Psyc 2050 Ch. 9

Puberty

a brain-neuroendocrine process occurring primarily in early adolescence that provides stimulation for rapid physical development.

Puberty is not a single, sudden event.

Pinpointing its beginning and end is difficult.

Among the most noticeable changes are signs of sexual maturation and increases in height and weight.

Male pubertal characteristics:

•Increase in body size.

•Appearance of pubic hair, armpit hair, facial hair, chest hair.

•Voice change.

Female pubertal characteristics:

•Marked weight and height gains.

•Pubic hair growth.

•Breast growth.

Menarche

a girl’s first menstruation

PUBERTAL GROWTH SPURT

On average, the peak of the growth spurt during puberty occurs two years earlier for girls (11½) than for boys (13½). 

Hormones

powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried throughout the body by the bloodstream.

Hypothalamus

a structure in the brain that monitors eating and sex.

Pituitary gland

an endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates other glands.

Gonads

glands that are particularly important in giving rise to pubertal changes in the body.

•Testes in males; ovaries in females.

testosterone

The hormone testosterone is associated in boys with genital development, increased height, and deepening of the voice.

estradiol

The hormone estradiol, a type of estrogen, is associated in girls with breast, uterine, and skeletal development.

The hormone-behavior link is complex.

•Hormones may contribute to psychological development; but social factors are significant.

•Behavior and mood can also affect hormones.

Average age of menarche

In the United States, the average age of menarche has declined significantly since the mid-nineteenth century.

Reason for declining menarche in children

•Factors include higher BMI and obesity.

Nutrition, health, family stress, and other environmental factors also affect puberty’s timing

Puberty beginning

For boys, the pubertal sequence begins around 10 to 13½ years of age and ends around 13 to 17.

Average age of menarche

For girls, menarche normally occurs between ages 9 and 15.

Time spent on the Internet has been linked to ___ in body dissatisfaction.

increases

Changes in body image from beginning to end of adolescence

One study found both boys’ and girls’ body images became more positive as they moved from the beginning to the end of adolescence.

Early and late maturation:

Early maturation often has more favorable outcomes in adolescence for boys, especially in early adolescence.

In terms of identity and career identity, however, late maturation may be more favorable.

Research increasingly finds that early-maturing girls are vulnerable to a number of problems.

corpus callosum

The corpus callosum, where fibers connect the brain’s left and right hemispheres, thickens in adolescence.

prefrontal cortex

The prefrontal cortex, which is the highest level of the frontal lobes involved in reasoning, decision making, and self-control, does not finish maturing until emerging adulthood or later.

limbic system

The limbic system, the part of the brain where emotions and rewards are processed, is almost completely developed in early adolescence.

Amygdala

•Amygdala: the limbic system structure especially involved in emotion.

Adolescent sexual exploration

It is a time of sexual exploration and experimentation, of sexual fantasies and realities, and of incorporating sexuality into one’s identity.

Mastering emerging sexual feelings and forming a sense of sexual identity involve:

•Learning to manage sexual feelings.

•Developing new forms of intimacy.

•Learning how to regulate sexual behavior.

An adolescent’s sexual identity involves:

•Activities and interests.

•Styles of behavior.

An indication of sexual orientation.

In a U.S. national survey conducted in 2017, ____% of twelfth-graders reported having experienced sexual intercourse.

57.3 percent

In a U.S. national survey conducted in 2017, ____% of twelfth-graders reported having experienced sexual intercourse.

•30 percent of ninth-graders.

What type of sex is the most common among adolescents

Oral sex

What varies sexual initiation?

ethnic group

Risk factors in adolescent sexual behavior:

Many adolescents are not emotionally prepared to handle sexual experiences.

•Early sexual activity is linked with risky behaviors.

•Substance abuse, especially in early adolescence, is linked to sexual risk practices.

Family factors that affect risk:

•Family connectedness.

•Parent-adolescent communication about sexuality.

•Parental monitoring.

Socioeconomic status and peer, school, sport, and religious contexts also affect risk.

•Association with more deviant peers increases risk.

•School connectedness and academic achievement decrease risk.

•Sports engagement—more sexual risk taking for boys who play sports; lower sexual risk taking for girls who do so.

Cognitive factors implicated in sexual risk-taking include low self-control and impulsiveness.

Contraceptive use:

Too many adolescents still do not use contraceptives, use them inconsistently, or use those that are less effective than others.

Some organizations suggest long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) for adolescents.

Sexually transmitted infections:

Some forms of contraception, such as the pill, do not protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

•Nearly half the new S T I infections each year in the U. S. occur in 15- to 24-year-olds.

Adolescent pregnancy:

The United States has one of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing in the industrialized world.

•Note that where teens are just as sexually active, such as in the Netherlands, the pregnancy rate is still significantly lower.

Adolescent pregnancy risk:

Adolescent pregnancy creates health risks for both the baby and the mother.

•Low birth weight, neurological problems, childhood illness.

•Most mothers drop out and never catch up economically.

Abstinence programs

•Abstinence-only programs have not been shown to delay the initiation of sexual intercourse or reduce HIV risk behaviors.

•Research evidence indicates that many comprehensive sex education programs successfully delay initiation of sexual intercourse and reduce rates of STIs.

National data indicate over ____% of 12- to 19-year-olds are overweight.

20%

Only about ___% of U.S. adolescents get 8 or more hours of sleep on an average school night.

25%

Low amounts of sleep and inconsistent sleep patterns are associated with:

•Inattention.

•Emotional and peer-related problems.

•Higher anxiety and levels of suicidal ideation.

Factors include electronic media, caffeine, and changes in the brain coupled with early school start times.

The three leading causes of death in adolescence are:

•Unintentional injuries—almost half of all deaths.

•Suicide.

•Homicide.

Majority of accident deaths

The majority of accidents involve a motor vehicle.

Risky driving

•Risky driving and driving under the influence may be more important contributors than lack of experience.

•Of growing concern is the practice of mixing alcohol and energy drinks.

•A high rate of intoxication is also found in adolescents who die as pedestrians or with a vehicle other than an automobile.

Overall drug use in adolescents has _____

declined

Most widely used drug by adolescents

Marijuana

What is a gateway for cigarettes and marijuana?

Vaping

Anorexia nervosa

the relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation.

Main characteristics:

•Restricted energy intake.

•Presence of intense fear of gaining weight.

•Disturbance in how body weight is experienced.

Anorexia is 10 times more likely in females.

Bulimia nervosa:

an eating disorder in which the individual consistently follows a binge-and-purge pattern.

Characteristics and traits of bulimics:

•Preoccupied with food.

•Have an intense fear of becoming overweight.

•Are depressed or anxious.

•Have a distorted body image.

Typically fall within a normal weight range.

formal operational stage begins.

11 years old

Formal operational thought is more abstract than concrete operational thought.

•Increased verbal problem-solving ability.

•Increased tendency to think about thought itself.

•Thoughts of idealism and possibilities.

•More logical thought.

Hypothetical-deductive reasoning

Hypothetical-deductive reasoning

the cognitive ability to develop hypotheses, or best guesses, about ways to solve problems.

Evaluating Piaget’s theory:

•Much more individual variation than Piaget envisioned.

•Culture and education exert stronger influences on cognitive development than Piaget maintained.

Most developmentalists agree cognitive development is not as stage-like as Piaget thought.

Adolescent egocentrism

the heightened self-consciousness of adolescents.

Imaginary audience

adolescents’ belief that others are as interested in them as they themselves are, as well as attention-getting behavior motivated by a desire to be noticed (“on stage”).

Personal fable

: the part of adolescent egocentrism that involves a sense of uniqueness and invincibility.

•Research shows, however, that adolescents tend to portray themselves as vulnerable to premature death.

A recent study found greater use of ______ to be linked to a higher level of narcissism.

social networking

Important characteristics of adolescents’ information processing and thinking, as identified by Deanna Kuhn:

•Individuals approach cognitive levels that may or may not be achieved.

•Considerable variation in cognitive functioning is present across individuals.

•Adolescents are producers of their own development to a greater extent than are children.

•The most important cognitive change is in executive function—especially, managing one’s thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and to exercise self-control.

Cool executive function:

psychological processes involving conscious control driven by logical thinking and critical analysis.

•Increases with age.

Hot executive function

psychological processes drive by emotion, with emotion regulation an especially important process.

•Peaks at 14 to 15 years of age, then declines.

Cognitive control and decision making:

Cognitive control involves exercising effective control of thinking in a number of areas.

•Focusing attention, reducing interfering thoughts, and being cognitively flexible.

•Increases in adolescence and emerging adulthood.

Adolescence is a time of increased decision making, but also a time of intense emotions that can overwhelm decision making.

The social context plays a key role in adolescent decision making, especially with regard to risk-taking situations.

Top-dog phenomenon

: moving from being the oldest, biggest, most powerful in elementary school to being the youngest, smallest, and least powerful in middle or junior high school.

•Middle school students have a lower level of self-concept in a number of areas than elementary school students; and teacher warmth drops.

Positive aspects include feeling more grown up, more subjects to choose from, more time with peers, increased independence, and intellectually challenging academic work.

School satisfaction _____ during the transition of elementry to middle school

Plunges

In 1989 the Carnegie Corporation recommended:

•Smaller “communities” or “houses” that lessen the impersonality of middle schools.

•Lower student-to-counselor ratios.

•Involving parents and community leaders.

•Developing new curricula and having teachers team-teach in curriculum blocks that integrate several disciplines.

•Boosting students’ health and fitness with in-school programs.

•Helping students who need public health care to get it.

Experts today still find schools need a major redesign.

Many high schools have ____ expectations and _____ standards.

low

inadequate

Robert Crosnoe recommends

increased school counseling services, expanded extracurricular activities, and improved parental monitoring.

Students who drop out do so for many reasons.

•Almost 50 percent cite school-related reasons.

•Twenty percent cite economic reasons.

•One-third of female students drop out for personal reasons such as pregnancy or marriage.

The most effective programs to discourage dropping out provide early reading support, tutoring, counseling, and mentoring.

Service learning

is a form of education that promotes social responsibility and service to the community.

•Tutoring, helping older adults, working in a hospital, assisting in a child care center, cleaning up a vacant lot for a play area.

•An important goal is becoming less self-centered and more strongly motivated to help others.

•It is often more effective when it gives students some degree of choice in activities and provides opportunities to reflect on their participation.

Service learning benefits

Benefits include higher grades, increased goal setting, higher self-esteem, a greater sense of being able to make a difference, and opportunities to explore and reason about moral issues.