Chapter 11: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Adolescent Egocentrism

A characteristic of adolescents’ thinking in which they have difficulty separating others’ perspectives from their own; composed of the imaginary audience and personal fable.

Adolescent Growth Spurt

The first outward sign of puberty, refers to a rapid gain in height and weight that generally begins in girls at about age 10 and in boys about age 12.

Amygdala

A brain structure that is part of the limbic system and plays a role in emotion, especially fear and anger.

Delayed Phase Preference

Change in pubertal hormone levels that causes adolescents’ sleep patterns to shift such that they tend to remain awake late at night and groggy early in the morning.

Divided Attention

Attending to two stimuli at once

Dual Systems Model

A model of the brain consisting of two systems, one emotional and the other rational, that develop on different time frames, accounting for typical adolescent behavior.

Formal Operational Reasoning

Piaget’s fourth stage of cognitive development, characterized by abstract, logical, and systematic thinking.

Gray Matter

Unmyelinated neurons.

Hypothetical-Deductive Reasoning

The ability to consider propositions and probabilities, generate and systematically test hypotheses, and draw conclusions.

Imaginary Audience

A manifestation of adolescent egocentrism in which they assume that they are the focus of others’ attention.

Limbic System

A collection of brain structures responsible for emotion.

Melatonin

A hormone that influences sleep.

Menarche

A girl’s first menstrual period.

Menstruation

The monthly shedding of the uterine lining, which has thickened in preparation for the implantation of a fertilized egg.

Mutual Perspective-Taking

Adolescents’ understanding that they take other people’s point of view at the same time as others attempt to take their own point of view.

Nocturnal Emissions

Involuntary ejaculations that are sometimes accompanied by erotic dreams; also known as wet dreams

Personal Fable

A manifestation of adolescent egocentrism in which adolescents believe their thoughts, feelings, and experiences are more special and unique than anyone else’s, as well as the sense that they are invulnerable.

Plasticity

A characteristic of development refers to malleability or openness to change in response to experience.

Primary Sex Characteristics

The reproductive organs; in females, this includes the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, and vagina, and in males, this includes the penis, testes, scrotum, seminal vesicles, and prostate gland.

Puberty

The biological transition to adulthood, in which hormones cause the body to physically mature and permit sexual reproduction.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Physical traits that indicate sexual maturity but are not directly related to fertility, such as breast development and the growth of body hair.

Secular Trend

The change from one generation to the next in an aspect of development, such as body size or in the timing of puberty.

Selective Attention

The ability to focus on relevant stimuli and ignore others.

Semen

The fluid that contains sperm.

Social Perspective-Taking

The ability to understand different viewpoints.

Societal Perspective-Taking

The understanding that societal factors influence people’s perspectives and beliefs.

Spermarche

A boy’s first ejaculation of sperm.

Stage-Enviornment Fit

Refers to the match between the characteristics and supports of the school environment and the developing person’s needs and capacities; influences well-being.

Testes

The glands that produce sperm.

White Matter

Myelinated brain tissue.