Transcript Adolescence Post

Thinking About Psychology:
The Science of Mind and
Behavior
Charles T. Blair-Broeker
Randal M. Ernst
Module 05
Adolescence
Module 5: Adolescence
What is Adolescence?
Adolescence
• The period between childhood and
adulthood
• From puberty (the start of sexual
maturation) to independence from
parents
Module 5: Adolescence
Physical Development
in Adolescence
Puberty
• The period of sexual maturation where
the person becomes capable of
reproducing
• Starts at approximately age 11 in
females and age 13 in males
• Major growth spurt
Physical Development
Primary Sex Characteristics
• The body structures that make sexual
reproduction possible
• Ovaries in females
• Testes in males
Secondary Sex Characteristics
• Nonreproductive sexual characteristics
• Breasts and hips in females
• Facial hair and voice changes in males
Sexual Characteristics
Sexual Orientation
• One’s attraction toward people of a
particular gender
• Usually heterosexual or homosexual;
small minority bisexual
Heterosexual
• A sexual orientation in which a person
is attracted to members of the opposite
sex
• “straight”
Homosexual
• A sexual orientation in which a person
is attracted to members of the same sex
• Approximately 3-4% of the male
population and 1-2% of the female
population
Module 5: Adolescence
Cognitive
Development:
Reasoning
Formal Operational Stage
• Piaget’s fourth and final stage of
cognitive development
• The person can think logically,
hypothetically, and in the abstract
• Qualitative change over the thinking of
a child
Module 5: Adolescence
Cognitive
Development in
Adolescence:
Morality
Heinz Steals the Drug
• In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer.
There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was
a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently
discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was
charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for
the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The
sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow
the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is
half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and
asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist
said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from
it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal
the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that?
(Kohlberg, 1963, p. 19)
• Do you agree with Heinz’s actions in stealing the drug for his
wife. Provide detailed reasons for your answer.
Lawrence Kohlberg
• Author of a three-stage theory on how
moral reasoning develops
1. Preconventional Moral
Reasoning
• Characterized by the desire to avoid
punishment or gain reward
• Typically children under the age of 9
2. Conventional Moral Reasoning
• Primary concern is to fit in and play the
role of a good citizen
• People have a strong desire to follow the
rules and laws.
• Typical of most adults
3. Postconventional Moral
Reasoning
• Characterized by references to universal
ethical principles that represent the
rights or obligations of all people
• Most adults do not reach this level.
The Measurement of Moral
Judgment
• In a country in Europe, a poor man named Valjean could
find no work, nor could his sister and brother. Without
money, he stole food and medicine that they needed. He
was captured and sentenced to prison for six years, he
escaped from the prison and went to live in another part
of the country under a new name. He saved money and
slowly built up a big factory. He gave his workers the
highest wages and used most of the profits to build a
hospital for people who couldn’t afford good medical
care. Twenty years had passed when a tailor recognized
the factory owner as being Valjean, the escaped convict
whom the police had been looking for back in his home
town.
The Measurement of Moral
Judgment
• After reading the story answer the
following:
– Should the tailor report Valjean to the police.
– Provide a response that reflects the thinking
at each of Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development.
Module 5: Adolescence
Social Development
in Adolescence
Erik Erikson
• Constructed an 8-stage theory of social
development
• Each stage has its own psychosocial,
developmental task.
Module 5: Adolescence
Social Development
in Adolescence:
Developing Identity
Identity
• A strong, consistent sense of who and
what a person is
• Identity search includes the following
characteristics:
– Experimentation
– Rebellion
– “Self”-ishness
– Optimism and energy
Module 5: Adolescence
Social Development
in Adolescence:
Developing Intimacy
Intimacy
• A close, sharing, emotional, and honest
relationship with other people
• To Erikson this is the primary task of
early adulthood
• Not necessarily one’s spouse or a sexual
relationship
Module 5: Adolescence
Social Development
in Adolescence:
Independence from
Family
Module 5: Adolescence
Three Key
Developmental Issues
1. Continuity and Stages
• How much of behavior is continuous
and how much follows a more stage like
development?
Types of Growth Patterns
2. Stability and Change
• Which developmental traits remain
stable over time, and which change?
3. Nature and Nurture
• How much of our behavior is due to
nature and how much is due to nurture?
• How do nature and nurture interact in
development?
The End