Physical

1
Physical Cognitive Development in Adolescence

• Chapter 11
• By Lena Little Pam Nelson

2
Physical Cognitive Development in Adolescence

• Chapter Objectives
• How should we define Adolescence?
• What are the leading theories that attempt to
  explain adolescence?
• What are the key factors of physical development
  in adolescence?
• How does cognitive develop during the adolescent
  years?

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Define Adolescence

• Lerner characterized the adolescent transition in
  4 traits
• Relative plasticity Always the potential for
  change
• Relationism Basis for change lies in the
  multiple levels of the individuals relationship
  with others.

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• Historical embeddedness No level of organization
  functions as a result of its own isolated
  activity. All change is meaningful only in the
  context of the historical time in which it
  occurs.
• Diversity and individual difference The emphasis
  is on the variety of ways individuals learn to
  cope with themselves and their environment.

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When does adolescence start?

• At what point did you start? Many answers has
  been offer on page 305 of your text book.
• Probably the must reliable indication of the
  onset of adolescence is a sharp increase in the
  production of the 4 hormones that most affect
  sexuality progesterone, estrogen,( females)
  testosterone androgen( males).

6
G.Stanley Hall

• G. Stanley Hall is known as the father of
  adolescent psychology. He also constructed a
  psychological theory of teenage development. A
  major aspect of this theory was his speculation
  that this stage of life is characterized by
  storm and stress,that most teens are by nature
  moody and untrustworthy.

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Theories of Adolescence

• In this section, three famous adolescent
  theorists are reviewed
• 1. Anna Freud Psychological Theory
• -Daughter of Sigmund Freud, believed
  that his definition of adolescence was too
  sketchy.She saw the major problem of adolescence
  as being the restoration of the delicate balance
  between the ego and the id, which is established
  during latency and disrupted by puberty.

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Theories of Adolescence cont..

• Anna Freud describes two additional adolescent
  defense mechanisms
• 1. Asceticism, in which, as a defense against the
  sexual, sinful drives of the youth, the
  teenager frequently becomes extremely religious
  and devoted to God.
• 2. Intellectualization, in which the adolescent
  defends against emotionality of all kinds of
  becoming extremely intellectual and logical about
  life.

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Erik Eriksons Psychosocial Theory

• According to Erik Erikson, the main task of the
  adolescent is to achieve a state of identity .
• Repudiation of choice is another essential
  aspect of a persons identity. Striving for
  identity means that we have to repudiate(give up)
  all other possibilities, at least for the
  present. The grass is always greener on the
  other side of the fence.

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Erik Eriksons Psychosocial Theory Cont..

• Erikson saw adolescence as a period of
  moratorium---a time out period during which the
  adolescent experiments with a variety of
  identities, without having to assume the
  responsibility for the consequences of any
  particular one.

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John Hills Biopsychosocial Theory

• John Hill believed that biological factors are in
  the center because they are present at birth, as
  are some of the psychological factors.
  Psychological and social factors begin playing a
  part immediately after birth. A fourth factor
  running through the others is time. The
  integration of intimacy and sex, Hill believed,
  is one of the basic task of adolescence.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
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Your Reproductive System

• What is Puberty?
• A relatively abrupt and qualitatively different
  set of physical changes that normally occur at
  the beginning of the teen years.

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The Female Sexual System

• Bartholins glands
• Cervix
• Clitoris
• Fallopian tubes
• Fimbriae
• Hymen
• Labia majora
• Labia minora

• mons pubis or mons veneris
• Ova
• Ovaries
• Pituitary gland
• Ureter
• Urethra
• Uterus
• Vulva

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The Male Sexual System

• Cowpers glands
• Epididymis
• Foreskin
• Glans penis
• Pituitary gland
• Prostate gland
• Scrotum
• testes
• Ureter

• Urethra
• Vas deferens

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When Does Puberty Start?

• Change in hormonal balance is first, but its
  beginning is difficult to pinpoint. In girls ,
  Menarche, is the major turning point for
  girls.Hormonal changes actually precede menarche
  by about 2 years,or as early as 8 or 9 years old.
  It is suggested that the first ejaculation is the
  beginning of adolescent puberty for males.

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Attitudes Toward Menarche

• Menarche can be an confusing experience.Young
  women learn about this from many different
  sources. Many people fell embarrassment when
  other are discussing such an issue. However, it
  is crucial that young women learn the facts about
  Menarche in a setting that is comfortable to them.

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The Secular Trend

• Secular trend The phenomenon of adolescents
  entering puberty sooner and growing taller and
  heavier.
• In the US, 17 was the average age in the late
  18th and early 19th centuries. By the beginning
  of the 20th century, it was 14.5. Today the
  average age of menarche is 12.5 years, about the
  same as it was in 1955.

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The Secular trend cont.

• Suspected causes for earlier occurrence of these
  aspects of puberty are
• Lack of exercise
• More fat in diet
• Presence of hormonelike chemicals in milk and
  meat.

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Body Image and Eating Disorders

• Eating disorders are the third most common
  chronic condition among adolescents. The two main
  types, anorexia and bulimia nervosa, have in
  common the profound concern about shape and
  weight.
• Anorexia nervosa is a syndrome of self-starvation
  that mainly affects adolescent and young adult
  females, who account for 95 of the known cases.

21
Body Image and Eating Disorders

• The essential features of anorexia nervosa are
  that the individual refuses to maintain a
  minimally normal body weight, is intensely afraid
  of gaining weight, and exhibits significant
  disturbance in the perception of the shape or
  size of his or her body.

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Body Image and Eating Disorders

• Specific criteria for anorexia nervosa are the
  following
• Refusal to maintain body weight at or above
  minimally normal weight for age and height.
• Intense fear for gaining weight or becoming fat,
  even though underweight.

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Body Image and Eating Disorders cont..

• Disturbance in the way in which ones body weight
  or shape is experienced, undue influence of body
  weight, or denial.
• In postmenarche females, amenorrhea (the absence
  of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles).
• Bulimia nervosa is a disorder related to
  anorexia nervosa and sometimes combined with it.
  It is characterized by binge eating.

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Body Image and Eating Disorders cont...

• The specific criteria of bulimia are the
  following
• Recurrent episodes of binge eating
• A sense of lack of control over eating during the
  episode.
• Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behavior in
  order to prevent weight gain, such as
  self-induced vomiting misuse

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Body Image and Eating Disorders cont....

• of laxatives, diuretics, enemas,or other
  medications fasting or excessive exercise.
• The binge eating and inappropriate compensatory
  behaviors both occur, on average, at least twice
  a week for three months.
• Self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body
  shape and weight.
• The disturbance does not occur exclusively during
  episodes of anorexia nervosa.

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The Role of Stress

• The relationship between stress and emotional
  illness is well established. It is important to
  know to what extent adolescents feel that their
  lives are stressful. A significant part of this
  pressure comes from the need to work.

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Cognitive Development

• Adolescence is a complex process of growth and
  change. To understand how abstract thoughts
  develops, we have to know more about cognition
  itself.

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Variables in Cognitive Development Piaget

• Jean Piaget argues that the ability to think
  develops in four stages
• The sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years)
• The preoperational stage (2 to 7 years)
• The concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years.)
• The formal operational stage (11 years)

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Variables in Cognitive Development Piaget

• Culture and gender can also influence cognitive
  development. Piagets theory seems to assume
  that the ideal person at the end point of
  cognitive development resembles a Swiss
  scientist.
• Gender also plays a role in the definition of
  formal operation.

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Emotions and Brain Development

• Some believe that cigar shaped neurons known as
  spindle cells play a large part in how the brain
  creates emotion. These cells are responsible for
  sending socially relevant signals across the
  brain. The reticular activation system (RAS),
  protects the brain from being overwhelmed by
  extraneous data.

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Emotions and Brain Development

• The connection between neurons is responsible for
  communication between the body and the brain. D.
  Arthur Craig laid out the pathway a stimulus
  takes in order to map the connections among
  neurons. As soon as a nerve ending in the body is
  stimulated, a signal is sent to the spinal cord.
  From there, the signal travels to a neuron
  (called the Lamina 1 neuron).

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Emotions and Brain Development

• There it is sorted and sent on to the posterior
  ventromedial nucleus ( a fancy name for a cell
  group in the back of the thalamus). After the
  information is processed here , it is sent on to
  a pair of insulae. Any time one of the five
  senses is extremely stimulated as , for example,
  through a strong odor or bad taste, the blood
  flow to the insulae is increased.

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Emotions and Brain Development Cont..

• In the final step, the information is sent to the
  front part of the right insula where the stimulus
  is turned into a social emotion.
• It is through this path way that the most basic
  aspects of human nature such as love, sadness,
  fear, excitement, and anger are processed.

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Adolescent Egocentrism

• Parents often feel frustrated at the seemingly
  irrational attitudes and behaviors of their
  adolescent children. One explanation is the
  reemergence of a pattern of thought that marked
  early childhood, egocentrism. Adolescent
  egocentrism, a term coined by a Elkind, refers to
  adolescents tendency to exaggerate the
  importance, uniqueness, and severity of social
  and emotional experiences.

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Adolescent Egocentrism cont.

• Elkind sees two components to this
  egocentrism.First, teenagers tend to create an
  imaginary audience. The feel they are on center
  stage, and the rest of the world is constantly
  scrutinizing their behavior and physical
  appearance. The second component of egocentrism
  is the personal fable. This refers to
  adolescences tendency to think of themselves in
  heroic or mythical terms.The result is that they
  exaggerate their own abilities and their
  invincibility.

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Critical Thinking

• Convergent thinking is used when we solve a
  problem by following a series of steps that close
  in on the correct answer.
• Divergent thinking , on the other hand, is just
  the opposite.This is the type of thinking used
  when the problem to be solved has many possible
  answers.

37
Creative Thinking

• Creative thinking appears to have many
  elements----Divergent thinking, fluency,
  flexibility, originality, remote associations.

38
Creativity, Giftedness,and the IQ

• Feldman says that genius, as defined by IQ,
  really only refers to precociousness--- doing
  what others are able to do, but at a younger age.
  Prodigiousness ( as in child prodigy), on the
  other hand, refers to someone who is
  qualitatively higher in ability than the rest of
  us. This is different from simply being able to
  do things sooner.

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Mental Health Issues

• Mental health issues are pertinent for numerous
  reasons, including many adult disorders originate
  in childhood events, childhood mental illness is
  common, and many of these illnesses have a poor
  prognosis. Studies do indicate that, when
  adolescents become seriously disturbed and do not
  receive appropriate treatment quickly, the
  chances of their growing out of their problems
  are dim.

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Mental Health Issues cont..

• Students suffering from serious physical
  ailments, such as deformities and immobility,
  often causes academic and emotional problems.
• Adolescent suicide represents the third leading
  cause of death among teenagers . It is
  estimated that each year approximately 2 million
  US adolescents attempt suicide, and almost
  700,000receive medical attention for their
  attempt.

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Mental Health Issues cont..

• Adolescent males are five times as likely to
  commit suicide as adolescent females.
• A number of factors increase the likely hood of a
  suicide attempt. The overwhelming number of
  adolescents who commit suicide suffer from some
  associated psychiatric disorder, such as a
  pathological level of anxiety.

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Mental Health Issues cont..

• These teens may have poor parent -child
  communication, have experienced a recent
  stressful life event, and\or have a history of
  suicide attempts, substance abuse, and pathology
  and suicidal behavior. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual
  teens and teen survivors of childhood sexual and
  physical abuse are at higher risk because of
  such factors as family conflict and ostracism at
  school.

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Mental Health Issues cont..

• Suicide completers and attempters are most likely
  to be friends with peers who have attempted
  suicide, use drugs, or have psychiatric symptoms.
  
• Nine out of 10 adolescents who commit suicide
  give warning signs such as
• Depressed moods
• Substance abuse
• Loss of interest in once -pleasurable activities

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Mental Health Issues cont..

• Decreased activity and attention levels
• Distractability
• Withdrawal from others
• Sleep or appetite changes
• Morbid ideation (thinking about death)
• Verbal clues
• Giving possessions away
• A previous suicide attempt

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Mental Health Issues cont..

• Low self-esteem or a recent relationship breakup
• Being homosexual
• Coming from a abusive home
• Easy access to a firearm
• Low grades
• Exposure to suicide or suicidal behavior by
  another person

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Types of Mental Disorders

• The National Institute of Mental Health has
  reported that the incidence of mental health
  problems among adolescents is about 1 in 10 youth
  and rising. Adolescents suffer from a wide range
  of mental health disorders that affect their
  normal development and functioning.

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Types of Mental Disorders

• The most common of these mental health disorders
  are anxiety disorders, depression, and attention
  deficit hyperactivity disorders. Other disorders
  adolescents can experience can include eating
  disorders, autism and other pervasive
  developmental disorders, conduct disorders, and
  substance abuse disorders.