Week 11 - Physical & Cognitive Dev Adolescence PDF

Physical & Cognitive Development in Adolescence PSY 323 – Professor Agbayani First…what is adolescence? Often defined as beginning with puberty, and ending when we are “adults” Commonly accepted: starting around age 12 Physical development in adolescence has evolved histori...

Physical & Cognitive Development in Adolescence PSY 323 – Professor Agbayani First…what is adolescence? Often defined as beginning with puberty, and ending when we are “adults” Commonly accepted: starting around age 12 Physical development in adolescence has evolved historically, partly because of developments in medicine & nutrition ○ This stage is lengthening/including more individuals Conceptions of Adolescence Biological perspective: ○ Puberty: usually seen as a time of “hormonal storms” and stress Social perspective: ○ Role of social and cultural influences ○ Wide variability in adolescent adjustment Balanced point of view: ○ Biological, psychological, and social influences ○ Cultural variation in length and demands of adolescence Hormonal Changes in Puberty Pituitary gland initiates release of various hormones involved Release of growth hormone (GH) from the pituitary gland and thyroxine (T4) from the thyroid gland ○ growth spurts & changes in metabolism Hormonal Changes in Puberty Androgens: Group of hormones produced largely by the adrenal gland & testes (e.g. testosterone), but also produced in adolescents with ovaries Estrogens: produced largely by the ovaries (e.g. estradiol), but also produced in adolescents with testes Hormones are not the whole story – chromosomes also control some differences independent of hormones (take Human Sexuality to learn more :D) Motor Development and Physical Activity Improvement in gross-motor development with puberty Decline in physical education and daily free-time physical activity with age ○ What did your PE requirements look like in middle school & high school? How did this differ from elementary school? ○ Are there adolescents in your life now (that you live/work with) that have even MORE different P.E. requirements? Brain Development in Adolescence White matter increases, gray matter declines: ○ Pruning of unused synapses continues. ○ Myelination accelerates, strengthening connections among brain regions. ○ Prefrontal cortex in progress through mid-20s Brain Development in Adolescence Neurons become more sensitive to excitatory neurotransmitters like dopamine. Changes in emotional/social network outpace development of prefrontal cognitive-control network. Brain development: The limbic system in adolescence Includes structures important for emotion, motivation, memory: Hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus Communicates with other brain areas which use dopamine – high feelings of reward, also linked to motor function BUT prefrontal cortex does not fully develop until the mid-20s Improvements in memory in adolescence Improvements in memory in adolescence 3 processes of the memory system: 1) Encoding—sensory information to short-term memory 2) Consolidation—short-term memory may be consolidated into long-term memory 3) Retrieval—stored information in long-term memory is retrieved Improvements in memory in adolescence - Adolescents can go through each of the 3 steps quicker/more efficiently, processing more information - Memory also related to sleep, which may not be high- quality in adolescents Sleep Habits in Adolescence Adolescents need almost as much sleep as they did in middle childhood: 8 to 10 hours. Teenagers go to bed later because of: ○ biological changes. ○ evening social activities, use of screen media. Sleep deprivation ○ affects performance on cognitive tasks. ○ may lead to anxiety symptoms and low mood. ○ is associated with high-risk behaviors. What can we do to improve sleep among teens? Parents can model & encourage habits that help promote good sleep Health care professionals can educate adolescent patients and their parents about the importance of sleep/factors that affect it School officials can learn more about research connecting sleep and school start times. Sleep & nutrition impact cognitive function Piaget: cognitive theory, Formal Operational Stage Around age 11, young people develop the capacity for abstract, systematic, scientific reasoning: ○ hypothetico-deductive reasoning ○ propositional thought (“If this happens, then….”) Piaget: cognitive theory, Formal Operational Stage Formal operational adolescents don’t need to refer to concrete things or events that they’ve experienced/observed They can discuss fully hypothetical scenarios Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning Start with hypothesis: prediction about how variables affect an outcome. (e.g., temperature affects how long cookie dough needs to stay in the oven) From hypothesis, deduce logical, testable inferences. (e.g., using a higher temperature will shorten cookie bake time!!) Systematically isolate & combine variables to see how inferences play out in the real world (e.g., actually bake cookies at the higher temperature) Propositional Thought Adolescents can evaluate logic of propositions (verbal statements) without referring to real-world circumstances. Piaget acknowledged importance of language in formal operations. Notes on Formal Operational Stage – more research Hypothetico-deductive reasoning: ○ School-age children actually show some hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Propositional thinking: ○ 4- to 6-year-olds can reason logically in pretend play. They have difficulty with reasoning that contradicts their lived reality. Do All Individuals Reach the Formal Operational Stage? People are best able to think abstractly and systematically if they’ve had extensive guidance and practice. Without opportunity to solve hypothetical problems, people may not display formal operations. Adolescent egocentrism Piaget: once adolescents can understand abstract thoughts, they enter a world of hypothetical possibilities and demonstrate a heightened self-focus Egocentricity comes from attributing unlimited power to their own thoughts (thinking their reasoning is superior) Adolescent egocentrism Failure to differentiate between perceptions about self and how other perceive us: assuming everyone notices all the same things Anticipating the reactions of others, constructing an imaginary audience ○ Believing that those around them are as concerned and focused on their appearance as they themselves are – contributes to self-consciousness Adolescent egocentrism Personal fable: belief that we are unique, special, and invulnerable to harm. Adolescents increasingly perceive selves as important to others (the imaginary audience), they regard themselves & their feelings as being special and unique. Consequences: adolescents may believe that only they have experienced strong and diverse emotions, and therefore others could never understand how they feel.