ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT UNIT 1 EXAM!
indifferent parents
Indifferent Parents: neither demanding nor responsive; parents who are characterized by low levels of both responsiveness and demandingness; limit time and energy devoted to interacting with their children ⇒ parents structure home life around their own needs and interests - Adolescents are often more impulsive and more likely to be involved in delinquent behavior and in precocious experimentation with sex, drugs, and alcohol Low Warmth + Low Control/Demanding = Indifferent Poor communication skills, emotional dysregulation, risk takers
indulgent parents
Indulgent Parents: very responsive but not demanding; parents who are characterized by responsiveness but low demandingness, and who are mainly concerned with the child's happiness; believe that control is an infringement on children's freedom and indulgent parents are likely to view themselves as resources for the child - Adolescents are less mature, less responsible, and more conforming to their peers High Warmth + Low Control/Demanding = Indulgent No expectations/guidelines, lack of self-reliance, not motivated, less responsible, selfish, don't understand rules, less ambitious
Social Construction of Adolescence
Interventionists: theorists who argue that the period of adolescence is mainly a social invention ⇒ defined primarily by the ways in which society recognizes adolescence as distinct from childhood or adulthood Adolescence as we know it did not really exist until the industrial revolution ⇒ then: the main distinction between children and adults was whether or not they owned property ⇒ industrialization occurred → economy was changing so rapidly so people were not following the normal pipelines of jobs and responsibilities due to disruption of the small farming communities - Late 19th Century: adolescence became known as a time of preparation for adulthood and introduced the word teenager (a term popularized about 50 years ago to refer to young people; connoted a more frivolous and lighthearted image than "adolescent") and youth (refers to 18-22 year olds; once referred to 12-24 year olds) -- Late 40s/50s led to increased affluence and economic freedom ⇒ teenagers were an important consumer group and began publicizing the image of a happy teenager for ad campaigns
What is the role of hormones on puberty?
Presence or absence of certain hormones in early life programs the brain and the central nervous system; hormones are there since birth ⇒ changes in hormones at puberty activates a new pattern Exposure to certain hormones before birth may set an alarm clock that does not go off until adolescence → puberty may not cause the alarm Hormones that are present prenatally may organize a certain set of behaviors, but changes in these hormones at puberty may be needed to activate a pattern
Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Seven defined types of intelligence: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal Gardner has a theory of multiple intelligences ⇒ many models (don't need to know them all)
social conventions in adolescence
Social Conventions (the norms that govern everyday behavior in social situations) change, because adolescents view social conventions as nothing but social expectations and these, are insufficient reasons to comply, but gradually discover that social conventions regulates people's behaviors in society
Discuss the fundamental changes that happen in adolescence
Social: changes in rights and responsibilities and some cultures have formal ceremonies Cognitive: the processes that underlie how people think; adolescents are much better able to think about hypothetical situations Biological: collectively referred to as puberty (the biological changes of adolescence)
bulimia nervosa
an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise Physical: Faintness ➢ Mood Swings ➢ Bloody Vomit ➢ Swelling of the Face ➢ Tooth Decay ➢ Red Eyes ➢ Dry Skin ➢ Irregular Heartbeat
anorexia nervosa
an eating disorder in which an irrational fear of weight gain leads people to starve themselves; Anorexia Nervosa: An eating disorder found chiefly among young women, characterized by dramatic and severe self-induced weight loss; Often restrict the calories they intake; Some exercise compulsively; Primarily develops during adolescence Physical: ➢ Severe Weight Loss ➢ Fatigue and Dizziness ➢ Slower Blood Flow ➢ Dry or Discolored Skin ➢ Thinning/Breaking Hair ➢ No Menstruation
emerging adulthood
for some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood
theory of mind
people's ideas about their own and others' mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict; Theory of Mind (the ability to understnad that others have beliefs, intentions, and knowledge that may be different from one's own) is developed through mentalizing (the ability to understand someone else's mental state) and adolescents are better able to interpret the feelings of others and infer their motives and feelings - This leads to improvements in communication and creates deeper relationships and better understanding Understanding others have individual thoughts/beliefs Many schools in the US are homogeneous (a reminder when people go to college that other people have their own thoughts)
Psychosocial Development in Adolescence
psychosocial: referring to aspects of development that are both psychological and social in nature, such as developing a sense of identity or sexuality - identity: involves self-conceptions, self-esteem, and the sense of who one is - autonomy: the development and expression of independence - intimacy: concerns the formation, maintenance, and termination of close relationships - sexuality: concerns the development and expression of sexual feelings - achievement: concerns behaviors and feelings in evaluative situtations
social cognition
the mental processes that people use to make sense of the social world around them
adolescence
the stage of development that begins with puberty and ends when individuals make the transition into adult roles, roughly speaking, from about 10 until the early 20s Early: 10-13 years old Middle: 14-17 years old Late: 18-21 years old
transition into adulthood
vary by class -lower class may need child to go work instead of seeking higher education because need money - The transitions into adulthood vary based on the "haves" (those who have access to money, schools, and technology), the "have nots" and the in betweens - Minority groups have more trouble negotiating the transition into adulthood than do White/Asian counterparts (poverty, discrimination, and justice system) - Growing up poor adversely affects adolescents brain development due to its association with failure in school, unemployment, delinquency, and teen pregnancy - To ease the transition many mentoring programs are being established ⇒ trying to lower those with few relationships with lack of positive adult role models
Changing family roles and functions in adolescence
- During early adolescence young people play more of a forceful role in family ⇒ adolescents interrupt parents more often and adolescents increasingly try to assert autonomy -- Age 16-20, adolescents are more independent and power relationships improve - During puberty, adolescents and parents bicker more frequently and feel less close ⇒ often because of minor things such as changes in power and increased privacy and less physical affection -- First half of adolescence is especially strained -- Parents and adolescents relationships become more egalitarian → better at resoliving conflict Distancing between adolescents and parents ⇒ very natural and usually adolescents are wanting to spend much more time with friends Also a matter of time since you become more busy when you are older Stressful life events ⇒ conflict with parents High stress household ⇒ choose friends over family for support Different parenting styles
Reorganization of relationships in the family
- Family relationships change the most for boys around 13/14 and girls 11/12 - Adolescence is a period of change and reorganization in family relationships ⇒ adolescents spend less time in family activities - Most parents are in 40s when children are adolescents = midlife crisis time (a psychological crisis over identity believed to occur between the ages of 35 and 45, the age range of most adolescents' parents) -- Adolescents have many big decisions ahead of them while parents have already made most of their decisions - Family finances are strained during adolescence due to peer cultures and families are saving for big expenditures (college education) -- Sandwich generation because finances for both their adolescents and aging parents
Neighborhood and family stress on adolescent development
- Moving to more affluent neighborhoods have a more positive effect on girls than boys ⇒ very poor adolescents whose neighborhoods improved in quality were more likely to show increases in problems - Growing up in an affluent neighborhood may lead to higher levels of delinquency, substance use, anxiety, and depression compared to middle class communities - Clear evidence that growing up in a poor neighborhood has devastating effects on adolescent behavior, achievement, and mental health -- Growing up in poor rural communities = most at-risk - Rates of teen pregnancy, school dropout, mental health problems, and antisocial behavior are higher in neighborhoods with lower levels of collective efficacy (a community's social capital derived from its members' common values and goals) - Stresses associated with poverty undermine the quality of people's relationships with each other ⇒ poverty interferes with parents' ability to be effective parents Link between poverty and delinquency is even stronger in poor neighborhoods
Timing and Tempo of Puberty
- Onset of puberty can occur as early as age 5 in girls and 6 in boys or as late as age 13 in girls and boys -- Girls: the interval between the first sign of puberty and complete maturation can be a year and a half long OR as long as 6 years -- Boys: comparable interval ranges from 2-5 years -- Late maturers are taller than early maturers as adults and early maturers are somewhat heavier -- Non-White girls mature earlier than white girls possibly because of the chemicals in the environment that stimulate earlier puberty, such as hair care products and cosmetics Timing and tempo of an individual's pubertal maturation is largely inherited (specific region on chromosome 6) AND the environment plays an important role through nutrition (puberty is earlier for individuals who are better nourished and grow more during early years) and health (chronic illness during childhood is associated with delayed puberty Social Factors: puberty occurs earlier for girls with father-absent families, less cohesive households, or a step-father, and girls who were sexually abused Tension in family may induce stress which affects hormonal secretions in adolescent Presence of a stepfather may expose adolescent girl to pheromones (a class of chemicals secreted by animals that stimulate certain behaviors in other members of the species) which stimulate pubertal maturation → menarche is earlier in countries where individuals are less likely to be malnourished or to suffer from chronic disease - Secular Trend: the tendancy over the past two centuries for individuals to be larger in stature and to reach puberty earlier, primarily because of improvements in health and nutrition → puberty is starting earlier, but it is taking longer to complete Drop in age → maturation of self-control has grown which creates a larger window of vulnerability to risky behavior Wide Range of ages Girls: 5-13 years, 1 ½ - 6 years Boys: 6-13 years, 2-5 years Nutrition, health, sleep biological Dual household, abuse at a young age, conflict in home, etc.
Changes in adolescence and sibling relationships
- Sibling relationships during adolescence are often emotionally charged with conflict and rivalry but also have nurturance and support ⇒ sibling conflict increases before becoming egalitarian (more distance and less emotionally intense) -- Same-Sex: intimacy increases between preadolescene and middle adolescence and then declines -- Mixed-Sex: intimacy drops between preadolescene and middle adolescence and then increases -- A good parent-adolescent relationship is associated with less sibling conflict and more positive sibling relationships -- The quality of adolescents' relationships with their friends influences how they interact with siblings and adolescents psychological well-being - Two siblings inherit different genes from their parents and siblings may have very different family experiences (treated differently by parents, perceive similar experiences in different ways, or grew up in same household at different times) -- Unequal treatment from mothers and/or fathers creates conflict among siblings and leads to many problems, but it is only strained when these different treatments are perceived as unfair Same-sex: more conflict ⇒ close Opposite Sex: closer ⇒ more conflict
Girls and boys differ in family relationships
- Sons and daughters report comparable degrees of closeness to parents, amount of conflict, types of rules, and patterns of activity, but teens relate very differently to mothers versus fathers -- Adolescents tend to be closer with mothers and mothers tend to be more involved in adolescents life -- Fathers often rely on mothers for information about adolescents and often are there for objective information but not emotional support -- Adolescents fight more with mothers and perceive mothers as more controlling
Role of divorce with regards to adolescence
- The process of going through a divorce matters the most for the adolescent ⇒ problems for adolescent are highest right after divorce but after adjusting to change, they have comparable behavior -- Immediate problems after divorce is more often in boys, younger children, children with difficult temperament, children with a lack of supportive adults outside family, and children whose parents divorce during a transition in adolescence - Children are more adversely affected by marital conflict when they are aware of it than when it is hidden from them (especially when it is hostile, violent, or frightening) - Individuals whose parents divorce during preadolescence and adolescence often demonstrate difficulties even after 2 or 3 years but some can be impacted until their 30s - Two possible sleeper effects (the ways in which adjustment difficulties might be expressed may not surface until adolescence (since most children don't drink or do drugs) and adolescence is a time when individuals first begin experimenting with intimate sexual relationships (effects of early parental divorce may not show until child gets involved in a relationship) - Adolescents whose parents have a congenial, cooperative relationship and who receive consistent and appropriate discipline from both homes report less emotional difficulty and fewer behavioral problems - Adolescents growing up in stepfamilies often have more problems than their peers because they are exposed to a "double dose" of marital conflict which is just normal, every day conflict between parent and stepparent and a blending of children from two different marriages -- Remarriage is stressful when families are unable to accommodate the new stepparent relationship ⇒ stepparents are often not accepted immediately by the children - Income loss is associated with disruptions in parenting that leads to increases in adolescent difficulties ⇒ financial strain increases mothers and fathers feelings of depression, worsens marriages, and causes conflict between parent and adolescent
Pattern of Conflict between Adolescents and Parents
- There is actually very little emotional distance between young people and their parents ⇒ overwhelming majority of adolescents feel close to their parents - Teenagers and their parents surprisingly have similar beliefs about the importance of hard work, educational and occupational ambitions, and the personal attributes that they think are important and desirable - Big gap between teenagers and adults for clothing, music, recreational pursuits ⇒ adolescents are more influenced by friends than by parents -- Mainly because parents view many issues as matters of right or wrong while adolescents view issues as a matter of personal choice -- Adolescents rarely rebel against their parents just for the sake of rebelling ⇒ adolescents are less inclined to accept parents' authority when they view the issue as personal -- Conflict increases during early adolescence due to adolescents seeing more issues as matters of personal choice and depends on how parents respond to information and how they get information (snooping vs asking) Parents & Children often agree on: religious/morals, values, political, traditions, education Disagree: personal taste, clothing, major, rules, time management, leisure activities, money, friend choices, technology
Endocrine system in puberty
- interaction between hypothalamus, pituitary gland and gonads: • Hypothalamus - structure in the brain that monitors sex and eating • Pituitary Gland - endocrine gland that involves growth and regulates other glands, including hormones • Gonads - testes in males; ovaries in females Hypothalamus inhibits the pituitary gland unless sex hormone levels fall below a set point ==> pituitary gland signals the gonads to release more sex hormones ==> gonads release sex hormones (loop) Producing, regulating, and circulating hormones Feedback loop - set point of hormones HPG Axis; when puberty occurs, a lot of set points of hormones change ⇒ body is regulating hormones → moody Hypothalamus inhibits pituitary gland from releasing hormones when it releases too much HPG Axis is active before birth and then quiets and then awakens during puberty
risk-taking in adolescence
-At 9 to 10 years the prefrontal cortex and limbic system experience a shift in levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine -Sensitivity to rewards increases -Response inhibition is closely associated with risky activity -Risky activity is thought to decline in late adolescence Adolescents take more risks that adults and risk taking is common in adolescents Behavioral Decision Theory: an approach to understanding adolescent risk taking, in which behaviors are seen as the outcome of systematic decision-making processes (weighing costs and benefits) - Identifying alternative choices, identifying the consequences that might follow from each choice, evaluating costs and benefits from each possible consequence, assessing the likelihood of each possible consequence, and combining all this information to some decision rule (adults do this too) Adolescents still engage in more risky behavior because of different values and priorities between adolescents and adults (care more about the social consequences) and differences when weighing costs and benefits of engaging in a risky behavior (adolescents are more attuned to the potential rewards than are adults due to limbic system) Adolescents may also differ from adults in susceptibility to peer pressure, impulsivity, orientation to the present rather than the future, or reward seeking ⇒ more adolescents are sensation seeking (the pursuit of experiences that are novel or exciting) - People high in sensation seeking and low in impulse control are more likely to be risk takers ⇒ adolescents act differently depending on if other teenagers are around The main change to take place between adolescence and adulthood is not the further development of local decision making, but the continued development of intuitive decision making based on experience ⇒ adolescents are more likely to use deliberative thinking, while adults use gut-level responding Adolescents are more likely than adults to be swayed by their personal experiences than by information alone
changes in brain during adolescence
-Many cells are formed early in adolescence in respose to genetic, hormonal, and environmental cues. -Significant increase of gray matter- unmyelinated cells. -Nerve cells grow and get "bushier" in response to stimuli- increased number of nerve cells. -Pruning, which strengthens the connections among the neuronal pathways that are most used and stimulated. -Synapses increase, pruned into late adolescence -Myelination increases in adolescence -Development occurs: Amygdala first (develops quickest, emotions) , then Corpus Callosum (nerve fibers that connect two hemispheres together and helps process information more effectively) , then Prefrontal Cortex (judgement, doesn't stop developing until emerging adulthood) Changes in Brain Structure during Adolescence: the brain is "remodeled" through synaptic pruning and myelination in particular brain regions Greater efficiency in information processing is improved by patterns of activation within the prefrontal cortex generally become more focused Better connectivity between prefrontal cortex and Limbic System: an area of the brain that plays an important role in the processing of emotional experience, social information, and reward and punishment ⇒ improvements in our ability to regulate our emotions and coordinate our thoughts and feelings Functional connectivity (brain is working together and working at the same time) synaptic pruning myelination of neurons lambic system development (emotional regulation and emotional experiences) heightened brain plasticity (TBI before the age of 2 = much more likely to recover because your brain is much more plastic and able to readapt)
Vygotsky's Theory
A sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development; argues that children and adolescents learn best in everyday situations when they encounter tasks that are neither too simple nor too challenging; Vygotsky's sociocultural theory views human development as a socially mediated process in which children acquire their cultural values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society. Zone of Proximal Development: in vygotsky's theory, the level of challenge that is still within the individual's reach but that forces an individual to develop more advanced skills Scaffolding: structuring a learning situation so that it is just within the reach of the student ⇒ can be used to take advantage of adolescent brain's malleability and make future learning more likely
Adolescents are better able to think about what is possible
Adolescents are able to consider what they observe against a backdrop of what is possible They think not only about how things actually are, but also about what might have been Adolescents are able to move easily between the actual and the possible, to generate alternative possibilities and explanations systematically, and compare the ways things are with the way they might be under different circumstances Adolescents become better arguers and they evaluate theoretical beliefs Deductive Reasoning: a type of logical reasoning in which one draws logically necessary conclusions from a general set of premises, or givens ⇒ rarely used before adolescence and its development is one of the major intellectual accomplishments of the period; adolescents are better able to catch themselves before they incorrectly answer the question EXAMPLE: knowing that all hockey players wear mouth guards and kim is a hockey player ⇒ kim wears a mouth guard Hypothetical thinking emerges ⇒ helps in formulating and arguing a viewpoint and allows us to plan ahead EXAMPLE: if i were in her situation, i would feel ____ EXAMPLE: learning the Pythagorean theorem, adolescents must apply it to all POSSIBLE right triangles, not just all triangles ⇒ apply this theorem to concrete examples and understand the theorem still holds true for triangles you haven't seen
Adolescents are more likely to see things as relative, rather than as absolute
Adolescents are more likely to question others' assertions and less likely to accept facts as absolute truths ⇒ question everything - EXAMPLE: previously used to view anything parent said as absolutely correct but in adolescence view as completely relative
laws, civil liberties, and rights in adolescence
Adolescents become increasingly likely to believe that there are some freedoms that should not be restricted, but teenagers also believe that there are situations in which it may be legitimate to restrict individual rights to benefit the community
Status Changes in Legal System
At adolescence, adolescents are given certain new rights and responsibilities that are reserved for the society's adult members ⇒ increased self-management, personal responsibility, and social participation In America: attaining the age of majority = right to vote and can participate in gambling, purchasing alcoholic beverages, seeing x-rated films, etc. - Status Offense: a violation of the law that pertains to minors but not adults - Juvenile Justice System: a separate system of courts and related institutions developed to handle juvenile crime and delinquency - Criminal Justice System: the system of courts and related institutions developed to handle adult crime -- Hard to determine when a legal boundary of age should be drawn -- Questions arise about if adolescents should be treated differently in courts because of their age ⇒ don't understand the different consequences
authoritarian parents
Authoritarian Parents: very demanding but not responsive; parents who use punitive, absolute, and forceful discipline, and who place a premium on obedience and conformity → believe children should accept their parents' rules and standards without question ⇒ place importance on restricting the child's autonomy - Adolescents are more dependent, more passive, less socially adept, less self-assured, and less curious Low Warmth + High Control/Demanding = Authoritarian Problems with translating emotion, children are more scared to communicate with their parents, discourages open communication
authoritative parenting
Authoritative Parents: both responsive and demanding; parents who use warmth, firm control, and rational, issue-oriented discipline, in which emphasis is placed on the development of self-direction ⇒ set standards for child's conduct but form expectations consistent with child's needs ⇒ child is self-reliant and has a strong sense of initiative - Children raised in authoritative households are more psychosocially mature, more responsible, self-assured, creative, curious, socially skilled, and academically successful than peers who have been raised in other households - Link between authoritative parenting and healthy adolescent development is found in all ethnicities, social classes, and family structures - Authoritative parents provide an appropriate balance between restrictiveness and autonomy = opportunities for the adolescent to develop self-reliance while also having limits and guidelines - Authoritative parents are more likely to engage their children in verbal give and take = more likely to promote the sort of intellectual development that provides an important foundation for the development of maturity - Authoritative parents have a warm parent-child relationship which allows adolescents to form strong attachments to their parents - Child's own behavior, temperament, and personality shape parenting practices High Warmth + High Control/Demanding = Authoritative Children more in tune with their emotions, more independent but feel like they can go to their parents for support
Ethnicity and Parenting Style
Authoritative parenting is less prevalent among Black, Asian, or Hispanic families than among White families ⇒ ethnic minority parents are more demanding than White parents ⇒ for neighborhoods that are dangerous it may be better to emphasize control
Psychological and Social Impact of Puberty
Biological Changes: increases in testosterone ⇒ increase in sex drive and sexual activity in adolescent boys; may change the adolescent's self-image; puberty changes adolescent's appearance which may elicit changes in how others react to the teenager Early-Maturing adolescents were more likely to be pseudomature (wish they were older) - Early-maturing boys are more likely to get involved in antisocial or deviant activities (trauncy, minor delinquency, and school misbehavior, drugs, alcohol, etc.) - Early-Maturing girls have more emotional difficulties (poorer self-image, higher depression, anxiety, eating disorder rates, and panic attacks) likely due to looking different than their peers and early maturation impacts are worse for girls who are heavier ⇒ more adverse impacts on White girls Delayed Phase Preference (a pattern of slep characterized by later sleep and wake times, which usually emerges during puberty) is another affect of puberty Emotional distance between parents and children increases toward the middle of puberty which increases conflicts ⇒ some people believe that this is evolutionary because once children sexually mature they will leave home and mate outside of the family Impact on self-esteem; higher body dissatisfaction for girls There's a dip in self esteem, but it is not as severe as people think ⇒ self esteem bounces back Moodiness; more mood changes/mood swings (because of hormones) Changes in sleep patterns; delayed phase preference (not enough sleep) Increased use of electronic devices which effects melatonin Those at similar state of puberty tend to become peers ⇒ increase in romantic relationships due to sexual attraction
Theoretical Perspectives on Adolescence
Biosocial: emphasize the biological changes of the period; Hall's Theory (adolescence is raging hormones) and Dual Systems (emphasizes changes in brain activity and anatomy) Organismic: emphasize the interaction between the biological changes of the period and the contexts in which they take place; Freudian Theory (psychosexual conflict), Eriksonian Theory (stressed psychosocial), Piagetian Theory (believed that children pass through distinct stages of development as they mature) Learning: emphasizes the ways in which patterns of behavior are acquired through reinforcement and punishment or through observation and imitation; behaviorism (emphasize the process of reinforcement and punishment) and social learning theory (emphasizes the ways adolescents learn how to behave) Sociological: emphasize the ways in which adolescents, as a group, are treated by society; adolescent marginality (difference in power between adult and adolescents) and intergenerational conflict (inevitable tension between adolescents and adults due to different attitudes, values, beliefs) Historical/Anthropological: some argue that adolescence is entirely a social invention and anthropologists argue societies vary based on the way they view adolescence
Variations in clarity in social transitions
Clarity: different people go into different stages at different times which makes the lack of clarity of the social transition important so it is not clear-cut and fierce competition - Without specific rites of passage, school graduation often seems like the closest universal rite of passage into adulthood, but overall no clear indication of when responsibilities for adults begin - Adolescents often struggle to view themselves as a certain type of stage; in modern societies many adolescents place less emphasis than traditional societies on attaining specific roles (worker, spouse, parent) as defining characteristics of adulthood, best predictor of subjective age is what age they felt they were psychologically, there has been a decline in the importance of family roles, AND the defining criteria of adulthood have become more or less the same for males and females in contemporary industrialized societies - In traditional societies: the passage from childhood into adolescence is marked by a formal initiation ceremony - In Previous Eras: from the baby boom era people were getting married much younger, not living with parents as often, and were employed earlier ⇒ the transition from adolescence to adulthood is long and also occurs in fits and starts
variations in continuity
Continuous vs. discontinuous Discontinuous: In contemporary (western) society: little training for adult life, then thrust in abruptly Often segregated from work, family, and citizenship roles as adolescents Continuous: In traditional cultures focus on informal education of children/adolescents rather than formal education; accompany adult members of society Continuity: continuous transitions (passages into adulthood in which adult roles and statuses are entered into gradually) versus discontinuous transitions (passages into adulthood in which adult roles and statuses are entered into abruptly) - Transitions into adulthood are more discontinuous in contemporary society because young people are often segregated from the workplace throughout most of their childhood and early adolescence ⇒ discontinuous transition into a full-time job and completely discontinuous transition into family roles due to knowing little about child-rearing - In traditional societies: passages are more continuous with learning responsibilities and how to work - Previous Eras: passage was more continuous due to kids being involved in family roles and leaving home earlier
Social Factors: Family Issues
Divorce: increased rapidly until 1980 and has slowly declined since (but the marriage rate has also declined or couples are cohabiting) ⇒ divorce has become far less common among college graduates; divorce normally happens during adolescence ⇒ sometimes can be good for adolescent if it ends family conflict Single Parenthood: large percentage of children will spend time in a single-parent household from birth (60% of children are born outside of marriage) ⇒ usually with the mother (most prevalent for Blacks) Remarriage: majority of people remarry but the divorce rates are higher for second marriage which leads to more changes in living arrangements and problems for the child Poverty: affects non-White adolescents much more likely due to the racial disparity in rates of single parenthood
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
Eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of consuming large amounts of food during which the person feels a lack of control over eating. Physical: ➢ Irregular Cycles of Menstruation ➢ Hypertension (HBP) ➢ Weight Gain/Loss ➢ Abdominal Pain ➢ Nausea ➢ Difficulty Breathing ➢ Facial Acne ➢ Sluggish/Low Energy ➢ Depression
eating disorders psychological impact
Eating disorder sufferers experience a variety of comorbid mental disorders, including mood disorders such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and substance abuse
Universality of Emerging Adulthood
Emerging adulthood does not exist in all cultures (mainly just in more affluent nations) and even when it is a stage some people cannot afford to have a delay before adulthood - Emerging adulthood has a lot to do with values and priorities (not wanting to get married or take on full adult responsibilities)
Rise in Obesity
Higher rates of obesity likely due to changes in health - Obesity is a result of both genetic and environmental factors (have poorer impulse control and heighetened response to images of food, and larger prevalence for poor youth and minorities) -- Long-term psychological consequences of obesity in adolescence are greater for females than males; some research believes that depression leads to obesity ⇒ obesity at young age leads to higher risk for health problems -- Fewer children are eating healthy and exercising well; more watching TV and having inadequate sleep and exercise
Triggers of Puberty
HPG axis is active before birth, but relatively quiet during childhood ⇒ reawakens during puberty and begins the increase in kisspeptin (a brain chemical believed to trigger the onset of puberty) Leptin: a protein produced by the fat cells that may play a role in the onset of puberty through its impact on kisspeptin (stimulates kisspeptin); regulates hunger and appetite --> puberty starts earlier for overweight children Melatonin: a hormone secreted by the brain that contributes to sleepiness and that triggers the onset of puberty through its impact on kisspeptin (suppresses kisspeptin) ==> lower melatonin levels = faster puberty Genes predisopose you to go through puberty at a particular age, but more fat cells + more light exposure → earlier puberty Environmental & Biological Triggers: who you are surrounded by, the more sexually mature people you are around, light/melatonin (lots of light, less melatonin = earlier puberty; light can be artificial light too), body fat, who you live with (females), living with a step-father or older non-biological male = earlier puberty; modern medicine made periods earlier (secular trend of puberty) Genes: predisposed to having puberty at a certain age
Adolescents think more often about the process of thinking itself
Metacognition: the process of thinking about thinking itself ⇒ monitoring your own cognitive activity during the thinking process - EXAMPLE: consciously using a strategy to remember something (such as a mnemonic device) Brain systems that are active when individuals are monitoring their own performance continues to mature throughout adolescence and early adulthood ⇒ development of metacognition Adolescent egocentrism results in imaginary audience and personal fable Imaginary Audience: the belief, often brought on by the heightened self-consciousness of early adolescence, that everyone is watching and evaluating one's behavior; this occurs because the parts of the brain that process social information are undergoing significant changes and adolescents' self-perceptions rely more than adults' on what they believe others think of them - EXAMPLE: teen is going to a concert with 10,000 people and is worried about what she is wearing because everyone will notice Personal Fable: an adolescent's belief that he or she is unique and therefore not subject to the rules that govern other people's behavior ⇒ it enhances the adolescents self-esteem and feelings of self-importance - EXAMPLE: adolescent tells his mother she would never understand about his girlfriend breaking up with him
Adolescents are better able to think about abstract things
More systematic, abstract thinking and there is a growth of social thinking EXAMPLE: think about interpersonal relationships, politics, religion, philosophy, religion, morality
Piaget theory of cognitive development
Piaget uses a cognitive-developmental view (a perspective on development, based on the work of Piaget, that takes a qualitative, stage-theory approach); States that children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages of cognitive development Sensorimotor stage (birth -24 months) Preoperational stage (2-7) play activities help the child to understand life events and relationships. Concrete operational stage (7-11) concrete objects, logical thinking, incorporates another's perspective. Formal operational stage - (11 and older) abstract thinking. According to Piaget, the last major cognitive change is formal operational stage which adolescents enter; you have the skills to think about the world differently around 12, you have all of the cognitive skills you need (they will develop with experience later, but those newfound skills do not change) Formal operational stage allows abstract thinking and the forming of hypotheses based on data and rational thinking, they think logically, and think about possibilities
Traditional IQ tests
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB-5): for ages 2 to 85 one of the most widely used measures patterns and levels of cognitive development including verbal, nonverbal, quantitative, and memory useful to help diagnose childhood developmental disabilities and provides information for special education interventions (IEP or IFSP) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC): for ages 6 to 16 used to measure verbal and performance abilities, including verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory, and processing speed each subtest is scored separately to help pinpoint strengths and weaknesses can indicate disabilities frequently administered to adults Traditional IQ is mental age / chronological age x 100 Scores should be very reliable in which the scores should be statistically similar as they develop
History of emerging adulthood
Start = puberty and end is often thought to be marriage Middle of 19th century = adolescence lasted around 5 years ⇒ now 15 years Argument of a New Stage of life (emerging adulthood) that may last until mid-20s (18-25) and focuses on the exploration of possible identities before making enduring choices, instability in work, romantic relationships, and living arrangements, focus on oneself and functioning as an independent individual, feeling of being between adolescence and adulthood, and the sense that life holds many possibilities - Emerging adulthood does not exist in all cultures and even when it is a stage some people cannot afford to have a delay before adulthood - Emerging adulthood is often characterized by a difficult time (floundering and financial instability) AND a time of carefree optimism and independence ⇒ generally emerging adulthood is very positive for mental health but there is also ⅕ of people suffering from a mental illness during this time Study: 80% of sample showed great stability in well-being over the emerging adulthood time period, success in one stage usually leads to success in the next stage, more than ⅙ had a substantial change in mental health, and experiences in the domains of work, romance, and citizenship were linked to changes in well-being Even though the transition into adulthood had been delayed there is no evidence that there has also been a prolonged period of adulthood of problem behaviors typical in late adolescence
Adolescents' thinking is more often multidimensional, rather than limited to a single issue
The adolescent can understand that people's personalities are not one-sided and that social situations can have different interpretations that permits the adolescent to have far more sophisticated and complicated self-conceptions and relationships - EXAMPLE: baseball batter comes up to the plate in a game ⇒ adolescent would take into account the hitter record, pitcher hand preference, etc. AND can answer deeper questions Adolescents understand that the meaning of a speaker's statement is communicated by what is said, how it is said, and the context in which it is said ⇒ can understand satire, metaphors, sarcasm - EXAMPLE: like to watch simpsons, south park, and rick and morty because of the sarcasm
Pica
an abnormal craving or appetite for nonfood substances, such as dirt, paint, or clay that lasts for at least 1 month Pica: Ingestion of inedible, non-nutritious food for at least a one month period Physical: ➢ Nausea ➢ Stomach Ulcers ➢ Teeth Decay/Problems ➢ Signs of Lead Poisoning ➢ Intestinal Blockage ➢ Side Effects of Eating Toxic Substance
Somatic Development
The physical appearance of the adolescent changes dramatically during adolescence During puberty, individual grows about 10 inches taller, matures sexually, and develops an adult-proportioned body, half of one's adult body weight is gained - Adolescent Growth Spurt: the dramatic increase in heigh and weight that occurs during puberty Peak Height Velocity: the point at which the adolescent is growing most rapidly → growing at the same rate as a toddler Epiphysis: the closing of the ends of the bones, which terminates growth after the adolescent growth spurt has been completed; conclusion of puberty Growth spurt occurs about two years earlier among girls than boys and not all body parts grow at the same rate or time - During puberty: both sexes have rapid muscular development, but muscle tissue grows faster in boys than girls, but girls grow more body fat - Girls who do not grow dissatisfied with their bodies tend to mature earlier and date earlier Cross-cultural differences in body dissatisfaction and body image - Secondary Sex Characteristics: the manifestations of sexual maturity at puberty, including the development of breasts, the growth of facial and body hair, and changes in the voice - Sexual Maturation in Boys: sequence of developments in secondary sex characteristics in boys is fairly orderly; fertile before developing an adultlike appearance - Sexual Maturation in Girls: less regular development; Menarche: the time of first menstruation (but full reproductive function occurs several years after menarche) ⇒ girls appear physically mature before they are fertile Peak velocity - fastest growth spurt Females - growth spurt is earlier Boys have a higher muscle to fat ratio; girls have more fat which leads to more issues with self-esteem and eating disorders
Process of Social Redefinition
The process is not a single event (like puberty); begins around 15 or 16 and continues into young adulthood In many cultures, social redefinition of young people occurs in groups - Cohort: A group of individuals who share common historical experiences at same STAGE in life; may also share attitudes, values, skills, or life experiences - Common practices in the social redefinition process: -- Real or Symbolic Separation from Parents: separation from parents takes somewhat different forms but the most common is college -- Emphasis on Differences Between the Sexes: societies begin separating males and females during religious ceremonies and individuals begin wearing sex-specific articles of clothing and keep males and females apart during initiation ceremonies; some societies separate into different employment and vocational skills -- Passing of Information from Older Generations: may be matters thought to be important to adults but of limited utility to children, matters thought to be necessary for adults but unfit for children, or matters concerning the history or rituals of the family or community ⇒ boys and girls receive different instruction about sexual relations, moral behavior, and societal lore (learn about piercings, shaving, tattoos, makeup, etc.)
Sternberg's Triarchic Theory
The theory, proposed by psychologist Robert J. Sternberg, contends that there are three types of intelligence: practical (the ability to get along in different contexts), creative (the ability to come up with new ideas), and analytical (the ability to evaluate information and solve problems) 1) componential (school intelligence; The componential theory outlines the various mechanisms that result in intelligence; Metacomponents enable us to monitor, control, and evaluate our mental processing, so that we can make decisions, solve problems, and create plans; Performance components are what enable us to take action on the plans and decisions arrived at by the metacomponents; Knowledge-acquisition components enable us to learn new information that will help us carry out our plans) 2) experiential (practical side; The experiential subtheory proposes that there is a continuum of experience from novel to automation to which intelligence can be applied.At the novel end of the spectrum, an individual is confronted with an unfamiliar task or situation and must come up with a way to deal with it. At the automation end of the spectrum, one has become familiar with a given task or situation and can now handle it with minimal thought.) 3) contextual (practical thinking; The contextual subtheory says that intelligence is intertwined with the individual's environment. Thus, intelligence is based on the way one functions in their everyday circumstances, including one's ability to a) adapt to one's environment, b) select the best environment for oneself, or c) shape the environment to better fit one's needs and desires.)
Roles of genetics and environmental factors on adolescents
Two types of environmental influences: shared environmental influences (nongenetic influences that make individuals living in the same family similar to each other) versus nonshared environmental influences (the nongenetic influences in individuals' lives that make them different from people they live with) - Both genetic and nonshared environmental influences adolescence, while shared influences are less influential - Genetic Factors: strong influence on aggressive behavior, emotional and behavioral problems (suicide and depression, alcohol dependence), adolescent competence, self-image, and self-conceptions, intelligence - Adolescences with the same genetic predispositions develop differently if they grow up in different environments -- Genes shape tendencies but whether these tendencies are actualized depends on the environment - There is different susceptibility to the environment: -- Diathesis-Stress Model: a perspective on psychological disorders that posits that problems are the result of an interaction between a preexisting condition (the diathesis) and exposure to stress in the environment -- Most disorders are the product of an interaction between genetic and environmental factors -- Differential Susceptibility Theory: the idea that the same genetic tendencies that make an individual especially susceptible to develop problems when exposed to adverse environmental influences also make him or her especially likely to thrive when exposed to positive environmental influences ⇒ affects the extent to which adolescents profit from authoritative or positive parenting, benefit from affiliating with positive peers, or suffer as a result of peer rejection Shared = may have common environments, schooling, neighborhood environment → really don't share much of anything since non-shared are greater in terms of expectations and social environment
information processing theory
a perspective that compares human thinking processes, by analogy, to computer analysis of data, including sensory input, connections, stored memories, and output; Information-Processing Perspective: a perspective on cognition that derives from the study of artificial intelligence and attempts to explain cognitive development in terms of the growth of specific components of the thinking processes (such as thinking) Attention: we become better at paying attention; better at both selective attention (the process by which we focus on one stimulus while tuning out another) and divided attention (the process of paying attention to two or more stimuli at the same time) ⇒ better able to concentrate and stay focused on complicated tasks Memory: working memory (that aspect of memory in which information is held for a short time while a problem is being solved), long-term memory (the ability to recall something from a long time ago), and autobiographical memory (the recall of personally meaningful past events) - Reminiscence Bump: the fact that experiences from adolescence are generally recalled more than experiences from other stages of life ⇒ adolescent brain is chemically primed to encode memories more deeply and ordinary events trigger stronger emotions - Advances in working memory during adolescence is linked to the ways in which these areas of the brain are organized and connected which allows more powerful information processing Speed: increase in the speed of information processing and is very rapid until the time between middle adolescence and young adulthood Organization: improvements in organizational strategies; adolescents are more planful and they approach a problem with an appropriate strategy in mind All of these increase throughout childhood and early adolescence but then level off around age 15, but people are still developing more sophisticated cognitive skills (thinking creatively, planning ahead, judging the relative costs and benefits of a decision) Information Processing Model is not a stage idea, rather it is more focused on how experiences change us There is improved attention (better at selected and divided attention) Improvement in the working memory and the long-term memory Working Memory reaches peak size
thinking about social relationships
adolescents begin to understand group dynamics better and take things into account about who fits into a social group andthe beliefs about authority change (adolescents can distinguish between moral issues and conventional ones) - Adolescents can distinguish between issues that authority figures have the right to regulate and issues that are the adolescents personal choice - Adolescents also have changed beliefs about teacher and group authority
