history of the study of adolescence and developmental methodology

Question 1

what does it mean to think of adolescence as a series of transitions?
- provide examples of different potential boundaries in development

Answer 1

• adolescence can be thought of as a series of transitions from immaturity to maturity and that some transitions have overlapping timing
• series of phases rather than one single stage
• social: beginning of training for adult work, family, and citizen roles / full attainment of ault status and privileges
• legal: attainment of juvenile status / attainment of majority status

Question 2

describe characteristics in the different stages of adolescence as well as emerging adulthood
- think about age, contexts, transitions occurring

Answer 2

• early: 10-14, middle school,
• middle: 14-17, high school
• late: 18-21, college years
• emerging adulthood: 18-25, transition from adolescence to adulthood, many different pathways

Question 3

describe the historical background of the study of adolescents, including the characteristics of the early “grand theorists” in comparison to more modern paradigms

Answer 3

• the first appearance of adolescence was in the 15th century
• aristotle thought we grew in three successive 7-year periods (infancy, boyhood, young adulthood)
• some thought transitions were biologically determined, others environmental
• nature and nurture

Question 4

describe what a theory is, and the idea of a continuum from biological to social theories

Answer 4

• a theory is a guiding framework or set of assumptions that help us understand phenomena
• theories began as strongly biological, and slowly focused onto social
• nature vs nurture

Question 5

name and understand the contributions and criticisms of g. stanley hall’s ideas

Answer 5

• he thought that individual human development paralleled the development of the species
• infancy was like being primitive savages
• purely biological, hardly influenced by environment
• storm and stress, turbulence due to puberty
• contribution: the role of biological factors, brain maturation
• criticisms: adolescence is not inherently problematic

Question 6

describe the idea/perspective of the individual phase 1 theorists

Answer 6

• hall: biologically-based set of transitions, storm and stress
• anna freud: universal development disturbance
• erikson: series of crises based on inherited plan of maturation
• piaget: distinct stages of cognitive development

Question 7

describe the idea/perspective of the individual phase 2 theorists

Answer 7

• bronfenbrenner: four main contexts in which young people spend time: families, peers, schools, work, leisure (ecological systems theory)
• eccles: stage environment fit in transitions and contexts
• thomas and chest: goodness of fit

Question 7

describe the primary conceptual shifts in the study of adolescent development that have occurred in the last 20-25 years

Answer 7

• relational inquiry: must understand relationship between person’s biology and their larger-scale levels of organization
• individuality plays a major role in outcomes
• focus on positive development
• scientist-practitioner-policy maker collaboration