adolescent psychology 123

Adolescence

period of the life course between the time the first signs of puberty begin and adult status is approached.n
Current research: 10 - 18 years old

Emerging Adulthood

period from roughly ages 18-25 during which young people become more independent from their parents and explore various life possibilities before making enduring commitments

increasing industrialization

lead to the creation of the adolescent age period

laws that created the age of adolescences

Child education laws: skilled/educated workforce
Child labor laws: health/ safety concerns

Child Education Laws

Required children to attend school to develop a more skilled/educated workforce

Child Labor Laws

Legislation prohibited child labor due to health and safetyconcerns

Storm and Stress Original research of the adolescent age period by Stanley Hall

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Storm & Stress

theory asserting that adolescence is inevitably a time of parental conflict, mood disruptions, and risk behaviors

Recent research of Storm and stress

adolescents experience some conflict with parents,and some challenges with mood disruptions and riskbehavior

ethnographic research

non-Western cultures showed minimum amount of turm

Margaret Mead

First ethnographic research on adolescence. Studied non-Western (Samoan) adolescents challenging Hall's claim that "storm & stress" has a universal biological basis.

five traits of emerging adulthood

Identity Explorations Instability
Self-Focus
Feeling "in-between" Possibilities / Optimism

identity explorations 3 areas

work/career
love
ideology

instability

Main challenge: Housing (in the U.S.) (e.g., where andwith whom are you going to live)

self-focus

Goal: becoming a self-sufficient adult

Feeling in-between

ambiguity - not quite an adolescent, not quite an adult

possibilities/optimism

-High hopes and great expectations
-Dreams are still untested in real life

emerging adulthood across cultures

The age period of Emerging Adulthood is not agreed up and remains an ongoing debate across cultures and exist mostly in industrialized cultures

Individualism

reaching adulthood in individualistic cultures

examples of adulthood in a individualistic culture

Starting your career
moving out of parents home
being financially independent
making your own life decisions

Collectivism

Set of beliefs emphasizing to persons to minimize their individual desire in order to contribute to the well-being and success of the group

example of adulthood in a collectivisic culture

getting married

when do cultural expectations arise

puberty

examples of cultural expectations

Girls "should" apply makeup, style their hair,and wear fashionable clothing.
Boys "should" exercise/build their strength, enjoy outdoor activities (hiking, camping), and learn car maintenance.

traditional cultural expectations

clear differences

Western cultural expectations

blurred differences

globalization

Increasing technology and economic integrationmakes the world more homogeneous (similar)

Example of Globalization

youth in Tokyo have more in common with youth in London than they do with their pa

Context of globalization

the term researchers use to refer to the environmental setting in which development takes place

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puberty

The changes in physiology, anatomy, andphysical functioning that develop a person into amature adult biologically and prepare the body forsexual reproduction

what system do the physical and biological changes of puberty happen in

endoctrine system

endocrine system

a network of glands in the body. Through hormones, the glands coordinate their functioning and affect the development and functioning of the body.

what delays the onset of puberty in adolecents

adolescents who are excessively thin due to illness, extreme exercise, extreme diets (weight loss), or malnutrition

Estrogen

The sex hormones that have especially high levels in females from puberty onward. mostly responsible for female characteristics

Androgens

Sex hormones that have high levels in males from puberty onward. Mostly responsible for male characteristics

Estradiol

The estrogen most important inpubertal development among girls

Testosterone

The androgen most important in pubertal development among boys

asynchronicity in growth

asynchronicity in growth

the different timing in the growth of body parts within an individual (can result in physical awkwardness and gawkiness as well as dislocated knees and other joints)

Male Sequences of Physical Changes at Puberty

Growth of Testes
Appearance of Pubic Hair
Growth Spurt
Increased Growth of Penis
Deepening of the Voice
Spermarche (beginning of development of sperm in boys' testicles at puberty)
Secretion of Increased Skin Oil and Sweat
Development of Facial Hair

secular trend

a change in the characteristics of a populations over time

example of the secular trend

Puberty (based on menarche data) begins at earlier ages today than in the past (Average Age of menarche in the U.S. is 12.5 years old

Why is puberty starting earlier?

technological advancements such as better access the medical care and better nutrition then in the past

Pubertal Rituals for Boys

68% of cultures have puberty rituals for boys. Rituals typically require a display of courage, strength, and endurance. Often violent, requiring boys to submit or engage in scarring and bloodletting of various kinds

why are puberty rituals for boys so intense

Operate as a metaphor for demonstrating one's readiness for the challenges of adu

what has lead to the decrease of puberty rituals

globalization

puberty rituals for girls

more common than male rituals with 79% of cultures participating. Menarche is the pubertal event that is most often marked by rituals.

parent-adolescent relations and puberty

Parents and adolescents seem less comfortablein each other's presence
Conflict increases; Closeness decreases
Adolescents are still closer to their mothers than their fathers

menarche

the first menstrual period

why could puberty begin earlier for a girl

research has found that puberty tends to begin earlier for girls in families with an adult male not biologically related to the girl (e.g.,Stepfather)
family stress and conflict arerelated to early puberty in girls

Personal Responses to Menarche

mostly positive for girls because it is a sign of growing up, but can fluctuate based on the preparation a girl receives.

when can menarche be epically upsetting

when it occurs in early-maturing girls

how do cultures impact a girls response to menarche

Some cultures do not provide any information to help girlsanticipate menarche OR may give a view that leads them toanticipate in a negative way

example of culture impact to menarche in the United States

Historically in the U.S., secrecy surrounded menstruation because menstruation was associated with sexuality, thus people thought not talking about it would preserve girls' "innocence"

semenarche

a male's first ejaculation

boys reaction to semenarche

Mostly Mixed Reaction: Boys report feeling "grown up," but also embarrassment, guilt, surprise, or fear

western culture impact of semenarche

typically no preparation is given and boys do not tend to communicate about their experience

age-graded

organized by age rather than developmental maturity (e.g., in school)

age-graded influences

increases intensity of social comparisons between adolescents as they physically mature
raises awareness of whether adolescents are "early", "late", or "on time" compared to their peers

effects of early mentration

negative effects including the risk of many problems including:
Depressed mood
Negative body image
Eating disorders
Substance use
Delinquency
School problems
Increased conflict with parents

late maturing girls

have fewer problems than early maturing girls

early maturing boys

mostly positive and results in more favorable body image and higher popularity

early maturing boys are more likely to participate in

Substance use
Delinquency
Sex

late maturing boys

more likey to show sings of Alcohol/substance use, Delinquency, Lower Grades, and Deviant Behavior

essential contributions to human development

genotype (inherited genes) and environment

causes of behavior

may be caused by biology and NOT the environm

Three Forms of Genotype-Environment Interaction

Passive Genotype, Evocative Genotype, Active Genotype

Passive Genotype

Occur in biological families when parents provide both genes and environment

Evocative Genotype

Occur when a person's inherited characteristics evoke responses from others in their environment

Active Genotype

Occur when people seek out environments that correspond totheir genotypic characteristics

Childhood genotypes

Passive genotype-environment effect are especially pronounced; Active genotype-environment effects are relatively weak

Adolescence Through Emerging Adulthood

Active genotype-environment effects increase; Passivegenotype-environment effects diminish

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Metacognition:

the capacity for "thinking about thinking" that allows adolescents and adults to reason about their thought processes and monitor them

impact of metacognition

allows adolescents to learn and solve problems more efficiently

Pragmatism

adapting logical thinking tothe practical constraints of real-life situations

example of pragmatism

A wife threatens toleave her husband, a heavy drinker, if he comeshome drunk one more time. Some time later hecomes home drunk. What would she do

Dialectical Thought:

a growing awareness that most problems do not have a single solution and that problems must often be addressed with crucial pieces of information missing

when does dialectical though develop

emerging adulthood

example of dialectical thought

people may have to decide whether to quit a job they dislike without knowing whether their next job will be more satisfying

dualistic thinking

cognitive tendency to see situations and issues in polarized, absolute, right-or-wrong terms

reflective judgement

the capacity to evaluate the accuracy and logical coherence of evidence and arguments

stages of reflective judgement

Multiple thinking, relativism, commitment

multiple thinking

awareness that more than one legitimate view of things exists; and it can be difficult to justify one position as the true or accurate one

Relativism

ability to recognize the legitimacy of competing points of view but also compare the relative merits of competing views

commitment

one's decision to support certain points of view they believe to be the most valid, while at the same time being open to re-evaluating their views if new evidence is presented to them

selective attention

the ability to focus on relevant information while filtering out information that is irrelevant

divided attention

the ability to focus on more than onetask at a time

short-term memory

memory for information that is thecurrent focus of attention

long-term memory

memory for information that iscommitted to longer-term storage, so it can be drawn upon after aperiod when attention has not been focused on it

Mnemonic device

memory strategies (organizing informationinto coherent patterns)

Automaticity:

degree of cognitive effort a person needs to devote to processing a given set of inform

As automaticity increases,

cognitive effort decreases

Executive Functioning:

the ability to control andmanage one's cognitive processes

what does executive functioning do

Allows one to combine cognitive abilities such as attention, memory, planning, and reasoning into coherent thoughts and actions

Reductionism:

breaking up a phenomenon into separate parts to such an extent that the meaning and coherence of the phenomenon as a whole becomes lost

Mature decision-making

consists of a combined influence of cognitive factors and psychosocial factors

Political & Legal Implications:

buying contraception, alcohol, cigarettes; obtaining an abortion; pursuing various medical treatments; legal contracts; crimes committed

Social Cognition

how people think about other people, social relationships, and social institutions