adolescent development Flashcards
what is adolescence
- period between childhood and adulthood
- period of physical changes
- puberty
- ages 10-19
what is adolescence assumed to be a distinct stage
- specific behaviours e.g. risk taking, self-consciousness, peer influence
- adolescent period in non-human animals
- evident across history
how does aristotle describe adolescence
lacking in sexual self-restraint, fickle in their desires, passionate and impulsive
what does elkind propose
adolescent egocentrism
- move to formal operational thinking
- ability to engage in abstract thinking, recognise other people’s mental states and perspectives. emerging ability to conceptualise thought of self and others
- aware of other people’s views but assume views are universal
how does focus on mental life become excessive
- awareness that can reflect upon thoughts and feelings
- become more aware of one’s own inner world
- extreme preoccupation with one’s own thoughts and feelings
what is the imaginary audience
- a false belief that others are scrutinising you and are observing everything about you the way you do
- can be negative and/or positive
- adolescent as the centre of attention
what is illusion of transparency
- feeling that everyone knows what you are thinking or feeling
- overestimate the degree that others can read you
- illusion that inner stakes and feelings leak out and can easily be detected
what is self consciousness
- the imaginary audience is responsible
- individuals feel shame or seeks privacy due to the constant feeling of being observed or criticised
what is personal fable and private god
- inflated notion of self importance arising from the false assumption that they are everyone’s centre of attention
- belief that they are special and indestructible
- think god will protect them from harm
what did somerville et al find about self consciousness
- 69 pps completed FMRI scan
- during the scan ppas were told a camera was embedded in the scanner
- didn’t complete any tasks
- when camera was on pps were told that a peer was monitoring the camera
- when they though they were observed by adolescents they were more embarrassed compared to children and adults
- adolescents were more self-conscious than other age groups
what did Weil et al 2013 find about metacognitive abilities
- investigated how metacognitive ability
- 56 pps
- after each trial they were asked to rate how confident they were that they chose the right answer
- accuracy levels increased with age
what did alberts et al 2007 find about personal fable
- 119 students
- personal fable and risk-taking
- measured invulnerability and speciality
- found personal fable scores increased with age
- males scored higher in invulnerability
- significant correlation between personal fable and risk-taking
what do bell and bromnick 2003 say about imaginary audience
- it’s very real for adolescents
what did galanaki and christopoulos 2011 say about imaginary audience
the new look model
- imaginary audience and personal fable are adaptive coping mechanisms used by adolescents in their attempt to deal with the stressful developmental aim of separation-individuation
why is imaginary audience considered an outdated theory
- does not account for sex differences - females might have more social pressures
what did knoll et al 2015 find about social influence on risk perception
- 563 pps presented with risk scenarios and asked to rate how risky those were
- pps were then shown ratings of other people
- then asked to re-rate
- children rated scenarios as most risky compared to other groups
- adolescents and adults didn’t differ
- children and adults influenced more by adults ratings
- adolescents were more strongly influenced by other adolescent ratings
what did gardner and steinberg 2005 find about peer influence
- 3 groups - adolescents, youths and adults
- driving simulation
- pps completed task alone or in presence of a peer
- alone condition - all similar
- adolescents and young people took more risks compared to alone, adults was the same
what is the limbic system
- collection of structures in the brain. related to emotion, memory, feelings of pleasure and reward
- it’s hypersensitive in adolescents
what is the dual system model
- prefrontal regions associated with planning, decision making, inhibitory control and general executive functioning still developing during adolescence
- hypersensitive limbic system coupled with later maturation of the prefrontal cortex
