Transcript File

Developmental Psychology: pt. 2

Adolescence
 Adolescence
 the
transition period from childhood
to adulthood
 extending from puberty to independence
 Puberty
 the
period of sexual maturation
 when one first becomes capable of
reproduction
Female 11
Male 13
Development of Sex
Characteristics
 Primary
Sex Characteristics
 body
structures that make sexual
reproduction possible
ovaries- female
testes- male
external genitalia
 Secondary
Sex Characteristics
 nonreproductive
sexual characteristics
female- enlarged breast, hips
male- voice quality, body hair
Puberty’s Landmarks

For Women it is the emergence of the
Menarche: the first menstrual period when
becoming a women which usually occurs by
about age 13

For Men it is the first ejaculation which
usually occurs by the age of 14 usually in the
form of a nocturnal emission.
Spermarche
Body Changes and Puberty
Psychological/Social Effects of Puberty
What is the usual result of early maturation
in boys?
Tend to be more popular
More Self- assured
More Independent
Increased chance of alcohol use
Increased chance of premature sex
 What is the usual result of early maturation
in girls?

 Teasing
 Sexual
harassment
Interval Between Menarche and
Marriage
1890, Women
10
7 Year Interval
20
Age
2014, Women
14 Year Interval
10
20
Age
Possible
Causes?
Brain Development and Puberty
Selective pruning gets rid of
unconnected brain cells
 Frontal lobe develops
slower than the limbic system
Impulsiveness
Risky behavior

 Formal
Stage
Operational
Moral
and logical
reasoning
Moral Development and Kohlberg
Lawrence Kohlberg
built on the ideas of
Piaget and believed that
cognitive development
was connected to moral
reasoning.
 Created Series of Stages
he believed individuals
went through.

Know This Chart
As moral
development
progresses, the
focus of concern
moves from the
self to the wider
social world.
 Individuals move
up the ladder as
they develop
cognitively.

Postconventional
level
Morality of abstract
principles: to affirm
agreed-upon rights and
personal ethical principles
Conventional
level
Morality of law and
social rules: to gain
approval or avoid
disapproval
Preconventional
level
Morality of self-interest:
to avoid punishment
or gain concrete rewards
First Rung: Preconventional
Reasoning (Children to Age 9)
 Characterizations
of the Preconventional
Level:
 Focused on Obedience and
Punishment---I can’t do this because “I
will get in trouble” or because “Mom Said
So.”
 Also focused on self-interest. “Whats
in It For Me?” “You scratch my back, I’ll
scratch yours.”
Second Rung: Conventional
Reasoning (Adolescence)
 Focuses on seeking approval from
other people. Want to complete
actions of a “good boy/good girl.”
Evaluates morality in terms of
consequences on relationships.
 Later focuses on importance of
law and order. Something is
wrong because “it is against the law.”
Third Rung: Post Conventional
Reasoning (Adulthood)
 Focus
on social contracts and
principles like human rights and
social justice.
 Eventually focus on universal
abstract principles. “Right to life.”
Laws that are unjust can be broken.
 Imagining oneself in everyone else’s
shoes.
Erik Erikson and Psychosocial
development
Erikson argued that as people
developed they inevitably had to
deal with psychological and
social conflicts along with
different roles as they aged.
Argued everyone experiences
universal “identity crises”
 One’s identity or sense of
self was effected by how
one deals with each conflict
in their life.

Know Erikson’s Chart
Approximate
age
Stage
Description of Task
Infancy
(1st year)
Trust vs. mistrust
If needs are dependably met, infants
develop a sense of basic trust.
Toddler
(2nd year)
Autonomy vs. shame Toddlers learn to exercise will and
and doubt
do things for themselves, or they
doubt their abilities.
Preschooler
(3-5 years)
Initiative vs. guilt
Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks
and carry out plans, or they feel
guilty about efforts to be independent.
Elementary
(6 yearspuberty)
Competence vs.
inferiority
Children learn the pleasure of applying
themselves to tasks, or they feel
inferior.
Know Erikson’s Chart
Approximate
age
Stage
Description of Task
Adolescence
(teens into
20’s)
Identity vs. role
confusion
Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by
testing roles and then integrating them to
form a single identity, or they become
confused about who they are.
Young Adult
(20’s to early
40’s)
Intimacy vs.
isolation
Young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain the capacity for intimate
love, or they feel socially isolated.
Middle Adult
(40’s to 60’s)
Generativity vs.
stagnation
The middle-aged discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family
and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose.
Late Adult
(late 60’s and
up)
Integrity vs.
despair
When reflecting on his or her life, the older
adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or
failure.
Adolescence and Identity

Conflicts
become
more
intense
between
adolescence
and parents
as they
search for
identity.
Percent with
positive, warm
interaction
with parents
100%
80
60
40
20
0
2 to 4
5 to 8
9 to 11
Ages of child in years
Adulthood and Intimacy
Following Adolescent’s search for identity,
young adults look to establish intimacy:
ability to establish close, loving relationships.
 How are boys different from girls in terms of
social connectedness?
 Boys Vs. Girls- boys want to be more
independent and are less concerned with
“making connectedness”
 Men vs. Women- women tend to be more
interdependent and use conversation to
build relationships and emphasis caring. Men
care more about freedom and self reliance.

Adulthood and Physical
Changes
 Menopause
in Women
 the time of natural cessation of
menstruation
 also refers to the biological changes a
woman experiences as her ability to
reproduce declines
 No equivalence to menopause in
men.
Aging and Reaction Times
Fatal
accident 12
rate
10

Fatal accidents
per 100 million miles
8
6
Fatal accidents
per 10,000 drivers
4
2
0
16 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 and
over
Age
Slowing
reactions
contribute to
increased
accident risks
among those
75 and older.
Aging and Cognitive
Changes
100
Percent
of names 90
recalled 80

Older age groups have
poorer performance
After three
introductions
70
60
50
40
After two
introductions
30
20
After one
10 introductions
0
18
40
50
60
Age group
70
Recalling new
names
introduced
once, twice or
three times is
easier for
younger
adults than
for older
ones (Crook &
West, 1990).
Aging and Cognitive Changes
Number
Of words
24
remembered
20
16
12
8
4
0
In a study by
Schonfield &
Robertson (1966),
Number of words the ability to
recognized is
recall new
stable with age
information
declined
during
Number of words
early and middle
recalled declines
with age
adulthood, but the
ability to recognize
20 30 40 50
60 70 new information did
Age in years
not.

Aging Sucks Because…….
More prone to illness
 ¼ live in nursing homes
 Brain neurons die
 Recognition memory decreases
 After age 65 life satisfaction decreases
 Muscle strength decreases
 Visual sharpness, hearing, smell and taste all
decrease
 Neural processing decreases
 Brain Atrophy sets in
 If you remain active you can retain many of

Physical Deterioration

Alzheimer’s Disease:
 a progressive and
irreversible brain
disorder
 characterized by a gradual
deterioration of memory,
reasoning, language, and
finally, physical functioning
 Linked to acetylcholine
neurotransmitter
Alzheimer’s Disease

Aging and Intelligence
Results comparing intelligence scores and age
have produced different results depending on
the type of study but in general one’s
crystallized intelligence tends to increase with
age while one’s fluid intelligence decreases with
age.
 Crystallized Intelligence: accumulated
knowledge and verbal skills…ex: history
facts, words, etc.
 Fluid Intelligence: ability to reason
speedily and abstractly….ex: puzzles, logic
games.

Adulthood Social Changes
 Social
Clock
 the culturally
preferred
timing of
social events
marriage
parenthood
retirement
Adulthood and Satisfaction with
Life

Percentage
“satisfied”
with life
as a whole
80
60
40
20
0
15
25
35
45
Age group
55
65+
Multinational
surveys show
that age
differences in
life
satisfaction
are trivial
(Inglehart,
1990).
Old Age according to Freud
 healthy
adults are ones that can
love and work
Love
Marriage is more likely to
work if the people are older
than 20 and well
educated
 62% of couples support “
living together with
someone to test the
relationship”
 Positive Correlation
between living together
and divorce rates
 9 out of 10 men marry
 75% of divorcees remarry

Work
 During
the first 2
years of college
most students
can’t predict
their careers
Death and Dying
 The
greatest
loss is typically
your spouse
 Reactions to
death vary
greatly