Adolescense: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence
1. Puberty and Sexuality
Puberty is a period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodyly changes that occur primarily during early adolescence. Puberty isn’t simply and environmental accident. As indicated earlier, while nutrition, health and other factors affect puberty’s timing and variations in its wakeup, the basic genetic program is wired into the nature of the species.
Another key factor in puberty’s occurence is body mass. For girl, menarche occur at a relatively consistent weight. For menarche to begin and continue, fat must wake up 17% of the girl’s body weight.
In summary, puberty’s determinants include nutrition, health, heredity and body mass. So far, our discussion of puberty has emphasized its dramatic changes. Keep in mind, though, that puberty isn’t a single, sudden event. We know when a young boy or girl is going puberty, but pinpointing its beginning and its end is difficult. Except for menarche, which occur rather rate in puberty, no single marker heralds puberty. For boys, the first whisker or first wet dream is an event that could mark its appearance, but both may go unnoticed.
Hormonal Changes
Hormones, powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the body bloodstream. The endocrine system’s role in puberty involves the interaction of the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the gonads (sex glands). The hypothalamus is a structure in the higher portion of the brain that monitors eating, drinking, and sex.
The pituitary gland is an important endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates other glands. The gonads are the sew gland (the testes in males, the ovaries in females).
Height and Weight
The growth spurt occurs approximately two years earlier for girls than for boys. The mean beginning of growth spurt in girls 9 years of age; For boys, it is 11 years of age. The peak rate of pubertal change occurs at 11.5 years for girl and 13.5 years for boys. During their growth spurt, girl increase in height about 3 ½ inches per year, boys about 4 inches.
Sexual Maturation
Research have found that male pubertal characteristics develop in this order: increase in penis and testicle size, appearance of straight public hair, minor voice change, first ejaculation (which usually occurs through masturbation or a wet dream), appearance of kinky public hair, onset of maximum growth, growth of hair in armpits, more detectable voice change and growth of facial hair.
And for female pubertal characteristics develop in this order: the breast enlarge or public hair appears. Later, hair appears in the armpis. As these change occur, the female grows in height and her hips become wider than her shulder. Her first menstruation comes rather late in pubertal cycle. Initially, her menstrual cycle may be highly irregular.
Body Image
One psychological aspect of physical change in puberty is certain: Adolescence are preoccupied with their bodies and develop individual images of what their bodies are like.
There are gender differences in adolescents’ perceptions of their bodies. In general, girls are less happy with their bodies and have more negative body images, compared with boy throughout puberty. Also, as pubertal change proceeds, girls often become more dissatisfied with their bodies, probably because their body fat increases, while boys become more satisfied as they move through puberty, probably because their muscle mass increases.
Adolescent Sexuality
Adolescence is a time of sexual exploration and experimentation, of sexual fantasies and realitis of incorporating sexual into one’s identity. Adolescents have an almost insatiable curiosity about sexuality’s mysteries. They think about whether they’re sexually attractive, how to do sex and what the future holds for their sexuality lives.
Adolescence is a bridge between the asexual child and sexual adult. Every society gives some attention to adolescence sexuality. In some societies, adult clamp down and protect adolescent females from males by chaperoning them. Other societies promote very early marriage.
Developing a Sexual Identity
Developing a sexual identity also involves more than just sexual behavior. It includes interfaces with other developing identities. Sexual identities emerge in the context of physical factors, social factors and cultural factors, with most societies placing contraints on the sexual behavior of adolescents.
Risk Factor for Sexual Problems
These adolescents are the least effective users of contraception and are at risk for early, unitended pregnancy and for sexually transmitted diseases. Early sexual activity is also linked with other risky behaviors such as excessive drinking, drug us delinquency and school-related problems.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
Ared contarcted primarily through sexual contact, which isn’t limited to sexual intercourse. Oral-genital and anal-genital contact also can transmit STDs.
2 Adolescent Problems and Health
Substance Use and Abuse
◦ Many adolescent consume in marijuana, stimulants and hallucinogens.
Ecstasy and the Adolescent’s Brain
◦ The use of ecstasy by adolescents has become increasingly popular at night clubs and all night dance parties.
Alcohol
◦ For adolescent has produced many enjoyable moments and many sad one’s as well.
Cigarette Smoking
◦ One young adolescent begin to smoke cigarette then addictive properties of nicotine make it extremely difficult for them to stop.
The Roles of Development, Parents and Peers
◦ Most adolescents become drug user at some point in their development, whether limited alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes or extended to marijuana, cocaine, and hard drugs. A special concern involves adolescent using drugs as a way of copying with stress, which can interfere with development of competent coping skills and responsible decision making. Parents, peers and social support play important roles in preventing adolescent drug abuse.
Eating Problems and Disorders
Eating disorder have become increasing problems in adolescence. Here are some research findings involving adolescent eating disorders.
◦ Girls who felt negatively about their bodies
◦ Negative parents adolescent relationships were linked with increased dieting by girls
◦ Adolescent girls have a strong desire to weigh less
There two eating disorder that may be appear in adolescence, there is anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation. Anorexia nervosa eventually can lead to death. Three main characteristic of persons with anorexia nervosa:
◦ Weighing less than 85% of what is considered normal
◦ Having an intense fear of gaining weight
◦ Having a distorted image of their body shape
Anorexia nervosa typically begins in the early to middle teenage years, often following an episode of dieting and pccurence of some type of life stress.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is An eating disorder in which the individual consistently follows a binge and purge eating pattern. The bulimics goes on an eating binge and then purge by self-inducing vomiting or using a laxative. Most binge-purge eaters are females in their late teens or early twenties. As with anorexics, most bulimics are preoccupied with food, have a strong fear of becoming overweight and depressed or anxoius. Bulimia is diffcult to detect.
3 Adolescent Cognition
Piaget’s Theory
Hypothetical-deductive Reasoning is Piaget’s formal operational concept that adolescents have the cognitive ability to develop hypotheses or best guesses, about ways to solve problems, such as an algebraic equation. Then they systematically deduce or conclude, which is the best path to follow in solving the equation.
Adolescent Egocentrism
Adolescent egocentrism is the heightened self-consciousness of adolescents. David Elkind believes that adolescent egocentrism can be dissected into two social thinking-imaginary audience and personal fable.
The notion of imaginary audience involves adolescents’ belief that other are as interested in them as they themselves are, as well at attention-getting behavior-attempts to be noticed, visible and “on stage”.
According to Elkind, the personal fable is the part of adolescent egocentrism involving an adolescent’s sense of uniqueness and invisbility. Adolescents’ sense of personal uniqueness make them feel that no one can understand how they really feel.
Puberty is a period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodyly changes that occur primarily during early adolescence. Puberty isn’t simply and environmental accident. As indicated earlier, while nutrition, health and other factors affect puberty’s timing and variations in its wakeup, the basic genetic program is wired into the nature of the species.
Another key factor in puberty’s occurence is body mass. For girl, menarche occur at a relatively consistent weight. For menarche to begin and continue, fat must wake up 17% of the girl’s body weight.
In summary, puberty’s determinants include nutrition, health, heredity and body mass. So far, our discussion of puberty has emphasized its dramatic changes. Keep in mind, though, that puberty isn’t a single, sudden event. We know when a young boy or girl is going puberty, but pinpointing its beginning and its end is difficult. Except for menarche, which occur rather rate in puberty, no single marker heralds puberty. For boys, the first whisker or first wet dream is an event that could mark its appearance, but both may go unnoticed.
Hormonal Changes
Hormones, powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the body bloodstream. The endocrine system’s role in puberty involves the interaction of the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the gonads (sex glands). The hypothalamus is a structure in the higher portion of the brain that monitors eating, drinking, and sex.
The pituitary gland is an important endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates other glands. The gonads are the sew gland (the testes in males, the ovaries in females).
Height and Weight
The growth spurt occurs approximately two years earlier for girls than for boys. The mean beginning of growth spurt in girls 9 years of age; For boys, it is 11 years of age. The peak rate of pubertal change occurs at 11.5 years for girl and 13.5 years for boys. During their growth spurt, girl increase in height about 3 ½ inches per year, boys about 4 inches.
Sexual Maturation
Research have found that male pubertal characteristics develop in this order: increase in penis and testicle size, appearance of straight public hair, minor voice change, first ejaculation (which usually occurs through masturbation or a wet dream), appearance of kinky public hair, onset of maximum growth, growth of hair in armpits, more detectable voice change and growth of facial hair.
And for female pubertal characteristics develop in this order: the breast enlarge or public hair appears. Later, hair appears in the armpis. As these change occur, the female grows in height and her hips become wider than her shulder. Her first menstruation comes rather late in pubertal cycle. Initially, her menstrual cycle may be highly irregular.
Body Image
One psychological aspect of physical change in puberty is certain: Adolescence are preoccupied with their bodies and develop individual images of what their bodies are like.
There are gender differences in adolescents’ perceptions of their bodies. In general, girls are less happy with their bodies and have more negative body images, compared with boy throughout puberty. Also, as pubertal change proceeds, girls often become more dissatisfied with their bodies, probably because their body fat increases, while boys become more satisfied as they move through puberty, probably because their muscle mass increases.
Adolescent Sexuality
Adolescence is a time of sexual exploration and experimentation, of sexual fantasies and realitis of incorporating sexual into one’s identity. Adolescents have an almost insatiable curiosity about sexuality’s mysteries. They think about whether they’re sexually attractive, how to do sex and what the future holds for their sexuality lives.
Adolescence is a bridge between the asexual child and sexual adult. Every society gives some attention to adolescence sexuality. In some societies, adult clamp down and protect adolescent females from males by chaperoning them. Other societies promote very early marriage.
Developing a Sexual Identity
Developing a sexual identity also involves more than just sexual behavior. It includes interfaces with other developing identities. Sexual identities emerge in the context of physical factors, social factors and cultural factors, with most societies placing contraints on the sexual behavior of adolescents.
Risk Factor for Sexual Problems
These adolescents are the least effective users of contraception and are at risk for early, unitended pregnancy and for sexually transmitted diseases. Early sexual activity is also linked with other risky behaviors such as excessive drinking, drug us delinquency and school-related problems.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
Ared contarcted primarily through sexual contact, which isn’t limited to sexual intercourse. Oral-genital and anal-genital contact also can transmit STDs.
2 Adolescent Problems and Health
Substance Use and Abuse
◦ Many adolescent consume in marijuana, stimulants and hallucinogens.
Ecstasy and the Adolescent’s Brain
◦ The use of ecstasy by adolescents has become increasingly popular at night clubs and all night dance parties.
Alcohol
◦ For adolescent has produced many enjoyable moments and many sad one’s as well.
Cigarette Smoking
◦ One young adolescent begin to smoke cigarette then addictive properties of nicotine make it extremely difficult for them to stop.
The Roles of Development, Parents and Peers
◦ Most adolescents become drug user at some point in their development, whether limited alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes or extended to marijuana, cocaine, and hard drugs. A special concern involves adolescent using drugs as a way of copying with stress, which can interfere with development of competent coping skills and responsible decision making. Parents, peers and social support play important roles in preventing adolescent drug abuse.
Eating Problems and Disorders
Eating disorder have become increasing problems in adolescence. Here are some research findings involving adolescent eating disorders.
◦ Girls who felt negatively about their bodies
◦ Negative parents adolescent relationships were linked with increased dieting by girls
◦ Adolescent girls have a strong desire to weigh less
There two eating disorder that may be appear in adolescence, there is anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation. Anorexia nervosa eventually can lead to death. Three main characteristic of persons with anorexia nervosa:
◦ Weighing less than 85% of what is considered normal
◦ Having an intense fear of gaining weight
◦ Having a distorted image of their body shape
Anorexia nervosa typically begins in the early to middle teenage years, often following an episode of dieting and pccurence of some type of life stress.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is An eating disorder in which the individual consistently follows a binge and purge eating pattern. The bulimics goes on an eating binge and then purge by self-inducing vomiting or using a laxative. Most binge-purge eaters are females in their late teens or early twenties. As with anorexics, most bulimics are preoccupied with food, have a strong fear of becoming overweight and depressed or anxoius. Bulimia is diffcult to detect.
3 Adolescent Cognition
Piaget’s Theory
Hypothetical-deductive Reasoning is Piaget’s formal operational concept that adolescents have the cognitive ability to develop hypotheses or best guesses, about ways to solve problems, such as an algebraic equation. Then they systematically deduce or conclude, which is the best path to follow in solving the equation.
Adolescent Egocentrism
Adolescent egocentrism is the heightened self-consciousness of adolescents. David Elkind believes that adolescent egocentrism can be dissected into two social thinking-imaginary audience and personal fable.
The notion of imaginary audience involves adolescents’ belief that other are as interested in them as they themselves are, as well at attention-getting behavior-attempts to be noticed, visible and “on stage”.
According to Elkind, the personal fable is the part of adolescent egocentrism involving an adolescent’s sense of uniqueness and invisbility. Adolescents’ sense of personal uniqueness make them feel that no one can understand how they really feel.
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