By Clayton and Scott and Katie Adolescents By Clayton and Scott and Katie

Facts Adolescents occurs from beginning of puberty to early 20s Main question for the adolescent stage: identity vs. role confusion

Step one: puberty Begins at about age 11 in girls and age 13 in guys. When adolescents mature sexually, also has a surge of hormones Females start menstrual period Primary sex characteristics develop dramatically Frontal lobes are not fully matured, which is why teens make risky behaviors, and have emotional storms.

Step two: cognitive development Adolescents begin to think about what other people are wearing (causes awkwardness socially). Reasoning is self-focused, adolescents think their experiences are unique and something their parents could never understand. Morality is developed within adolescents in two parts conventional morality; caring for others and social rules simply because they are rules Postconventional morality; they use basic ethic principals to judge their actions from right or wrong.

Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Thinking Approximate Age Focus Example Preconvention morality (Before age 9) Self-interest; obey rules to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards “if you save your wife, you'll be a hero” Conventional morality (early adolescence) Uphold rules to gain social approval or maintain social order “If you steal the drug, everyone will think you’re a criminal” Preconvention mortality (adolescence and beyond) Actions reflect belief in basic rights and self-denied ethical principles “People have a right to live”

Step three: social development Erik Erikson says the task of adolescents is to synthesize the past, present, and future possibilities into a clear sense of self We ask ourselves: Who am I as and individual? What do I want to do with my life? What values should I live by? What do I believe in?

Early Physical Maturation boys girls Can make boys more popular because they are stronger and more athletic in their early teen years. This could also lead to delinquency and alcohol use, as well as early sexual activity. It could cause girls to befriend older girls and be subject to teasing or sexual harassment.

Why are adolescents impulsive? Maturation of the frontal lobe happens a lot slower than that of the limbic (emotional) system. This is why teens struggle to make long term decisions, or why smoking or unprotected sex seem like a good idea because they fail to see the long term consequences. The frontal lobe is not fully developed until age 25.

The search for Identity Identity- a self definition that unifies the various selves into a consistent and comfortable sense of who one is Social Identity- we form the perception of who we are based on what we see by the people around us Often can be at school: jocks, geeks, goths, preps Some of us find identity sooner than others, every person is unique By the time you are a college senior, you should have a positive self-concept of who you are