Chapter 8 Developmental Psychology

Sequences of changes in primary and secondary sexual characteristics in girls:

Growth of breasts and the growth spurt followed by the appearance of pubic hair. Menstruation usually occurs around 13.

Interpersonal Norms

Stage 3: - Moral reasoning is based on winning the approval of others - shouldn't steal because he must keep his reputation - should steal because no one would think negatively of someone trying to save their wife's life

Social System Morality

Stage 4: - Moral reasoning is based on the maintenance of order in society - shouldn't steal the drug because it is illegal - should steal the drug because he has marriage vows

Social Contract

Stage 5: - Moral reasoning is based on the belief that laws are goof of all members of society - should steal the drug because social rules about property rights no longer benefit the individuals' welfare. - shouldn't steal because it would create social anarchy.

Abstract Principle

Stage 6: - Justice, compassion, and equality form the basis of a personal code that may sometimes conflict with society's expectations and laws. - should steal because saving a life takes precedence over everything - shouldn't steal because his wife has a right to die.

Puberty

a collection of physical changes that mark the onset of adolescence, including a growth spurt and the growth of the breasts or testes. - two types of physical changes: 1) bodily changes 2) sexual maturation

Sequence of changes in primary and secondary sexual characteristics in boys:

growth of testes and scrotum, followed by the appearance of pubic hair, start of the growth spurt, and growth of the penis. First ejaculation around 13y/o.

Negatives of Physical Fitness:

- 15% of athletes will be injured. - use of illegal drugs to improve performance

Strategies and Metacognition

- Adolescents are better able to identify task-appropriate strategies and to monitor the effectiveness of those strategies

Working memory and Processing speed

- Adolescents have adults like working memory capacity and processing speed, enabling them to process information efficiently. - Working Memory: the site of ongoing cognitive processing - Processing Speed: the speed with which individuals complete basic cognitive processes

Problem Solving and Reasoning

- Adolescents often solve problems analytically by relying on mathematics or logic, and they are able to detect weaknesses in scientific evidence and logical arguments.

Content Knowledge

- Adolescents' greater knowledge of the world facilitates understanding and memory of new experience. - Acquire adult-like levels of knowledge and understanding in many domains.

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Reasoning

- Analyzed children's, adolescents' and adults' responses to a large number of of such dilemmas and identified three levels of moral reasoning: (preconventional, conventional, and postconventional) - Each level subdivided into two sections - (stealing money for wifes' treatment dilemma)

Psychological Impact of Puberty:

- Body Image - Moodiness - Rate of Maturation

Secondary sex characteristics

physical signs of sexual maturity that are NOT directly linked to reproductive organs. - For girls: growth of the breasts, widening of the pelvis - For boys: appearance of facial hair and broadening of the shoulders - appearance of body hair and changes in voice and skin in both boys and girls

Primary sex characteristics

physical signs of sexual maturity that are directly linked to the reproductive organs. - For girls: ovaries, uterus, and vagina - For boys: scrotum, testes, and penis

Pituitary Gland

- Key player of physical changes during puberty releases growth hormones and signals other glades to secrete hormones. - girls pituitary gland: signals the ovaries to release estrogen, which causes the breasts to enlarge, genitals to mature and fat to accumulate. - boys pituitary gland: signals the testes to release the androgen hormone testosterone, which causes the genitals to mature and muscle mass to increase

Sleep Habits in Adolescents:

- Need 9.25 hours - Sleep Cycle shifts: go to sleep later - Sleep deprivation impairs cognitive functioning: - Lower achievement - mood problems - high-risk behaviors

Nutrition with puberty

- The body has special nutritional needs - Need calcium for growth, iron to make extra hemoglobin. - Inadequate iron in teens are often listless and moody - Inadequate calcium, bones may not develop fully.

Obesity

- The number of overweight adolescents has tripled in the past 30 years. - Often unpopular, have low self-esteem, at risk for medical problems, and are more likely to become overweight adults. - Heredity, genes, and environmental factors can influence obesity.

Postconventional Level

- Third and Final level - Moral reasoning is based on a personal moral code - No longer based on external forces like punishment, reward, or social roles. - 2 stages: Social Contract Abstract Principle

Information Processing During Adolescence Features:

- Working memory and processing speed - content knowledge - strategies and metacognition - problem solving and reasoning

Bulimia Nervosa

- a disease in which people alternate between binge eating - periods when they eat uncontrollably - and purging through the use of laxatives or self-induced vomiting. - frequency of bing eating varies - all feel that they cannot sop eating.

Anorexia Nervosa

- a persistent refusal to eat accompanied by an irrational fear of being overweight. - Without treatment, 15% of adolescents with anorexia die.

Moodiness psychological impact:

- adolescents are extraordinarily moody - partially due to hormones - mood shifts are associated with changes in activities and social settings -more likely to report being in a good mood around friends - more likely to report being in a bad mood when in adult regulated settings

Body Image psychological impact:

- adolescents are more concerned about their overall appearance. - look in mirror regularly - girls worry more than boys about appearance, particularly when appearance is a frequent topic of conversation with friends. - boys are unhappy with their appearance when they expect to have an idealized strong, muscular body but do not.

Physical growth changes:

- during the peak of the adolescent growth spurt.. a girl may gain as much as 14 lbs in a year (starts at 11, peaks at 12, mature at 15 y/o) a boy as much as 16 lbs in a year (starts at 13, peaks at 14, matures at 17 y/o) - head, hands, and feet usually grow first. differing growth rates cause the adolescent's body to look out of proportion. - bones become longer and dense -strength increases in boys -body fat increases, more rapidly in girls.

Preconventional

- first level - moral reasoning is based on external factors - Moral reasoning is controlled almost exclusively by rewards and punishments Stage 1: obedience orientation Stage 2: Instrumentation orientation

Rate of Maturation psychological impact

- maturing early or late has different psychological consequences for boys and girls. - Girls: Early maturation can be harmful. Often lack self-confidence, less popular, more likely to be depressed and have behavioral problems. more likely to smoke and drink. - Boys: early maturation can benefit boys. date more often, more positive feelings about their physical development and their athletic abilities. being early or late can be stressful, who strongly prefer to be on time in their physical development. Few long lasting effects on boys.

Timing of puberty events:

- pituitary gland - genetics - social environment

Positives of Physical Fitness:

- promotes mental and physical health - reduce their risk for obesity, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and psychological disorders. - enhance self-esteem -learn initiative - learn important social skills - how to work effectively in groups

Factors for Anorexia and Bulimia onset:

-Primarily affect adolescent females: - Heredity matters - Psychosocial factors such as a history of eating problems - Having negative self-esteem - Experiencing mood or anxiety disorders - Being overly concerned about their body and weight and having a history of dieting. Boys make up about 10% of cases: - childhood obesity - Low self-esteem - Pressure to lose weight - Participating in sports that emphasize being lean.

sexual maturation of puberty:

-changes in the reproductive system -appearance of secondary sexual characteristics ( facial and body hair and growth of the breasts)

bodily changes of puberty:

-increases in hight and weight -changes in the body's fat and muscle content

Two features of brain development that begin early in life that are nearly complete in adolescence:

1) myelination - makes neurons transmit information faster 2) synaptic pruning - weeding out unnecessary connections between neurons - these changes mean that different regions in the adolescent brain are well connected and information is rapidly conveyed between them, which allows adolescence to process information more efficiently than children.

Threats to Adolescent Well-being

Boys: most deaths are due to accidents involving motor vehicles or firearms Girls: most deaths are due to natural causes or accidents involving motor vehicles - adolescents find the rewards associated with risky behavior far more appealing than adults do and are willing to ignore the risk.

Conventional Level

Second level - Moral reasoning is based on society's norms - reasoning is largely determined by others expectations of them. - 2 stages: Interpersonal Norms Social System Morality

Obedience Orientation

Stage 1 - - moral reasoning is based on the belief that adults know what is right and wrong - does what authorities say is right to avoid being punished - shouldn't steal drug because of police (authority figure) - should steal drug because he would get in trouble if wife died.

Instrumental Orientation

Stage 2: - moral reasoning is based on the aim of looking out for one's needs - be nice to others for a favor returned in the future - don't steal because it will create more problems - steal because his wife may do something for him in return.

Limbic system and frontal cortex during adolescence:

The limbic system - helps regulate experiences of reward, pleasure, and emotion. reaches maturity in early adolescence. The Frontal Cortex - associated with deliberate control of behavior. Still developing during adolescence. - Because the reward and pleasure seeking systems are more mature than the systems for controlling behavior, the anticipated rewards and pleasure of risky behavior sometimes swamp the adolescent's ability to suppress the desire to engage in such activities.

Menarche

The onset of menstruation. typically occurs around 13 y/o.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

an adjusted ratio of weight to hight that is used to define overweight

Spermarche

the first spontaneous ejaculation of sperm-laden fluid. around age 13.

Basal metabolic rate

the speed at which the body consumes calories