AP Psych Module 3.2b Physical Development Across the Lifespan: Adolescence and Adulthood

adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood extending from puberty to independence

G. Stanley Hall

one of the first psychologists to describe adolescence; believed that the tension between biological maturity and social dependence creates a period of “storm and stress”

menarche

the first menstrual period

selective pruning

“What we don’t use, we lose.”; getting rid of unused neurons and connections

emerging adulthood

stage of adulthood from age 18 to mid-twenties

early adulthood

stage of adulthood in roughly your twenties and thirties

middle adulthood

stage of adulthood at age 65

late adulthood

stage of adulthood after the age of 65

menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

puberty

the period of sexual maturation, during which a person usually becomes capable of reproducing