Chapter 18 Adolescence and Adulthood

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Chapter 18Adolescence and Adulthood
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Adolescence

• 12 to 18 years of age.
• Period of development during which many
  biological, cognitive, social, and personality
  traits change from childlike to adult.

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Adolescence Sexual Maturity

• Where do get info from?

• Reasons for having sex

• Conflicting Answers
• Movie
• magazines
• Peers classmates
• make sex attractive

• Study of 174 girls gave reasons for being
  sexually active
• Physical attraction or curious
• Alone with partner
• Friends were having sex

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Adolescence Sexual Maturity

• Decisions about becoming sexually active
• Average marriage age 1970- 22 yrs. old
• 1997- 26 yrs. old
• Average of adolescence having sex
• 1970- 29
• 2000- 50
• Girls being sexually active by age17
• Today- 56
• 1980- 42
• Boys- 67 reported having sex by 17
• - 43 reported no contraceptives

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Adolescence Sexual Maturity

• Conclusion
• Most teenagers engage in sex earlier than what
  they think is the best age.
• 39 of 17 yrs. Reported not having sex
• 50 of the boys and girls use contraceptives.
• STDs and pregnancy

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Adolescence Cognitive Emotional Changes

• Cognitive Development
• Refers to how a person perceives, thinks, and
  gains an understanding of his or her world
• through the interaction and influence of genetic
  and learned factors
• Piagets Formal Operational Stage
• Think about abstract or hypothetical concepts,
  understand others viewpoint, use logic to solve
  problems

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Brain Development Reason Emotion

• Prefrontal cortex
• Making decisions
• Day to day planning
• Organizing
• Thinking about the future
• Ability to think, reason, decide, or plan like an
  adult

• Prefrontal cortex
• Doctors believed that the prefrontal cortex was
  fully developed in adolescence.
• Will not be developed until early 20s
• Teenagers simply do not have the neural basis to
  make good decisions or to think ahead.

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Limbic System

• Amygdala Hippocampus

• Moody impulsive behavior

• Limbic system grows because of the release of sex
  hormones.
• Testosterone and Estrogen
• Adolescents have less control over emotions and
  impulsive behaviors

• Involved in a wide range of emotions.
• Ecstatic
• Depressed
• Angry
• Irritability

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Limbic System Conclusion

• Underdeveloped executive officer a
  well-developed emotional center
• Risk taking
• Switching moods
• Acting impulsively

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Kolbergs Theory of Moral Reasoning

• 3 levels of moral reasoning
• Level 1 Self-Interest or preconventional
• Lowest 2 levels of moral reasoning
• Stage 1-
• Decisions are based primarily on fear of
  punishment
• Or need to be obedient
• Stage 2
• Moral reasoning is based on self interest
• Involves making bargains

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Kolbergs Theory of Moral Reasoning

• Level 2- Social Approval or Conventional
• Stage 3-
• Decisions are guided most by conforming to
  standards of others we value
• Stage 4-
• Moral reasoning is determined most by conforming
  to the laws of society
• Most adolescence and adults are at this level

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Kolbergs Theory of Moral Reasoning

• Level 3- Abstract Ideas or Post-conventional
• Stage 5-
• moral decisions are made after carefully thinking
  about all the alternatives
• and striking a balance between human rights and
  the rights of society.
• Some, but not all adults reach this level
• Reach in order

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Kolbergs Theory of Moral Reasoning

• Criticisms
• Focuses on moral thinking rather than moral
  behavior
• Men and women have different moral thinking
• Care orientation- avoiding hurt
• Justice orientation- issues of law or equality
• Physical structure of the brain
• (prefrontal cortex)

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Beyond Adolescence

• Changes in cognitive speed
• 20s and 30s cognitive ability peak
• 40s and 50s memory problems begin or continue
• 60s/ 70s/ 80s slowing of cognitive processes

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Beyond Adolescence

• Processing Speed
• Rate at which we encode information into long
  term memory
• Or recall or retrieve info from long term memory
• Begins to slow in late 50s
• Ability to memorize, recall words or lists

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Beyond Adolescence

• Perceptual Speed
• Rate at which we can identify a particular
  sensory stimuli
• Late 50s, you start to lose it
• Slower at decoding information
• Reaction Time
• Rate at which we respond (hear, see, move) to
  some stimuli
• Slows in late 50s

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Changes in Memory

• 20s to 40s
• Remember the big picture and the details
• 50s to 70s
• Only remember the big picture not the details
• Memory differences
• Young adults excel at encoding information
• Mature adults excel at making sense of
  information
• Have trouble encoding

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Memory advice

• Best way to deal w/ age related memory difficulty
• Physical fitness
• Exercising throughout adulthood
• Mental fitness
• Reading
• Taking classes
• Crosswords, Sedokus, Puzzles

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Physical Changes w/ Aging

• Normal Aging
• Is a gradual and natural showing of our physical
  and psychological processes from middle through
  late adulthood
• Gerontology
• Study of aging
• Separate normal aging from pathological aging
• Life expectancy in 1945- 45 years old
• Life expectancy in 2000- 76.7 years old

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Physical Changes w/ Aging

• Pathological Aging
• Caused by genetic defects, physiological
  problems, and diseases all of which accelerate
  the aging process
• Aging by Chance Theory
• Our bodies age because of naturally occurring
  problems or breakdowns in the bodys cells,
• which become less able to repair themselves
• Aging by Design Theory
• Age because there are preset biological clocks
  that determine the of times that our cell can
  divide and multiply

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Stages of Aging

• Early Adulthood- mid 20s

• Middle Adulthood- 30s 40s

• Immune system
• senses
• physiological response
• and mental skills peak

• Weight gain
• less active
• heart rate
• lung capacity
• muscle strength
• kidney function
• and eye sight

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Stages of Aging

• Late Adulthood- 50s 60s

• Very Late- 70s and 80s

• Decline in height
• Lungs and kidney decline
• Skin wrinkles
• Joints deteriorate
• Heart slows 35
• Muscles deteriorate

• Decreases in
• Muscle strength
• Bone density
• Speed of nerve conduction
• Output of lungs
• Output of kidneys
• Output of heart
• Pretty much everything

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Ericksons psychological Stages Adulthood

• Stage 5

• Stage 6

• Identity v. Role Confusion
• Adolescence (12- 20)
• Leave behind the care free behaviors of childhood
• Learn responsible adult behaviors

• Intimacy v. Isolation
• Young adulthood (20- 40)
• Time to find develop meaningful and loving
  relationships
• With intimacy?
• Or without intimacy?

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Ericksons psychological Stages Adulthood

• Stage 7

• Stage 8

• Generativity v. Stagnation
• Middle adulthood (40- 65)
• Generativity
• Helping the younger generation
• Raising your own children
• Mentoring or assisting in the community

• Integrity v. Despair
• Late adulthood (65 up)
• Reflect or review on own life.
• Do you feel content with what you accomplished?
• Did you lead a bad life?