Midterm 1 Flashcards

1
Q

normative vs idiosyncratic

A

normative

  • means that almost everybody in a particular age or culture can expect to experience the changes at approx the same time in their development
  • i.e. entering puberty, graduating high school
  • can predict in advance

idiosyncratic

  • refers to individual experiences
  • doesn’t happen to most adolescents
  • can’t predict in advance
  • i.e. parental divorce, won top scholarship
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2
Q

Hall’s theory of adolescence

A

founder of ‘adolescence’

  • influenced by Darwin
  • believed the development of the individual paralleled the development of the human species (recapitulation)
  • development through stages determined primarily by instinct - by biological/genetic forces

“storm and stress”

  • hormonal changes of puberty cause upheaval - for individuals and those around them
  • time of conflict and mood swings
  • oscillate between good and temperamental, conceit and humility, happiness and sadness
  • result of raging hormones
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3
Q

challenges to Hall’s theory

A

Margaret Mead

  • did a study of cultural differences
  • Samoans tend to be very quiet and friendly
  • demonstrates sociocultural impact

Offer

  • did a study and found 3 types of development
    1) continuous: most had very few ups/downs - fairly smooth emotional transgression across teen years
    2) surgent: some had emotional ups/downs which were seldom and widely spaced across time
    3) tumultuous: very few experienced ups/downs - but not due to raging hormones
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4
Q

possible impact of hormones

A

more likely to have tendency to be more emotional, and can undergo rapid mood change

  • levels of hormones increase and fluctuate, and it takes the body time to adjust (have been linked to greater excitability and more rapid response to stimulation)
  • may stimulate increase in sex drive
  • hormonal changes may affect the brain by increasing teens’ desire for highly rewarding, sensation-seeking activities
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5
Q

problems w/ “it’s just common sense”

A

assumes one knows the answer

  • belief they’re correct
  • belief it’s applied to all situations

problems

  • used to explain an event after it has happened
  • if asked to predict, they may have predicted another reason
  • easy to be convinced of erroneous info that may sound plausible
  • comes from the limited experience of self or one person
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6
Q

stereotype

A

widely held but fixed and oversimplified beliefs about adolescents

  • derive from people having different perceptions
  • evolve from limited experience
  • generalized beliefs
  • culturally/socially determined
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7
Q

stereotyping adolescents

A
  • paints an overly negative picture of teens in media
  • becomes a worldwide stereotype
  • leads to an irrational fear of teens (ephebephobia)
  • leads to inappropriate interactions or interventions w/ teens
  • can lead to anxiety or behaving in ways that are inappropriate
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8
Q

reasons teens may be more emotional

A

responses and reactions reflect stresses posed by the major transitions and life events

  • lack experience and skills
  • i.e. changing schools, gaining autonomy, forming intimate friendships, issues related to sex/drugs

adolescents have developmental needs

  • type of emotional experience is dependent on how these needs are met
  • i.e. ongoing caring relationships w/ at least one adult, social support systems such as school
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9
Q

3 fundamental changes

A

1) biological transitions
- puberty
- change in physical appearance
- ability to reproduce
- how does this affect their psychological functioning?

2) cognitive transitions
- changes in thinking abilities - more sophisticated
- better able to think about hypothetical situations and abstract concepts
- affects how they think about themselves and world

3) social transitions
- underage/minors > age of majority
- change in social status
- social changes effect relationships

** effects of fundamental changes aren’t uniform - depends on the contexts that surround them

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10
Q

ecological perspective

A

a perspective on development that emphasizes the broader context in which development occurs

microsystem: immediate settings in which they develop - i.e. family, peer group
mesosystem: layer of environment formed by 2 or more immediate settings - i.e. school-home linkage
exosystem: layer of environment that doesn’t directly contain the developing person, but affects the setting in which they live
macrosystem: the outermost layer, containing forces such as history and culture

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11
Q

psychosocial issues

A

identity

autonomy

  • become less emotional dependent on parents
  • learn to make independent decisions
  • establish a personal code of values/morals

intimacy

sexuality

achievement

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12
Q

types of theoretical perspectives (5)

A

biosocial theories
- Hall

organismic theories
- Freud, Erikson, Piaget

learning theories
- Skinner, Bandura

sociological theories
- adolescent marginality, intergenerational conflict

historical/anthropological
- adolescence as an intervention

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13
Q

hormonal processes (2)

A

organizational role
- process through which early exposure to hormones, especially prenatally, organizes the brain or other organs in anticipation of later changes in behaviour or patterns of growth

activation role
- the process through which changes in hormone levels, especially at puberty, stimulate changes in the adolescent’s behaviour, appearance or growth

** other changes in puberty are likely to be results of an interaction between organizational and activational effects of hormones

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14
Q

variations in timing/tempo

A
  • can occur as early as 7 in girls and 9.5 in boys
  • or as late as 13 in girls and 13.5 in boys
  • interval between girls’ 1st sign of puberty and complete maturation can be from 1.5 - 6 years
  • in boys, interval is 2 - 5 years
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15
Q

ethnic/cultural differences in timing/tempo

A
  • Black females mature earlier than Mexican girls
  • Mexican girls mature earlier than White girls

possible explanation: more frequent exposure to chemicals in the environment that stimulate early puberty, i.e. hairspray

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16
Q

sex differences in muscle/fat

A
  • before puberty, relatively few differences
  • muscle tissue grows faster in boys, while body fat increases more for girls
  • end result = boys finish adolescence w/ a muscle-to-fat ratio of 3:1 and girls 5:4
  • leads to difference in athletic performance
  • nutriton differences may contribute to different athletic performances
  • androgens increase in males at faster rate
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17
Q

individual differences in timing/tempo (nature/nurture)

A

nature

  • twin studies show strong genetic component
  • specific region on chromosome 6 has been identified

nurture

  • health, nutrition, exercise (interaction of all)
  • delay if protein or caloric deficiency
  • chronic illness may delay
  • excessive exercise may delay
  • alcohol consumption delays
  • environmental influence viewed as an upper/lower limit

** nutrition and health are the 2 most important environmental factors

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18
Q

familial influence on timing/tempo (3)

A

3 familial factors that accelerate onset of puberty

1) conflict ridden household
2) physically or sexually abused
3) stepfather (pheromone exposure)

  • boys’ maturation hasn’t been consistently linked to family functioning
  • occurs earlier in girls who grew up in a father-absent family, w/ a stepfather, or in a conflict-ridden household
  • may induce stress, which may affect hormonal secretions
  • presence of a stepfather may expose her to pheromones, which may stimulate pubertal maturation
  • exposure to unrelated members of other sex may accelerate puberty
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19
Q

group differences in timing/tempo

A

compare averages of menarche in different regions

  • genetics have small role in group differences
  • look at changes in menarche over time
  • in US, median age ranges from 12.5 - 13.5
  • in Africa, ranges from 14 - 17
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20
Q

the secular trend

A

the tendency, over the past 2 centuries, for individuals to be larger in stature and to reach puberty earlier - primarily b/c of improvements in health and nutrition

  • also attributable to improved sanitation and better control of infectious diseases
  • less well documented in boys - no clear marker
  • evidence of continued decline in age of puberty in girls, as indexed by breast development and menarche, but not by genital maturation and pubic hair
  • problem = different indicators influenced by different hormones/processes
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21
Q

pheromones

A

a class of chemicals secreted by animals that stimulate certain behaviours in other members of the species

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22
Q

adolescent growth spurt

A

the dramatic increase in height and weight that occurs during puberty

peak height velocity: point at which teen is growing the most rapidly

epiphysis: the closing of the ends of the bones, which terminates growth after the adolescent growth spurt has been completed

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23
Q

developmental factors that put teens at risk for emotional trouble

A
  • lack of knowledge
  • lack of experience
  • lack of support
  • their perception

changes in brain system

  • changes that regulate the adrenal glands
  • can impact how teens relate to stress
  • can lead to excessive secretion of cortisol
  • hormonal changes can increase the susceptibility/responsiveness to stress
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24
Q

early maturation in males

A

advantages

  • popular, better self-esteem, appear more poised, relaxed, well-mannered, responsible, cooperative, sociable
  • athletic advantage
  • engage in more extracurricular activities
  • social prestige - chosen for leadership roles
  • interest in girls
  • results = adults favour them

disadvantages

  • more internalized distress
  • early involvement w/ sex, drugs, alcohol, delinquency
  • negative impact if victimized
  • some evidence of elevated rates of depression
  • precocious sexual activity
  • may have older peers
  • results = less creative in later adulthood
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25
Q

late maturation in males

A

advantages

  • higher ratings on measure of intellectual curiosity, exploratory behaviour, and social initiative
  • result = more creative and insightful as adults

disadvantages

  • socially induced inferiority
  • negative self-perceptions
  • characterized as less attractive, restless, bossy
  • tendency to be more rebellious
  • self-conscious
  • use attention-getting devices
  • results = internalizing symptoms, i.e. depression, anxiety

** society doesn’t see them as overly-masculine

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26
Q

early maturation in females

A

advantages

  • envied by other girls
  • popularity w/ peers
  • attract the attention of older boys

disadvantages

  • less popular w/ classmates
  • become more involved w/ boys that they attract
  • lack of support - unsympathetic, hostile
  • have difficulties relating to other group
  • results = risk of delinquency, smoking, drinking, drug use, sex, eating disorders (poor self-image)
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27
Q

late maturation in females

A

advantages

  • more likely to participate more in academics and sports
  • less likely to have mental difficulties later

disadvantages

  • disadvantages in junior and senior high
  • look like little girls and may resent that
  • envious of girls who matured earlier, and attract male attention
  • late dating may be perceived as negative

** findings discussed are based on group averages referred to as between group - within group would reveal individual differences

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28
Q

theoretical perspective of why early maturing females have more problems (3)

A

1) developmental readiness hypothesis
- may tax psychological resources

2) cultural and contextual factors
- value of body type

3) maturational deviance hypothesis
- distress occurs if teens are different and stand out from the rest of the group
- standing out at a time that they want to blend in

** changes associated w/ male maturation more desired - females have increases in body fat

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29
Q

factors that increase chance of body dissatisfaction

A
  • the increase in body fat (even if not overweight)
  • early maturation
  • come from relatively affluent families
  • spend time discussing/comparing w/ friends
  • cliques - more emphasis on appearance
  • exposure to mass media (thinness ideals)
  • social pressure to be thin
  • cultural preference
  • teens often ruminate
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30
Q

male/female similarities in body dissatisfaction

A

teens unhappy, yet normal by medical and health standards

  • more females than males are unhappy
  • dissatisfaction w/ body likely to lead to depression, eating problems, drug use
  • correlated w/ being seen as unattractive by others
  • pressure from mass media
31
Q

male/female differences in body dissatisfaction

A

females

  • more likely teased for being overweight
  • engage in unhealthy diet to reduce weight

males

  • more likely teased for being underweight
  • engage in overexercising
  • use of anabolic steroids
32
Q

obesity

A
  • most serious health problem
  • more than 250 million dollars lost in productivity and direct medical costs in adulthood
  • 40% of grade 8 girls reported trying to lose weight, even though 70% weren’t in overweight category - 8.5% met high risk for eating disorder
33
Q

biological and environmental factors in obesity

A

biological/genetic

  • greater activation of brain’s reward centres
  • heightened responses to images of food
  • poorer impulse control
  • females - impact of increase of body fat to muscles
  • males - increase of muscle tissue

environmental

  • poor nutrition
  • inadequate exercise
  • affiliate w/ peers who share same tastes and interests
  • have obese friends that reinforce bad behaviours
  • close proximity to fast food outlets
  • schools and advertisers influence what to eat/drink
34
Q

consequences of obesity

A
  • psychological consequences (cultural dependent)
  • more adverse for white, hispanic and blacks
  • greater impact for females
  • higher level of psychological distress such as depression and low self-esteem
  • harassment, bullying - disrupts academic performance
  • obese girls less likely to enter college
  • preoccupied w/ weight and body image
  • some research shows that depression leads to obesity, rather than vice versa
35
Q

eating disorder facts

A
  • 70% of girls and 33% of boys want to be thinner
  • 1/2 of girls engaged in unhealthy behaviour to be thinner
  • 80% said being thinner would make them happier and increase popularity w/ boys
  • dissatisfaction likely to lead to depression, development of eating problems, initiation of smoking
36
Q

anorexia nervosa

A

a life-threatening eating disorder, characterized by extreme fear of being overweight

  • includes dramatic weight loss
  • starve themselves
  • misperception - see themselves differently
  • unrealistically high standards of thinness

results

  • poor physical health
  • mortality rate = 4-5%
37
Q

bulimia

A

binge eat and then purge - may use laxatives or diuretics

  • rates for females and males differ
  • mortality rate also 4-5%
38
Q

body dysmorphic disorder

A

dissatisfaction and preoccupation with a certain aspect of the body

  • muscular dysphoria
  • excessive exercising
39
Q

underlying reasons of developing eating disorders

A
  • background - sexual abuse, unhappy parents, mental health issues, drugs
  • current family difficulties
  • peer influence
  • social pressure - from mass media
  • social concerns - interest in dating, being slim
  • internalized distress - depression, OCD
  • individual characteristics - low self-esteem, desire for acceptance, sense of powerlessness
40
Q

paradox of adolescence

A

it’s a healthy period of the lifespan, but nearly 1 in 15 experience at least one chronic disabling illness
- mental disorders
- respiratory illnesses
- muscular and skeletal disorders
threats to health have psychosocial causes (not natural causes)

41
Q

adolescent mortality

A
  • 45% of teen deaths due to car accidents and other unintentional injuries
  • alcohol related motor deaths
  • 30% of teen deaths due to homicide and suicide
  • 50 years ago, most deaths due to illness/disease
42
Q

basal metabolism rate

A

the minimal amount of energy used by the body during a resting state

43
Q

5 major advances (information processing theory)

A

1) attention
2) working and long-term memory
3) processing speed
4) organization
5) metacognitive ability

44
Q

attention (4 types)

A

selective attention

  • better able to concentrate
  • can tune out irrelevant info

sustained attention

  • stay focused for a greater length of time
  • i.e. read entire chapter w/o interruptions

divided attention
- going back and forth between 2 activities

executive attention
- attention focused towards achieving a goal

45
Q

memory

A

working memory

  • hold several pieces of info at one time
  • can hold them long enough to compare
  • i.e. comparing options on multiple choice question

long term memory

  • ability to recall from a long time ago
  • improved autobiographical memory (memory for personal events)
46
Q

processing speed

A

faster at processing information

  • do multiple choice tests faster than children
  • about as fast processing speed as adults
47
Q

organization

A
  • engage in more planning

- more skilled at organizing

48
Q

metacognitive abilities

A

advancement in thinking about thinking

  • monitor their own learning process - monitor what they know and don’t know
  • thinking about the self and others becomes more complex
49
Q

Piaget’s formal operational stage

A

11+ years - abstract logical reasoning

advances

  • think about possibilities - ones that aren’t observed
  • think multidimensionally - connect ideas/issues
  • think about abstract concepts - i.e. hope/faith
  • these require a system of reasoning

** not all teens reach formal operational stage at the same time - which is why it’s unfortunate we group them all together

50
Q

2 important factors in formal operational stage

A

1) experience
- explicit instructions assists in deductive reasoning

2) conditions of assessment
- competence
- performance distinction: capability vs reality
- ability depends on social setting

51
Q

5 major changes in cognition

A

1) thinking about possibilities
2) thinking abstractly
3) thinking about thinking (metacognition)
4) thinking in multiple dimensions
5) relativistic thinking/critical thinking

52
Q

thinking about possibilities

A
  • reality is a subset of possibilities
  • i am who i am vs who could i be?
  • generate alternatives and explanations systematically
  • academia: using theorems in math, determining unknown substances in chemistry

social settings

  • anticipate responses of others
  • more argumentative
  • propose counterargument
  • no longer accepts w/o question
  • use others’ point of view for evaluation
53
Q

deductive and inductive reasoning

A

deductive

  • logical reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn logically, from a set of principles
  • certain in conclusion
  • 1st used by adolescents
  • i.e. all hockey players wear mouthguards, so Kim wears a mouthguard

inductive

  • reasoning is inferred from a given set of accumulated evidence
  • inferences
  • uncertain - lack of confidence
  • used by children - i.e. kids in class get bad mark on test, so they infer they did too
54
Q

hypothetical deductive reasoning

A

engaging scientifically in problem solving

  • if-then ability to develop hypotheses, see beyond, and apply logical reasoning in order to solve problems
  • i.e. used in algebra and chemistry experiments

engaging in hypothetical thinking means one has gained

  • ability to suspend own beliefs
  • ability to understand logic behind another’s argument
  • understand another’s point of view
  • ability to think 1 step ahead of opponent
  • ability to problem solve - plan ahead, foresee future
55
Q

abstract thinking

A

includes

  • construction of new, original ideas
  • greater imagination, but can also be idealistic
  • greater ability, and interest in subjects such as philosophy and religion
  • growth in social cognition (social understanding)
  • understand self/others in relationships
56
Q

metacognitive abilities

A

entails

  • monitoring one’s own cognitive activity during thinking
  • use strategy to remember something - i.e. HOMES
  • appraise own comprehension
  • better able to manage and explain to others
  • increase introspection - thinking about one’s emotions
  • increase self-consciousness - think about how others think of us
57
Q

imaginary audience and personal fable

A

introspection can lead to self-absorption or a heightened self-consciousness

imaginary audience

  • fail to distinguish between their own and others thoughts
  • preoccupied w/ self and think others are
  • often conscious of their appearance and peers bully them, and/or may need attention

personal fable

  • first time experiencing a situation, therefore they think they’re unique, that nobody can really understand, and that they’re special so nothing bad can happen to them
  • pro: provides benefit of enhancing self-esteem and self-worth
  • con: don’t believe anything bad will happen to the,, thus engage in unrealistic risk-taking
58
Q

multidimensional thinking

A
  • weigh many factors before making a decision
  • take many factors into a prediction
  • high understanding of probability
  • describe self in more differentiated terms
  • look at problem from different perspectives
  • social situations can bring different interpretations
  • personalities change - not static - context matters
  • begin to understand sarcasm, satire and use of language to give different messages
59
Q

relativistic thinking

A

relativism: evaluate evidence by relating it to others
- situations aren’t just good or bad, black or white
- different perspectives
- hidden agendas
- reject fact as absolute truth
- pro: can become skeptical
- con: can understand hidden agenda

thinking creatively

  • analyze, evaluate, change
  • challenge underlying assumptions
60
Q

brain development

A

first: physical coordination
last: reasoning and impulse control
impact: prefer physical activity, high excitement and low effort (video games, drugs, etc), engage in risky behaviour

brain maturation

  • linked to behavioural, emotional and cognitive development
  • reciprocal process: behaviour and environment lead to physical changes in the brain which can lead to changes in behaviour and environment
  • high plasticity
61
Q

brain imaging techniques

A

fMRI

  • functional magnetic resonance imaging
  • image of brain while performing task

DTI

  • diffusion tensor imaging
  • describes not explains

EEG

  • electroencephalography
  • measures electrical activity at different locations

** adolescents experience changes in brain function (patterns of brain activity)

62
Q

changes in brain structure

A

remodelled brain

  • reduction in grey matter
  • synaptic pruning and myelination

pruning takes place in

  • prefrontal cortex: region of brain that’s most important in sophisticated thinking abilities
  • parietal cortex: important for working memory
  • temporal cortex: important for social cognition

myelination

  • increase in white matter = better connectivity
  • better connectivity between PFC and limbic system, leading to improvement in regulating thoughts/feelings
63
Q

function of 3 major areas of PFC

A

1dorsolateral PFC

  • planning ahead
  • impulse control

vmPFC
- gut-level, intuitive decision-making

orbitofrontal cortex

  • evaluating risk and rewards
  • teens have higher need for rewards
64
Q

2 important functions of PFC

A

1) greater efficiency in information processing
- patterns of activation becomes more focused
- response inhibition

2) more likely to use multiple parts of the brain simultaneously and coordinate activity between prefrontal regions and others such as limbic system
- functional connectivity

65
Q

specific functions of PFC

A
  • increase in executive functioning and greater efficiency
  • planning, thinking ahead
  • decision making
  • goal setting
  • weighing/assessing risk and rewards
  • controlling impulses
  • making complex judgments
  • metacognitive ability

** experience = important

66
Q

limbic system

A

the emotional world
- increase in white matter - reflects improved connectivity between PFC and limbic system, which leads to improvement in ability to regulate emotions and coordinate thoughts

area is important for

  • social information
  • reward/punishment
  • regulation of emotions
  • coordinating thoughts and feelings
  • processing emotional experience of social info
    • develops sooner than PFC - impulsive behaviours
67
Q

dopamine and serotonin

A

different type of functional change in limbic system = change in levels of NTs

dopamine
- a NT that’s especially important in the brain circuits that regulate the experience of rewards

serotonin
- important for experience of different moods

results of these changes

  • more emotional
  • more responsive to stress
  • more likely to engage in reward seeking and sensation seeking
68
Q

changes in limbic system and vulnerability

A
  • more likely to engage in reward seeking behaviour, i.e. substance abuse
  • give in to peer pressure
  • if rejected, stronger activation of region - more likely to become depressed
  • increased vulnerability to stress
  • easily aroused emotions
  • sensitivity to others’ mental states - may make them more socially skilled or more vulnerable
69
Q

summary statement of impact of brain changes

A

changes occur early in PFC, so teens may have cognitive abilities similar to adults - i.e. attention, logical reasoning, and memory

BUT

the brain system that regulates emotions and decision-making doesn’t mature until adulthood

therefore

changes in brain structure and function is such that teens seek novelty, reward, and stimulation several years before the brain system that regulates judgment, decision-making and impulse control

70
Q

limbic system changes and concern for what others think

A
  • sensitive to rewards
  • recognize subtle facial expressions
  • heightened activation of sad/angry faces (of parents)
71
Q

social thinking

A

social perspective taking

  • understanding of peoples personality and psychological state
  • view events from perspective of another
  • mutual role taking

sophisticated theory of mind

  • can understand others beliefs, intentions and knowledge
  • more advanced in interpreting feelings of others, and inferring motives and feelings (even if not visible)

thinking about relationships
- leads to changes in way one relates to parents, peers, authority figures

72
Q

similarities in decision making to adults

A

can

  • define a problem
  • brainstorm solutions
  • list and evaluate pros/cons
  • select a solution - make decision and put into action
73
Q

why they still make poor decisions

A
  • may answer wrong problem (define it incorrectly)
  • may evaluate pros and cons differently than adults
  • may have inaccurate or missing info about risks
  • personal fable
  • may be responding to internal motivation to increase sensation seeking
  • they value the outcome differently - do what friends say