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9.5: Key Terms

  • Page ID
    233628
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    abstinence-only education
    teaches that abstaining from sex is expected until marriage; this educational track typically excludes information about the utility of contraception and condoms to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections
    abstinence-plus education
    promotes abstinence but includes information about contraception and condoms
    adolescence
    transition period of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth and development of an individual from childhood to adulthood
    adolescent egocentrism
    kind of self-centeredness whereby adolescents tend to view themselves as the central figure in a drama unfolding daily
    amygdala
    brain structure responsible for emotional processes
    circadian rhythm
    individual’s biologically based pattern of physiological events that occur on a daily cycle
    cognitive domains
    in the information-processing perspective, the biological supports for various thinking abilities
    comprehensive sex education
    offers medically accurate, age-appropriate information about development, sexual behavior, abstinence, consent, healthy relationships, life and communication skills, sexual orientation, and gender identity
    deductive reasoning
    process of testing out statements, or propositions, in a logical and orderly way based on a general premise
    formal operations
    stage of cognitive development in which the adolescent has achieved formal adult thinking capabilities, including the ability to reason using formal logical systems and symbols
    hippocampus
    brain structure responsible for memory formation
    hypothalamus
    brain structure responsible for hormonal production and control center
    hypothetical reasoning
    ability to make predictions about what might occur given a set of circumstances
    imaginary audience
    distinct sense that everyone is watching, thinking and interested in oneself; a consequence of adolescent egocentrism
    invincibility fable
    feature of the personal fable where adolescents believe that they cannot be harmed or defeated
    limbic system
    set of brain structures that develop over the course of adolescence in terms of their primary functionality as well as their connections and coordination with other areas of the brain
    menarche
    first menstruation in girls
    perceptual speed
    ability to automatically and efficiently process novel visual information and make quick decisions
    personal fable
    belief that adolescents have about their uniqueness in emotions and immortality
    primary sex characteristics
    physical developments that are directly related to the ability to reproduce
    propositional logic
    ability to make a logical conclusion based on the imagined outcome of a scenario rather than the observation of the actual scenario
    puberty
    period of time and the process whereby children transition to physical and reproductive maturity
    relativistic thinking
    ability to think in multiple dimensions and to realize that most statements of fact are relative to the position of the observer
    scientific thinking
    thinking that involves the systematic testing of possibilities
    secondary sex characteristics
    physical developments that accompany primary sex characteristics but are not directly related to the ability to reproduce
    secular trend
    the tendency for successive generations to reach puberty earlier, such as an earlier age of menarche among females today than their counterparts from past cohorts.
    sex positivity
    approach to adolescent sexuality that encourages exploration and experimentation within safe and openly discussed parameters
    sexually transmitted disease (STD)
    sexually transmitted infection that has led to some symptom of disease
    sexually transmitted infection (STI)
    infection transmitted through sexual contact, caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites
    spermarche
    development of the testes in boys resulting in semen, sperm, and the first ejaculation
    thalamus
    brain structure responsible for sensory integration and relay
    thelarche
    development of the breasts in girls

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