Adolescence Midterm 1

Secular trend

Earlier puberty onset due to artificial light exposure (melatonin suppression) and obesity, also being large

Adrenarche

Maturation of the adrenal gland that takes place during adolescence

Androgens; estrogen

male; female

Basal metabolism rate

minimal amount of energy used by the body while resting; drops 15%  during adolescence

Cortisol

stress hormone

Delayed phase preference

Teenagers start going to sleep later, caused by interaction of biology (timing of melatonin secretion) and environment (artificial light exposure)

Endocrine system; hypothalamus & pituitary gland

Produces and releases hormones; Inhibits the pituitary gland according to feedback loops

Epiphysis

closing of the ends of the bones, terminates growth after adolescent growth spurt

Glands; gonad; GnRH neuron

secretes hormones; sex gland; gonadotropin releasing hormone that triggers pituitary gland to release hormones that help gonads grow

Kisspeptin; leptin

brain hormones believed to trigger puberty onset; protein produced by fat cells that may play a role in puberty through it’s impact on kisspeptin

Menarche

Onset of menstrual cycle

Pheromones

chemical secreted by animals that influence other animals (it is likely that stepfathers release which affects daughter growth)

Tanner stages

Widely used system that describes the 5 steps of puberty development

Weathering

The process to which the exposure to stress accelerates aging

Multiple dimensional thinking

View things from more than one aspect at a time; humor and sarcasm

Relativism

thinking about things in a way that is relative to others

Adolescent egocentrism

Self-absorption during adolescence often due to too much metacognition

Imaginary audience

Adolescent belif that everyone if watching them and making opinions about themP

Personal fable

Adolescent belief that everything they experience is new and no one can understand them

Piaget vs Information-processing

Stage theory, clear steps that everyone goes through though it may happen at different times (assumes uniform development) 

Skill theory, if you can understand an adolescent’s process, you can predict the outcomes (assumes general universal processes when it is actually more complicated); attention, memory, processing speed, organizational strategies, knowledge about own thinking

Limbic system & prefrontal cortex

limbic system processes emotions and social information, reward and punishment. The changes in the limbic system occur in early adolescence while the prefrontal cortex continues into early adulthood

Dopamine; serotonin

regulates experience of reward; affects the experience of different moods (both influence adolescents being more emotional, more sensitive to stress, more motivated by rewards, and more likely to engage in sensation-seeking)

Functional connectivity

The extent to which multiple brain sections function at the same time, increases during adolescence

Social brain

More sensitive to facial expressions, social cures, and social evaluation, more susceptibility to peer pressure

Behavioral decision theory

The theory that adolescents still have a decision-making process that influences their behaviors, just that there are different influences, steps include (identifying alternate choices, identifying possible consequences of each choice, evaluate cost and benefits of those consequences, accessing the likelihood of each consequence, combining all information to create a decision)

Zone of proximal development; scaffolding (Vygotsky)

Still in the reach of the adolescent but helps them develop skills; structured learning to help students develop skills with the aid of the scaffolder

Reducing risk-taking approaches

Classroom-based programs don’t work well. Instead, increase penalties and the salience of the potential costs.

5 main features of emerging adulthood

exploration of identities; instability in work, romance, and living arrangements; focus on oneself and independence; the feeling of being between adolescence and adulthood; the sense that life holds many possibilities

Elongation of adolescence

From 5 years to 15 years

Cohort

A group of individuals born in the same general historical era

Collective efficacy

A community’s social capital derived from the member’s common outlooks and goals

Inventionists

theorists who argue that adolescence is merely a social invention

Status offense

A violation of the law that pertains to minors but not adults

Statutory rape

Sex when one of the individuals is below the age of consent (determined by the state) even if consent is given

Sandwich generation

A generation that has take care of both their parents and their children

Family systems theory

There are connections between every member and if one disruption occurs it creates a ripple effect. Structure matters less than process.

Peak times for dramatic changes according to sex

Boys 13-14, girls 11-12

authoritative or authoritarian

authoritative

Parental knowledge vs parental monitoring

parental knowledge is when a parent provides support to the child and the child discloses information willingly

Familism

An orientation toward life where the needs of the family take precedence over individual need

Language brokering

When the kids translate for the parents

Generational dissonance

Divergence of views between adolescents and parents. Common in families with immigrant parents and American-born adolescents.

behavioral genetics vs molecular genetics

genetics as it pertains to behavior, study of structure and function of genes

alleles

Different versions of the same gene

Diathesis-stress model

The cup thing. Environment influences the expression of genetic predispositions

Differential susceptibility theory

Individuals differ in their sensitivity to environmental influences

Age grading

Groups teenagers based on age in school

Clique

Small, tightly knit groups between 2-12 people, generally of the same sex and age

Provides the main social context in which adolescents interact with each other ( a cohesive clique benefits mental health)

Crowd

Reputation-based clusters of youths function to help solidify social and personal identities

Membership is based on reputation and stereotypes and labels (but not so much actual friendship or social interaction)

Changing membership is difficult and contributes more to identity and self-conception than actual social development

Selection vs socialization

You choose friends similar to you vs your friends socialize you to be similar

Sociometric vs perceived popularity

How well liked you are vs status and prestige

Hostile attribution bias

The bias that everyone is being hostile to you

Secondary education

middle, junior, and high school

Comprehensive high school

Targeted to meet the diverse needs of adolescents; includes gen ed, college prep, and vocational education

Standards-based reform

Policies designed to increase achievement by holding schools and students to predetermined standards as measured by achievement tests

School vouchers

 Government-subsidized vouchers that can be used for private school tuition

Tracking

Place students in different “tracks” according to academic capacities to have more individualized learning (has many cons)

Social capital

The interpersonal resources available to an individual or family

Social and emotional learning (SEL)

Prioritizes social and emotional learning in addition to academics

Zero tolerance

Zero tolerance of violence, increases stakes, does not help with violence

5 key structural features of schools

School size, class size, age grouping, tracking, schools within schools

Affective; Behavioral; Cognitive engagement

enjoyment; effort; value/meaning

4 school climates

Academic, prepped-for-college, party, and average

Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

Collects information on adolescent experience and charts their mood, activities, and social relationships

Routine activity theory

The less structured the activity, the more likely problem behavior is going to occur

EPOCH well-being model

Engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, happiness; used to measure positive psychological characteristics of adolescents

Cultivation theory vs Uses & Gratifications vs Media practice model

mass media shapes adolescents; adolescents choose their media; both adolescent preferences and their media exposure effect each other

Reverse causation vs spurious causation

Correlation between two things is due to the second thing causing the first thing; correlation between two factors is due to a third factor

Phubbing

when a parent spends more time focusing on their phone than paying attention to their child

The 5 C’s of positive youth development

Competence, confidence, connection, character, caring/compassion