Chapter Fifteen

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Chapter Fifteen Sixteen

• Adolescence Cognitive Development
• Piagets formal thinking, Hypothetico-deductive,
  Inductive and deductive reasoning,
  ego-centricism, decision making
• Adolescence Psychosocial Development
• Eriskon, Marcia, Identity status, personality,
  risk-taking and factors influencing identity
  development

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Cognitive Development

• Every basic skill of information process
  continues to develop
• Brain maturation continues
• myelination is ongoing, so reaction time shorter
• prefrontal cortex becomes more densely packed and
  more efficient
• helps in planning, analyzing, and being able to
  pursue goals
• Language mastery improves

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New Logical Abilities

• Piagets formal operational thought,
  characterized by ability to think logically about
  abstract ideas
• qualitatively different from childrens thoughts

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Hypothetical-Deductive Thought

• Hypothetical thought
• thinking about possibilities
• Deductive and inductive reasoning
• deductive reasoningreasoning from general
  principle via logical steps to specific
  conclusion
• inductive reasoningreasoning specific
  experiences or facts to a general conclusion

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Adolescent Egocentrism

• Characteristic of adolescent thinking that
  sometimes leads young people to focus on
  themselves to the exclusion of others.
• They believe that their thoughts feelings and
  experiences are unique
• Invincibility fable
• adolescents feel they are immune to the laws of
  mortality and probability (and nature)

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• they therefore take all kinds of risks
• Personal fable
• adolescents imagine their own lives as mythical
  or heroic see themselves destined for fame or
  fortune
• Imaginary audience
• how others will react (opinions of onlookers)
• they assume everyone else judges appearance(s)
• theyre not at ease with social world

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Adolescent Decision Making

• Adolescence is a time for personal decisions and
  independent choices with far-reaching
  consequences. Adolescent choices are long-lasting
• Adolescents think about possibilities, not
  practicalities thus, few decide important
  matters rationally
• egocentrism makes it hard to analyze and plan
  ahead

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Weighing Risks and Benefits, cont.

• Every decision requires weighing risk against
  opportunity
• Consequences are discounted, probability
  miscalculated, and their future put at risk
• Sex differences
• boys more likely to take risks

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Psycho-social Development

• The Self and Identity
• Who am I?
• Identityconsistent definition of ones self as a
  unique individual in terms of roles, attitudes,
  beliefs. and aspirations

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Erikson Marcia

• identity versus role confusion
• Identity Statuses
• Identity is defined along two dimensions
• Exploration
• Trying out all the options
• Commitment
• Deciding on the option that suits the best.

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EXPLORATION VS. COMMITMENT
E X P L O R A T I O N
ACHEIVED
MORATORIUM
DIFFUSED
FORECLOSED
DIFF
COMMITMENT
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Identity Personality

• Identity achievement
• attainment of identity self-understanding in
  accord with past experiences and future plans
• Willing to reconsider values and goals of parents
  and culture, accepting some, rejecting others

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Identity Moratorium

• Adolescents that are exploring their options but
  have not made a commitment
• Like achieved adolescents, they are Willing to
  reconsider values and goals.
• Unlike diffusion, the attempt to fill the role
  they are in, which however is temporary

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• Identity Foreclosure
• Those who adopt parents or societys roles and
  values whole, without questioning or analysis,
  are said to be in foreclosure,
• They have not considered their choices and have
  not independently defined their own identity.
• Many adolescents go through a period of
  foreclosure before attaining identity achievement.

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• Identity Diffusion
• Those who seem not to know or care what their
  identity is are said to be in a state of identity
  diffusion.
• They have few commitments to anyones goals or
  values and are often apathetic about taking on
  any role.
• Most teens experience diffusion at some point,
  but not as a permanent
• state.

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Identity, risk-taking and influencing factors

• Identity and risk-taking
• Different identity statuses have different
  reasons for engaging in risk-taking behaviors
• Factors effecting Identity
• Culture, Family, Peers

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Culture

• Provides values, ethics, social structures and
  customs that ease the transition from childhood
  to adulthood.
• Persons with special personality traits can
  become the prophets, freaks, and criminals,
  depending on the place and time.
• In changing times, where consensus and continuity
  is rare, identity formation is difficult.

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Family

• Generation Gap distance between generations in
  values, behaviors, and knowledgeand
  understanding
• adolescents often loosen ties to family
• adolescents need to become psychologically
  separate
• Generational stake
• Teenagers might see parental restrictions as a
  means of control and domination.
• Parent-adolescent conflict depends on the age,
  gender and cultural context.

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Contd

• Girls are more likely to rebel
• Mexican and Asian Americans are likely to rebel
  in late adolescence
• Best to use authoritative parenting.
• Families high in conflict and low in support are
  hard on adolescent no matter how other factors
  are.

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Peers

• Teenagers construct a peer system that reflects
  their growing psychological, biological and
  social-cognitive maturity and helps them adapt to
  the social ecology.
• Share the same concerns and provide company-
  emotional social support.
• Expose to different values and beliefs.

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Peer Pressure

• Social pressure to conform to ones friends or
  contemporaries.
• Considered negative as peers encourage each other
  to defy adults.
• Isnt necessarily negative. Can promote higher
  grades and accomplishments.
• Is more likely to be negative in periods of
  uncertainty.

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Problems Depression Suicide

• Depression is anger turned inwards
• Twice more likely in girls than in boys
• Major depression occurs in 15-20 of teenagers
• Results from environmental genetic factors
• Loss of appetite, concentration, sleep energy.

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Contd.

• Constant feelings of sadness, frustration,
  learned helplessness, hopelessness
  worthlessness
• Depression precedes suicide
• Sex-ratio is 51
• Suicide is preplanned and thoughtful.

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Contd

• Two types of Personality Characteristics
• More likely to internalize depression, are highly
  intelligent, solitary, withdrawn unable to meet
  their high expectations
• More likely to externalize depression, have
  antisocial tendencies, acting-out tendencies
• Treatment antidepressants and therapy

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Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa
• Anorexia loss of appetite
• More common in females
• Loss of 25-50 of body weight
• Menarche does not occur or stops

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Contd.

• Physical Symptoms
• Refusal to maintain minimal body weight
• Malnutrition resulting in pale skin brittle
  nails
• Extreme sensitivity to cold
• Shrinking of heart muscle, brain damage, kidney
  failure and loss of bone mass

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Contd.

• Psychological Symptoms
• Intense fear of gaining weight
• Distorted body image low self-esteem
• Over-controlling parents, high expectations
• Obsession with perfection, high standards
• Excellent performers ideal individuals

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Contd.

• Bulimia Nervosa
• Binge eating followed by deliberate vomiting
  strict dieting
• Sense of lack of control over eating during
  eating
• Pathological fear of gaining weight

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Contd.

• Eroded enamel, stomach throat
• Bulimics be can of normal, under or over weight
• Impulsive, lonely, unhappy, and anxious
• Emotionally unavailable disengaged parents