Adolescence: Socialization and Development Theories

Adolescence

Transitional period between childhood and adulthood, begins around puberty and lasts until 18-21.

Socialization

Learning to function in society by internalizing values, norms and roles.

Family

Provides support, structure and responsibility.

Social groups (peers)

Influences behaviour and identity formation.

Media

Shapes perceptions, beliefs and social norms.

Culture (ethnic identity)

Impacts traditions, values, and sense of belonging.

Education

Teaches societal expectations and critical thinking.

Identity formation

Stability depends on biological (genetics, brain development) and environmental (upbringing, social interactions) factors.

Socialized Anxiety

The tension and discomfort individuals feel during socialization, acts as a motivator for behaviour and personal development.

Prosocial Behaviour

Positive, constructive and helpful behaviour, driven by a strong social and personal commitment to helping others.

Heroic imagination

Individuals who stand against wrongdoing.

Hostile imagination

Individuals who unleash their worst behaviour in negative situations.

Adolescent Egocentrism

A set of behaviours and thought patterns common in adolescence.

Imaginary audience

Teens feel constantly watched and judged.

Personal fable

Teens believe their experiences are unique and dramatic.

Teenage Brain Development

The brain continues to develop into the mid-20s, with the prefrontal cortex being one of the last regions to mature.

Dopamine Release

When teenagers receive rewards, their bodies release dopamine.

Developmental Psychology

Scientific study of growth, change, and consistency across the lifespan.

Focus areas of Developmental Psychology

Emphasis on childhood development, studies both typical patterns and individual variations in development.

Adolescent Development

A period of rapid personal growth, second only to infancy.

Developmental Tasks of Adolescence

Tasks include accepting one's physique, developing healthy peer relationships, establishing emotional independence from parents, working towards economic independence, preparing for an occupation, achieving socially responsible behavior, and preparing for marriage and family.

Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Development

Human behaviour is primarily influenced by social affiliation and development occurs in 8 distinct stages, each with a challenge and crisis to overcome.

Adolescence Stage (10-20 years)

Identity vs Identity Confusion, where adolescence must actively shape their personal identity.

Consequences of identity confusion

Leads to self-doubt and anxiety, and can result in role confusion, causing isolation, self-destructive behaviors, and risky social activities.

Lawrence Kohlberg: Moral Development

Explains how moral behaviour develops in individuals through interviews using moral dilemmas to assess moral reasoning.

Levels of moral development

1. Pre-moral: behaviour controlled by external rewards and punishments. 2. Conventional: morality based on societal norms and expectations. 3. Autonomous (post-conventional): morality guided by personal principles and ethics.

Internalization

Moral control shifts from external influences to personal beliefs and standards, achieving full internalization of moral thought by adulthood.

Attachment

Strong, long-lasting emotional connection; a close emotional bond that is personal specific and enduring across time.

Jean Piaget: Cognitive Development

Theorized that children move through four stages of cognitive development, with adolescents in the formal operational stage.

Formal operational stage

Phase where individuals begin to develop personal views about various topics, differentiate between past and present, reason abstractly, and think beyond the present to form theories about the future.

Good childhood

Could mean being the center of one or two people's universe.

Bad childhood

Could consist of being ridiculed for being a child and is a lasting problem.

Agent of Socialization

The first agent of socialization we experience develops between parents and children.

John Bowlby

Argued that infants' emotional ties to their mother can be traced back to survival.

Attachment Development

Children form an attachment to an adult, develop a deeper relationship with their parents, and are more likely to survive.

Early Interactions

An infant's early interactions with a parent were crucial to normal development and that you either develop attachment or not.

Strange Situation Experiment

An experiment that measures the security of attachment in one and two year olds, consisting of 8 stages, each 3 minutes.

Mary Ainsworth

The inventor of attachment theory who concluded there are three major attachment styles affecting future relationships.

Secure Dependence

Children need to develop a secure dependence on their parents before seeking unfamiliarity.

Attachment Styles

Three major attachment styles (4th later added) that affect future relationships, especially romantic ones.

Harry Harlow

Studied the impact of security and 'contact comfort' on infant attachment.

Contact Comfort

Harlow evaluated whether feeding or contact comfort was more important to infant attachment.

Surrogate Monkey Mothers

Young animals were raised by two kinds of surrogate monkey mother machines: one made of soft cloth and the other wire mesh.

Affection vs. Physical Needs

Harlow's research showed that the need for affection created a stronger bond between mother and infant than physical needs did.

Emotional Development

Harlow's work suggested that the development of a child's love for their caregiver was emotional rather than physiological.

Critical Periods

Harlow showed that the development of attachment was closely associated with critical periods in early life.

Loss of Emotional Security

It is difficult to compensate for the loss of emotional security.

Abusive Conditions

Further experiments showed that no matter how abusive the mothers were, baby monkeys always came back and displayed affection.

Social Maladjustment

Monkeys raised without their mothers or others were socially maladjusted for the rest of their lives.

Fear Responses

When confronted with fear, they displayed autistic and institutionalized behaviors.

Parenting Abilities

They were incapable of having sexual relations and were also unable to parent their offspring, either abusing or neglecting them.

Ethical Controversy

Harlow is a controversial figure in psychology due to inherently unethical methods used in his experiments.

Pit of Despair

Another unethical experiment performed by Harlow.

Emotional Needs of Monkeys

The monkeys had emotional needs as well.