PSY230 STUDY GUIDE TEST 3

How does the growth spurt in adolescence begin? What area grows last?

- A relatively sudden and rapid physical growth that occurs during puberty. a. Each body part increases in size on a schedule i. Extremities first (hands, feet), then core b. Weight spurt first, then height spurt

What is choice overload? How does online dating create this?

- Choice overload: Having so many options makes a thoughtful choice difficult. a. Regret after making a choice is more likely.

What is cohabitation? What do we know about the research on the relationship between cohabitation before marriage, and divorce?

- Cohabitation: Living with an unrelated person—typically a romantic partner—to whom one is not married a. Most young adults in the U.S., England, and northern Europe cohabit rather than marry before age 25 b. Japan, Ireland, and Italy, fewer people cohabit.

Explain the concept of a "circadian rhythm" and what changes about it in adolescence.

- Day-night cycle of biological activity occurs approximately every 24 hours (circadian means "about a day"). - Hormones cause a phase delay in sleep-wake cycles for adolescents a. At puberty, however, night may be energizing. Many teens are wide awake and famished at midnight but half asleep, with no appetite or energy, all morning. - Biology and culture impact rhythms a. Many adolescents check e-mail or text friends late at night, which decreases sleep hormones and causes insomnia and sleep deprivation. i. That increases nightmares, mood disorders (depression, conduct disorder, anxiety), and falling asleep while reading, driving, or just sitting in class.

What is the graduation rate for college students?

- Debts and dropouts a. 94% of parents expect college b. 75% of all adults believe college is costly c. College pays off over time for most graduates i. But about a 50% graduation rate

What gender differences do we see with depression, and why?

- Depression rates twice as high in girls - Cause for the gender disparity may be biological, psychological, and/or social. Cognitive explanation: Rumination - Repeatedly thinking and talking about past experiences a. More common in girls i. Internalizing

Know the psychological correlates of maturing early and maturing later.

- Early-maturing girls have a. lower self-esteem b. more depression c. poorer body image - Early-maturing boys are typically more a. aggressive b. law-breaking c. alcohol-abusing than later-maturing boys. - Slow developing boys tend to be a. more anxious b. depressed

What are some problems with teens and technology?

- Educators claim the most difficult aspect of technology is teaching how to evaluate information sources. - Sexting: a. Estimated 30% of adolescents have sent sexual photographs. b. Dangers: i. Forwarding pictures without sender's knowledge ii. Experiencing depression if the reaction is negative iii. Not to mention: illegal if a minor

What stage of Erikson's psychosocial development are emerging adults in?

- Erikson's sixth psychosocial stage, intimacy versus isolation a. Desire to share personal life with someone else b. Intimacy progresses from attraction to close connection to ongoing commitment.

What is stereotype threat?

- Fear of confirming a negative stereotype: The thought that one's behavior or appearance may confirm another's stereotype a. e.g.,"Women are bad at math" i. may produce anxiety and negative feelings that interfere with performance.

Explain formal operational thought and the hallmarks of this type of thinking. a. What experiment did Piaget use to determine the presence of formal operational thought? b. Deductive and inductive reasoning

- Formal operational thought: a child's concrete operational thinking becomes an adolescent's ability to consider abstractions, including "assumptions that have no necessary relation to reality" - Fourth and final stage of Piaget's cognitive developmental theory - Not everyone gets here - Characterized by more systematic logic and the ability to think about abstract ideas a. Thinking hypothetically i. Ex. Overthinking (adolescent egocentrism) - One of their experiments required balancing a scale by hooking weights onto the scale's arms. To master this task, a person must realize the reciprocal interaction between distance from the center and heaviness of the weight. a. Balancing was not understood by the 3- to 5-year-olds. By age 7, children balanced the scale by putting the same amount of weight on each arm, but they didn't realize that the distance from the center mattered. By age 10, children experimented with the weights, using trial and error, not logic. - Deductive reasoning: Reasoning from general statement to specific statement a. Ex. I read in a book that the sun always rises on the east (general statement), so I deduce that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow too (specific statement). - Inductive reasoning: Reasoning from a specific experience to a general statement to reach a general conclusion a. Ex. Every day of my life the sun has risen in the east, so I arrive at the general conclusion that the sun must always rise in the east.

What are gray matter and white matter in the brain?

- Gray matter: a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and myelinated as well as unmyelinated axons), glial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), synapses, and capillaries. - White matter: the tissue through which messages pass between different areas of gray matter within the central nervous system. a. the white matter is white because of the fatty substance (myelin) that surrounds the nerve fibers (axons).

How can alcohol negatively impact adolescent health?

- Heavy drinking may permanently impair memory and self-control by damaging the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.

What is the difference between homeostasis and allostasis?

- Homeostasis: short term physiological adjustments to maintain equilibrium - Allostasis: longer-term adjustments

What stage of Erikson's psychosocial development are adolescents in?

- Identity vs. Role Confusion a. Fifth stage of psychosocial development b. Figuring out social and personal identity

What are the developmental differences between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex in adolescence?

- Limbic system (fear, emotional impulses) matures before the prefrontal cortex (planning ahead, emotional regulation). a. emotional areas develop before the reflective ones do i. attracted to risk

In regards to criminal behavior, what are the two types of offenders we discussed?

- Most juvenile delinquents are adolescence-limited offenders, whose criminal activity stops by age 21. a. They break the law with their friends, facilitated by their chosen antisocial peers. - Some delinquents are life-course-persistent offenders, who become career criminals. a. Their lawbreaking is more often done alone than as part of a gang, and the cause is neurological impairment (either inborn or caused by early experiences). b. Symptoms include not only childhood defiance but also early disabilities with language and learning.

Explain organ reserve

- Organ reserve refers to the extra power that each organ can employ when needed. a. Organ reserve shrinks each year of adulthood so that by old age a strain—shoveling snow, catching the flu, minor surgery—can overwhelm the body. i. In emerging adulthood, however, organ reserve allows speedy recovery. ii. A 20-year-old can stay awake all night, or take drugs that disrupt body function, and still get up the next day seemingly unharmed. Organ reserve has been activated, and the body has recovered.

What is peer pressure? a. Explain deviancy training

- Peer pressure: usually depicted as peers pushing a teenager to do something that adults disapprove, such as using drugs or breaking laws. a. Peer pressure is especially strong in early adolescence, when adults seem clueless about biological and social stresses. b. However, peer pressure can be more helpful than harmful.

How does personality change throughout emerging adulthood?

- Personality persists, but is also not static a. Negative traits diminish after adolescence b. More agreeable, less neurotic c. More open to experience d. Rising self-esteem

Explain the difference between primary and secondary sex characteristics.

- Primary sex characteristics: Parts of the body that are directly involved in reproduction (ovaries/testes) - Secondary sex characteristics: Observable physical traits that are not directly involved in reproduction but that indicate sexual maturity, such as a man's beard and a woman's breasts.

What is postformal thought? a. Explain dialectical thinking

- Proposed fifth adult stage of cognitive development a. Goes beyond adolescent thinking by being more practical, more flexible, and more creative i. less impulsive and reactive

When does puberty typically begin? a. How does percentage of body fat play a role for females?

- Puberty usually begins between ages 8 and 14 with rapid physical growth and sexual maturation continuing for several years. a. For girls, observable changes begin with nipple growth and a few pubic hairs. Soon the body increases in height while fat, especially on the breasts and hips, accumulates leading to a greater percentage of body fat.

What is the dual-process model? a. Explain the two systems

- The idea that two modes of thinking exist within the human brain a. One for intuitive emotional responses and one for analytical reasoning b. The terms and descriptions of these two processes vary, including intuitive/analytic, implicit/explicit, creative/factual, contextualized/decontextualized, unconscious/conscious, gist/quantitative, emotional/intellectual, experiential/rational, hot/cold, systems 1 and 2. i. although they interact and can overlap, each mode is independent c. Intuitive thought (system 1): Thought that arises from an emotion or a hunch, beyond rational explanation, and is influenced by past experiences and cultural assumptions d. Analytic thought (system 2): Thought that results from analysis, such as a systematic ranking of pros and cons, risks and consequences, possibilities and facts 1d. analytic thought depends on logic and rationality.

Explain the differences between male and female friendships.

- Women: Intimacy, emotionality, self-disclosure - Men: Limited touching and self- disclosure

What are the four aspects of identity as according to Erikson?

1. Role Confusion: see no goals or focus in life 2. Foreclosure: premature identity formation, by adopting parents' or society's roles and values without question analysis 3. Moratorium: Taking some time-out to explore identity options 4. Identity Achievement

Explain the different eating disorders we discussed.

Anorexia nervosa - Eating disorder characterized by self-starvation. a. Affected individuals voluntarily under-eat and often over-exercise, depriving their vital organs of nutrition. b. Anorexia can be fatal. Bulimia nervosa - Eating disorder characterized by binge eating and subsequent purging, usually by induced vomiting and/oruse of laxatives. - In 2013 a. 6.6% girls b. 2.2% boys Binge eating disorder - Eating disorder characterized by periodic and compulsive overeating until stomach hurts - Eating done secretly at least weekly for months; no purging - Sufferer feels out of control, distressed, and depressed.

What are menarche and spermarche?

Menarche: - Girl's first menstrual period, signaling that she has begun ovulation. - Pregnancy is biologically possible, but ovulation and menstruation are often irregular for years after menarche. - Average age—about 12.5 years for normal-weight girls. Spermarche: - Boy's first ejaculation of sperm - Erections can occur as early as infancy, but ejaculation signals sperm production - Average age—just under 13 years

What is WEIRD?

Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic