Transcript Adolescence

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Historically viewed as a time of stress
 Rebelliousness, emotional upheaval
In reality:
 No greater psychological problems than
in adulthood
But… its true that there is
 More depression, eating disorders,
substance abuse, and suicide than in
childhood
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Emotional moodiness does
increase
 Linked to negative events
 More moody that children or
adults
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Teens are happiest with friends
Least happy in adult structured
events
Moods level off by 10th grade
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Growth Spurts
Females:
 Starts by age 10
 Ends by age 16
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Males:
 Starts by 12.5
 Ends by 17.5
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Lasts from 7 to 11 years of age
 Characterized by slow physical growth
 Important cognitive changes occur
 Conservation and reversibility
▪ Child decenters – allows conservation problems to be solved;
learns some matter changes shape but not volume
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Emotional and social development
 Child enters with close ties to parents
 Peer relationships become increasingly important
▪ Friendships more important, last longer
▪ Cliques or groups formed, mostly same sex
▪ Terms boyfriend and girlfriend have little meaning at
this stage
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Adolescence
 Physical changes of puberty
 Adolescent growth spurt
 Heightened sexual and romantic interest
 Peers become more important than parents
 Cognitively – capable of abstract reasoning
▪ Ponders abstract issues like justice or equality
 No clear cut end to adolescence in society
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Cognitive development
 Formal operations stage entered
▪ Ability to use abstract concepts
▪ Shift to stage varies among individuals; some never
reach this stage, others reach it in early adulthood
 Piaget’s classic experiment with weights
4-yr-old
7-yr-old
5 kg
5 kg
5 kg
A
10-yr-old
5 kg
C
B
14-yr-old
10 kg
2 kg
D
8 kg
Piaget’s Balance Test - task: make the weight
times the distance equal on both sides of center
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Adolescent egocentrism
 Imaginary audience – everyone is watching
 Personal fable – belief that s/he is unique
 Hypocrisy – okay for one to do it but not another
 Pseudostupidity – use of oversimplified logic
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Social development
 Time of drifting or breaking away from family
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Emotional development
 G. Stanley Hall – time of storm and stress
 Most adolescents are happy, well-adjusted
 Areas of problems
▪ Parent-child conflicts
▪ Mood changes - self-conscious, awkward, lonely,
ignored
▪ Risky behavior - aggression, unprotected sex, suicide,
use of substances or alcohol
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Young adulthood through older adulthood
 Developmental changes continue throughout
adulthood: not a single phase of life
 Taking on adult responsibilities in work and social
relationships
 Challenges: love, work, play continue changing
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Physical development
 Growth and strength in early adulthood, then
slow process of decline afterwards
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Speed and endurance
Vision and ability to see in weak lighting
Hearing and detection of tones
Taste – intact until later in life; men tend to lose hearing
and taste earlier than women
 Decline affected by health and lifestyles
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Cognitive development
 Continues throughout adulthood; some abilities
improve while others decline
▪ Fluid intelligence peaks in 20s, declines therafter
▪ Crystallized intelligence improves until 30s; then
declines slowly afterwards
▪ Overall, individual rates vary depending on lifestyle and
health
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Emotional and social development
 Many aspects of personality are fairly stable over
time, and changes are predictable
▪ On average, adults become
▪ less anxious and emotional, socially outgoing, and creative
▪ People become more dependable, agreeable, and
accepting of life’s hardships
▪ Gender differences lessen over time
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Emotional and social development
 Much disagreement about when and how changes
occur during aging – differences between stages
of infant/child development and adult
development
▪ Not all adults go through every stage
▪ Order of stages can vary for individuals
▪ Timing of stages not controlled by biological maturation
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Early adulthood
 Erikson
▪ Intimacy versus isolation (17 to 45 years)
 Levinson - Early adulthood has three stages
▪ Entry into early adulthood (17-28)
▪ Age 30 transition (28-33)
▪ Culmination of early adulthood (to age 40)
 Challenges of career, marriage, and parenthood
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Erikson –
 Generativity versus stagnation (40-65 years)
▪ Taking stock of what one has, who s/he is
▪ Some are happy, some are disappointed
▪ Generativity – reaching out, not self-centered
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Levinson – four brief stages
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Midlife transition (early 40s)
Entry to middle adulthood stage (45 to 50)
Age 50 transition
Culmination of middle adulthood
Climactic –
 Female sexual ability to reproduce declines
 Not all adult development timed by social clock
rather than biological clock
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Levinson – four brief stages
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Midlife transition (early 40s)
Entry to middle adulthood stage (45 to 50)
Age 50 transition
Culmination of middle adulthood
Climactic –
 Female sexual ability to reproduce declines
 Not all adult development timed by social clock
rather than biological clock
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Biological – human body deteriorates
Psychological
 Happy or unhappy aging
 Social activity and slowed intellectual decline or
disengagement and isolation
 Maintain healthy or unhealthy lifestyle
 Optimism linked to happier, healthier, longer life
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Kübler-Ross – five stages
 Denial
 Anger
 Bargaining
 Depression
 Acceptance