Ch 11 Phsyical and COgnitive Development in Adolescence Flashcards
What is adolescence?
The transitional period between childhood and adulthood.
What is puberty?
A collective term for the physical changes that culminate in sexual maturity.
What is the pituitary gland?
A gland that triggers other glands to release hormones.
What are primary sex characteristics?
The sex organs; ovaries, uterus, vulva and vagina in the female; testes and penis in the male.
What are secondary sex characteristics?
Body parts such as breasts in females and pubic hair in both sexes.
What is menarche?
The beginning of the menstrual cycle.
What is the secular trend?
The decline in the average age of menarche, along with changes such as an increase in average height for both children and adults, that happened between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries in Western countries and occurs in developing nations when nutrition and health improve.
What is bulimia?
An eating disorder characterized by binge eating and purging.
What is anorexia nervosa?
An eating disorder characterized by self-starvation.
What is the formal operational stage?
The fourth of Piaget’s stages, during which adolescents learn to reason logically about abstract concepts.
What is hypothetico-deductive reasoning?
The ability to derive conclusions from hypothetical premises.
What is the personal fable?
The belief that the events of one’s life are controlled by a mentally constructed autobiography.
What is the imaginary audience?
An internalized set of behavioral standards usually derived from a teenager’s peer group.
What are task goals?
Goals based on a desire for self-improvement.
What is an ability goal?
Goals based on a desire to be superior to others.
