Adolescence Psychology Unit 1 Notes PDF

## The Beginnings of Adolescence ### Adolescence ≠ Adolescent - Adolescence = period of time - Adolescent = individual - Adolescents = multiple individuals ### Adolescence Think 10-25 years of age ► What age range is adolescence? - Some disagreement on this.... - Approximately 10-20 years of age...

## The Beginnings of Adolescence ### Adolescence ≠ Adolescent - Adolescence = period of time - Adolescent = individual - Adolescents = multiple individuals ### Adolescence Think 10-25 years of age ► What age range is adolescence? - Some disagreement on this.... - Approximately 10-20 years of age - Others argue that it is from the start of puberty until... - Completion of formal education - Financial independence from parents - Marriage - Parenthood - Evidence from neuroscience - Emerging adulthood (approx. 18-29) ### Developmental Psychology **Psychology** - The science of attitudes, behaviors and mental processes - Why do people do the things they do? **Developmental Psychology** - Studies the systematic continuities and changes of individuals over the life course ► How and why people remain the same or change over time? - Physically, cognitively and socially ### Goals of Developmental Psychology - Help Earth's 8.1 billion people fulfill "their potential" - Describe... what people are like and how they change - Explain... the origins/causes of development - Predict... what an individual will be like in the future - Improve... well being of others by using developmental knowledge to create interventions ### Scope of Science **Dynamic Systems Approach** - Ongoing, ever-changing process - Affects and is affected by many domains of development - Biosocial, Cognitive, Psychosocial The image includes a triangle divided into three levels. Top level is "Cognitive Develop." The botton-left Biosocial Develop." and bottom-right "Psychosocial Develop.". Each level is connected with arrows in both directions signifying the interconnectedness and feedback loops between biological, cognitive, and psychosocial developmental processes. ### Central Ideas in the Science - Development is cumulative and occurs throughout the life span - "Several patterns" of developmental growth ### Continued... The Beginnings of Adolescence ### A note on Developmental changes Lots of evidence of developmental plasticity our abilities, personalities, and various other characteristics change over time However, some change may need to occur in a particular time period - Critical Periods - Sensitive Periods **Critical vs. Sensitive Periods** Critical Period - A time when a particular type of developmental growth must happen for normal development to occur - Or, the only time abnormality can occur if a certain stimuli is present **Sensitive Period** - A time when a certain type of development is most likely to occur - Can still happen, but with greater difficultly e.g. language **Occurs in small steps without any abrupt changes Ex. Gradually growing** **Discontinuous = Abrupt/distinct stages in development** - Changes cause the individual to be fundamentally different then he/she was previously - Example: Comparing adolescents who are or are not sexually mature Some aspects of development are **universal** while others are **particularitic** **Universal = normative devolopment** - Everyone undergoes the same development process - e.g. Walking, talking, attachment **Particularistic = outcomes vary from person to person** - e.g. accent/dialects, type of attachment **Development occurs within multiple System Each person is affected by many social contexts and interpersonal interactions** ### Challenges in the Science of Adolescent Development - Study all the things that impact adolescents during this period of development,while: - Identifying both universals and particulars of development - Accounting for genetic and environmental influences - Determining the impact of social influence ### Central Ideas in the Science - Nature vs. Nurture debate is no longer debate... - Accounts for 50% of developmet - Human development is a function of both nature and nurture - Development can be continuous or discontinuous - Continuous= gradual/additive ## Research Methods ### Scientific Method - It's not what you study, but how you study it - 7 steps ### Psychology as a Science - **The Scientific Method** 1. Research starts with a research idea 2. Research ideas become good research questions 3. Good research questions are explored through different theories 4. Testable hypotheses are created to answer good research questions based on the theory 5. Data is systematically collected and analyzed 6. Conclusions are evaluated and communicated 7. Results are re-tested and extended to build theory and make contributions ### Descriptive Research: Naturalistic Observations Observing subjects/participants in a natural setting Important to take good notes May need to use multiple "observers" **Surveys and Interviews** - A standard set of questions or items - Designed to assess someone's self-reported attitudes or beliefs **Case Studies** - An in-depth look at a single individual - Performed when aspects of an individual's life cannot be replicated - Ethical reasons - Issues with generalizability - **Research methods in Psychology** ### Research Methods in Psychology **Descriptive Research** Attempts to describe a certain phenomenon - Naturalistic Observation - Surveys or interviews - Case studies **Correlations** - Tell us the relationship between variables - Specifically, how the variables change together - Positive = positive correlation - Negative = negative correlation - Zero: flat line, unrelated variables - **Correlations in Research** - Correlation is NOT causation - Example: Ice cream sales and murder - **Third variable Problem** - A third variable that may explain the relationship between two variables - Ex., Temp outside ### Continued... Research Methods ### Research Methods in Psychology **Experimental Research** Goal is to determine cause and effect The manipulation of one or more Independent variables that are believed to influence a Dependent variable - IV = what experiment is manipulating - DV: what experiment is measuring. Example: violent media related to aggression **Experimental Research** Random assignment to groups - Experimental group - given the manipulation - (Example) (group that is exposed to violent media) - Control group - treated equally, but no manipulation - (Example) ( group that is given a placebo) - observe/Measure any effect Is there a difference between groups on aggression? **Quasi - Experimental Research** Experiments in which random assignment CANNOT be used For example - Studies that investigate the effects of illicit drugs on development - Effects of marriage/divorce on adolescent's happiness - Effects of total social isolation on adolescent development ### Research Methods - Summary Each method has its pros and cons **Descriptive** - Pro: Findings usually create the foundation for later research - Con: Cannot establish cause, effect **Correlations** - Pro: Explains the relationship among variables - Con: Cannot make casual conclusions & the third Variable Problem **Experimental** - Pro: Allows for causal conclusions - Con: ### Developmental Designs Basic Research designs specific to developmental research - Cross-sectional research - Longitudinal research - Cross-sequential research ### Popular Designs for studying development **Cross-Sectional Designs** - Studying people of different ages (cohorts) at the same time - 3 groups compared at one time - Pros- Easy to conduct, shows age dif. - Cons-Cohort effects differences may be due to cultural and/or historical dif. - No info on the developmental of an individual ### Continued... Research Methods ### Popular designs for studying development **Longitudial Design** •Observes people of a given cohort repeatedly over time Pros •Provides info. on an individual development • Shows now early experiencer con have lasting effects Lons •very time consuming •Practice effects •Hard to get participation to remain in the study (ie attrition) **Cross-Sequential Design** • observe people from different cohorts (cross-sectional) repeatedly over bime (Longitudial) Pros • Best of both Cross sectional and Longitudinal design Cons • Still relatively time consuming • Can be very expensive **Research Ethics** • Researchers must follow a code of ethics • Set of moral principles 1. Informed Consent Parental Consent AND adolescent assent 2. Benefits-to-risk Ratio 3. Confidentiality 4. Protection from harm 5. Participation can end at any time