Development in Adolescence

Passage Rites

Performed in over 50% of preindustrialized societies Wesfield calls them “A Crash Course in Adulthood” Four high common steps:

Separation Training Initiation Induction

Biological and Physical Changes

Biologically, adolescence is the period from onset of puberty to adulthood Pubescence = changes that lead to sexual maturity Puberty = signifies sexual maturity

Growth Velocity – 2nd only to infancy Body Composition Primary & Secondary Sexual Characteristics

Figure 11.1  Height at 50th percentile for U.S. children. Source: Health Department, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; based on data by H. C. Stuart and H. V. Meredith, prepared for use in Children’s Medical Center, Boston. Used by permission of the Milwaukee Health Department.

Figure 11.2  Weight at 50th percentile for U.S. children. Source: Health Department, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; based on data by H. C. Stuart and H. V. Meredith, prepared for use in Children’s Medical Center, Boston. Used by permission of the Milwaukee Health Department.

Figure 11.3  Growth curve for fat mass in boys and girls. Distinct average sex differences in ratio of fat-free to fat mass may account for many of the observed sex differences in motor performance. Source: Adapted from Malina & Bouchard, 1991.

Figure 11.4  Four sources of concern most often mentioned by middle-class U.S. male and female adolescents. Source: Based on Gibson-Cline (1996), p. 217.

Nutrition & Eating Disorders

Typical, active adolescent requires 50% more calories during adolescence

Many do not get the appropriate nutrition Obesity and dieting Body Mass Index Anorexia Bulimia

Figure 11.5 Adults who are overweight (BMI . 27.8 kg/m2 for men and 27.3 for women), and their perceptions/ misperceptions about weight. Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998, p. 154.

Cognitive Development: Major Changes in Thought

Five major changes in adolescent thought Better able to deal with “possible” things Better at thinking about abstract things Think more about the process of thinking More multidimensional (“depends on point of view”) Able to handle less certainty in thinking

Figure 11.6 All possible combinations of the four test tubes to which the fifth can be added. The experiment requires the subject to discover the combination(s) that yields a yellow liquid when potassium iodide is added. The correct solutions have a yellow background.

Adolescent Egocentrism

Not a derogatory term! Cognitive and emotional self-centeredness Imaginary Audience (“what will people think if they see me?”) Personal Fable – A feeling of being special and unique (“It

won’t happen to me!”)

Moral Development

Close link between moral and cognitive development Carroll & Rest suggest 4-Steps in behaving morally:

Recognizing a moral problem (sensitivity) Judging what is right and wrong (judgment) Making a plan of action (motivation) Putting the plan into action (action)

Piaget’s Morality

Two ways of moral thinking: Heteronomous morality 4-7 years Autonomous Morality 10+ years

Kohlberg’s Moral Theory

Closely linked to Piaget’s Theory Moral development begins with the self (egocentric) Eventually takes into account others in the immediate

context Finally becomes more universal and more independent

Gilligan’s View of Morality

Suggests women progress from initial selfishness toward a recognition of social responsibility

Boys may be more concerned with law and order than with caring and compassion