Adolescence- Physical and Cognitive Development

1. ADOLESCENCE
LESLIE JOY C.
MANUGAY
Reporter

3. ADOLESCENE
- is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally
occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood age of majority.
-adolescence can be defined biologically, as the physical transition marked by the
onset of puberty and the termination of physical growth; cognitively, as changes
in the ability to think abstractly and multi-dimensionally; or socially, as a period of
preparation for adult roles.

4. Adolescence(12-18)- the transition between childhood and
adulthood.
• Early Adolescence (11-12 to 14 years)
- Rapid pubertal change
• Middle Adolescence (14-16 years)
- Pubertal changes are now nearly complete
• Late Adolescence (16-18 years)
- Full adult appearance achieved;anticipate assumption of
adult roles
Puberty- flood of biological events leading into an adult-
sized body and sexual maturity

5. Social Perspective
• Though some teens encounter serious difficulties, emotional
disturbance in not routine.
• To understand adolescent development, researchers must pay
attention to social and cultural influences.
A Balances Point of View
• Influenced by biological, psychological, and social forces.
• Length, demands, and pressure vary by culture.

6. Puberty: The biological
Eruption
• Puberty
- Stage of development characterized by
reaching sexual maturity and the ability to
reproduce
-Onset of adolescence coincides with
advent of puberty
• Feedback Loop
- Hypothalamus signal the pituitary gland, which in turn
releases hormones that control physical growth and gonads
- Gonads respond to pituitary hormones by increasing
production of sex hormones
-Sex hormones further stimulate the hypothalamus,
perpetrating the feedback loop

7. Sexual Maturation
Primary Sexual Characteristics- reproductive
organs -Females: ovaries, vagina, uterus,
and fallopian tubes
-Males: penis, testes, prostate gland, and
seminal vesicles
Secondary Sexual Characteristics- noticeable on the outside of
the body.
-Breast development deepening of the male voice, and the
appearance of facial, pubic, and underarm hair
-Not involved on reproduction

8. The Adolescent Growth
Spurt
GIRLS
• Girls growth spurt at age 10
• Girls gain a little more than
13 inches in height; spurt in
weight continues for 2 years
after growth spurt begins
• Hips get wider due to having
twice as much body fat as
boys
• Girls’ body shape more
rounded
BOYS
• Growth spurt at age of 12
• Peak reach 2 years later
• Gain 14 ½ inches in height
• Eventually boys become
taller and heavier than girls
• Boy’s shoulder to broader

9. Girls begin the adolescent growth spurt about 2 years earlier than boys.
Girls and boys reach their periods of peak growth about 2 years after
the spurt begins

10. Changes in Boys
• Facial Hair first appearance on upper lip
- Full shaving occurs in half of American boys at
age 17
• Voice deepens at age of 14 or 15 because growth of
the “voice box” or larynx and lengthening of the vocal
chords
• Testosteron triggers development of acne.
- Boys more prone to acne
• Males have erections from infancy but not
frequent until age 13 or 14, resulting to
nocturnal emmisions.
-Wet dreams

11. Changes in Boys
• Mature sperm found in ejaculatory emmissions by
age of 15
- Ability to ejaculate precedes presence of mature
sperm
• Half of all boys experience gynecomastia (
enlargement of the breast), which declines in a
year or two
• At 20 or 21, young men stop growing taller
because testosterone causes epiphyseal closure,
which prevents the long bones from making
further gains in length.

12. Changes in Girls
• The pituitary gland signals the ovaries to vastly
increase estrogen production at puberty.
• Estrogen may stimulate growth of breast tissue
beginning at age 8 or 9 ( breast buds ).
• Breast reach full size in about 3 years .
- Mammary glands are not fully mature until a woman
has a baby
• Estrogen also helps widening of pelvis and
rounding of hips

13. Changes in Girls
• At about age 11, girls adrenal glands produce small
amount of androgens that contribute to development of
underarm and pubic hair
• Estrogen causes the labia, vagina, and uterus to develop
during puberty.
- Androgens causes the clitoris to develop
• Vaginal lining varies thickness according to the amount of
estrogen in the bloodstream
• Estrogen brakes the female growth spurt before the
sending of male growth spurt

14. Menarche
• Menarche
- First menstruation
-Occurs between ages 11- 14
-Some girls as earlies as age 9; some as late as age
16
-Height-to-weight ration contributes to age of
menstrual cycle
- Average triggering weight depends on the girls’
height

15. Cognitive Development: Piaget’s
Stage of Formal Operations

16. Piaget’s Stage of Formal Operations
• Formal operations refers to the ability to abstract reason,
classify objects, hyphotesize, and formulate arguments.
• Top level of Piaget’s theory
• Adolescnet have reach cognitive maturity in the formal
operations stage.
• Formal operations can begin as early as 11 or 12 years old.

17. Hypothetical Thinking
• Adolescents develop concept of “what might be” rather than
“what is”.
• Adolescents “try on” different clothes and attitudes to see
which work best for them.
• Some may experience anxiety due to pressure to pick the
best career fit.

18. Adolescents Egocentrism
• Imaginary audience
- Adolescent placed at center stage fantacies
- Explains why adolescents engage in looking in the
mirror so much
• Personal fable
-Belief that one’s thoughts and emotions are unique and
special
- Normal for male adolescent to think he is indespensible
- Belived that no one has ever experienced the same things
as themselves
• Adolescents have difficulty sorting out issues that
concern others from the things that concern themselves

19. Gender Differences in Cognitive Abilities
Mathematical Ability
• Male adolescents generally outperform female adolescents
especially in geometry and word problems.
• No sex differences in understanding math concepts at any
stage.
• Teaching expectations and involvement with math from
dad contribute to mathematical advancement of boys; girls
less likely to be encourage in math; advanced teachers
more likely male; teachers spend more time helping males
with math

20. Adolescence: Social and
Emotional Development

21. Development of Identity: “Who
Am I?”
Erickson and Identity Development
• Ego Identity versus role diffusion
- Erickson’’s fifth stage of psychosocial development
- Primary task of adolescence is to develop ego
identity
Psychological moratorium
- Adolescents experiment with different roles, values,
beliefs, and relationship
- Undergo identity crisis in which they examine their
values and make decisions about their life roles

22. Identity Statuses
• Marcis (1991) theorized four identity statuses that
represent four possible combinations of the dimensions of
exploration and commitment that Erickson believed were
important to identity.
1)Identity Diffussion
- Have no commitments and don’t try to form them
2) Foreclosure
- Commitments based on identification with parents, teachers, or
religious leaders
3) Moratorium
- Actively exploring alternatives in attempt to make a choice
4) Identity achievement
- develop firm commitment

23. Ethnicity and Development of
Identity
• If cultural values conflict between values of dominant
culture and those of particular ethnic group, then the
adolescent needs to sort out the values that are most
meaningful to him or her and incorporate them into his/her
identity
• Cultural heroes of adolescents from ethnic minority groups
may be ignored
- Scarcity of successful role models may be a problem,
particularly for youth living in poverty
• Too much identification with dominant culture may lead to
rejection from the minority group
• However, rejecting the dominant cultures’ values for that of
the minority group may limit opportunities for advancement
in the larger society

24. Ethnicity and Development of
Identity
• Three stages in the development of ethnic
identity are hypothesized
1)Unexamined ethnic Identity
• Similar to diffusion of foreclosure
2) Ethnic Identity Search
• Some incident makes teen aware of ethnic
identity and cause exploration
3) Achieved Ethnic Identity
• Involves a clear self- acceptance as a member
of one’s ethnic group

25. Self- Esteem
• Self- Esteem
- Declines as child progresses from middle childhood to
about the age of 12-13
• Boys fantasize about having physiques of warriors in
video games
• Girls wants to be thin
• Low self-esteem can have serious consequences
- Depressed and suicidal teens
• Notion of Ideal self may move to better reflect reality
• As adolescence develop better skills, they may grow less
self- critical.
• Emotional support from parents and peers important
- The more highly regarded the teen feels, the more
likely to regard him-/herself higher

26. Relationship with
Parents
• Mothers
- Teens spend more time with mothers, have more
conflicts with them, and report them as being more
supportive and knowing them better
• Fathers
- Adverse relationship with fathers are often
associated with depression on adolescents
- Good relations with fathers contribute to
adolescents psychological well- being
• Even though teens spend less time with parents, they
continue to maintain love, loyalty, and respect for
them
• Conflict greatest during puberty declines in late
adolescents

27. Friendship In Adolescence
• Teens have more friends than younger children
• Tend to have one or two “best friends” and several
good friends
• Spend many hours a day with them
- Texting, conversing, and IM- ing
• Teens more likely to
- stress acceptance, intimate self- disclosure, and
mutual understanding
- stress loyalty and trustworthiness
- share with friends and less likely to compete with
them

28. Dating and romantic
Relationships
• Adolescents start dating or going out by the time
they graduate high school
• Heterosexual sequence for dating
- Putting oneself in situations where peers of opposite
sex will be
- Group activities including opposite sex peers
- Group dating
- Traditional two- person dating
• Functions of Dating
- Have fun, enhance prestige with one’s peers, relate
positively to different people; preparation for adult
courtship activities

29. Teenage Pregnancy
• 9 in 10 adolescence who become pregnant do so
accidentally and without committed partners
• Girls get pregnant because
- they have little information about how to address
boys’ sexual advance
- they fail to use contraceptives, and younger teens
have less access to contraceptive devices
- fewer than half use them reliably

30. Suicide: When the Adolescents Has Nothing –
Except Everything – to Lose
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among
adolescents
• Since 1960, the suicide rate has tripled for young people,
ages 15 to 24
• 1 to 2 American adolescents in 10,000 commit suicide each
year
• 1 in 10 has attempted suicide at least once.

31. Risk Factor in Suicide
• Suicidal adolescents experiences four areas of psychological
problems
-1) Confusion about the self
-2) Impulsiveness
-3) Emotional instability
-4) Interpersonal problems
• Some suicidal teenagers are high achieving, rigid
perfectionist who have set impossibly high expectations for
themselves
- Feel depressed when they compare themselves to others
negatively
Adolescents suicide attempts more common after stressful
life event