CDV 360 Midterm Study Guide PDF

Midterm study guide Adolescents in US in 1900s Life-cycle service faded during the 18th and 19th centuries. As the American population grew and the national economy became less based in farming and more industrialized, young people increasingly left their small towns in their late te...

Midterm study guide Adolescents in US in 1900s Life-cycle service faded during the 18th and 19th centuries. As the American population grew and the national economy became less based in farming and more industrialized, young people increasingly left their small towns in their late teens for the growing cities. In the cities, without ties to a family or community, young people soon became regarded as a social problem in many respects. rates of crime, premarital sex, and alcohol use among young people all increased in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In response, new institutions of social control developed—religious associations, literary societies, YMCAs, and YWCAs—where young people were monitored by adults (Kett, 1977). This approach worked remarkably well: In the second half of the 19th century, rates of crime, premarital pregnancies, alcohol use, and other problems among young people all dropped sharply. “Age of adolescence” in Western countries Key changes during these years included the enactment of laws restricting child labor, new requirements for children to attend secondary school, and the development of the field of adolescence as an area of scholarly study. For these reasons, historians call the years 1890–1920 the “Age of Adolescence”. Toward the end of the 19th century, the industrial revolution was proceeding at full throttle in the United States and other Western countries. There was a tremendous demand for labor to staff the mines, shops, and factories. Adolescents and even preadolescent children were especially in demand, because they could be hired cheaply. ○ As more and more young people entered the workplace, however, concern for them also increased among urban reformers, youth workers, and educators. In the view of these adults, the young people were being exploited and harmed (physically and morally) by their involvement in adult work. These activists successfully fought for legislation that prohibited companies from hiring preteen children and severely limited the number of hours young people could work in their early teens Up until the late 19th century, many states did not have any laws requiring children to attend school, and those that did required attendance only through primary school. However, between 1890 and 1920 states began to pass laws requiring attendance not only in primary school but in secondary school as well. As a consequence, the proportion of adolescents in school increased dramatically; in 1890, only 5% of young people age 14 to 17 were in school, but by 1920 this figure had risen to 30% ○ This change contributed to making this time the Age of Adolescence because it marked a more distinct separation between adolescence as a period of continued schooling and adulthood as a period that begins after schooling is finished. The third major contributor to making the years 1890–1920 the Age of Adolescence was the work of G. Stanley Hall and the beginning of the study of adolescence as a distinct field.  ○ Hall did a great deal to focus attention and concern on adolescents, not only among scholars but among the public at large. Thus, he was perhaps the most important figure in making the years 1890–1920 the Age of Adolescence. G. Stanley Hall and his contribution to the research of adolescence The third major contributor to making the years 1890–1920 the Age of Adolescence was the work of G. Stanley Hall and the beginning of the study of adolescence as a distinct field The founder of the scholarly study of adolescence Received the first Phd in psychology in the U.S. Founder of the American Psychological Association First president of Clark University (one of the first research universities in the U.S) Child study movement: Late 19th century group, led by G. Stanley Hall, that advected research on child and adolescent development and the improvement of conditions for children and adolescents in the family, school, and workplace Hall (1904) wrote the first textbook on adolescence, published in 1904 as a two-volume set ambitiously titled Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion, and Education. ○ Hall’s text covered a wide range of topics, such as physical health and development, adolescence cross-culturally and historically, and adolescent love. A surprising number of Hall’s observations have been verified by recent research, such as his description of biological development during puberty, his assertion that depressed mood tends to peak in the mid-teens, and his claim that adolescence is a time of heightened responsiveness to peers (Arnett, 2006a). However, much of what he wrote is dated and obsolete. Recapitulation: It holds the notion that the development of each individual recapitulates or reenacts the evolutionary development of the human species as a whole (Repeats itself, coming from the ancestor and has the developmental states). This theory now is discredited and obsolete. Storm and stress: Theory promoted by G. Stanley Hall asserting that adolescence is inevitably a time of mood disruptions, conflict with parents, and antisocial behavior Nevertheless, Hall did a great deal to focus attention and concern on adolescents, not only among scholars but among the public at large. Thus, he was perhaps the most important figure in making the years 1890–1920 the Age of Adolescence. Puberty The changes in physiology, anatomy, and physical functioning that develop a person into a mature adult biologically and prepare the body for sexual reproduction The endocrine system is a network of glands in the body. Through hormones, the glands coordinate their functioning and affect the development and functioning of the body Stratified sampling research, longitudinal research, random sampling, ethnographic research Stratified sampling: Sampling technique in which researchers select participants so that various categories of people are represented in portions equal to their presence in the population. For example; If we know that 52% of 13-17 year olds in the U.S. are female, we want the sample to be 52% females. Or if we know that 13% of 13-17 year olds are African American, the sample should be 13% African American. Longitudinal research: the same people are followed over time and data are collected on two or more occasions. The length of longitudinal research designs varies widely, from a few weeks or months to years or even decades Random sampling: Sampling technique in which the people selected for participation in a study are chosen randomly, meaning that no one in the population has a better or worse chance of being selected than anyone else. Ethnographic research: In this method researchers spend a considerable amount of time with the people they wish to study, often by actually living among them. Information gained in ethnographic research typically comes from researchers’ observations, experiences, and informal conversations with the people they are studying. Globalization Increasing worldwide technological and economic integration, which is making different parts of the world increasingly connected and increasingly similar culturally ○ Globalization means that the world is becoming “smaller,” more homogeneous, due to increased connections in trade, travel, technology, and leisure. As a consequence of the globalization of adolescence and emerging adulthood, young people around the world experience increasingly similar environments. Adolescents and emerging adults in many parts of the world are growing up listening to much of the same music, watching many of the same movies, going to school for an increasing number of years, learning how to use personal computers, drinking the same soft drinks, and wearing the same brands of blue jeans. The appeal of being connected to a global culture appears to be especially high among adolescents and emerging adults Independent and interdependent self Independent self: A conception of the self typically found in individualistic cultures, in which the self is seen as existing independently of relations with others, with an emphasis on independence, individual freedoms, and individual achievements. Interdependent self: A conception of the self typically found in collectivistic cultures, in which the self is seen as defined by roles and relationships within the group. Early adolescence, older adolescence (age groups) Early adolescence: Period of human development lasting from about age 10 to about age 14 Late adolescence: Period of human development lasting from about age 15 to about age 18 Hypothalamus, pituitary glands, gonads Hypothalamus: the “master gland”, located in lower part of the brain beneath the cortex, that affects a wide range of physiological and psychological functioning and stimulates and regulates the production of hormones by other glands, including the ones involved in the initiation of puberty. Pituitary gland: A gland about half an long located at the base of the brain that releases gonadotropins as part of the body’s preparation for reproduction Gonads: the ovaries and testicles. Also known as the sex glands Sex hormones: estrogens androgen, testosterone Sex hormones: androgens and estrogens that cause the development of primary and secondary sex characteristics Estrogen: the sex hormones that have especially high levels in females from puberty onward and are mostly responsible for female primary and secondary sex characteristics. Androgens: sex hormones that have especially high levels in males from puberty onward and are mostly responsible for male primary and secondary sex characteristics Estradiol: The estrogen most important in pubertal development among girls Testosterone: the androgen most important in pubertal development among boys Growth spurt The rapid increase in height that takes place at the beginning of puberty ○ One of the earliest signs of puberty for both girls and boys is the adolescent growth spurt. Asynchronicity Uneven growth of different parts of the body during puberty ○ explains why some adolescents have a “gangly” look early in puberty, as some parts of the body grow faster than others Primary and secondary sex characteristics Primary sex characteristics: the production of eggs and sperm and the development of the sex organs Secondary sex characteristics: Bodily changes of puberty not directly related to reproduction, such as the beard for men and breast development for women Adolescence and physical changes (males and females) Both males and females grow hair in their pubic areas and underneath their arms. Both also grow facial hair—you knew that males do, but you may not have realized that females also grow hair, just a slight amount, on their faces during puberty. Similarly, increased hairiness on the arms and legs is more pronounced in males, but females also  grow more hair on their limbs at puberty. Boys also begin to grow hair on their chests, and sometimes on their shoulders and backs as well, whereas girls typically do not Both males and females experience various changes in their skin (Tanner, 1971). The sweat glands in the skin increase production, making the skin oilier and more prone to acne, and resulting in a stronger body odor. males and females both experience a deepening of the voice as the vocal cords lengthen, with males experiencing a steeper drop in pitch. For girls, the breasts go through a series of predictable stages of development. The earliest indication of breast development, a slight enlargement of the breasts known as breast buds, is also one of the first outward signs of puberty in most girls During this early stage, there is also an enlargement of the area surrounding the nipple, called the areola. In the later stages of breast development, the breasts continue to enlarge, and the areola first rises with the nipple to form a mound above the breast, then recedes to the level of the breast while the nipple remains projected. Secular trend A change in the characteristics of a population over time.  ○ Ex: Persuasive evidence for the influence of technologies on pubertal timing comes from historical records showing a steady decrease in the average age of menarche in western countries over the past 150 years Parent-adolescent relationship For the most part, studies of adolescents and their parents in the american majority culture find that relations tend to become cooler when pubertal changes become evident Conflict increases and closeness decreases. Parents and adolescents seem to be less comfortable in each other’s presence when puberty is reached, especially in their physical closeness ○ Distancing is also not typical in traditional cultures. Schlegel and Barry’s (1991) survey of traditional cultures found that girls in traditional cultures often grow closer to their mothers during adolescence because they often spend much of their days side by side in shared labor. Furthermore, in nearly all cultures, adolescents of both sexes tend to be closer to their mothers than to their fathers Relationship between adolescents and stepparents Piaget’s cognitive developmental stages Believed that cognitive development proceeds in distinct stages Each stage involves a different way of thinking about the world. The idea of cognitive stages means that each person’s cognitive abilities are organized into a coherent mental structure; a person who thinks within a particular stage in one aspect of life should think within that stage in all other aspects of life as well because all thinking is part of the same mental structure Sensorimotor stage 0-2: learning how to coordinate the activities of the senses (such as watching an object as it moves across your field of vision) with motor activities (such as reaching out to grab the object). Preoperational stage 2-7: The child becomes capable of representing the world symbolically, through the use of language and in play such as using a broom to represent a horse. However, children in this stage are still very limited in their ability to use mental operations—that is, in their ability to manipulate objects mentally and reason about them in a way that accurately represents how the world works. (easily enchanted by stories about how a pumpkin changed into a stagecoach or a frog into a prince, because with their limited understanding of the world these are not just fanciful tales but real possibilities) Concrete operations 7-11: children become more adept at using mental operations, and this skill leads to a more advanced understanding of the world. They understand that if you take water from one glass and pour it into a taller, thinner glass, the amount of water remains the same. However, children in this stage focus on what can be experienced and manipulated in the physical environment. They have difficulty transferring their  reasoning to situations and problems that require them to think systematically about possibilities and hypotheses. Formal operations 11-15/20: begins at about age 11 and reaches completion somewhere between ages 15 and 20, according to Piaget, so this is the stage most relevant to cognitive development in adolescence. Children in concrete operations can perform simple tasks that require logical and systematic thinking, but formal operations allow adolescents to reason about complex tasks and problems involving multiple variables. Essentially, formal operations involve the development of the ability to think scientifically and apply the rigor of the scientific method to cognitive tasks Assimilation/accommodation The two processes involved in the use of schemes are assimilation and accommodation Assimilation: The cognitive process that occurs when new information is altered to fit an existing scheme. Accommodation: The cognitive process that occurs when a scheme is changed to adapt to new information. Limitations of Piaget’s theory Individual differences in formal operations: Approach to research that focuses on how individuals differ within a group, for example, in performance of IQ tests. ○ Research shows that a great range of individual differences exists in the extent to which people use formal operations ○ A person can use his or her formal operational cognition based on his or her area of interest. For example, an adolescent with experience working on cars may find it easy to apply principles of formal operations in that area but have difficulty performing classroom tasks that require formal operations Culture and formal operation: In many cultures formal operational thought (as measured with Piagetian tasks) does not appear to develop in most people, and this is particularly true in cultures that do not have formal schooling. Studies show that formal operations constitute a universal human potential, but the forms it takes in each culture are derived from the kinds of cognitive requirements people in the culture they face. In every culture there is likely to be considerable variation in the extent to which adolescents and adults display formal operational thought, from people who display it in a wide variety of circumstances to persons who display it little or not at all. Pragmatism Type of thinking that involves adapting logical thinking to the practical constraints of real-life situations. ○ Theories of postformal thought emphasizing pragmatism have been developed by several scholars (Basseches, 1989; labouvie vief, 2006; Sinnott, 2003). All these theories propose that the problems faced in normal adult life often contain complexities and inconsistencies that cannot be addressed with the logic of formal operations.  ○ Ex: labouvie-vief (1990) presented adolescents and emerging adults with stories and asked them to predict what they thought would happen. One story described a man who was a heavy drinker, especially at parties. His wife had warned him that if he came home drunk one more time, she would leave him and take the children. Some time later he went to an office party and came home drunk. What would she do? labouvie-vief found that adolescents tended to respond strictly in terms of the logic of formal operations: The wife said she would leave if her husband came home drunk once more. He came home drunk; therefore, she will leave. In contrast, emerging adults considered many possible dimensions of the situation. Did he apologize and beg her not to leave? Did she really mean it when she said she would leave him? Does she have some place to go? Has she considered the possible effects on the children? Rather than relying strictly on logic, with a belief in definite wrong and right answers, the emerging adults tended to be postformal thinkers in the sense that they realized that the problems of real life often involve a great deal of complexity and ambiguity. However, labouvie-vief (2006) emphasizes that with postformal thinking as with formal thinking, not everyone continues to move to higher levels of cognitive complexity, and many people continue to apply earlier, more concrete thinking in emerging adulthood and beyond. Perry’s (1970/1999) reflective order of judgment Reflective judgment: The capacity to evaluate the accuracy and logical coherence of evidence and arguments. ○ another cognitive quality that has been found to develop in emerging adulthood ○ William Perry (1970/1999), who based his theory on his studies of college students in their late teens and early 20s. ○ According to Perry (1970/1999), adolescents and first-year college students tend to engage in dualistic thinking, which means they often see situations and issues in polarized terms—an act is either right or wrong, with no in-between; a statement is either true or false, regardless of the nuances or the situation to which it is being applied. In this sense, they lack reflective judgment. However, reflective judgment begins to develop for most people in their late teens. First a stage of multiple thinking takes place, in which emerging adults believe there are two or more sides to every story, two or more legitimate views of every issue, and that it can be difficult to justify one position as the only true or accurate one. In this stage, people tend to value all points of view equally, even to the extent of asserting that it is impossible to make any judgments about whether one point of view is more valid than another ○ By the early 20s, according to Perry, multiple thinking develops into relativism. Like people in the stage of multiple thinking, relativists are able to recognize the legitimacy of competing points of view. However, rather than denying that one view could be more persuasive than another, relativists attempt to compare the merits of competing views. Finally, by the end of their college years, many emerging adults reach a stage of commitment in which they commit themselves  to certain points of view they believe to be the most valid, while being open to reevaluating their views if new evidence is presented to them. The capacities of information processing model The information-processing approach to understanding cognitive development in adolescence is quite different from the cognitive-developmental approach. rather than viewing cognitive development as discontinuous, that is, as separated into distinct stages, the way Piaget did, the information-processing approach views cognitive change as continuous, meaning gradual and steady The information-processing approach usually does not have a developmental focus. The focus is not on how mental structures and ways of thinking change with age but on the thinking processes that exist at all ages. Information Processing researchers and theorists have tried to break down human thinking into separate parts in the same way that the functions of a computer are separated into capacities for attention, processing, and memory. Recent models of information processing have moved away from a simple-computer analogy and recognized that the brain is more complex than any computer. Rather than occurring in a step-by-step fashion as in a computer, in human thinking, the different components operate simultaneously. Information processing begins with stimulus information that enters the senses, but much of what you see, hear, and touch is processed no further. The only information you process is the information on which you focus your attention. Memory is a key part of information processing, perhaps even the most important part. Drawing your attention to something and processing information about it would not do you much good if you could not store the results in your memory and call them back into your mind when you needed them. Selective attention, short-term memory, long-term memory Selective attention: The ability to focus on relevant information while screening out information that is irrelevant. ○ Ex: reading a book while someone else in the same room is watching TV Short-term memory: Memory for information that is the current focus of attention.  ○ It has a limited capacity and retains information for only about 30 seconds or less. Long-term memory: Memory for information that is committed to longer-term storage, so that it can be drawn upon after a period when attention has not been focused on it. ○ The capacity of long-term memory is unlimited, and information is retained indefinitely Mnemonic devices Memory strategies ○ Adolescents are more likely than preadolescent children to use mnemonic devices (memory strategies), such as organizing information into coherent patterns Critical thinking Thinking that involves not merely memorizing information but analyzing it, making judgments about what it means, relating it to other information, and considering ways in which it might be valid or invalid. ○ First, a wider range of knowledge is available in long-term memory, across a variety of domains; thus, the ability to analyze and make judgments about new information is enhanced because more previous knowledge is available for comparison. Second, the ability to consider different kinds of knowledge simultaneously is increased, which makes it possible to think of new combinations of knowledge. Third, more metacognitive strategies are available for applying or gaining knowledge, such as planning and monitoring one’s own comprehension; these strategies make it possible to think more critically about what one is learning Mutual perspective thinking According to Selman, in early adolescence, about ages 10 to 12, children become capable for the first time of mutual perspective taking. That is, early adolescents understand that their perspective-taking interactions with others are mutual—just as you understand that another person has a perspective that is different from your own, you also realize that other people understand that you have a perspective that is different from theirs. ○ Also, unlike younger children, early adolescents have begun to be able to imagine how their view and the view of another person might appear to a third person. Symbolic inheritance The set of ideas and understandings, both implicit and explicit, about people, society, nature, and divinity that serve as a guide to life in a particular culture. It is expressed symbolically through stories, songs, rituals, sacred objects, and sacred places.  ○ A culture’s symbolic inheritance is the basis for its norms and standards (Shweder et al., 2006). The symbolic inheritance usually includes beliefs about the ultimate meaning of human life and the place of an individual’s life in the vast scheme of things. Sometimes these beliefs are religious and include ideas about where the soul of the individual came from and where it goes after death. (The idea of the soul—an intangible, individual human identity that is distinct from our bodily natures—is nearly universal in cultures’ religious beliefs.) ○ cultural beliefs include both the beliefs that constitute a culture’s symbolic inheritance and the norms and moral standards that arise from these beliefs. Self-regulation The capacity for exercising self-control to restrain one’s impulses and comply with social norms ○ This includes the development of a conscience, which is the internal monitor of whether you are complying adequately with social norms; when your conscience determines that you are not, you experience guilt. Individualistic and collectivistic cultures Individualism: Cultural belief system that emphasizes the desirability of independence, self-sufficiency, and self-expression. ○ the importance of learning to stand alone as a self- sufficient person without relying on anyone else. The values of individualism, such as independence and self- expression. Collectivism: A set of beliefs asserting that it is important for people to mute their individual desires to contribute to the wellbeing and success of the group. Includes values of duty and obligations to others. Cultures differ widely in their socialization values. For example, whether cultures place more value on independence and self-expression or on obedience and conformity as the characteristics they wish to promote in their children. Scholars have examined differences in values and beliefs among people in a wide range of cultures and have consistently found people in Western cultures to be more individualistic and people in Eastern cultures to be more collectivistic Asian, Latinos, and Caucasian cultures in adolescents Asian: ○ The cultures of Asia have been profoundly influenced by Confucianism, a set of beliefs and precepts attributed to the philosopher Confucius, who lived around 550 to 480 b.c. One of the tenets of Confucianism is filial piety, which holds that children should respect, obey, and revere their parents, especially the father. Part of filial piety is the expectation that the children, in particular the oldest son, have the responsibility of caring for their parents when the parents become elderly (Lieber et al., 2004). Consequently, Asian adolescents are more likely than adolescents in other parts of the world to have a grandparent living in their household. The Confucian tradition places a strong emphasis on education,  which is one of the reasons for the intense focus on education in the lives of young people in Asian cultures today. Asian American adolescents are also more collectivistic and less individualistic than adolescents in the American majority culture. They spend more time carrying out family chores, and like Latino adolescents they express a strong sense of duty and obligation to their families (Russell et al., 2010). In their conceptions of what it means to be an adult, nearly all Asian American emerging adults believe that becoming capable of supporting their parents financially is essential (Arnett, 2015); this belief is one aspect of their collectivism. Latinos: ○ Among Latinos, obedience to parents and obligations to family are strongly emphasized. Adolescents in Latino families generally accept the authority of the parents and express a strong sense of obligation and attachment to their families. The role of women was concentrated on caring for children, taking care of the home, and providing emotional support for the husband. Historically, the Catholic Church has been very strong among Latinos, and women have been taught to emulate the virgin Mary by being submissive and self denying, a cultural belief known as marianismo. The role of men, in contrast, has been guided by the ideology of machismo, which emphasizes males’ dominance over females. Men have been expected to be the undisputed head of the household and to demand respect and obedience from their wives and children. The traditional aspects of manhood have been strong among Latinos— providing for a family, protecting the family from harm, and procreating a large family. Among Latinos, obedience to parents and obligations to family are strongly emphasized. Adolescents in Latino families generally accept the authority of the parents and express a strong sense of obligation and attachment to their families Caucasian: ○ evidence comes from a famous study conducted by Helen and Robert Lynd in the 1920s, describing life in a typical American community they called “Middletown” (actually Muncie, Indiana). ○ Fifty years later, another group of researchers returned to Middletown and asked the residents many of the same questions, including the ones about child-rearing beliefs. ○ The results indicate that the child-rearing beliefs of the American majority culture changed dramatically over the 20th century. narrow socialization values such as obedience and loyalty to church declined in importance, whereas broad socialization values such as independence and tolerance became central to parents’ child-rearing beliefs. ○ This change was reflected in behavioral differences in Middletown adolescents, particularly girls. In more recent times, adolescent girls had become substantially more independent from their parents, spending more of their time away from home and depending less on their parents for money and for information about sex. Other studies have confirmed this trend in the cultural beliefs of the  American majority culture during the 20th century, away from obedience and conformity and toward individualism ○ Even though the United States has a long tradition of valuing individualism, individualistic beliefs have evidently grown stronger during the past century, and adolescents in the American majority culture today are growing up at a time when individualism is more highly valued than in the past. This value on individualism has remained strong in the united States in the 21st century Adolescents and religion In every developed country, the influence of religion has gradually faded over the past two centuries. Adherence to religious beliefs and practices is especially low among adolescents in Europe. For example, a recent survey of adolescents in Germany, England, and the Netherlands found that they rarely attended religious services and religious beliefs played little role in their lives—except for adolescents in immigrant families, who were far more religious. Americans are more religious than people in virtually any other developed country, and this is reflected in the lives of American adolescents and emerging adults ○ The religious beliefs of American adolescents do not tend to follow traditional doctrines, and they often know little about the doctrine of the religion they claim to follow. Instead, they tend to embrace a general set of beliefs that Smith and Denton (2005) call “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism,” with the following features: 1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth. 2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions. 3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself. 4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when needed to resolve a problem. 5. Good people go to heaven when they die Social desirability The tendency for people participating in social science studies to report their behavior as they believe it would be approved by others rather than as it actually occurred. ○ socially desirable behavior is behavior that you believe others would approve. Joseph Adelson’s political development in adolescents He used hypothetical situations to elicit adolescents’ thinking about political arrangements and ideas, and he explained political development in terms of the cognitive changes of adolescence. ○ Adelson and his colleagues examined political development in relation to age, gender, social class, and IQ, but the only variable found to be related to political thinking was age. Studying adolescents ages 11 to 18, they found a profound shift in political thinking beginning at ages 12 to 13 and completed by ages 15 to  16. The shift involved three key changes: a change in what Adelson called “cognitive mode,” a sharp decline in support for authoritarian political systems, and the development of the capacity for ideology ○ The change in cognitive mode included several changes related to the development of formal operations, such as increased use of abstract ideas and increased tendency to see laws as human constructions rather than as absolute and unchangeable. Older adolescents were more likely than younger adolescents to use abstract ideas instead of concrete examples. For example, when asked about the purpose of laws, a typical older adolescent responded, “to ensure safety and enforce the government,” whereas a typical younger adolescent said laws are necessary “so people don’t steal or kill.” ○ Changes in cognitive mode also led to changes in adolescents’ views of laws. The youngest adolescents viewed laws as eternal and unchangeable. However, by about age 15, adolescents were more likely to see laws as social constructions that could be changed if the people governed by them wished to change them. In Adelson’s view, this reflected the development of formal operations and a growing tendency to see laws less as concrete objects and more as social arrangements subject to change. This is similar to what Kohlberg described in moral development as the progression from Level 1 thinking, emphasizing a fixed moral code, to Level 2 thinking, emphasizing the changeable, socially created quality of moral and legal rules. Kohlberg and Adelson found a similar change at a similar time, from ages 10 to 15. ○ The second key change observed by Adelson and his colleagues between early and late adolescence was a sharp decline in authoritarian political views. younger adolescents tended to be remarkably authoritarian. ○ The third key change involved the capacity to develop an ideology. This means that the older adolescents had constructed a set of beliefs that served as the basis for their political attitudes. Gender role, gender identity, sex Gender roles: Cultural beliefs about the kinds of work, appearance, and other aspects of behavior that distinguish women from men Gender identity: Children’s understanding of themselves as being either male or female, reached at about age 3. ○ Once children possess gender identity, they use gender as a way of organizing information obtained from the world around them. Certain toys become “toys that girls play with,” whereas others are “toys that boys play with.” Sex: The biological status of being male or female. ○ Use of the term sex implies that the characteristics of males and females have a biological basis. Use of the term gender implies that characteristics of males and females may be due to cultural and social beliefs, influences, and perceptions.  ○ For example, the fact that males grow more muscular at puberty and females develop breasts is a sex difference. However, the fact that girls tend to have a more negative body image than males in adolescence is a gender difference Protect, Provide, and procreate Protect: In the manhood requirements of traditional cultures, the requirement of being able to assist in protecting one’s family and community from human and animal attackers. ○ He learns this by acquiring the skills of warfare and the capacity to use weapons. Conflict between human groups has been a fact of life for most cultures throughout human history, so this is a pervasive requirement Provide: In the manhood requirements of traditional cultures, the requirement of being able to provide economically for one’s self as well as a wife and children. ○ For example, if adult men mainly fish, the adolescent boy must demonstrate that he has learned the skills involved in fishing adequately enough to provide for a family. Procreate: In the manhood requirements of traditional cultures, the requirement of being able to function sexually well enough to produce children. ○ He gains this experience not to demonstrate his sexual attractiveness but so that he can prove that in marriage he will be able to perform well enough sexually to produce children What must an adolescent boy in traditional cultures do to achieve manhood and escape the stigma of being viewed as a failed man? The anthropologist David Gilmore (1990) analyzed this question across traditional cultures around the world in his book Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity. He concludes that in most cultures an adolescent boy must demonstrate three capacities before he can be considered a man: provide, protect, and procreate Female circumcision For adolescent girls, the procedure and consequences of circumcision are considerably different than male circumcision. Female circumcision takes a variety of forms, but it nearly always involves the clitoris, where female sexual sensations are concentrated. In some cultures the hood of the clitoris is cut off, in some the entire clitoris is cut off, and in yet others the clitoris is cut off along with parts of the labia minora and the labia majora. Although the circumcision of adolescent girls is not performed publicly as it usually is for boys, and although girls are not expected to remain silent and stoic during the procedure, the physical consequences of circumcision are much more severe for them. Typically, a great deal of bleeding occurs, and the possibility of infection is high. Afterward many girls have chronic pain whenever they menstruate or urinate, and their  risks of urinary infections and childbirth complications are heightened. Furthermore, the operation makes sexual intercourse less pleasurable. Women in 18th and 19th century America Many people in the 18th and 19th centuries were vehemently opposed to the idea that females should be allowed to attend colleges and universities. ○ Arguments against allowing young women the opportunity for higher education had two main features. One was the claim that “too much” education for young women would be hazardous to them, because it would spoil their feminine qualities and because it might exhaust them and even make them ill. A second was the claim that women were inherently inferior to men intellectually, and therefore, higher education would be wasted on them. Adolescent girls growing up in the American middle class in the 18th and 19th centuries faced expectations that both constricted and supported them more than American adolescent girls experience today ○ They were narrowly constricted in terms of the occupational roles they were allowed to study or enter. Few professions other than teacher, nurse, or seamstress were considered appropriate for a woman. In fact, no profession at all was considered best, so that a young woman could focus on her future roles of wife and mother Adolescent girls were also constricted by cultural perceptions of females, especially young females, as fragile and innocent. ○ One key reason they were discouraged from pursuing a profession was that intellectual work was considered “unhealthy” for women. This view was connected to beliefs about menstruation, specifically the belief that intellectual work would draw a woman’s energy toward her brain and away from her ovaries, thus disrupting her menstrual cycle and endangering her health. Differential gender socialization The term for socializing males and females according to different expectations about what attitudes and behavior are appropriate to each gender. ○ Differential gender socialization leads males and females to develop different skills and attitudes, which leads to different behaviors. The differences in behavior seem to confirm the appropriateness of the different roles Cognitive developmental theory of gender Kohlberg’s theory, based on Piaget’s ideas about cognitive development, asserting that gender is a fundamental way of organizing ideas about the world and that children develop through a predictable series of stages in their understanding of gender. ○ Socialization interacts with cognitive development to produce adolescents’ ideas about gender