Physical and cognetive development in adolescense

Adolescence.
( the term was coined by G. S. Hall in 1904)
Transition time between childhood and adulthood.
History: the increasingly complex nature of the work demanded a highly educated workforce. Late 19th century laws were passed to restrict child labor and schooling was made compulsory. As a result, young people began spending time together and developed their own ‘youth culture’.

Physical development.
Adolescence ? physical changes of puberty: transition to sexual maturity. (bringing the body from child-like status to adult sexual maturity.

Testosterone influence.
Sensory, perceptual, cognitive and emotional processing are all affected by increasing levels of testosterone.
It acts via the hypothalamus to facilitate physical arousal.
In both men and women, their sexual interest is greatest when their levels of testosterone are highest.

Historical facts about menarche.
The age at which young girls reach menarche has changed a lot over the last 150 years.
In 1850, the average age was 17 years
In 1900, reduced to 14-15 years
In 1950, reduced to 13-14 years
Currently, the average age is 12-13 years.
Reasons: increasing quality of nutrition and better medical care (Tanner, 1990)
Evidence: taller, fitter, well-nourished girls begin to menstruate earlier.
However: girls engaged in ballet, gymnastics and athletics at an advanced level menstruate later.

Psychological adjustment
during adolescence.
Characteristics:
Both girls and boys are sensitive to the bodily changes – difficult time for them.
? Leads to an effect of their sense of well-being

Internalization.
Is a term used by clinical psychologists to describe the learning (of values on attitudes) that is incorporated within yourself. In this case, internalization of the ‘thin ideal’ would mean that you absolutely believed that the ‘thin ideal’ was something you would want to try to be.
Effects: Experiencing early puberty results in internalization of the thin ideal.
These girls show patterns of disordered eating, restricting their eating with the goal of losing weight (bulimic-type eating pattern)

Summary for physical and psychological development:
Adolescence is a time of physical and psychological change
Tends to occur during puberty
Has different psychological effects for young men and women
Young men benefit from early sexual maturation
Early-maturing women are at increased risk of long-term psychopathology (depression and bulimic- type disorders) and long-term chronic health problems such as diabetes and coronary heart disease.

Brain changes
Brain produces
oversupply of gray
matter during
adolescence which is
later pruned back at
rate of one to two
percent per year

Use it or lose it
Adolescent brain development produces changes in regions involving dopamine sensitivity and production. Adolescents may become less susceptible to effects of alcohol
More drinks required to experience reinforcing qualities—leading to higher alcohol intake
Alterations in dopamine sensitivity may create
more sensitivity to stress, leading to further alcohol use

Yawning of the Age of Adolescence
Sleep Deprivation
Adolescents go to bed later and get up earlier
Sleep deprivation takes its toll
– Lower grades
– More depressed
– Greater difficulty controlling their moods
– Greater risk for auto accidents

THREATS TO ADOLESCENTS’ WELL-BEING
Why do adolescents use drugs?
Pleasurable experience
Escape
Peer pressure
Biological and psychological addiction
Why do adolescents start to drink?
Way of proving themselves
Release of tension and reduction of stress
False consensus effect

From Activity to Addiction
Adolescent alcoholics
Alcohol use becomes uncontrollable habit
Increasing ability to tolerate alcohol
Increasing need to drink ever-larger amounts of liquor to bring about positive effects craved
Why do adolescents begin
to smoke and maintain the habit?
Advertisements in the media
Addiction
Parent and peer models
Adolescent rite of passage

Cognitive development : Piagetian Stages Related to Youth Development
Concrete operations
6-11 years
Mastery of logic
Development of rational thinking
Formal operations
11+ years
Development of abstract and hypothetical reasoning
Development of propositional logic

Changes
Include five basic Areas:
Attention
Memory
Information processing speed
Organizational strategies
Metacognition : Thinking about Thinking…
Improves during adolescence :
– Thinks about own thoughts self-consciousness
– Monitors own learning processes more efficiently
– Paces own studying

Cognitive Development

Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning
the ability to solve problems by using possibilities to test realities;
the ability to look at events and consider a number of possible reasons for them occurring;
For example, a young person engage in the formal operations stage might view a news report of a break-out of war in a region. They might form hypotheses explaining why war has occurred an have view on possible outcomes.

Propositional Thought
the ability to evaluate logic without needing real-life example to back it up.
For example, the young person might develop the skills needed in mathematics to use simples in place of numbers.
the ability to deduce truth from logical statements
For example, if Steve is taller than Carole and Kim is taller than Steve, who is the shortest person in the group?