Cognitive Development and Storm & Stress Flashcards
Adolescent Brain Development: What processes are particularly active?
Large remapping of synapses and pruning
Leads to more efficient and focused processing
Increased myelination
Adolescent Brain Development: Changes in neurotransmitters
Changes in neurotransmitter levels
Increased dopamine
Decreased serotonin
Changes = more emotional, more responsive to stress, increased activation of the reward system
Adolescent Brain: changes in prefrontal cortex
Prefrontal cortex (PFC) not mature until early adulthood Responsible for planning, decision-making, setting goals, metacognition
Adolescent Brain: changes in the limbic system
Increased connectivity between PFC and limbic system during adolescence
Limbic system responsible for emotion processing, social information, reward, punishment
Connectivity = emotion regulation, coordination of thoughts and feelings
Adolescent Brain: changes in the parietal lobe
Development of parietal lobe (enhanced working memory)
4 Areas of Change: 1st Area of Change
- ) Better able to think about abstract things
- Linguistic Examples: puns, metaphors, analogies
- Abstract concepts: friendship, faith, democracy, meaning of life
4 Areas of Change: 2nd Area of Change
- ) Better able to think about what’s possible; not limited to what’s real; becomes multidimensional
- Think differently about the future
- Systematically generate alternative explanations and/or possibilities
- Development of hypothetical-deductive reasoning (Piaget)
- Has implications for social behavior
- –Better perspective-taking
- –Think through alternatives
4 Areas of Change: 3rd Area of Change
3) Metacognition - thinking about thinking
- -Increased introspection (think about your own emotions)
- Problems with metacognition = egocentric thinking
- -Imaginary audience – belief that people are watching your actions with intrigue and enthusiasm
- –Can impact behavior (e.g., body dissatisfaction)
- -Personal fable – belief that you are unique in how you feel
- –No one else has similar feelings or experiences
- –Because you are special, consequences do not apply to you
4 Areas of Change: 4th Area of Change
4) More likely to see things as relative, rather than absolute
- Can see the gray area
- Question other people’s assertions (peers’, parents’, teachers’)
- Less likely to accept facts as absolute truths
Storm & Stress: Risk-Taking
- Peaks in late adolescence/emerging adulthood
- -Crime rates rise until age 18, then decline
- -Substance abuse peaks at age 20, then declines
- -2/3 of all STDs are contracted by individuals under age 25
- More prevalent in boys and in Western cultures (like US)
Storm & Stress: Mood Disrutptions
- Peaks in mid-adolescence
- More emotional extremes and more self-conscious
- -Experience Sampling Method (ESM)
- More likely when:
- -Unpopular with peers
- -Struggle academically
- -Family problems
- Seems to be related to cognitive changes and not simply changes in hormones
Storm & Stress: Conflict w/ Parents
- Peaks in early adolescence, declines in late adolescence
- -Frequency highest in early adolescence
- -Intensity highest in mid-adolescence
- Especially present among mothers and daughters
- More likely to occur when:
- -Adolescent is depressed
- -Adolescent has problems with substance abuse
- -Adolescent in an early-maturing female
- Typically about simple issues – attire, curfew, chores, etc.
Storm & Stress As A Whole
- Large cross-cultural differences
- -In cultures that value independence, higher rates of storm and stress
- -More collectivistic cultures with clearer identities, lower rates
-Large individual differences
- Conclusions:
- -Not universal and not only biologically driven
- -BUT is heightened time when these facets are more likely to occur
