Lecture 7: Development in Adolescence Flashcards
What is Puberty?
Process experienced by all children that propel them in the direction of physical and sexual maturity
What happens during Puberty?-
- Children grow taller and stronger
- Develop secondary sex characteristics
- Experience a wide range of personal and social impacts
When do Women hit Puberty?
Females typically show first signs of puberty around 10 but it could happen as early as 7 or 8 or as late as 13 or 14
When do Men hit Puberty?
- Boys generally go through puberty a year or two later than females
- Usually around 11 (average 11.6)
What are the Effects of Puberty Timing?
- Deviance Hypothesis
- Stage Termination Hypothesis
- Adult Resemblance Hypothesis
- Brain Development During Adolescence
What is Deviance Hypothesis?
The idea that those who enter puberty at a time noticeably different from their peers will be negatively affected
What is Stage Termination Hypothesis?
The idea is that females who enter puberty early suffer because they do not have time to accomplish the normal tasks of childhood
What is Adult Resemblance Hypothesis?
The idea is that young adolescents who seem more adult-like will be treated more as adults, for better or worse
What is Brain During Adolescence?
- Brain almost adult size by adolescence
- Synaptic pruning: less-used circuits eliminated (use it or lose it)
- Myelination leads to greater efficiency
- Decision-making areas of the cortex mature slowly
- Pleasure centers or limbic system mature more quickly than control systems in the pre-frontal cortex
What is Synaptic Pruning?
Less-used circuits eliminated (use it or lose it)
How does Puberty Affect Mood?
- Early adolescents are more emotional than children
- Emotional swings reduced later in adolescence
- Hormones and mood affect each other
- More social stressors during adolescence
What is Gender Role Identity?
The gender-related aspects of psychological self
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?
he ability to derive conclusions from hypothetical premises
What is Naive Idealism?
A mental construct of an ideal world as compared to the real world
