Chapter 3 Developing Through the Life Span Adolescence

Physical Development

Physical Development Adolescence: Transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence Puberty: Period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Physical Changes Sequence for changes in puberty is universal Reacting to timing of puberty is important Early maturing boys: More popular, self-assured, and independent; more at risk for alcohol use, delinquency, and premature sexual activity Early maturing girls: Mismatch between physical and emotional maturity may encourage search for older teens; teasing or sexual harassment may occur Frontal lobe development and synaptic pruning occur in the teen brain and may produce irrational and risky behaviors

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development Developing reasoning power: Piaget Develop new abstract thinking tools (formal operations) Reason logically Develop moral judgment

Cognitive Development Developing morality: Kohlberg Use moral reasoning that develops in universal sequence to guide moral actions DEMONSTRATING THEIR REASONING ABILITY Although they supported different candidates in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, these teens were all demonstrating their ability to think logically about abstract topics. According to Piaget, they were in the final cognitive stage, formal operations.

Morality Kohlberg’s Theory: Moral intuition Haidt: Much of morality is rooted in moral intuitions that are made quickly and automatically Greene: Moral cognition is often automatic but can be overridden Moral action Moral action feeds moral attitudes Mischel: The ability to delay gratification is linked to more positive outcomes in adulthood

Social Development

Social Development Erikson’s Theory Each stage: corresponds to an age and has a dominant issue, with a task to overcome

Social Development Erikson’s Theory Each stage: corresponds to an age and has a dominant issue, with a task to overcome

Focus on Erikson The adolescent struggle involves identity versus role confusion- continuing into adulthood The task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and blending various roles Social identity involves the “we” aspect of self-concept that comes from group memberships Healthy identity formation is followed by the capacity to build close relationships

Adolescent parent/ Peer Relationships People seek to fit in and are influenced by their groups, especially during childhood and teen years. Influence of parents and peers is complementary Parents Parent-child arguments increase but most adolescents report liking their parents Argument content is often gender-related Peers Peers influence behavior, social networking is often extensive, and exclusion can be painful or worse

Adolescent parent/ Peer Relationships Parents Peers Are more important when it comes to education, discipline, charitableness, responsibility, orderliness, and ways of interacting with authority figures Are more important for learning cooperation, for finding the road to popularity, and for inventing styles of interaction among people of the same age

How much blame/ credit do parents deserve? Parenting matters The impact of parenting is clearest at extremes Parents do influence their children’s attitudes, values, manners, faith, and politics Family environment is related to wide range of successes. Personality also plays a role Shared environmental influence typically accounts for less than 10 percent of personality differences Despite the influence of personality, children benefit from adoption

Emerging Adulthood Includes the time from 18 to mid-twenties in a not-yet-settled phase of life Characterized by not yet assuming adult responsibilities and independences and feelings of being “in between” May involve living with and still being emotionally dependent on parents

Review of Key Theories and their stages