Adolescence Physical and Socioemotional Development

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development in adolescence based on Chapters 9 and 10.

Self-esteem

Domain-specific evaluations of self.

Puberty

The brain-neuroendocrine process occurring primarily in early adolescence that provides stimulation for the rapid physical changes that take place during this period; it is the most important marker of the beginning of adolescence but ends long before adolescence does.

Menarche

A girl’s first menstruation which typically occurs rather late in the pubertal cycle.

Hormones

Powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the body by the bloodstream.

Hypothalamus

A structure in the brain that monitors eating and sex.

Pituitary gland

An important endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates other glands, including the gonads.

Gonads

The testes in males and the ovaries in females, which are important for giving rise to pubertal changes in the body.

Testosterone

A hormone associated in boys with the development of genitals, an increase in height, and a change in voice.

Estradiol

A type of estrogen in girls associated with breast, uterine, and skeletal development.

Prefrontal cortex

The area of the brain responsible for planning, thinking ahead, and weighing risks and rewards which undergoes extensive maturation during adolescence to improve rational thinking.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder involving the relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation, characterized by a restriction in energy intake leading to significantly low body weight and an intense fear of gaining weight.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by a binge-and-purge pattern where an individual overeats and then engages in self-induced vomiting or use of laxatives at least $2$ times a week for $3$ months.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget’s final stage of cognitive development where thought becomes more abstract, allowing adolescents to think about thought itself and make logical inferences without needing to see physical objects.

Hypothetical-deductive reasoning

A cognitive process involving the creation of a hypothesis and deducing its implications.

Adolescent egocentrism

Heightened self-consciousness in adolescents characterized by the belief that others are as interested in them as they are in themselves.

Imaginary audience

An aspect of adolescent egocentrism that involves feeling like one is the center of attention and that others are observing their every move.

Personal fable

An aspect of adolescent egocentrism involving a sense of personal uniqueness and invincibility.

Cool Executive Function

Psychological processes involving conscious control driven by logical thinking and critical analysis which increases with age.

Hot Executive Function

Psychological processes involving emotion, which peaks at approximately $14$ to $15$ years of age.

Cognitive Control

The effective controlling of attention, reduction of interfering thoughts, and being cognitively flexible.

Top-dog phenomenon

The circumstance of moving from the top position in elementary school to the lowest position in middle school.

Service Learning

A form of education that promotes social responsibility and service to the community, such as tutoring or volunteering.

Identity

A self-portrait composed of many pieces including career paths, political beliefs, religion, relationship status, sexual orientation, and cultural background.

Identity vs. Identity Confusion

Erikson’s $5$th developmental stage experienced during adolescence, where individuals face the task of deciding who they are and where they are going in life.

Psychosocial moratorium

The gap between childhood security and adult autonomy that allows adolescents to experiment with different roles and personalities.

Crisis (Exploration)

A period of identity development defined by James Marcia during which an individual is exploring alternatives.

Commitment

A personal investment in a specific identity or direction.

Identity diffusion

The status of individuals who have not yet experienced a crisis or made any commitments.

Identity foreclosure

The status of individuals who have made a commitment but have not yet experienced a crisis.

Identity moratorium

The status of individuals who are in the midst of a crisis but whose commitments are either absent or only vaguely defined.

Identity achievement

The status of individuals who have undergone a crisis and have made a commitment.

Dual cycle identity model

A model that separates identity development into a formation process (exploration in breadth) and a maintenance cycle (exploration in depth and reconsideration).

Ethnic identity

An enduring aspect of the self that includes a sense of membership in an ethnic group, along with the attitudes and feelings related to that membership.

Bicultural identity

An identity where individuals from ethnic minorities identify in some ways with their ethnic group and in other ways with the majority culture.

Cliques

Small groups ranging from $2$ to about $12$ individuals (usually of the same sex and age) who share similar activities or friendships and develop an in-group identity.

Crowds

Larger, less personal groups than cliques that are often defined by reputation or the activities members engage in, such as jocks or nerds.