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7: Adolescence

Last updated

Sep 24, 2020
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- 6.19: References
- 7.1: Physical Development in Adolescence

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Learning Objectives

Adolescence is a period of development that begins at puberty and ends at emerging adulthood: the typical age range is from 12 to 18 years, with some predictable milestones
Puberty involves distinctive physiological changes in height, weight, body composition, and sex characteristics that are largely influenced by hormonal activity
During puberty the adolescent develops secondary sex characteristics (such as deeper voice in males, and the development of breast and hips in females) as their hormonal balance shifts
The adolescent growth spurt involves rapid increases in height and weight as a result of increases in the release of growth hormones, thyroid hormones, androgens and estrogens.
Because of the variable rates of development, puberty can be a source of pride or embarrassment
Jean Piaget describes adolescence as the stage wherein thoughts start taking more abstract forms, and egocentrism shifts. The adolescent can think and reason with a wider perspective
The Constructivist Perspective takes a quantitative state-theory approach, hypothesizing that adolescent cognitive improvements are sudden and drastic.
The Information Processing perspective derives from artificial intelligence models, and attempts to explain things in terms of the growth of specific components of the thinking process
Improvements in basic thinking abilities generally occur in five areas: attention, memory, processing speed, organization, and metacognition.
Metacognition is relevant in social cognition, increasing introspection, self- consciousness and intellectualization. It also encourages adolescents to question rules, assertions and such.
Wisdom, or the capacity for insight and judgment, is developing through experience, and increases steadily through age 25... however, young adolescents have an increased tendency to engage in risky behavior
The relationships adolescents have with their peers, family and members of their social sphere play a vital role in their development
As adolescents work to form their identities they pull away from their parents, and their peer group becomes very important. This may increase conflict with parents
Peer groups offer their members the opportunity to develop social skills; however, they can also be a sources of negative influence, such as peer pressure
Culture is learned and socially shared, and affects all aspects of an individual's life. Social responsibilities, sexual expression, and belief system development all vary by culture
Adolescents develop unique belief systems through their interaction with social, familial and cultural environments. Cultural attitudes may promote positive or negative developmental influences

Adolescence is a socially constructed concept. In pre‐industrial society children were considered adults when they reached physical maturity; however, today we have an extended time between childhood and adulthood known as adolescence. Adolescence is the period of development that begins at puberty and ends at emerging adulthood; the typical age range is from 12 to 18 years, and this stage of development has some predictable physical milestones.

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