Chapters 1-13 Multiple Choice Topics Flashcards
Chpt 1.
What is the typical timing/tempo of puberty? Why is this a difficult question to answer?
This is a difficult question to answer because there is a great deal of variability among adolescence.
Typcial onset ages 8-13 (girls) and 9-14 (boys)
Typical duration 1.5-6 years (girls) and 2-5 years (boys)
Chpt. 1.
What is the relationship between age of onset of puberty, duration, weight and height?
There is no relationship between age of onset and duration of puberty.
Later maturers tend to be taller and heavier in adulthood than early maturers (in girls) BUT adult weight and height have a stronger relationship with childhood height and weight than they do with puberty onset.
Chpt 1.
What are the two different approaches to studying differences in puberty onset and what are the two primary conclusions this research comes to?
Two different research approaches:
1. study differences among individuals (why does one individual mature faster than another individual?)
2. study differences between groups of adolescence (why does one group in the population mature faster than another group?)
Research in this area suggests two primary causes for different ages of onset:
1. Genetic factors
2. Environmental factors
Chpt 1.
Which genetic factor is believed to determine the age of onset of puberty?
a region on chromosome 6 is the marker for pubertal timing in both males and females.
Chpt. 1
What are the most significant environmental influences on the onset of puberty?
- Nutrition - Delayed onset of puberty is associated with poor nutrition and protein/calorie deficit
- Health - Poor health and chronic illness is associated with delayed onset of puberty
Chpt. 1
Why do more economically developed countries tend to have earlier puberty onset averages than less economically developed countries?
Because more economically developed countries tend to have better overall nutrition and health than less economically developed countries which are associated with earlier onset of puberty.
Chpt. 1.
What is the secular trend?
This is the tendency, over the past two centuries, for individuals to be larger in stature and to reach puberty earlier, primarily because of improvements in nutrition and health.
Chpt. 1
What are three ways biological changes of puberty can affect an adolescent’s psychological functioning and behaviour?
- Biological changes can affect the structure and functioning of the brain (e.g. sex hormones at puberty heighten the activity of regions which control the experience of reward and basic emotions)
- Biological changes affect the adolescent’s self image which can affect how they behave (e.g. may feel more grown up causing them to seek increased independence
- Biological changes can change the adolescent’s appearance which can change how others treat the adolescent which can then affect their behaviour
Chpt. 1
Describe the relationship between puberty and stress.
- Stress is more a cause of puberty than a consequence (e.g. increased experiences of adversity are associated with earlier onset of puberty)
- the age of onset of puberty affects whether or not it creates stress (e.g. early maturation creates more stress than typical age of onset.)
- Puberty doesn’t necessarily cause stress but it does make adolescents more vulnerable to stress due to the plasticity of the brain.
Chpt. 1
Are adolescents moodier than other age groups?
Typically no but periods of big and rapid hormonal changes (e.g. the very onset of puberty) can cause increased irritability, impulsivity, and aggression (in boys) and depression (in girls)
Adolescents’ mood is more affected by changes in their daily activities (e.g. going from school to a friends house) than it is by hormones
What factors can affect a adolescent’s experience with menstruation?
Menstrual symptoms tend to feel more severe when young girls have been told it will be, when menstruation is given high cultural significance, and when girls do not have access to education about menstruation.
How does puberty’s time of onset affect adolescent’s (by gender)
Males:
- Early maturing boys typically feel better about themselves and are more popular than later mature boys but they also have higher rates of depression and anxiety and more reports of moodiness and irritability
- Later maturing boys can experience negative mental health effects if they believe their later onset is a reflection of their masculinity but typically have better intellectual curiosity and social initiative in adulthood.
- Early maturing boys, likely due to being perceived as more adult than they are and therefore getting less supervision, are more likely to be involved in substance use and delinquency.
Females:
- Early maturing girls tend to have more emotional difficulties, poorer self-image, and higher rates of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and panic attacks than their peers especially when more visible maturation takes place (e.g. breast development) than non-visible maturation (e.g. pubic hair growth)
- Early maturing girls are also more likely to participate in problematic behaviours (e.g. substance use and delinquency)
- The negative effects associated with early maturing is more related to the way the girl is treated due to her maturation (e.g. being at higher risk for experiencing harassment, abuse, and objectification)
Chpt. 2
What are the two primary viewpoints of cognitive development which shape how we understand adolescent thinking?
- The Piagetian view
- Information processing view
Chpt. 2
What is the Piagetian view of cognitive development, including the 4 stages?
This is a cognitive developmental view which suggests that cognitive development proceeds through a fixed sequence of distinct stages. This means that adolescent thinking is distinct from childhood thinking because they are operating in a different stage of development.
the four stages are:
1. Sensorimotor period (0-2)
2. Preoperational period (2-5)
3. concrete operational period (6-early adolescence)
4. Formal operations (adolescence-adulthood)
Chpt. 2
According to the Piagetian school, how does adolescent thinking differ from childhood thinking?
Teens are able to think Hypothetically, multidimensionally,
and abstractly.
Chpt. 2
What is the information processing view of adolescent thinking?
The information processing perspective comes from the study of artificial intelligence and it tends to explain cognitive development in terms of the growth of specific components of thinking.
Chpt. 2
In the areas of attention, memory, speed, and organization, what changes does the information processing perspective highlight in adolescent thinking?
Attention: Improves in both selective attention and divided attention caused by maturation in areas of the brain surrounding impulse control
Memory: Improvements to working memory, long term memory, and stabilization of autobiographical memory.
Speed: There is an increase in speed of information processing
Organization: improved planning and organizational abilities, able to use different strategies in problem solving
Chpt. 2
What causes the changes in specific aspects of IQ during adolescence? What is the relationship between this change and intelligence?
Synaptic pruning of brain regions known to play a role in those specific types of learning.
Higher intelligence is associated with longer periods of synapse formation and synaptic pruning.
Chpt. 2
What did Vygotsky say about intelligence and learning?
- It is shaped by the environment in terms of the demands for intelligent behaviour and the opportunities for learning.
- Learning takes place best in the zone of proximal development: situations which are neither too simple nor too advanced but just slightly more challenging than the individuals current abilities. The challenge encourages the child to “reach” beyond their abilities. Scaffolding is when a more advanced individual (e.g. older child, or teacher) supports the individual in solving the more challenging problem by stretching their abilities.
Chpt. 3
What do Inventionists have to say about adolescence?
Inventionists argue that adolescence is a social invention, it is only because society sees adolescence as a distinct category that the stage of adolescence exists.
- ## there are biologically and cognitively significant changes but on a whole, the stage of adolescence is defined by society based on the drawing of lines between childhood and adulthood.
Chpt. 3
According to Inventionists, how did adolescence become a socially recognized stage?
Created by industrialization. In an agricultural society the only real distinction between child and adult was their abilities and whether they owned property. But with industrialization, there was a new pattern to society and formal education became more paramount and teenagers spent more time with their peers. At the same time, with mechanization and child protectionists, teenagers were being pushed out of the labour force.
in the 19th century, adolescence emerged as we would recognize it today: a stage in which teenagers are prepared for adult life, given guidance and supervision, and are economically dependent on their caregivers.
Chpt. 3
What is emerging adulthood?
A new developmental period created as a result of the further lengthening in the transition to adulthood in industrialized societies.
Has five main features:
* the exploration of possible identities before making enduring choices;
* instability in work, romantic relationships, and living arrangements;
* a focus on oneself and, in particular, on functioning as an independent person;
* the feeling of being between adolescence and adulthood; and
* the sense that life holds many possibilities.
Chpt. 3
Is emerging adulthood universal?
No, it is only found in a few cultures (e.g. US, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and more affluent nations of Western Europe)
As well, even within these countries, not everyone experiences the stage, depending on their SES and whether they can afford a delay in economic stability that comes with adulthood.
