SAR HP 252 Lecture 5: HP252 - Adolescence Notes
2 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
ADOLESCENCE
Aspects of Identity
• “process of becoming”
• Occurs over time throughout adolescence
• Becomes most prominent at the beginning and continues throughout adolescence
• Girls often mature before boys
• Aspects:
o Desired Career Path
o Religious Beliefs
o Social/Intimate Relationships
o Sexual/Gender Identity
o Cultural/Ethnic Identity
o Personality Traits
o Physical Body Image
Emotional Development
• Normally discouraged behaviors are tolerated
• “storm and stress” are not constant
o Essentially means that adolescence is not entirely negative
o The amount of highs and lows increase
• Typical Causes: hormones and environment
• Noticeable increase in pubertal changes and negative emotions
• A push against authority and changes in behavior is normative
• Characterized by: an increase interest in self-portrayal, a search for identity and
emotional swings
• Typically, during puberty girls’ self-esteem declines while boys’ self-esteem rises
o Girls: puberty is headed by weight gain, unwanted growth, overall negativity
o Boys: puberty is headed by muscles, wanted growth, overall positivity
• Identity confusion is the gap between the security of childhood and autonomy of
adulthood
Adolescent Brain
• Prefrontal Cortex – the judgement region reins and regulates intense emotions/judgement
but does not finish developing until emerging adulthood
• Corpus Callosum – the nerve fibers connect the brain’s two hemispheres and thicken
during adolescence to process information more effectively
• Amygdala – the emotion region (ex: anger) that develops before other regions that help to
control it
o Can lead to unintended consequences
Adolescent Egocentrism
• Two KEY Aspects:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Identity confusion is the gap between the security of childhood and autonomy of adulthood. Cognitive changes: a time of increased decision-making due to the developed capacity to make these decisions, a strategy for improving adolescent decision-making includes parental involvement, situations are examined from multiple perspectives with anticipated consequences. Piaget"s theory: adolescent thought is developed at the formal operational stage, thought becomes more abstract (ex: hypothetical-deductive reasoning, critical thinking, analyzing real and imaginary situations with several variables. Consequences of adolescent pregnancy: creates health risks for the offspring and mother (ex: teratogens) Infants are more likely to have: low birth weights, neurological problems, childhood illnesses: mothers are more likely to: drop out of school and have a lower socioeconomic status. Accidents automobile accidents are most common due to risky driving habits (ex: driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs: 2. Homicide african american male adolescents are 3x more likely to be killed by guns than by natural causes: 3.
