Lecture 12 - Psych 250

five developmental tasks of adolescents

1. Accept full grown body and changes of puberty

2. acquire adult ways of thinking

3. develop more mature ways of relating to peers of both sexes

4. consolidate an identity

5. attain greater independence from the family

Puberty

set of biological processes that change the immature child to a sexually mature person

• it is not a single event, gradual process

Timing of pubery

girls: 10-15 years

boys: 11.5-17 years

• occurring now earlier than ever because improved health care and diets

Growth patterns

• youth progress through events at different rats, all generally follow same sequence

• characterized by uneven growth (asynchrony)

overall body growth

• controlled by increase in growth hormone such as thyroxine

• 1st outward sign of puberty = growth spurt

• girls tart spurt earlier, often age 10; lasts about 2.5 years

• boys start spurt later, around age 12.5, and grow for a longer period of time

• reverse of cephalocaudal trend (feet grow first, then hands)

• increase in appetite

• increase in size and activity in oil-producing glands (acne)

• see changes in muscle-fat ratio

  • girls add more fat than boys

  • boys gain more muscle strength than girls

Growth spurt

a large increase in size, strength, and weight (50-75 lbs)

Sexual maturation - Primary sexual characteristics

involve reproductive organs directly

Sexual maturation - Secondary Sexual Characteristics

external physical changes that help distinguish human male and female appearance (e.g. breasts, facial hair)

Sexual maturation - General changes of sexual maturation

• increase in level of androgens and estrogens for girls and boys, but levels are age-specific

• boys get more androgens like testosterone → muscle growth, gains in body size, sex characteristics

• girls get more estrogens - cause breasts and uterus to mature, fat to accumulate, regulate menstrual cycle

• menarche (1st menstruation) - occurs late in sequence, typically around age 12.5

is timing is influenced by both genes and environment?

yes

• approx 2/3 of variation in age of puberty is genetic

• see role of gene via twin studies (identical - 2.0 months diff, Fraternal - 12.0 months diff)

Aspects in environment that affect pubertal timing

• nutrition, weight, diet, and exercise

  • girls need to reach a certain weight/fat accumulation

• psychological aspects contribute

  • links between earlier timing and environment stress: divorce, family conflict, family absence

  • evolutionary model: in a stress home environment, it is adaptive to mature early, reproduce early

Psychological response to pubertal timing

• psychological effects vary by sex

• early: boys tend to fare better than girls

• late: girls tend to fare better than boys

• early boys: athleticism; closer to cultural ideals

• early girls: further from idea; vulnerable to sexual harassment

Why is body image so important

• amazing amount of growth and adolescents are aware of changing body

• adolescents as marginal group: a group between cultures-within-group; conformity is important

• mass media contribute one-dimensional image of attractiveness

  • girls: curvy, thin, sex, attractive face

  • boys: lean, muscular, attractive face

Eating disorders

girls are at a higher risk, anorexia is an example

• boys: primary concerns are height, muscle, physical strength; at risk for steroid abuse

  • ex → boys talking about body image video

Jones et. al (2004) - Body Image Study

tested 4 factors among 780 7th-10th graders

• appearance conversations with friends mattered the most

Task 2, General Advances in Logical Thinking - Shift to Formal Operational Thinking

• believed to emerge fro 11-15

• can now deal with the abstract and hypothetical

• thinking is how more enlightened, imaginative, idealistic, and rational

• reason like a scientist

• research has shown that growth of formal reasoning abilities is slower and less complete than Piaget believed

Thinking about possibilities (“what if”) - propositional thought

1st advancement of adolescent thought

• able to evaluate logic of propositions without referring to real world consequences

• can better handle the abstract and the hypothetical

• allow adolescents to fantasize and speculate on a grander scale

• able to consider range of alternatives in problem solving

Thinking through hypotheses (“If, then”) - hypothetico deductive reasoning

2nd advancement of adolescent thought

• ability to formulate, test, and evaluate hypothesis in an orderly fashion

• ex. what makes pendulum swing faster

• younger children - random; adolescents do this more systematically

• teens might see weight, string length, and force

Thinking about abstract concepts (e.g. love, faith, and greed)

3rd advance in adolescent thought

advances lead them to critically examine assumptionsR

Role of brain development

• improvements in rational thinking fostered by extensive maturation of prefrontal cortex

  • areas of planning, thinking ahead, weighing risks and rewards

  • includes synaptic pruning, myelination, increased connections to other brain parts

• but adolescents still do not fully resemble adults in their decision-making

• see risk-taking and “what were they thinking?” moments - why?

• decision-making in the real world is the product of both logical reasoning and psychological factors (e.g., impulse, control, handling peer pressure - these two components mature at different rates)

Why does psychosocial immaturity stem from

• gap in maturation of brain networks

• socioemotinal networks develop early - highlight emotion, rewards, sensation seeking, (+) interactions

• cognitive control systems develop later and more gradually; responsible for

  • impulse control

  • emotional regulation

  • delay of gratification

  • resistance to peer interaction

• push back: too much focus on (-) stereotypes

  • not all risk-taking is negative

  • cannot succeed without development tasks if take no risks

“Side effects” of new thinking abilities (4)

1. see an intense pre-occupation with the self and with presenting self in best light

2. Two distortions in the relation between self and others

a. heightened self-consciousness - imaginary audience - erroneous belief that one behavior is the subject of constant public attention

b. specialness - personal fable = erroneous belief that one’s thoughts, feelings, and experience are totally unique

3. sensitivity to hypocrisy - often leads to argumentativeness

4. difficulty with everyday decision making

Eating Disorder (pp. 378-379)

• girls who reach puberty early, who are very dissatisfied with their body image, or girls who grew up in homes where concern with weight and thinness are at high risk for eating problems

• body dissatisfaction and severe dieting are strong predictors of an eating disorder in adolescents, and in Western nations there is the highest amount of disturbed eating; Africa, Asia, and the Middle-East are becoming increasingly affected

Anorexia Nervosa

a eating disorder in which young people starve themselves because of a compulsive fear of getting fat

• around 1% of North American and Western European teenage girls are affected

• In the U.S., Asian-American, European-American, and Hispanic girls are at greater risk than African-American girls

• Boys account for 10-15% of anorexia cases; up to half of these are gay or bisexual young people (they might be scared of a strong, bulky appearance or influenced by the cultural ideal of a lean but muscular body)

individuals with have an extreme distorted body image (even being extremely underweight, they still see themselves as heavy)

girls with anorexia experience delayed menarche or disrupted menstrual cycles

malnutrition causes pale skin, brittle discolored nails, fine dark hairs all over the body, and extreme sensitivity to cold; if prolonged, heart can shrink, kidneys can fail, and irreversible brain damage and loss of bone mass can occur

• about 5% of individuals with anorexia eventually die from physical conditions or suicide

Bulimia Nervosa

young people (mainly girls, gay and bisexual boys) engage in binge eating, followed by compensatory efforts to avoid weight gain, such as deliberate vomiting, purging with laxatives, excessive exercise, or fasting

• usually appears in late adolescence and is more common than anorexia nervosa, affecting about 2 to 4 percent of the population

• not linked to ethnicity

• Twin studies show bulimia is influenced by heredity; overweight and early menarche increase the risk. Being a perfectionist also increases the risk

• Most are impulsive, sensation-seeking young people who are especially prone to act irrationally when distressed and who engage in petty shoplifting, alcohol abuse, and other risky behaviors; others may have experienced emotionally disengaged or unavailable parents

• many people with bulimia experience suicidal thoughts

bulimia is easier to treat than anorexia

Binge-eating disorder

between 2-3% of adolescent girls and close to 1% of boys experience this

• defined as binge eating at least once a week for three months or longer, without compensatory purging, exercise, or fasting

• unrelated to ethnicity

• Leads to overweight or obesity, not engaging in prolonged, restrictive dieting

• associated with social adjustment difficulties and experiencing severe emotional distress and suicidal thoughts

menarche

first menstruation (occurs late in sequence, typically around age 12.5)

role of child rearing practices on academic achievement

desc: authoritative parenting, joint parenting-adolescent decision making

• authoritative parenting is linked to higher grades and achievement test scores

• authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved parenting styles are associated with poorer academic achievement and declines in academic performance

• Authoritative parenting and having warmth, open discussion, firmness, and monitoring of adolescents’ whereabouts and activities makes young people feel cared about and valued, encourage reflective thinking, self-regulation, and increased awareness of doing well in school

Parent-school partnerships on academic achievement

desc: parent involvement in the adolescent’s education

• high achieving students have parents who remain invested in their teenager’s education; they keep tabs on academic progress, regularly attend parent-teacher conferences, make sure young person is enrolled in challenging, well-taught classes, and emphasize the importance of doing well and engaging in academic planning

• causes kids to skip class less, and express a greater interest in school learning

Peer influences on academic achievement

desc: peer valuing of and support for high achievement

• teenagers whose parents value achievement generally choose friends who share those values

• different cultures and values can affect academic achievement; for example, asian cultural values stress academic achievement and less peer interaction, and african-american cultures experience stereotypes that label them as “less capable” or “not as intelligent”

• Media multitasking

Classroom learning on academic achievement

desc: warm, supportive teachers who develop personal relationships with parents and show them how to support their teenager’s learning, learning activities that encourage high-level thinking, active student participants in learning activities and classroom decision-making

• schools that build close networks of support between teachers and peers can prevent negative outcomes of stereotypes and foster supportive environments

Media Multitasking (p. 400)

when you are studying while using the media at the same time (e.g., reading while listening to music and answering text messages)

• media multitasking reduces learning; one study tested this, they had two groups, one multitasking and one not, try and predict weather in two different cities using shapes and color cues. The multitasking group ha to keep a mental tally of how many high-pitched beeps they heard in their ear. The ones that didn’t have to hear the beeps were able to apply the weather knowledge to new cities when the multitaskers couldn’t

• when you are multitasking, you are using your subcortical areas involving implicit memory rather than your hippocampus (explicit memory) - implicit memory is a shallower, automatic form of learning that takes place unconsciously

adolescents who media multitask report problems with each aspect of executive functioning in everyday life - working memory, inhibition, and flexibility shifting attention; teenagers are more easily distracted ad learn less thoroughly