Who Am I Psychology Quiz

Who am I? Studies

An adolescent’s journey

Adolescence definition

Transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

Study on Teens’ perception on Teen issues

• conducted by the Pew Research Center

• With US teens ages 13-17

• How many teens say these concerns are very common among teens?

  • Anxiety and depression - 30%

  • Bullying - 22%

  • Drug use - 19%

  • Physical fights - 17%

  • Alcohol use - 14%

Pressures Teens Reporting Feeling

• Get good grades - 68%

• Look good - 47%

• Fit in social - 41%

• Be physically strong - 33%

• Be involved in extracurricular activities - 33%

• Be good at sports - 31%

Teens’ Future Priorities (what’s extremely/very important)

• Having a job/carreer they enjoy - 86%

• Close friends - 69%

• Having lots of money - 58%

• Getting married - 36%

• Having children - 30%

• Becoming famous - 6%

Close Friends in Girls vs. Boys

• 89% of all teens feel they have a close friend to turn to

  • 95% in girls

  • 84% in boys

Perception: Do girls have it easier for having friends for emotion support?

• 58% - yes

• 7% - no

• 35% - neither

Strom & Stress

• describes how adolescence is a time of emotion and behavioral challenges

  • Conflicts with parents/authority figures

  • Disruptions in mood

  • Increased participation in risk-taking activities

Positive Coping Strategies

1. Talk it out - speak with a safe/trusted person

2. Take a break - refocus and practice mindfulness

3. Do something you love - spend time on hobbies (music, exercise, art, etc)

4. Nutrition and Exercise - fuel your body

5. Positive self-talk - interrupt anxious thoughts with a positive mantra

6. Relax - practice meditation or breathing exercises

How control makes you feel;

• lack of control → stress

Locus of control definition

feelings of water or not you feel you have control over things in life

External Locus of Control

• not necessarily healthy

• Belief that events in one’s life are primarily influenced by external factors or luck

Internal Locus of Control

• belief that one as control over their life and the outcomes of events

• Success and failure are due to their own efforts and abilities

• Evidence show that people feel happier

Problem-focused coping

• attacks the stressor itself

  • Feel in control

Emotion-focused coping

• focuses on one’s own stress reaction

  • Feel that you can only address one own’s feelings

First Adolescent Change

Physical Changes

Physical Changes

• puberty

• Maturation

Puberty

period of sexual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Maturation

• development changes driven by biology

• Nature vs. nurture

  • Orderly changes driven by genetics - certain parts develop before others (not determined by environment

Two communication systems

1. Nervous System

2. Endocrine System

Nervous System

• neurons release NTs across the synapse

• Change happen instantly

  • Moves body automatically

Endocrine system

• glands release hormones into bloodstream

  • hormones move at speed of blood flow

• Changes happen over time

  • Hormones flowing through blood must build up

• Responsible for puberty

  • Handles human growth and developing gradually

Average Age of Onset of Puberty

• XY (Male) - 13

• XX (Female) - 11

Early Onset of Puberty

• When one is first to reach puberty in their age group

Girls in Early Onset

• Unhappy

• Earlier than everyone (girls already earlier than boys)

• Gain older attention → more likely to engage in riskier behavior

  • Sex, teen pregnancy, etc.

Boys in Early Onset

• happy

• Taller, bulkier

• More self-assured, confident, popular

Primary sex characteristics

• Gonads (sex organs) produce/release gametes (sex cells)

  • Ovaries/testes → eggs/sperm

Secondary sex characteristics

• markers of change, not same as sexual maturation

Boys secondary sex characteristics

• voice

• Facial hair

Girls secondary sex characteristics

• chest

• Hips

• Body hair

Spotlight Effect

• Thomas Gilovich

• Effect where one overestimates others noticing and evaluating one’s appearances, performance, and blunders

  • As if a spotlight shines on us

• Strong feelings occur during puberty

Study on Spotlight Effect

• made a college student wear an odd t-shirt of Barry Manilow

• Asked how many other students noticed

  • Thought: 50%

  • Actual: 23%

Self-esteem

• one’s feelings of high or low self-worth

  • Lower in women

• General: how good you are as a human being?

Self-esteem in Puberty

• sense of self-worth declines during puberty

• Slow increase thru middle age until 60s (peak)

Second Adolescent Change

Social Changes

Social Changes study?

what is social focus?

Identity

• studied by Erik Erikson

• Identity vs. role confusion

Culture Matters

• one may be individualistic or collectivist

Individualistic

• self-reliant, true to self

• Adolescents encouraged to search for their own identity

Collectivist

• conformity, working toward a goal as a group

• Adolescents are expected to adopt the identity of their family and society expect them to fill

Third Adolescent Changes

Personality

Trait

• a characteristic pattern of behavior OR a disposition to feel and act

• All characteristics can be categorized

The “Big Five”

• studied by Costa and McCrae

  • The 5 traits psychologists agree are universal and describe personality variation

    • OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability (Neuroticism)

Openness (OCEAN)

• measure of how open you are to new experiences

  • To intellectual opportunities

  • To step out of routine/comfort zone

Conscientiousness (OCEAN)

• measure of how organized/detail-oriented you are

  • Punctual, put-together

Extraversion (OCEAN)

• a measure of how extroverted/introverted you are

  • Extroverted - like big crowds, attention

  • Introverted - limited “social battery”

Agreeableness (OCEAN)

• measure of how easy you are to get along with

  • Agreeable - chill, warm, not holding grudges

  • Disagreeable - prickly, revengeful

Emotional Stability/Neuroticism (OCEAN)

• measure of how well one is control of emotions

  • High - positive, manage negative emotions well (Low Neuroticism)

  • Low - moody, sad, anxious, emotions run life (High Neuroticism)

Barnum Effect

• tendency to believe that vague predictions or general personality descriptions have specific applications to oneself

  • Accept what applies, ignore what doesn’t

• Ex. Astrology, MBTI test

• Greater tendency in adolescents

  • Personal fable → star of show

    • Think bad things won’t happen to you

Sports Psychology Definiton

• a section of psych that uses psych knowledges and skills to address optimal performance and well-being of athletes, development and social aspects of sports participation, and systemic issues associated with sports setting and organizations

Types of Sports Psychology

1. Educational Sports

2. Clinical Sports

3. Exercise

Educational Sports Psychology

• uses techniques to help improve an athlete’s performance

Clinical Sports Psychology

• uses techniques to help athletes dealing with disorders, such as anxiety or depression

Exercise Psychology

• works with non-athletes to making working out a habit

Uses of Sports Psych

• attentional focus - maintain focus under stress

• Mental toughness - don’t crack under pressure

• Visualization/team building - seeing future and goals

• Motivation

• Anxiety - using anxiety as fuel

• Rehabilitation - recovering from injury

4 Secrets to Use

1. Being Nervous is Good

   • Re-channel anxiety as excitement/adrenaline

2. Don’t do all work yourself

   • Get help, ask for support

3. Mental rest

   • visualization strategies - what do you expect to experience

4. Talk to Self

   • motivate self - builds confidence

Techniques in Sports Psych

• Progressive Relaxation

• Hypnosis

• Biofeedback

• CBT

Progressive Relaxation

• target specific muscle groups

• Tense then intentionally relax different body groups, moving through body

• Achieves a greater state of mental/physical relaxation

Hypnosis

• helps put athletes in an intense self-focused state to improve performance

  • Selectively attends to some stimulus, tuning rest out

Biofeedback

• being provided with immediate feedback on your biological systems

  • Hook up to some device

  • Shown how physical choices affect inside

  • Neural feedback shows how physical behavior affects brain wave patterns

CBT

• one of most popular forms of therapy

• Applies to cognition, thinking, mental processing/behavior

• Helps improve destructive habits and adopting healthy mindest

How to become a Sports Psychologist?

• study Sports Psych, Sports Science, or General Psych w focus in Sports undergrad

• Most states require a Doctorate with post doctoral training

• Two Types of Doctorates

  • PhD - Research and academic work

  • Psy.D - practice with athletes