Physical and Cognitive

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Chapter 11

• Physical and Cognitive
• Development in Adolescence

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Physical Growth During Adolescence

• Rapid Change!
• In a period of 4 year, children transform from
  looking like kids to looking more like adults
• On average, Boys grow 4.1 inches per year
• Girls, 3.5 inches
• Girls start their growth spurt 2 years earlier
  than boys
• What causes all this growth? PUBERTY!
• During puberty, the sexual organs mature making
  reproduction possible

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So what goes on during Puberty?

• The pituitary glad signals other glands in the
  endocrine system to start producing sex hormones
  (androgens or estrogens) at adult levels
• Were not sure what causes the pituitary gland to
  do this.
• Growth hormones are also released at higher levels

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Puberty in Girls

• The beginning of puberty for girls is marked by
  Menarche (meh-nar-key)
• Happens at different ages for individuals
• Anywhere from 8 to 16
• Happens at different ages for cultures
• More affluent societies start puberty EARLIER
• Nutrition plays a key role in timing of menarche
• Higher SES leads to better nutrition ? earlier
  menarche
• Menarche also happens faster now than in earlier
  centuries

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Puberty in Boys

• Boys start puberty around age 12
• Penis enlarges until reaching adult size at
  around 15 or 16.
• The male counterpart to menarche is called
  Spermarche
• Happens shortly after the beginning of puberty
• Both boys and girls can have rapid mood swings
  due to hormones
• Boys tend to become easily angered
• Girls tend to become angry or depressed

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More on Puberty

• Primary Sex Characteristics
• Actual changes in genitalia
• Secondary Sex Characteristics
• Visible signs of sexual maturity not related to
  actual reproduction
• Girls breasts, underarm hair and pubic hair
• Boys facial and pubic hair, more muscular, voice
  change
• Often, secondary sexual characteristics emerge
  prior to primary sex characteristics
• Girls begin as young as 7 or 8
• African-American Girls

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Early and Late Puberty

• Pro and Cons associated with early or late
  puberty in both sexes
• In long run, later puberty tends to have better
  outcomes
• Culture plays a major role here
• Pros of Early Maturation
• For Boys More successful at athletics, high
  social status/high self-esteem early in
  adolescence
• For Girls Larger breasts may be seen positively
  more attention from boys early in adolescence
• Cons of Early Maturation
• Boys Much more likely to develop
  delinquency/conduct problems Other boys catch up
  ? dethroning
• Girls Larger breast/more mature secondary sex
  characteristics may lead to unwanted attention,
  distance from peers, more likely to have plump
  characteristics

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Early and Late Puberty Contd

• Pros of Late Maturation
• Boys Tend to be more creative, assertive,
  insightful, and have better sense of humor
• May be because had to learn to cope with being
  different/small
• Girls Tend to have higher self-esteem and few
  emotional difficulties
• Much more likely to fit societal ideal of slender
  body type
• Cons
• Boys Small, poor at sports, picked on, seen as
  less attractive ? has the potential to cause
  emotional problems that last into adulthood
• Girls less attention until fully developed,
  ridiculed for lack of secondary sexual
  characteristics
• Im sure we all have examples from our own lives
  to explain this even better

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Nutrition

• We know that better nutrition allows the average
  age of the onset of puberty to happen sooner
• Nutrition very important in adolescence
• Rapidly growing body needs resources to mature
  properly
• Girls require 2,200 calories Boys require 2,800
• What food seems more important than how much
• Eating habits for adulthood formed in these years
• Need lots of calcium and iron
• Time of intense social and academic pressure for
  kids need adequate fuel to withstand stressors

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Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa
• Women 12-40
• Increasing number of males
• Bulimia
• May cause heart failure
• What causes eating disorders?
• Cultural differences in eating disorders
• Differences in history

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Brain Development

• Prefrontal Cortex
• Not fully developed until around age 20
• Associated with abstract thought, reasoning
• Also associated with impulse control
• Risky behavior may be more prevalent during
  adolescence because of this

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Piaget and Adolescence

• Last Stage Formal Operational Stage
• Ages 12 thru adulthood
• Characterized by the ability to think abstractly
• Can use hypothetico-deductive reasoning
• Like a scientist, start with a general theory and
  then test specific pieces of the theory
  separately to draw conclusions
• Can also use propositional thought
• Reasoning using abstract ideas to draw
  conclusions
• No concrete examples are needed to do this type
  of thinking
• All As are B C is an A Therefore, C is a B.
• Also can think in terms of what if and play out
  scenarios in ones own mind
• Not everyone reaches Formal Operations
• Cultural differences, individual differences

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More on Formal Operations

• Increased ability to use abstract thought and
  reasoning allows kids to evaluate their world in
  new ways
• Teenagers questioning of everything, including
  identity and authority
• New ability to make own conclusions leads to
  argumentativeness
• Criticism
• Logic/abstract thought may not be the the
  highest/best form of thinking
• Piaget in general What rather than Why

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Information Processing

• Remember that info processing has to do with
• Gradual changes over time
• Encoding, storage, and retrieval ? Memory
• Better and better programs for thinking
• Metacognition
• Knowledge/awareness about ones own thinking
  processes
• Get better at knowing how much studying is needed
  to remember things, knowing how others think
  strategy in games, etc.
• I wont be able to remember that, l need to
  write it down.

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Egocentrism Reemerges

• Why?
• New abilities to think abstractly, considering
  multiple possibilities, and awareness of ones
  own and others thinking leads to a much more
  psychological focus in dealing with the world
• Imaginary Audience
• Personal Fables
• Invincibility Fable
• singled out fables

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School Performance in Adolescence

• Grades tend to decline for students during middle
  school and high school
• Why? Teachers grade more strictly than in
  elementary school years
• Other environmental factors may contribute to
  school performance decline
• SES
• Cultural value placed on education
• Governmental value placed on education relative
  to other things
• Anthropologist John Ogbu (1988, 1992)
• Certain minority groups may believe that school
  success is not related to future success
  prejudice, not grades, is seen as biggest factor
  influencing future success

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Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll

• Adolescence is usually defined as lasting until
  around age 20
• This stage is much more culturally defined rather
  than biologically defined
• May extend into late 20s from a cultural
  perspective
• Threats to adolescents well-being
• Illegal Drugs
• Marijuana use makes person 85 times more likely
  to use cocaine
• Almost 50 of high school seniors have used pot
  in last year
• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• Having 10 total cigarettes ever increases risk of
  becoming a habitual smoker to 80
• According to World Health Organization, 10 of
  world population will die due to smoking
• Sexually Transmitted Disease

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Sexually Transmitted Diseases

• 1 out of 4 teens get a STD before graduating high
  school
• AIDS- Acquired Immuno-deficiency Syndrome
• One of the leading causes of death in adolescence
• 60 of AIDS cases are Caucasian persons
• Chlamydia
• Most common STD
• Burning in urination and discharge from penis or
  vagina
• Can cause serious complications for women
• Pelvic inflammatory disease which can lead to
  ectopic pregnancies
• Sterility (men and women)
• Conjunctivitis (inflammation of eyes leading to
  blindness) in newborns
• Symptoms may not show for some time
• Douching once or more per month increases risk
• Is curable with antibiotics though not a
  bacterium per se

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STDs Contd

• Genital Herpes
• Viral disease that is not curable
• Small blisters form around glans of penis or
  vaginal opening which may break open and be quite
  painful
• Outbreaks occur periodically in a cyclical
  fashion
• Can be obtained by having oral sex with someone
  who has herpes simplex 1 outbreak (cold sore on
  mouth)
• Trichomoniasis
• An infection of the vagina or penis caused by a
  parasite
• Often, infection is not detected for some time
• Can eventually lead to painful discharge
• May lead to cervical cancer
• Males tend to be carriers and are usually
  asymptomatic
• Cure is possible but not guaranteed

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STDs Contd

• Gonorrhea (a.k.a. The Clap)
• Bacterial infection that often accompanies
  chlamydia
• Thrives in warm mucous membrane of genitals,
  anus, and throat
• As many as 80 of infected women will not show
  signs of infection
• Men typically see signs within a few days to
  several weeks following sexual contact
• Cloudy, bad smelling discharge from penis and
  burning during urination
• Over the years, gonorrhea strains have become
  resistant to antibiotics
• Disease is curable with right combo of
  antibiotics

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STDs Contd

• Syphilis
• Bacterial disease which progresses in stages and
  become increasingly severe
• Primary Syphilis Chancre
• Secondary Syphilis skin rashes on hand and feet
• Latent stage no symptoms
• Tertiary Syphilis Brain function disruption,
  psychosis, death
• Is treatable/curable if caught early hard
  bacteria to kill and get rid of
• Warning Gross, explicit pictures of STDs coming
  up next!

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Pictured Above Genital Herpes Pictured Left
Gonorrhea
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Syphilis Chancre Stage