ECE Test 4 Review Questions

Describe the dangers and consequences of adolescent sexual practices.

AIDS is one of the leading causes of death among young people, affecting minority populations with particular severity. Adolescent behavior patterns and attitudes, such as not inquiring about a partner's HIV or AIDS status and a belief in personal invulnerability, work against the use of safer sex practices that can prevent the disease. Other sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia, genital herpes, trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, and syphilis, occur frequently among the adolescent population and can also be prevented by adopting safer sex practices or abstinence.

Identify how career choices are made.

According to Eli Ginzberg, people proceed through stages as they consider careers, from the fantasy period, in which dream choices are made without regard to practical factors; through the tentative period, which spans adolescence and involves pragmatic thought about job requirements and personal abilities and goals; and to the realistic period of early adulthood, in which career options are explored through actual experience and training. Other theories of career choice, such as John Holland's, link personality characteristics and career options.

Explain how gender affect friendships.

Boys and girls in middle childhood increasingly prefer same-gender friendships. Male friendships are characterized by groups, clear dominance hierarchies, and restrictive play. Female friendships tend to involve one or two close relationships, equal status, and a reliance on cooperation.

Explain the causes of bullying and how it can be prevented.

Bullying is associated with a history of watching violent television shows, misbehavior at home, and an abusive family life. School-based programs focus on training students to intervene when they witness bullying, rather than standing by and watching. Potential victims of bullying are advised to refuse to engage the bully, speak up against bullying, and talk to parents, teachers, and other adults.

Describe how peer relationships change during adolescence.

Peers are important during adolescence because they provide social comparison and reference groups against which to judge social success. Relationships among adolescents are characterized by the need to belong. During adolescence, boys and girls begin to spend time together in groups and pair off toward the end of adolescence.

Describe how Erikson's theory of identity formation proceeds through adolescence.

According to Erik Erikson, adolescents are in the identity-versus-identity-confusion stage, seeking to discover their individuality and identity. They may become confused and exhibit dysfunctional reactions, and they may rely on friends and peers for help and information more than on adults. One criticism of Erikson's theory is that it employs male identity development, which stresses competitiveness and individuality, as the standard for both men and women. Carol Gilligan suggests that women develop identity in the context of building and maintaining relationships.

Explain how children's views of themselves change during middle childhood.

According to Erik Erikson, children in the middle childhood years are in the industry-versus-inferiority stage, focusing on achieving competence and responding to a wide range of personal challenges. Children in these years are engaged in making a place for themselves in their social world by working increasingly with others and navigating different social groups and roles. Children in the middle childhood years begin to view themselves in terms of psychological characteristics and to differentiate their self-concepts into separate areas. They use social comparison to evaluate their behavior, abilities, expertise, and opinions.

Describe the stages of moral development through which adolescents progress

According to Lawrence Kohlberg, people pass through three major levels and six stages of moral development as their sense of justice and their moral reasoning evolve. The levels of moral development encompass preconventional morality (motivated by rewards and punishments), conventional morality (motivated by social reference), and postconventional morality (motivated by a sense of universal moral principles)—a level that may be reached during adolescence but that many people never attain. Although Kohlberg's theory provides a good account of moral judgments, it is less adequate in predicting moral behavior.

Describe the information-processing perspective on cognitive development.

According to information-processing approaches, cognitive growth during adolescence is gradual and quantitative, involving improvements in memory capacity, mental strategies, and other aspects of cognitive functioning. Another major area of cognitive development is the growth of metacognition, which permits adolescents to monitor their thought processes and accurately assess their cognitive capabilities.

Explain how family relationships change during adolescence.

Adolescents' quest for autonomy often brings confusion and tension to their relationships with their parents, but the actual "generation gap" between parents' and teenagers' attitudes is usually small.

Describe the influence of race and poverty on children's family life.

African Americans have a strong sense of family, and families are often extended. Many African American families are headed by mothers or grandmothers. Hispanic families also have a strong sense of family and rely on community and religious organizations. Hispanic families tend to be large and extended. Asian American families appear to have strong father figures at the helm to maintain discipline. Asian children are taught to place family needs before personal needs. Regardless of race, children living in economically disadvantaged families face challenges such as the lack of basic resources, frequent disruptions in living arrangements, unsafe houses and neighborhoods, and parents too busy and tired to respond to their children's needs as they might wish.

Describe the incidence of alcohol use among adolescents.

Alcohol use is prevalent among adolescents, who may view drinking as a way to lower inhibitions or to manifest adult behavior. Binge drinking, defined as consuming five or more drinks in one sitting for men (four drinks for women), has become a serious problem on college campuses. Nearly half of all students report participating in binge drinking, with the numbers only slightly less for women than men. Not only is binge drinking unhealthy, it can also lead to obnoxious, even violent, behavior. Among the warning signs that an adolescent may have a problem with drugs or alcohol are identification with the drug culture, evidence of physical deterioration, dramatic declines in school performance, and significant changes in behavior.

Explain how some adolescents become involved in criminal activity.

Although most adolescents do not commit crimes, they are disproportionately involved in criminal activities. Undersocialized delinquents were raised with little discipline or harsh parenting and were not taught standards of conduct. Socialized delinquents understand and generally follow the rules of society. The transgressions they commit during adolescence tend to be petty and do not continue into adulthood.

Describe the relationship between gender and career development.

Career choice and attitudes and behaviors on the job are influenced by gender. Traditionally, women have been associated with communal professions, which tend to be lower paid, and men with agentic professions, which pay better. Women and minorities in professional roles may find themselves hitting the glass ceiling, an invisible barrier in an organization that prevents career advancement beyond a certain level because of conscious or unconscious discrimination.

Summarize the effects on children when caregivers work outside the home.

Children in families in which caregivers work outside the home generally fare well. Self-care children who fend for themselves after school may develop independence and a sense of competence and contribution.

Describe the nature of group care in the 21st century.

Children in group care often have been victims of neglect and abuse. About 25 percent of them will spend their childhood years in group care. Experts believe that group care is inherently neither good nor bad. Instead, the consequences of living away from one's family may be positive or negative, depending on the particular characteristics of the staff of the group home and whether child- and youth-care workers are able to develop an effective, stable, and strong emotional bond with a child.

Describe the importance of self-esteem during the middle childhood years.

Children in these years are developing self-esteem; those with chronically low self-esteem can become trapped in a cycle of failure in which low self-esteem feeds on itself by producing low expectations and poor performance.

List the types of relationships and friendships that are typical of middle childhood.

Children's understanding of friendship passes through stages, from a focus on mutual liking and time spent together through the consideration of personal traits and the rewards that friendship provides to an appreciation of intimacy and loyalty.

Explain how adolescents develop abstract thinking, and explore the consequences of this development.

Cognitive growth during adolescence is rapid, with gains in abstract thinking, reasoning, and the ability to view possibilities in relative rather than in absolute terms. Adolescence coincides with Piaget's formal operations period of development, when people begin to engage in abstract thought and experimental reasoning. Adolescents' heightened critical abilities can lead them to become argumentative, question authority, grow more idealistic, and become indecisive as they weigh pros and cons. Dealing with adolescents' critical abilities can cause conflict with parents, teachers, and other adults.

Describe how race affects friendships.

Cross-race friendships diminish in frequency as children age. Equal-status interactions among members of different racial groups can lead to improved understanding, mutual respect and acceptance, and a decreased tendency to stereotype.

Describe popularity and responses to peer pressure.

Degrees of popularity during adolescence include popular and controversial adolescents (on the high end of popularity) and neglected and rejected adolescents (on the low end). Peer pressure is not a simple phenomenon. Adolescents conform to their peers in areas in which they feel their peers are expert and to adults in areas of adult expertise. As adolescents grow in confidence, their conformity to both peers and adults declines

Describe the demographic characteristics of college students.

Despite recent changes, the U.S. college population is still largely White and middle class. The proportion of White high school graduates that enter and complete college is larger than that of African American or Hispanic high school graduates. However, minority students make up an increasingly larger proportion of the U.S. college population each year, and in some major colleges, Whites are now in the minority. The college experience differs for men and women in the courses and majors that they choose and the expectations they have for financial success upon graduation. The differences appear to be attributable to gender stereotypes.

Summarize the functions and characteristics of dating during adolescence.

During adolescence, dating provides intimacy, entertainment, and prestige. Achieving psychological intimacy, though difficult at first, becomes easier as adolescents mature, gain confidence, and take relationships more seriously.

Explain how the development of self-concept and self-esteem proceeds during adolescence.

During adolescence, self-concept differentiates to encompass others' views as well as one's own and to include multiple aspects simultaneously. Differentiation of self-concept can cause confusion, as behaviors reflect a complex definition of the self. Adolescents also differentiate their self-esteem, evaluating particular aspects of themselves differently. Issues of identity become increasingly important during adolescence because adolescent intellectual capacities become more like those of adults. Adolescents are better able to see how they compare to others and become aware that they are individuals, separate from their parents, peers, and others.

Summarize the nutritional needs of adolescents.

Even though most adolescents have no greater nutritional worries than fueling their growth with appropriate foods, some are obese or overweight and may suffer psychological and physical consequences. For example, obesity stresses the circulatory system, increasing the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes.

Explain why adolescents smoke and the prevalence of smoking.

Even though the dangers of smoking are well known and accepted by adolescents, tobacco use continues. Despite a reduction in smoking among adolescents in general, smoking within some groups has actually increased. Adolescents who smoke appear to be motivated by a desire to appear adult and "cool." The use of e-cigarettes is a growing concern to health experts.

List the types of sexual activities in which adolescents engage.

For most adolescents, masturbation is often the first step into sexuality. The age of first intercourse, which is now in the teens, has declined as the double standard has faded and the norm of permissiveness with affection has gained ground; in addition, the overall rate of sexual intercourse has declined.

Summarize the aspects of cognitive development that cause difficulties for adolescents.

Hand in hand with the development of metacognition is the growth of adolescent egocentrism, a self-absorption that makes it hard for adolescents to accept criticism and tolerate authority figures. Adolescents may play to an imaginary audience of critical observers, and they may develop personal fables, which emphasize the uniqueness of their experiences and supposed invulnerability to risks.

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of working during high school.

Having a part-time job has the advantage of providing more money, instilling a sense of responsibility, offering practice in money management, and teaching workplace skills and good work habits. However, work can decrease the time that students can spend on their studies, negatively affect their grades, and interfere with extracurricular activities, which also teach valuable skills. A premature focus on work may lead to pseudomaturity, the assumption of adult roles before adolescents are ready for them.

List some examples of how today's diverse family arrangements affect children.

Immediately after a divorce, the effects on children in the middle childhood years can be serious, depending on the financial condition of the family and the hostility level between spouses before the divorce. The consequences of living in a single-parent family depend on the financial condition of the family and, if there had been two parents, the level of hostility that existed between them. Multigenerational families in which children, parents, and grandparents live together can make for a rich living environment, but are also prone to conflict if parents and grandparents have different disciplinary styles. Blended families present challenges to the child but can also offer opportunities for increased social interaction.

Explain how brain development contributes to cognitive growth in adolescence.

In adolescence, thinking becomes more sophisticated as the number of neurons increases and their interconnections become more complex. Myelinization also increases, making the transmission of neural messages more efficient. At the same time, the brain overproduces gray matter, which is later pruned back. The two processes—myelinization growth and gray-matter pruning—contribute to cognitive growth in adolescence. The prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that allows people to evaluate situations and make complex judgments, undergoes tremendous growth in adolescence. However, because the prefrontal cortex is not yet fully mature, adolescents still struggle with impulse control.

Describe the roles that religion and spirituality play in identity formation.

Increased cognitive abilities allow teenagers to think more abstractly about religious matters. They may draw more closely to their religious affiliation if they have one, change their religious affiliation, or reject formal religion entirely. Many adolescents who consider themselves to be spiritual individuals are not affiliated with any particular religion.

Explain the categories of adolescent identity according to Marcia.

James Marcia identifies four identity statuses that individuals may experience in adolescence and in later life: identity achievement, identity foreclosure, identity diffusion, and moratorium. An adolescent's identity status is related to the absence or presence of two characteristics, crisis and commitment. An adolescent may move between statuses even into adulthood.

Identify the factors that contribute to psychological difficulties.

Many adolescents have feelings of sadness and hopelessness, and some experience major depression. Biological, environmental, and social factors contribute to depression, and there are gender, ethnic, and racial differences in its occurrence. The rate of adolescent suicide is rising, with suicide now the second most common cause of death in the 15- to 24-year-old age bracket. Risk factors for suicide among teens include depression, perfectionism, social inhibition, and high levels of stress and anxiety. The easy availability of guns in the United States also contributes to the suicide rate.

Describe how adolescents can cope with stress.

People cope with stress in a number of ways, including problem-focused coping, by which they attempt to modify the stressful situation, and emotion-focused coping, by which they attempt to regulate the emotional response to stress. Coping is aided by social support from others. Defensive coping, which is the unconscious resort to a strategy of denial, is less successful because it represents a failure to deal with the reality of the situation.

Define social competence, and explain which personal characteristics lead to popularity.

Popular children generally are helpful to others, have a good sense of humor, are able to understand the emotions of others, and can control their nonverbal behavior. Popularity in children is related to traits that underlie social competence. Because of the importance of social interactions and friendships, developmental researchers have engaged in efforts to improve social problem-solving skills and the processing of social information.

Explain the types of sexual orientation and how sexual orientation develops.

Sexual orientation develops out of a complex interplay of genetic, physiological, and environmental factors.

List the causes and consequences of stress.

Stressors are events or circumstances that produce threats to one's well-being. Acute stressors are sudden, one-time events, while chronic stressors are long-term, continuous events or circumstances that produce stress. Even pleasant events can be stressful. Moderate, occasional stress is biologically healthy, producing physical reactions that facilitate the body's defense against threats, but long exposure to stressors produces damaging physical and psychosomatic effects. Stress has been linked to many common ailments, including headaches, back pain, rashes, indigestion, and even the common cold. It has also been linked to psychosomatic disorders, such as ulcers, asthma, arthritis, and high blood pressure, and to more serious and even life-threatening illnesses.

Describe the challenges of teen pregnancy and prevention programs.

Teenage mothers are likely to raise their child without emotional or financial help from the father. Many have to abandon their education, which may lead to a lifetime of unskilled, poorly paid jobs. Virginity pledges and other abstinence-only programs have not proven effective. By contrast, programs that emphasize the dangers of unprotected sex and give teens information on contraceptive use—while they do not prevent adolescent sexual activity—do improve teens' use of birth-control strategies.

Explain how socioeconomic status and ethnic and racial differences affect school performance.

The academic achievement of students from different racial and ethnic groups varies in ways that are related to socioeconomic status. Members of some groups may perceive that societal prejudice will inevitably make their academic efforts unsuccessful, no matter how hard they try. Socioeconomic factors play a large role in determining whether students drop out of high school or complete their education. Students from lower-income households are far more likely to drop out than students from higher-income households.

Describe the physical changes adolescents experience.

The adolescent years are marked by a physical growth spurt that mirrors the rapid growth rate of infancy. Girls' growth spurts begin around age 10, about 2 years earlier than boys' growth spurts. The most significant event during adolescence is the onset of puberty, which begins for most girls at around age 11 and for most boys at around age 13. As puberty commences, the body begins to produce male or female hormones at adult levels, the sex organs develop and change, menstruation and ejaculation begin, and other body changes occur. The timing of puberty is linked to cultural and environmental factors, as well as to biological ones. Compared with the past, girls in the United States today experience menarche—the onset of menstruation—at the significantly younger age of 11 or 12, most likely because of better nutrition and overall health.

Describe today's changing home environment.

The home environment has changed significantly over the past few decades. Today, children have to deal with working parents, single parents, and divorce to a greater extent than in previous generations. In this challenging and changing environment, children and parents have to achieve coregulation—jointly controlled behavior—as a way to accommodate children's need for increased independence.

Describe the causes and effects of eating disorders among adolescents.

The major eating disorders that affect adolescents are anorexia nervosa (a refusal to eat because of a perception of being overweight), bulimia (a cycle of binge eating followed by purges via self-induced vomiting or use of laxatives), and binge eating disorder (binge eating without purges). Both biological and environmental factors, including an extreme fear of obesity, appear to contribute to these disorders. Treatment typically involves psychological therapy and dietary changes.

Explain how puberty affects adolescents.

The physical changes that accompany puberty, which adolescents usually experience with keen interest, often have psychological effects, which may involve an increase in self-esteem and self-awareness, as well as some confusion and uncertainty about sexuality. Adolescents who mature either early or late may experience a variety of consequences. For boys, early maturation can lead to increased athleticism, greater popularity, and a more positive self-concept. Although early maturation can lead to increased popularity and an enhanced social life, girls may also experience embarrassment over the changes in their bodies that differentiate them from their peers. Furthermore, early physical maturation can lead both boys and girls into activities and situations for which they are not adequately prepared. Late maturers, who tend to be smaller for a longer period during adolescence, may be at a distinct physical and social disadvantage, which can affect self-concept and have lasting negative consequences. Girls who mature late may suffer neglect by their peers of both sexes, but ultimately they appear to suffer no lasting ill effects and may even benefit from late maturation.

Illustrate the challenges that ethnic and minority groups face in establishing identities.

The traditional cultural assimilation model holds that individual cultural identities must be assimilated into a unified culture, while the pluralistic society model stresses that diverse cultural groups are coequal and their individual cultural features must be preserved. A third increasingly popular model allows minority group members to form a bicultural identity, drawing on their own cultural identity while integrating themselves into the dominant culture.

Analyze the factors that affect adolescent school performance during the elementary school to middle school transition.

The transition from elementary to middle and high school can be challenging because of the physical, intellectual, and social changes that adolescents are experiencing at this time. Middle school students are often entering puberty and experiencing significant bodily changes as they change schools, at the same time as their relationships with family, friends, and teachers are growing complicated. Middle school students must typically deal with a different educational structure, a greater number and variety of teachers, and a group of fellow students who may be more diverse than their elementary school classmates. They must manage this transition from a position of social weakness, since they are generally the youngest, smallest, and least experienced students in the building.

Describe how prevalent illegal drug use is among adolescents and the dangers it poses.

The use of illicit drugs is alarmingly prevalent among adolescents, who are motivated by pleasure seeking, pressure avoidance, the desire to flout authority, or the imitation of role models. Drug use is dangerous not only because it can escalate and lead to addiction but also because adolescents' avoidance of underlying problems can have serious effects.

Summarize the gender differences in moral development.

There appear to be gender differences in moral development not reflected in Kohlberg's work. Carol Gilligan has sketched out an alternative progression for girls, from an orientation toward individual survival through goodness as self-sacrifice to the morality of nonviolence.