Week 15

• Adolescence

  timing = puberty to adulthood; 10-20years; time period of change (physical, cognitive, and social)
• Physical change and Tanner Scale

  hormone driven = physiological changes (pubic hair, beast tissue, testicular volume)
• Puberty


  stated by Boas (1990) that is starts earlier now than it used to
• influencing puberty?

  better nutrition, increase adiposity (obesity), more father absence (not proven tho, stress?), endocrine distrupting chemicals (something that stops hGH)
• Puberty and cognitive changes

  brain and cognitive processes until mid-late 20s. Cognitive increases in complexity, improvements to attention, processing speed, metacognition (think about thinking)
• complex cognition?

  start thinking in abstract mannor
• social changes


  increase in aggression, more freedom to kids from parents, peers have bigger impact of behaviours, homophily, deviant peer contagion
• homophily

  hanging around people who are like you (same personality, interest, sports, etc.)
• deviant peer contagion


  problematic behaviour reinforces by reward of peer approval and more common to happen. (reason for increased aggression?)
• cumulative continuity


  aggression is controlled due to its consequences
• interactional continuity


  aggression is controlled due to responses from others
• aggression

  sometimes seen in childhood, most patterns are kind of stable (50%), desisting pattern (can decrease once older), late onset (can increase once older)
• patterns of onset?


  short term escalation (sudden, rapid increase with a non-aggressive childhood)

  long term escalation (slow, gradual increase in frequency, but with severity of aggressive acts in childhood)
• life-course persistent


  happens in early childhood, predicted by cognitive and affective dysfunction

  aggravated by impoverished environment

  associated with violent offences in adulthood

  (less common)
• adolescence - limited

  normative pattern that starts at puberty; mimicry of antisocial models; distress due to desire for autonomy and maturity gap (teenagers)
• identity formation

  adolescence is a time for self-discovery; sex orientation, gender, religion, political orientation; cultivating a defined and unique view of one's self, clear self-concept
• steps for self-concept

  Diffusion (not a priority); Moratorium (not deciding yet); achievement (tried then picked); forclosure (decide too soon)
• Diffusion

  no interest in identity; no exploration low commitment
• moratorium


  trying out different identities; exploring but not deciding extreme exploration, low commitment
• achievement

  exploring is over and has decided who they are; extreme exploration extreme commitment
• foreclosure

  choosing without exploring (inherited it?); extreme commitment low exploration
• Identity formation

  Arnet's realms of identity (emerging adulthood; 18-25)
• steps of identity formation

  love (what kind of romantic partner is wanted?); work (what am i good at? chances?); worldview (what are my beliefs and values)
• Emerging adulthood

  extended adolescence; independence is collected more gradually and later ages than before (later marriage, etc.); in industrialized countries
• 5 features of emerging adulthood


  identify exploration; instability; self-focus; feeling neither adult nor adolescence; future possibilities
• identity exploration

  who am i? what do i want? making more permanent identity, understanding themselves
• instability?

  moving around, changes, status changes
• self-focus

  less parental restraints, not yet 'tied down', there is still freedom
• not Adolescence nor adult

  responsible for self, but not feeling capable or knowledgeable enough to live alone?
• Collectivism

  interdependence; group cohesion and family ties; adulthood = able to care for parents ($)
• china, japan, Ghana, Guatemale, India, Indonesia

  collectivism
• Individualism

  independence; self-sufficiency, personal preferences; adulthood = $ independent from parents
• Canada, Germany, Ireland, Australia

  Individualism
• Aging

  high variation in aging; working memory changes; long-term memory changes; physical changes; diet; social connection
• high variation in how we age

  cognitively, physically, socially
• working memory changes

  slower processing speed, reduced attentional focus and increased distraction by task that mean nothing
• long-term memory

  impaired recall but no recognition (vocabulary); prospect memory declines, procedure does not (jog of memory)
• physical exercise

  whether cardio or strength, may or may not be helpful (but good for health)
• Diet

  focuses on grains and veggies, nuts and beans (limited animal fats, red meat and high fat foods)
• social connection

  family, friends, social activity