Adolescent Development

Question 1

What is adolescence?

Answer 1

Transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to interdependence

Question 2

What is the definition of puberty?

Answer 2

Period of sexual maturation, which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Question 3

Describe the adolescent’s physical development during puberty

Answer 3

-Begins with puberty, follows a surge of hormones which intensifies mood and triggers bodily changes

Question 4

What are differences between males and females during puberty?

Answer 4

Females:
-Develops breasts and reaching puberty earlier today then in past
-Increased body fat, hormone-mimicking chemicals in diet and increased stress
-Mother/child attachment buffer against stress
Males:
-Stronger, more athletic during early teen years
-Self assured, independent
-Risk of alcohol use etc.

Question 5

Describe the “teenage brain”

Answer 5

• Brain cells increase connections
• Selective pruning of unused neurons and connections
• Frontal lobes continue to develop
• Continuous growth of myelin, fatty tissue forming around axons and speeds neurotransmission, enables better communication with other brain regions
• Improved judgement, impulse control, long term planning
• Frontal lobe maturation lags

Question 6

What are Piaget’s formal operations?

Answer 6

• Teens demonstrate ability to think logically about abstract topics
• Think about what is ideally possible, compares it to imperfect reality
• Reasoning hypothetically and deducing consequences

Question 7

What are the two tasks of childhood and adolescence

Answer 7

1) Discerning right from wrong

2) Developing characters

Question 8

What are Kohlberg’s 3 levels of Moral Thinking?

Answer 8

• Pre Conventional Morality
• Conventional Morality
• Post Conventional Morality

Question 9

What is pre-conventional morality?

Answer 9

(Before age 9)

Self interest: obey rules to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards

Question 10

What is conventional morality?

Answer 10

(Early Adolescence)

Uphold laws and rules to gain social approval or maintain social order

Question 11

What is post conventional morality?

Answer 11

(Adolescence and beyond)

Actions reflect belief in basic rights and self defined ethical principles

Question 12

Describe adolescent moral intuition

Answer 12

• Quick gut feelings
• Mind makes moral judgements quickly and automatically
• Disgust and elation trigger reasoning

Question 13

Describe adolescent moral action

Answer 13

• Involves doing the right thing and what we do depends on social influences
• Self discipline restrains one’s own impulses
• Delays gratification

Question 14

What is one’s identity?

Answer 14

Sense of self according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

Question 15

What is one’s social identity?

Answer 15

The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our self-concept that answers “who am i” comes from our group membership

Question 16

Describe Erikson’s theory of social development

Answer 16

Identity vs Role Confusion
-Teenagers work at refining sense of self by testing roles and integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused with who they are

Question 17

How to adolescents form their own identity?

Answer 17

• Using individual’s culture try out different selves in different situations
• Adopting parent’s values and expectations
• Consistent and comfortable with who one is- an identity
• Sense of contentment with their lives
• Develops sense of intimacy

Question 18

Describe parent and peer relationships

Answer 18

• Parent/child arguments occur more often over mundane things
• Time of diminishing parental influence and growing peer influence

Question 19

What is emerging adulthood?

Answer 19

-Period from age 18 to mid twenties, when in Western Cultures are no longer adolescents, but not yet achieved full interdependence as adults