adolsescent psych

adolescence - the time period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood

-freedom 2 explore

-west = parents teach more independence

Plato & Aristotle (4-5th century)

-Adolescence is the period of life when capacity for reason emerges

-Rational thought over emotion

-Think in a more creative way

-They believed that we should delay "real" adolescent education b/c before then emotions cloud judgment

Industrial Revolution -Mass migration from home, youth left home Demand for CHILD LBAOUR came in
-No labour laws Children were being exploited to work for bare minimum

Post Industrial Revolution: - Information was coming out on labour factories

• Legislations came out against CHILD LABOUR w/ new labor laws, adolescents were required to go to primary and secondary school
• Progressive reforms came out "Age of Adolescence

G. Stanley Hall - (STORM & STRESS) Viewed adolescence as a period of inevitable turmoil that takes place during the transition from childhood to adulthood.

• 'Storm' refers to a decreased level of self-control, and 'stress' refers to an increased level of sensitivity

adolescent culture

-Transportation --> adolescents were not stuck in one place

• Mass media began with mass migration to larger cities Youth culture EXPLODED

Industrial Nations:

• Rites of passages

- Adolescence is marked by a lengthy transition Ceremony, confirmations, etc Non-Western Views

Ethiopia : Cow Jumping
Aboriginal : Vision Quest/Walkabout
Israel : completing military service
Argentina : being able to support a family financially
India and China: being able to support their parents financially

5 pillars of emerging adulthood

1. Identity explorations
2. Instability
3. Self‐focus/self‐preoccupation
4. Feeling in‐between
5. Possibilities/optimism

Jean Twenge (Generation Me - Narcissism)

- States that adolescent's today only care about themselves
Ex; becoming IG famous

• Adolescents today are more likely to describe themselves as "ABOVE AVERAGE" About 80% High self-esteem doesn't help them

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett

- "Generation WE" - States that adolescents today are more connected w the world

• Value the affiliation w world/community
• Adolescent's have high expectations of life They search for something enjoyable & self fulfilling to do
• They want to make the world a better place But some have a sense of entitlement
• Baby boomers = raised their children to have extremely high self-esteem

Research Methods

Rely on questionaries

• Open questionnaires

More elaborative
More detail

-Closed Questionaries
Really unclear answers
Doesn't leave room for subject to elaborate

Interviews

• In person or online
• Allows you 2 describe your thoughts, experience, & feelings
• Requires in-depth coding procedures Times consuming & costly

Qualitative research

• Limitation

Adolescents may lie about questions
Ex; drugs, school etc.

observational research- gathering primary data by observing relevant people, actions, and situations

naturalistic observation- a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

partcipant observation

Structured : observer is given a list of things to look for (time intervals & how measures will be taken)

Unstructured : no codebook, observe everything

descriptive research

Experience amping Method (ESM)

• Every time participants gets a ping, they record their feeling
• Getting relevant info anytime of the day

Physiological Methods

• Assessment of physiological responses to stimulation. E.g. heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormone levels.

EEG : where in brain is making noise
fMRI : which parts of the brain lights up
Heart rate
Galvanic skin response : sweaty palm - can measure anxiety
Hormone changes

Experimental Design

-A design in which researchers manipulate an independent variable and measure a dependent variable to determine a cause-and-effect relationship

• Simplest design has 2 levels

-correlational research: research that seeks to identify whether an association or relationship between two factors exists

• CANNOT simply say that 'X' causes 'Y' b/c there may be a third variable that u did not measure that could drive the association

cross-cultural research: research designed to compare and contrast people of different cultures

• most research is done on WEIRD cultures
  White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic

Cross- Sectional Methods : Studies conducted by looking at a single phenomenon across multiple populations at a single point in time, with no intention for follow-up in the design.

Longitudinal designs: designs used to gather data about subjects at more than one point in time

puberty - Latin term "pubescere" = "to grow hair"

• A "revolution (body changes gradually)
• Way we think of world and everything in general changes
• Sleeping schedule changes (scrinium rhythm)
• At this time adolescents are BUSY

Five chief physical manifestations of puberty

1. Rapid acceleration in growth
2. Development of primary sec characteristics

Prepare for sexual reproductions (ex; menstruation )

3. Development of secondary sex characteristics

Facial hair, change in vocals, muscles,
Female muscle changes include: big bum, increase in fat, big hips
Male muscle change includes: Increase muscle

4. Changes in body composition
5. Changes in the circulatory & respiratory systems

endocrine system: Consists of glands that control many of the body's activities by producing hormones.

1. Hypothalamus gradually increases production of gonadotropin- releasing hormone (GnRH)
2. GnRH signals pituitary gland to release 2 hormones that act directly on the testes for males and the ovaries females: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) & luteinizing hormone (LH)
3. FSH & LH stimulate the gonads in both sexes which leads to ova production and menstruation in females, and the production of sperm in males
4. The surge in FSH & LH leads to increases in estrogen and androgens, which are responsible for most of the observable biological changes we see during puberty

• feedback loop in endocrine system Monitors and adjusts levels of sex hormones Set point is the optimal level Once set point is reached, hormone production goes down

Sex Differences in Hormonal Changes

• Male & female = have testosterone & estradiol Males have MORE testosterone FEMALE

Cycle of menstruation Ovarian Cycle

During Follicular phase : growing Follicle
At 14- days : ovulation begins
During Luteal phase : Corpus luteum
After 28 days ; Corpus Albicans

Body temperature rises when your close to your menstruation period

During Follicular phase is stable 36.2 degrees
At 14 days ovulation - Luteal phase body temp increases to about 37 degrees

Ovarian hormones increase

Estradiol increase (during Follicular phase)
At 14 day mark goes down and up

Anterior pituitary hormones rise

Luteinizing hormones (LH)
.Stable during Follicular phase
.increases at 14 days ovulation
.LH drops low during luteal phase
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
.Increases at 14 days ovulation
.FSH drops low during Luteal Phase

bulimia nervosa: an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise

• affects 1 to 3% of Canadians

anorexia nervosa: an eating disorder in which an irrational fear of weight gain leads people to starve themselves + feelings of pride/ control

• affects 0.3 to 1 % of women

Binge Eating Disorder (BED): Eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of consuming large amounts of food during which the person feels a lack of control over eating.

• affects 2% of all people in Canada

LGBTQ+ and eating disorders -more eating disorders among gay males compared to straight males, but not compared to lesbian females

• 5‐20% of eating disorder population is male; of those, 14- 42% are gay or bisexual
• Heightened focus on physical appearance
• Participation in gay community may be protective
• Results for lesbian and bisexual females are mixed

Jean Piaget's Theory

1.Children of diff ages think diff
2.Changes in cognitive development proceed in distinct stages (e.g discontinuous)
3.each persons cognitive abilities are organized into one coherent mental structure or scheme
4.His approach is known as the cognitive-developmental approach
5.The driving forces behind development from one stage to the next is maturation

Equilibrium: A state of cognitive balance, which occurs when your scheme matches your experience

Disequilibrium: When your scheme does not match your experience, you experience distress (disequilibrium).

• We either adapt through assimilation or accommodation to restore balance/harmony between schemes and experiences.

Ex;
-Banging is a fav scheme used by babies to explore their world
-And assimilation occurs when they incorporate new objects into the scheme
-Accommodation occurs when the new object doesn't fit the existing scheme

Assimilation : interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Accommodation: Entails modifying or changing the scheme to adapt to new information

Concrete Operations Stage: Piaget's third stage of cognitive development in which the school-age child becomes capable of logical thought processes but is not yet capable of abstract thinking

• Decreased tendencies toward

Centration (one thing at a time focus)
Egocentrism (a type of centration)
inability to perspective take or see things from another person's point of view

Formal Operations in Adolescence Brings cognition to its final form. This person no longer requires concrete objects to make rational judgements. In their point, they are capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning.

-Naïve Idealism (ideal vs. real world)

Adolescents are very good at thinking about what is POSSIBLE but not necessarily about what is actually PROBABLE

Piaget's Pendulum Problem

-Adolescents who engage in hypothetico-deductive reasoning think of variables that might possibly affect the speed with which a pendulum swings through its arc. Then they isolate and test each variable as well as testing the variables in combination. Eventually they deduce that the weight of the object, the height from which it is released, and how forcefully it is pushed have no effect on the speed with which the pendulum swings through its arc. Only string length makes a difference.

Metacognition : thinking about thinking

Piagets theory contributions

-identification of significant cognitive milestones and cognitive development sequence; stimulated interest in how mind develops

• Active constructors of knowledge (this was innovative at the time)
• Sequential course Each case leads to the next Increase brain development
• Role of errors
• Ecology valid Not right or wrong, but the process of teaching children

Piagets theory criticism

- Some abilities emerge earlier than he thought

• Horizontal decalage- uneven performance
• Role of experience and scaffolding Scaffolding: given just a little at a time in order to advance Bit by bit to get to the next level
• Culture exerts a stronger influence than he envisioned

Pragmatism : type of thinking that involves adapting logical thinking to the practical constraints of real-life situations

• less black and white, more grey areas to consider

Reflective Judgment : the capacity to evaluate the accuracy and logical coherence of evidence and arguments

-multiple thinking
-relativism (compare Merritt)

• commitment (commit 2 viewpoint)

sensory memory: the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

-memory is very limited capacity and duration

• can handle between 3-7 units of stimuli at a time and only for 0.5 to 3 seconds

working memory : Provides temporary storage and manipulation of info being processed

• Memory capacity and duration is slightly longer than sensory memory but not by much
• it can handle between 7-9 units or stimuli at a time for only about 5-15 seconds at a time before forgotten
• If the student does not process that information in some way, it is forgotten within 5 - 15 seconds.
• This is where the Working Memory begins its job: it is the processing, called Rehearsal, that is important here.

Rehearsal : refers to the manipulation of info currently stored in working memory

Two main types of rehearsal: Maintenance & Elaborative

Maintenance: rehearsal in which a thought or an idea is repeated over and over in order to keep it in the working memory

Elaborative: rather than just repeating information over and over, some sort of meaning is attached to a term or piece of information.

long-term memory : Through encoding, info has now arrived at the final stage of information processing model

• Provides permanent storage of information to later be retrieved
• Long-Term Memory is assumed to have (nearly) infinite capacity and permanent duration.

deductive reasoning: reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)

• top down

Inductive Reasoning: specific to general bottom up

Reductionism: Breaking up a phenomenon into separate part to such an extent that the meaning and coherence of the phenomenon as a whole becomes lost

holistic perspective: Information-processing scholars have lost the holistic perspective that characterized Piaget's work

Computer analogy: Computers have no capacity for self-reflection, no awareness of how their cognitive processes are integrated, organized and monitored- which leaves the analogy insufficient and inadequate

Scaffolding (Vygotsky): Refers to the degree of assistance provided to the adolescent in the zone of proximal development -Scaffolding should gradually decrease as adolescents become more competent at a task

Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky): The difference between what a child can do on his own and what can be accomplished with some assistance

Guided Participation (Vygotsky) - Barbara Rogoff - Refers to the teaching interaction between two ppl as they participate in a culturally valued activity

• This guidance is "the direction offered by cultural and social values, as well as social partners"

Strengths of Vygotsky's theory : I

• mportance of social contexts of learning & cognitions
• Yielded new methods of assessing cognitive ability and of teaching reading, math & writing
• Particularly useful in multiethnic societies

Limitations of Vygotsky's Theory:

• No explanation of the processes that govern development
• Provided only a general approach a few standard tasks

two aspects of social cognition

1. perspective taking: ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others
2. adolescent egocentrism: Having difficulty distinguishing your own thinking about urself from the thoughts of others

Selman's theory of perspective taking

• Selman's theory of perspective taking is based on a stage approach that children and adolescents go through
• The egocentrism of childhood gradually develops into the mature perspective‐taking ability of adolescence

Perspective taking: adolescence: children become capable of social and conventional perspective taking

• Prosocial behaviour is behaviour that is kind and considerate of others.
• Adolescents come to realize that their social perspectives and those of others are influenced not just by their interaction with each other but also by their roles in the larger society
• Adolescent Egocentrism
  Imaginary Audience Results from adolescents' limited capacity to distinguish between their thinking about themselves and their thinking about the thoughts of others

Personal Fable : The belief in an imaginary audience that is highly conscious of how you look and act leads to the belief that there must be something special, something unique about you

optimistic bias: the tendency to assume that accidents, diseases, and other misfortunes are more likely to happen to other people than to one's self

• adolescence have stronger optimistic bias than adults

gender : in psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female

traditional culture - Girls

- work alongside mothers
-endure new restrictions
-little to no socialization

• the "world contracts for girls"

traditional culture- Boys

• less contact w family
• the "world expands for boys"
• enjoy new privileges
• manhood is something that has to be achieved

achieving manhood : boys provide, protect, procreate

From Girl to Woman

• 18th-19th century
• few types of jobs were available (teacher, nurse etc.)
• keep ur virginity till marriage
• bodies were regulated
• taught how to be a "proper" girl

From Boy to Man

17th & 18th century

• communal manhood: preparing 2 be head of house

19th century

• self-made manhood
• emphasis on independence, masculine character

20th century

• passionate manhood
• self expression of anger, sexual desire were normative

gender schema: a set of behaviours organized around how either a male or female should think and behave

Bem Sex Role Inventory

• measures gender role perceptions
• expressive traits applied to females
• instrumental traits applied to males

Androgyny

• state of being simultaneously very masculine and very feminine
• popularized during the 1960, 70s during woman's movement
• Androgynous adolescents are more flexible and creative, better at saying no, and have a more favourable self image

Non-binary: reject male and female gender categories

Genderqueer : a person who does not subscribe to conventional gender distinctions but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders.

Cisgender: individuals whose gender identity matches his or her biological sex

queer : strange; eccentric; deviating from the normal

Gender Non-Conforming : someone whose gender presentation, whether by nature or by choice, does not align in a predicted fashion with gender-based expectations.