brain

Changes in the social brain in early adolescence, which increase the brain's sensitivity to social cues, like other people's facial expressions and behavior, intensify adolescents' sensitivity to social evaluation, which is why adolescents are more prone to feel embarrassed than either children or adults. This also may be why adolescents are so susceptible to social influence and especially, peer pressure. Sensitivity to others' mental states increases during adolescence, a change that also is reflected in changes in patterns of brain activity when individuals observe others.

Biology--Obesogens

Chemicals that disrupt function of hormonal system--in a way that increases obesity Enter our bodies--natural hormones from soy products, hormones administered to animals, plastics in some food and drink packaging (BPA), ingredients added to processed food, pesticides. May mis-program stem cells to become fat cells They create fatter fat cells than your body is used to, they also block fat burning.

Tabula Rasa

Children are born a blank slate. Children are born innocent, not evil like previously thought.

Onset of puberty

Children who spend a lot of time in front of electronic screens may be inadvertently speeding up the onset of puberty. Although some early-maturing girls have self-image difficulties, their popularity with peers is not necessarily jeopardized. However, because puberty occurs quite early among early-maturing girls, it may tax their psychological resources.

Abstract thinking

Clearly seen in adolescents' ability to hink in more advanced ways about interpersonal relationships, politics, philosophy, religion, and morality--topics that involve such abstract concepts as friendship, faith, democracy, fairness and honesty.

--- theorists believe that changes in cognitive abilities appearing during adolescence are qualitative, whereas --- theorists believe they are quantitative

Cognitive-developmental; information-processing

Societies in which hunting, fishing, and farming are the primary work activities tend to exhibit a more --- transition between adolescence and adulthood

Continuous

Two unresolved issues

Cross-cultural: To what extent is adolescence the same or different across cultures. When does adolescnce end? The issue of emerging adulthood--seems to be taking longer so we have something called emerging adulthood.

Strategies for Studying Development

Cross-sectional study: compare different age groups at the same time--any diffs you see, you hopefully can contribute this to development. Can't answer questions about agining or development Longitudinal research: follow the same people across time--group is changing as it ages. Berkley Guidance Study--started before great depression in Berkely CA--can look at how great depression affected the kids. Sequential: measure an initial cross-sectional sample. Follow across time--have both cross sectional and longitudinal data. ADD Health--comprehensive study ever taken.

Cultural and Pubertal Timing

Cultural effect on height as well The secular trend downward in the age of menarche has occurred in every Western country for which records exist. Age of menarche in different countries--income predicts menarche. More fat = earlier puberty, so more food with wealthier people.

Causes of Bulimia

Culture: some college students teach each other how to be bulimic. Cognitive distortions: set goals that are unattainable, when the goal isn't being reached--stress--purging. Personality: I have to be perfect and if it's not perfect, everything goes to hell. Get person to be less rigid and allow them to relax. CBT

Ostracism

Cyberball--Kip Williams. Ostracism affects 4 fundamental needs 1. Belonging 2. Self-esteem 3. Control 4. Meaningful existence Compared three groups 13-17, 18-22, 23-27 Older adults are not that affected by ostracism but adolescents and emerging adults are.

Changes in Sleep Preferences

Delayed phase preference--a sleep pattern that emerges during early adolescence. A shift to later bed time and later rising time. 11% of teenagers get the sleep they need. There is a sleep debt--sleep deprived throughout the week so we try to get caught up on the weekends. Parent to child transmission of sleep stigma. Sleep researchers find that it is actually a change in the biological clock--melatonin, secreted later at night among adolescents. 9 hrs for optimal brain growth.

Psychometric View

Development is not the focus Define and measure How do individuals differ? What it is and how you measure it. We want to know who has a lot of it and who doesn't Most famous is an IQ test.

Dieting and Puberty

Egged on by advertisers, who promote the idea that "thin is beautiful," many adolescents respond to normal bodily changes at puberty by dieting, often unnecessarily. Fewer studies have examined body dissatisfaction among adolescent boys, although it is clear that there is an idealized, muscular, male body type that many boys aspire to.

Experts believe that adolescents are more susceptible to peer pressure than other groups are because adolescents are statistically more likley to experience

Embarrassment

Professor Radon is studying the -- system, which produces, circulates, and regulates levels of hormones in the body

Endocrine

Early maturing boys

Enjoy some psychological advantages over late maturers with respect to self-esteem and admiration from peers during early adolescence, when some boys have matured physically but others have not.

Ending Growth

Epiphysis: Closing of the long bones, ends growth and is the last stage of puberty.

Developmental Plasticity

Extensive remodeling of the brain's circuitry in response to experiences during childhood and adolescence, while the brain is still maturing. Some of these changes involve the development or loss of brain cells, but the most important changes involve the brain's "wiring"--that is how its one hundred billion neurons are interconnected.

Consequences of Bulimia

Fatigue, headaches, puffy cheeks (salivary glands become inflamed), loss of dental enamel on front teeth (high acidity of vomit), electrolyte imbalances that can cause significant medical problems. Kidney failure. Laxatives--high risk for electrolyte imbalances.

Biology

Faulty hormonal regulation in hypothalamus. Genetic link: association studies, linkage studies

2000's Gen Y or Millenials

Felt empowered Racially/ethnically diverse Extremely independent--but NOT from parents Lots of parental involvement--helicopter parenting. Scheduled lives Best behaved kids in terms of not getting in trouble. Teenagers at the turn of the millenium "Trophy generation" Empowered because of the parenting style they received. Very big emphasis on family. Parents are the most admired Didn't expect to pay their dues Very focused on themselves.

Brain Scans

For adolescents, the reward system lit up more when being watched. How good/bad is it to do something? Men take way more risks than women.

Puberty

From the Latin work pubescere--grow hairy or mossy. Is a biological process that is affected by environment.

Mid 1980's-1990's

Gen X Alienation (brand X) Didn't want to be considered mainstream Don't care about rules or laws Don't define me Grunge look

The adolescent growth spurt:

Generally begins two years earlier for girls than for boys

First stages of puberty

Generally, the first stages of puberty involve growth of the testes and scrotum, accompanied by he first appearance of pubic hair.

Net generation

Generation 9/11. They were under 11 years of age when the World Trade Center went down. Now being called Gen Z Have never been without digital media. 1/4 members are hispanic Going to college more, parents who have gone to college increases Gov. should do more to help Who are republicans--much more likely to say that black people are treated less fairly.

Piaget

Genetic epistomology--study how knowledge develops Is a discontinuous view of development. Assimilation and accomodation--how you develop knowledge--form schemas to help understand the world. Equilibrium is when all your categories are working for you Disequilibrium: have to step it up. This is when we see the shifts in adolescence, can't make this leap until you are biologically ready. Assimilation: when you get new information and you can put it into a category you already have and you assimilate info into the category.

Early vs Late Maturers

Girls: Early maturers at risk for problems--drug/alcohol, pregnancy, getting noticed by older guys, but no social or cognitive experiences yet. Late maturers fare better--right in with the boys. Boys: Early maturers have better self-image, more popular with peers, leadership, fewer problems with parents--because they treat them as older people, less arguments. Late maturers show lower self-esteem, more anxiety, they were actually doing better, more money, more education better sense of humor, couldn't rely on their looks so they had to develop other skills.

Social Stress and Ostracism

Given the importance of social rewards and peers--what happens when adolescents are socially stressed or ostracized?--created social stress then conducted a risk perception test and risk analysis, took a measure of cortisol. Much more impact on adolescents than adults.

Brain malleability

Greatly benefits us because it allows us to acquire new information and abilities. Periods of heightened plasticity, like infancy or adolescence, are therefore good times to intervene in order to promote positive development and ameliorate the negative effects of harmful experiences earlier in life. But this malleability is a risk as well, because during these times of heightened sensitivity, the brain is also more vulnerable to damage from physical harms, like drugs or environmental toxis, or psychological ones, like trauma and stress.

One type of structural change in the brain has to do with changes in the levels of grey and white matter in the brain. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

Grey matter decreases while white matter increases

Physical Growth During Puberty

Has to do with the thyroid. The 1st sign that puberty is starting, it is their height. Girls tower over bosy the 1 st couple of years and then boys will surpass them. Boys spend much longer in puberty than girls. 3.5 in/yr for girls. 4.1 in/yr for boys

When Diego turned 18, he started to think more about his education and potential future careers. He felt more independent and capable. What has changed for Diego?

His self-concept is different.

Types of Research

Historical research: how adolescence has changed over time Ethnographic research: looking at other cultures--researcher emerges themselves in the culture. Observation: observing adolescents in their natural habitat, just sit and observe. Experience sampling--researcher isn't there--app on cell phone--answer questions about who their with and what their doing. Surveys and interviews--one of the most common, simply ask them questions, longitudinal research. Experiments

Which term below allows individuals to suspend their beliefs about something in order to argue in the abstract?

Hypothetical thinking

Emerging Adulthood is the age of...

Identity explorations--work, love, world/political views Instability--residential status, relationships, jobs Self-focus--not self centered, moved from families but not a lot of obligations to others. Feeling in-between--don't see themselves as adolescents or adults. Possibilities--finding different paths for yourself. Jeffery Arnet--Emerging adults. 18-25 yrs old.

Social Rewards and Peers

If traffic light turns yellow, you have to make a decision to take the risk or not. Did a test while in the fMRI machine. 1/2 were told to come to study with 2 friends and they can watch you play the game. They take more risks when your friends are watching.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

In general, most adolescents react positively to the biological changes associated with puberty, especially those associated with the development of secondary sex characteristics.

First sign of sexual maturation

In girls is the elevation of the breast--the emergence of the "breast bud"

Swedish studies

In one study of Swedish girls, the school problems of early-maturing girls persisted over time, leading to the development of negative attitudes toward school and lower educational aspirations.

Testosterone

Increases in testosterone at puberty are directly linked to an increase in sex drive and sexual activity among adolescent boys

White matter

Increases throughout childhood and adolescence, well into adulthood, although at different rates in different regions of the brain at different points in development. Examining WHERE myelination is occuring most dramatically at a particular point in development provides clues about the aspects of cognitive functioning that are changing most at that stage.

Criticisms of Piaget

Individual differences: many individuals never show formal thought, people don't consistently use formal thinking. Cultural differences: formal thought was not found in cultures without formal schooling. Cultures may differ in the cognitive skills required to be successful

IQ Tests

Influenced by the "g" theorists Average IQ is 100 Most popular is the Wechsler scales.

Dr. Brown argues that adolescents can solve problems better than younger children because they can store more information in memory and because they have more effective strategies. Dr. Brown's view is most consistent with which of the following perspectives?

Information-processing perspective

The Endocrine System

Involved in triggering and turning off puberty. Hypothalamus is command center. In place and already functioning when born, but it is just the change in functioning. Hypothalamus doesn't release hormones, it releases instructions. Releases hormones that directly affeect other organs.

Information Processing Approach

It is a continuous view of development Speed: adolescents are faster than children at processing information. There is an increase in speed of processing from age 10 through the late teens. Automaticity: this is how much cognitive effort the person needs to devote to processing the information. Adolescents show greater automaticiy of processing than pre-adolescents. Automaticity depends more on experience than on age alone. The more automatic something is, the faster it happens.

Timing and tempo

Large variation in timing. Girls: 7-14 (average 10). Boys 9-14 (average 11-12). And tempo: girls beginning to menarche--1-5 years (average 2). Boys 2-5 years (average 3) Timing is when puberty starts. Starts with adolescent growth spurt. Can start around the same time but can be in puberty longer or shorter than others. What does it mean if timing and tempo is also off from your friends? Girls it is early, boys it is late.

Compared to 100 years ago, the adolescent period has been --- and the transition into adulthood ---.

Lengthened; prolonged

Treatment for Bulimics

Less developed than for anorexia--have a high mortality rate so we've done more research on anorexia Many do not seek treatment Less visible problem than anorexia Antidepressants: seem to work fairly well--also work on 5HT, SSRIs. Group therapy: supporting each other in recovery.

Which of the following brain systems is responsible for processing emotions, social information, and rewards?

Limbic system

Mediation of Cortisol

Made them think things were less risky in adolescents but in adults the cortisol predicted things as more risky than less risky.

Male vs Female Brains

Male brains are about 10% larger than femal brains--because male bodies are bigger than female bodies.

You describe what you have learned in psychology class to a relative who is in her 50s. She says, "there is no way that a 22 year old should feel like an adolescent. That is nonsense." Based on what you have read in this chapter, which of these points would it make sense for you to bring up to refute her statement?

Many people in their early 20s have had to delay their transitions into adult work and family roles because they need more schooling to succeed.

Diabetes

Maps almost perfectly onto the obesity maps. Really cheep food--lots of calories. More expensive food--healthier. Increase portion sizes and increase in sedentary life styles.

Findings of genetic studies

Most promising are the genes in the serotonin system. 5HT 2a receptor gene Meta-analysis of 9 studies. Importance of puberty--serotonin receptors that are regulated and interact with estrogen

Reasoning about things you agree and disagree with

Much better at evaluating things when disagreeing because of conformation bias and it is easier to find info when it matches you basic instinct.

Myelination

Myelin insulates brain circuits keeping the impulses flowing along their intended pathways rather than leaking out.

Developmental Experiences of the Adolescent

Normative experiences: everyone in a particular culture has the experience. The experience occurs at about the same time of the lifespan (driver's license). Idiosyncratic Experiences: Experiences unique to an individual, are not tied to a time in development, parents divorce--depends on the time it happens, child maltreatment. Need to know if experiences are that way for all adolescents or if it is specific for that individual.

Growth Spurts

Not all parts of the body grow at the same pace: Hands and feet, extremities, trunk. Asynchronicity in growth explains the "gangly look" in early adolescence. Face also shows asynchronicity in growth--ears and nose grow first.

End of Puberty

One marker of the conclusion of puberty is the closing of ends of the long bones in the body, a process called epiphysis, which terminates growth in height.

Food--Quantity

One study of portion sizes for typical items showed that salty snacks increased from 132 calories to 225 calories. Soft drinks increased from 144 calories to 193 calories. French fries increased from 188 calories to 256 calories. Hamburgers increased from 389 calories to 486 calories This is because the serving sizes have increased.

Bulimics

Onset later in adol-18 years 90% female Most are normal weight. 10% of college females have bulimia, anorexia is a lot less common because they can't get through college. Social pressures of college?

Piaget and adolescent thinking

Piaget attempted to describe adolescent thinking in broad terms, and to use one overarching concept--formal operations to characterize the period. Each stage is characterized by a particular type of thinking, with earlier stages of thinking being incorporated into new, more advanced, and more adaptive forms of reasoning.

Two theoretical viewpoints

Piagetian perspective and the information processing perspective.

Theorectical Perspectives

Piagetian view (discontinuous) Information processing (continuous) Psychometricians

Beyond Formal Thinking

Post formal thinking--pragmatism and reflective judgement

Brain Development

Prefrontal cortex: higher order cognition--not fully developed until early 20s. Limbic system: amygdala: emotions/emotional responses. Hypothalamus: regulates large number of things but largely the endocrine system--hormones. Corpus callosum: connects left/right hemispheres, connections grow during puberty and stops afterwards. Connections between prefrontal cortex and amygdala are still growing until around early 20s.

Sex Characteristics--Girls

Primary Sex Characteristics: Production of eggs, development of sex organs. Secondary Sex Characteristics: Hair growth in pubic areas, underneath arms and a slight amount of facial hair. Skin becomes rougher Sweat glands increase production Slight enlargement of breasts known as breast buds.

Sex Characteristics--Boys

Primary Sex Characteristics: Production of sperm, development of sex organs. Secondary Sex Characteristics: hair growth in pubic areas, underneath arms, chests, face, shoulders and back. Skin becomes rougher, sweat glands increase production.

Abnormal Pubertal Timing

Pubertal onsets that are more than 2 standard deviations above or below the means. Use to define the problem. Can now give hormones/drugs to delay or start puberty there are phenotypic markers for delayed puberty.

Downward Secular Trend of Menarche

Puberty begins earlier in cultures where good nutrition and medical care are widely available. Illness and thinness inhibit the development of body fat resulting in delayed puberty. Advances in food production have enhanced nutrition. A 3 yr old cannot go through puberty no matter how good food/healthcare is.

DSM for Bulimia

Recurrent episodes of binge eating characterized by: Eating in a discrete period of time, an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period of time during similar circumstances. Sense of lack of control over eating during episode. Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain (such as induced vomiting), excessively working out, etc. The binging and compensatory behaviors both occur, on average, at least twice a week for 3 months. Self evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight. The disturbance does not occur exclusively during episodes of anorexia.

Limitation of Information Processing

Reductionism--breaks up thinking into component pieces. Lack of holisitic perspective: piaget would aruge that you are losing the holisitic part of thinking by breaking it up into smaller pieces`

Adult plasticity

Relatively minor changes in brain circuits as a result of experiences during adulthood, after the brain has matured. This doesn't fundamentally alter the neural structure of the brain. This mainly involves fairly minor modifications to existing circuits. Brain systems are far less malleable. It resists modification.

What is the term for experiences from adolescents that are recalled more easily than experiences from other times in a person's life?

Reminiscence bump

Changes in Cognition (thinking)

Represents the second of three fundamental changes that occur during adolescence--in addition to puberty and the transition into new social roles.

The Transition to Adulthood (American Style)

Role transitions: financial and living independently, getting married, having children Relational maturity: accept responsibility for self, establish equal relationship with parents, become less self-oriented. Biological/age transition: being 18 or 21, having intercourse, allowed to smoke or drink, being full height. Family capacity: being able to support family, capable of caring for children, keep family safe. Norm compliance: avoid becoming drunk, use contraception if sexually active and not try to conceive a child, have no more than on sexual partner, responsibility before fun.

The delayed phase preference suggests that:

School should begin later in the morning.

What do IQ Tests Predict

School success and failure IQ with school grades: r = .70 IQ with reading comprehension: r = .70 IQ with geometry: r = .50 Pretty predictive of school grades but not all.

Charlie is able to tune out the television so that he can focus on his art project, which is due in class tomorrow. This is an example of:

Selective attention

Obesity and Biology

Set point--weight body mantains without dieting. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)--amount of energy used at state of rest. We all have a different set point, dieting is trying to decrease set point. Body needs energy just sitting here. BMR varies drastically between people.

Cognitive Misers

So much easier to use the heuristic processing. Have to know a little bit older to know things about the world--heuristic processing. Availabiliy heuristic--more words that start with K or more words that have K as the third letter--exactly the same.

Adolescents develop the ability to think about social issues, a concept more generally referred to as

Social cognition

Kaji, a 16 year old male, has gone through the rite of passage and is no considered a warrior by his tribesman. This change in Kaji's role and status may be referred to as

Social redefinition

Sociocultural causes of Anorexia

Society places a premium on thinness particularly for girls Our definition of attractiveness is unattainable for most.

Treatment for Obesity

Somatic--not typically used for adolescents (stomach stapling) Education Therapy: in terms of thoughts of food and attitude towards food. Success for treating obesity VERY low. Kids who are morbidly obese--parents charged for maltreatment?

Jennifer, who is 16 ran away with her friend Tonya, who is 18. The police, however, only arrested Jennifer for running away because for a minor, runnign away is considered

Status offense

Valerie, a 15 year old, faced punishment for dropping out of school and leaving home without permission. "They don't punish 20 year olds for doing what I did," she says. Which of these terms accurately describes Valerie's situation

Status offenses

Pre-Industrial Europe

Still no adolescence Middle ages--extremely high rates of infant mortality, no birth records, no emphasis on educating children. Really no childhood in the middle ages. Renaissance--14th century. Life cycle service--at some point during adolescence, we have to be trained to be an adult. Learn the trade and then return home and begin working. Women are trained for child raising, pretty much nannying. There were actually pediatricians.

Psychological studies of maturation

Studies of the psychological and social impacts of puberty indicate that physical maturation, regardless of whether it occurs early or late, affects the adolescent's self-image, mood, and relationship with parents.

Popularized about 75 years ago, this expression refers to young people in a more frivolous and lighthearted manner than the term adolescent

Teenager

Late 1970's to Mid 80s

The "me" generation Material interests replaced social interests--felt the need to get a job and really focused on that. Increased family pressure to succeed. Reasons for doing things became different. First it was to help people and then it was money.

Mentalizing

The ability to understand someone else's mental state

Theory of Mind

The ability to understand that others have beliefs, intentions, and knowledge that may be different from one's own.

Which of the following statements about prenatal development is NOT true?

The amount of cortisol exposed to the fetus is directly linked to the timing and tempo of puberty

Social Cognition

The aspect of cognition that concerns thinking about other people, about interpersonal relations and about social institutions.

Brain's Malleability

The brain's remarkable malleability in response to experience enables us to learn and strengthen abilities, from very basic ones (like memory) to very advanced ones (like planning ahead). The brain undergoes significant changes in both structure and function during adolescence.

Plasticity

The capacity of the brain to change in response to experience. It's the process through which the outside world gets inside us and changes us. The brain's malleability in response to experience enables us to learn and strengthen abilities, from the very basic ones (like memory) to very advanced ones (like planning ahead). The brain is particularly malleable during the first 3 years after birth. But the discovery that adolescence is a second period of heightened brain plasticity is a relatively recent development and one that scientists have become increasingly interested in.

Reflective thinking

The capacity to evaluation the accuracy and logical coherence of evidence and arguments. Have to evaluate whether something is accurate.

Key processes in early brain development

The development of billions and billions of synapses. The formation of some of these synapses is genetically programmed, but others are formed through experience. The rate of synpase formation peaks at about age 1 and slows down in early childhood, but the development of new synapses continues throughout life as we learn new skills, build memories, acquire knowledge and adapt to changing circumstances. The more a synapse is used, the stronger its electrical pathway becomes.

One reason for the difference in the body shapes of the sexes is:

The difference in the amount and distribution of body fat.

Functional Connectivity

The extent to which multiple brain regions function at the same time, which improves during adolescence. The maturation of functional connectivity is more or less complete by age 22.

Early Maturation Across Cultures

The fact that the effects of early maturation on girls' self-esteem vary across cultures suggests that contextual factors need to be taken into account in explaining this pattern of sex differences

Facial Expressions

The increase in sex hormones at puberty appears to play a role in influencing this increase in sensitivity to others facial expressions, which makes perfect sense, given the ultimate purpose of adolescence.

Prefrontal Cortex and Limbic System

The limbic system has been directly linked to the impact of pubertal hormones on the brain, the development of cognitive control is more or less independent of puberty. The brain changes in ways that may provoke individuals to seek novelty, reward, and stimulation several years before the complete maturation of the brain systems that regulate judgement, decision making, and impulse control.

Adrenarche

The maturation of the adrenal glands that takes place during adolescence.

Two most important changes in brain function

The patterns of activation WITHIN the prefrontal cortex generally become more focused. Adolescents are less likely than children to activate prefrontal regions that are not relevant to performing the task well. As adolescents grow into adulthood and these brain systems further mature, self-control mpoves, as does performance on tests that measure other aspects of advanced thinking often referred to as executive function. Second, over the course of adolescence, individuals become more likely to use mutliple parts of the brain simultaneously and coordinate acitivity BETWEEN prefrontal regions and other areas, including other portions of the cortex and areas of the limbic system. This is especially important on difficult tasks, where the task demands may overtax the prefrontal cortex working alone, and especially on tasks that require self-control, where it is necessary to coordinate thinking and feeling.

Divided Attention

The process of pyaing attnetion to two or more stimuli at the same time.

Synaptic Pruning

The process through which unnecessary connections between neurons are eliminated, improving the efficiency of information processing. Makes the brain more efficient by transforming an unwieldy network of small pathways into a better organized system of "superhighways." Global changes increase in myelination especially in higher order functions faster communication between neurons increase speed in thought processes. Increase in synaptic pruning--focus energy that are used most, breaks down unimportant connections. During teenage years, we are literally shaping our brains. "Use it or lose it." As with synaptic pruning, examining where myelination is occurring most dramatically at a particular point in development provides clues about the aspects of cognitive functioning that are changing most at that stage. Results in a decrease in the amount of gray matter in the brain, which is often manifested in a thinning of the areas that have been pruned.

Adolescent girls' belief that being thin will make them more popular with boys is based on

The reality of their experiences

Prefrontal cortex

The region of the brain most important for sophisticated thinking abilities, such as planning, thinking ahead, weighing risks and rewards and controlling impulses. During adolescence, this area of the brain is dramatically pruned. There is also continued metelination of the cortex throughout adolescence, which also leads to many cognitive advances. Myelination is stimulated by puberty but also by experiences such as education and exercise.

Reminiscence Bump

The reminiscence bump does not appear to result from better memory, because basic memory abilities remain strong until midlife.

Child Study Movement

The scientific study of children--child development

Obesity

The single most serious public health problem afflicting American teenagers. Genetic factors are important contributors to obesity, but the condition also has strong environmental causes. BMI of 30 or higher. American population is getting higher and higher rates of obesity each year. Also obesity rates in childhood are getting higher. Non-hispanic black people have the highest rate of obesity.

Cognitive Transitions

Thinking about possibilities--thinking about things that have not happened. Thinking about abstract concepts Thinking about thinking (metacognition) Thinking in multiple dimensions--not 1 thing at a time Thinking in relative terms--all sort of abstract thinking techniques. They are more likely to argue with parents because of parent fallacies

The Storm and Stress Debate

To be normal during the adolescent period is by itself abnormal. Adolescence is also in a time and place. If you are in a different culture your experience will eb different.

Eating disorders

Today, experts view eating disorders as part of a more general syndrome of psychological distress. The treatment of bulimia and binge eating disorder, especially with CBT, has proven far more successful than the treatment of anorexia.

The cultural practice of tattooing

Traditional Samoan practice of tattooing marked passage to adolescence. Ritual between 14-16 years of age--boys tattoos--2-3 months to complete. Girls tattoos--5-6 days.

Wechsler IQ tests

Utilizes a deviation IQ Mental/chronological x 100 Each deviation is 15 pts. 2 standard deciations to define specialness and intelligence disability WISC--ages 6016 WAIS--ages 16 and up Obtain overall IQ score--verbal and performance IQ--gives you subscale IQs

Puberty and Self esteem

Varies by gender and across ethnic groups, with girls more adversely affected than bosy and with White girls, in particular, at greatest risk for developing poor body image. This is because American culture places a premium on thinness. However, self-esteem or self-image is reasonably stable over time, with long and sturdy roots reaching back to childhood.

Verbal IQ

Vocabulary, general information, comprehension and arithmetic abilities

Compulsory Education

Was already in place. Education was extended to secondary schools

Hormones

When hormone levels reach the set point, the hypothalamus responds by once again inhibiting the pituitary gland. Most people understandably think that changes in behavior at puberty result from changes in hormones at that time. The effects of the hormonal changes of puberty on the adolescent's body are remarkable. Little evidence that adolescents' moodiness results exclusivey from the "storm and stress" of raging hormones.

Endocrine System Feedback Loop

When it dips too low, it stops inhibiting things, pituitary responds and releases its hormones. Hypothalamus doesn't turn off until there is a lot of hormones in the body. The trigger is the amount of fat in the body. Heavier children start puberty earlier. For females the "temp" fluctuates and for males it stays relatively constant.

Greater clarity

When transitions into adult work, family, and citizenship roles occur close in time, and when most members of a cohort experience these transitions at about the same age, the passage into adulthood has greater clarity

1960's and early 1970's

Woodstock generation. Post war baby boomers began entering college. Emphasis on a new stage of adolescence--emerging adults now but was called youth. Great activism--defied what conventional was.

From Hall's Time to Ours

"Cohorts" of adolescents--cohort will think, act and develop diff than other cohorts 1900-1930--adolescents lived much like adults, was pretty short. 1930-1950--two historical events altered adolescence--great depression and WWII (and WWI). Altered everything for adolescents, either going to war or work if they are old enough. Rich people would put their children into college, so this is where a split in classes happened.

Two Major Theories of Intelligence

"g" theories: general thing we can call intelligence, general ability, whenever something requires cognition, they pull on the "g" and people can have more or less "s" theories: not one single thing but independent, might be high on one ability but not the other. Modern day theorists lean toward "s" IQ tests lean toward "g"

Invention of Adolescence

1. Early Republic (1790-1840) in US. Mass migration from country to cities--moving to industrial society. Economic opportunities. 2. Approaching Age of Adolescence (1840-1900). Children becom more of an economic liability to families--someone has to take care of them. Spurred three social movements: Child labor laws, compulsory education and child study movement 3. Period of adolescence (1900-present). G. Stanley Hall--the father of adolescent psychology. 1st american journal of psychology, APA had its first presidentG

Four most studied topics of social cognition

1. theory of mind 2. thinking about social relationships 3. Understanding social conventions 4. conceptions of laws, civil liberties, and rights.

The Silent Generation

1950's (when they were adolescents). A time of peace, optimism, and influence, sense of security. Everyone could share in the American Dream 1st named cohort, large middle class group. Everyone had pensions and health care at their jobs. Teenagers had their own sense of self, they dressed the same, listened to the same music, etc.

Child Labor Laws

40% of factory workers were children. Labor movement and the child savers joined together (women--educated, helped make plight of children better). 1st social movement Labor laws kicked kids out of the factories so more adults had jobs and they had to pay adults more.

Traditional Treatment Approaches

49% success, 46% dropout rate. 20-24% mortality Treatment is to gain weight--why there is such a high dropout rate. Family therapy is super important. Activated in response and regulation to estrogen that often triggered with the increase in estrogen around puberty.

Cultural Responses to Puberty: Rituals--Traditional Cultures

68% of cultures had puberty rituals for boys. Typically rituals require the young man to display courage, strength and endurance. The rituals are often violent, requiring boys to submit to and sometimes engage in bloodletting of various kinds. 79% of cultures had puberty rituals for girls. Menarche is the pubertal event that is most often marked by ritual. Cultural views are mixed as to whether menstrual blood is an omen or a positive sign of fertility. Globalization has been credited with the decline in frequency of these rituals--some are ceremonial and not real nowadays. Negative or positive and how it is treated is different.

Familial Influences of Pubertal Timing

A number of studies have shown that social factors in the home environment also influence the onset of maturation, especially in girls.

Delayed Phase Preference

A pattern of sleep characterized by later sleep and wake times, which usually emerges during puberty. The tendency for adolescents to stay up late is due to the interaction of biology (which delays the onset of sleepiness) and the environment (which provides a reason to stay up). This begins to reverse around age 20. Less alert between the hours of 8 and 9 am and most alert after 3 pm.

EEG

A technique for measuring electrical acitivity at different locations on the scalp

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

A technique used to produce images of the brain that shows connections among different regions. Scientists use this to see the ways in which various regions of the brain are connected and compare patterns of interconnections among people at different ages. This helps us better understand how "communication" patterns linking different regions of the brain change with development.

fMRI

A technique used to produce images of the brain, often while the subject is performing some sort of mental task. Researchers use fMRI to examine patterns of activity in various regions of the brain while individuals are performing different tasks.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

A technique used to produce images of the brain, often while the subject is performing some sort of mental tasks.

Metacognition

A third gain in cognitive ability during adolescence involves thinking about thinking itself.

Status offense

A violation of the law that pertains to minors but not adults

Adolescents

Able to do all steps as well as adults Why do they make different decisions? More attuned to benefits than costs, social benefits are extremely important--especially in the presence of peers. My underestimate costs--have different risk judgements Seem to have different rules more attended to rewards than the consequences. Different risk judgements.

Studies show that adolescent mood swings are most closely related to changes in:

Activities

Pragmatism

Adapting logical thinking to be practical constraints of real-life situations. Greater recognition of practical limitations to logical thinking. Dialectical thinking: awareness that problems often have no clear solution

Early History

Adolescence did not have a name, but was recognized as distinct by early philosophers. Aristotle and Plato--capacity for reason developed. Culture differs between their adolescent statges. In ancient greece, women were never considered adults.

Which of the following statements about the inventionist perspective is true?

Adolescence is a separate period that has been largely determined by the broader social environment.

Puberty and mood

Adolescents are thought to be moodier, on average, than either children or adults. A study done showed that their moods fluctuate during the course of the day more than do the moods of adults. They get less moody as they get older. Pubertal hormones affect brain systems responsible for emotional arousal in ways that make adolescents more responsive to what is going on around them socially. It is not so much the absolute increases in these hormones during puberty but their rapid fluctuation early in puberty that may affect adolescents moods.

Sensitivity to rewards

Adolescents who are especially responsive to social rewards are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, perhaps because their increased sensitivity to such rewards leads them to downplay the costs of this type of risk taking.

Jacob is looking forward to the upcoming presidential election because he is now able to cast his vote. Based on your knowledge of the social redefinition of adolescence, what has Jacob attained?

Age of majority

Menarche

Although menarche does not signal the onset of puberty, researchers often use the average age of menarche when comparing the timing of puberty across different groups or historical eras, because it can be measured more reliably than other indicators. Several studies have focused specifically on adolescents' attitudes toward and reactions to particular events at puberty, such as girls' reactions to menarche or breast development and boys' reactions to their first ejaculation.

Limbic System

An area of the brain that plays an important role in the processing of emotional experience, social information and reward and punishment. The better connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system leads to improvements in our ability to regulate our emotions and coordinate our thoughts and feelings.

Anorexia

An eating disorder found chiefly among young women, characterized by dramatic and severe self-induced weight loss. Onset-14 years of age. Females outnumber males Diagnosis depends on DSM--Restriction of energy intake relative to requirements leading to significant low body weight. Intense fear of gaining weight Disturbance in the way one's body weight is experienced. Mild moderate severe and extreme. Average BMI BMI--17 to 18.5: mild BMI of 16-16.99: moderate BMI of 15-15.99: severe BMI of >15--extreme. In the more severe cases, young women who suffer from ean eating disorder called anorexia nervosa actually starve themselves in an effort to keep their weight down.

Bulimia

An eating disorder found primarily among young women, characterized by a pattern of binge eating and extreme weight-loss measures, including self-induced vomiting. Alternating pattern of binging and purging Person is aware that eating pattern is abnormal, have little control over pattern, depressed mood following binge. Feel better after purge. Purge--kind of like a blank slate

The term PUBERTY refers to the period during which:

An individual becomes capable of sexual reproduction. Within a totally normal population of young adolescents, some individuals will have completed the entire sequence of pubertal changes before others have even begun.

Dual Processing Theories

Analytic: Present pretty early on, when we get to adolescence, it gets bigger and badder, children are slower than adolescents. Analytics is when cognition when we talk about Piaget and info processing. It's effortful, logical requires resources (like doing math in head). Takes an analytical approach. Heuristics: mental shortcuts we use to decrease the cognitive load, to make it easier saves time, but can lead to errors.

When levels of -- and -- fall below the set points, the -- stops inhibiting the pituitary gland, thus permitting it to stimulate the release of sex hormones by the gonads

Androgens; estrogens; hypothalamus

The potentially fatal disorder in which young women actually starve themselves is called

Anorexia nervosa

Shifts in moods

Appear to have more to do with shifts in activities than with internal, biological changes.

Boys and puberty

As is the case for boys, puberty brings important internal changes for adolescent girls that are associated with the development of reproductive capacity.

Cultural differences of puberty

As long as our culture overvalues thinness and encourages the view that females should be judged on the basis of their physical appearance rather than their abilities, values, or personality, the risks of early puberty will probably endure.

Behavioral Decision Theory

Assumes a rational decision maker. Five steps: 1. ID alternative choices 2. ID consequences for each choice 3. Evaluate cost/benefits 4. Assess likelihood of each consequence 5. Combine information and choose according to a decision rule.

G Stanley Hall

Authoritarian and a darwinist, racist, sexist, advocated education for select males. Child study movement: research to better the lives of children and adolescents--savage to the human. Recapitulation: development of an individual re-enacts evolution of human species. Storm and stress--upheaval and disorder is a normal part of adolescent development Trying to improve the white race. Manual work for nonselect males and women were taught to have children.