Psychology Chapter 13: Adolescent Development

Chapter 13: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

• Adolescence is a transitional period between childhood and adulthood, marked by tremendous physical and cognitive growth, as well as opportunities for risk-taking.
• Adolescence is a time of "storm and stress."
• The age when adolescence begins and ends is unclear, in part due to society's varying expectations of individuals during this stage.
• Adolescence involves a period of significant physical and psychological growth and change.

Physical Changes

• Growth Spurt: Adolescents experience a period of rapid growth in height and weight, mirroring the rapid growth rate of infancy.
• Girls typically begin and complete their growth spurts earlier than boys (approximately 2 years).
• Puberty: This is a period of rapid physical maturation, characterized by hormonal and bodily changes.
• In males, puberty involves the appearance of pubic hair, voice changes, beard growth, and first ejaculation.
• In females, puberty involves breast development, pubic hair growth, and menarche (first menstruation).

Timing of Puberty

• The timing of puberty significantly affects how adolescents react to it.
• Early maturation (boys): generally positive outcomes, including better athletic performance and social popularity.
• Late maturation (boys): might face challenges: potentially seen as less attractive and having a social disadvantage in sports, which could affect self-concept.
• Early maturation (girls): difficulties and potential negative outcomes, which could impact well-being, such as increased risk of substance use, eating disorders, depression, and earlier sexual experiences.
• Late maturation (girls): might initially be overlooked, but when they catch up in development; self-esteem is generally high.

Body Image

• Body image involves adolescents’ reactions to the physical changes of puberty.
• Preoccupation with body image is a common theme throughout adolescence.
• Girls often express less satisfaction with their bodies compared to boys, experiencing more dissatisfaction over time.

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa: severe eating disorder characterized by refusing to eat while denying that the behavior is unusual; Individuals can become dangerously thin.
• Individuals with anorexia often fear weight gain, and their fear persists despite weight loss. distorted body image is common.
• Anorexia is significantly more common among females than males.
• Bulimia: eating disorder characterized by episodes of binge eating followed by purging, for example, vomiting or using laxatives.
• Individuals with bulimia typically maintain a normal weight range.
• Individuals with bulimia have a distorted body image, experience depression, and have an intense fear of weight gain.
• Bulimia is associated with chemical imbalances caused by frequent vomiting or laxative use.

Adolescent Cognition

• Piaget's Formal Operational Stage: This cognitive stage marks the beginning of abstract thinking and hypothetical-deductive reasoning during adolescence, a more complex thought process than in their earlier concrete operations stage, where young people begin to think theoretically.
• The Formal Operational stage allows young people to create many possibilities.
• Hypothetical-deductive Reasoning: Adolescents can develop hypotheses and deduce the implications of those ideas. The "Twenty Questions" example demonstrates this type of reasoning.
• Evaluating Piaget's Theory: Only a proportion of young adolescents attain formal operational thought, suggesting cultural and educational factors play a significant role in cognitive development.

Adolescent Egocentrism

• This is characterized by a strong focus on the self, and a limited perspective that can lead to critical thinking and rejection of other people's opinions.
• Imaginary Audience: Teens' belief that they are the focus of others' attention; an exaggerated sense of self-consciousness.
• Personal Fables: belief that one's experiences and feelings are unique and no one else has gone through the same thing. They may believe that they are invulnerable or that no one understands them.

Explore Chapter 13 on physical and cognitive development during adolescence. Understand the significant changes adolescents undergo, from growth spurts to emotional challenges. This chapter addresses the complexities surrounding this transitional phase from childhood to adulthood.