Chapter 9 - Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Development in Adolescents

Storm and Stress

Intense moodiness, emotional sensitivity, risk-taking tendencies adolescents often display

• Risk-taking

• social sensitivity

• emotionality

Frontal Lobe Thinning

Neurons and synapse peak before puberty and gradually decline form pruning

Which gender has earlier brain development and by how many years?

• Girls

• Earlier by 2 years

Formal Operations Stage

• age 12 and up

• Ability to reason at a hypothetical level of thought; think logically and scientifically

Preconventional reasoning

Reason according to reward and punishment

Conventional reasoning

Reason centers on the need to obey society’s rules and norms

Post-conventional reasoning

Reason based on a personal moral code that transcends society’s rules

Imaginary Audience

Tendency for teen to feel like everyone is watching their every move

Personal Fable

Beliefs that ones own story is unique and heroic and that they are naturally special

When does conflict between parents and teens peak?

In the middle of puberty

Main takeaway from connecting in groups:

To understand how their adolescents child is doing or going in life, parents should look at the people their child associate with