Adolescent Development

Psychology 242

Professor Jean Rhodes

Adolescence in a Changing Population

• There are about 40 million 10-19 year olds in the U.S.– 14% of population

• Average age of parents is about 35• 27% of all children under 18 live with one

parent (mostly mothers)– 29% Hispanic– 53% African American

• 16% of children under 18 live below poverty

Today’s Adolescents

Actual and Projected Number of U.S. Adolescents Aged 10-19, 2000-2100

Fig. 1.2

Development Processes

Developmental Changes are a Result of Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes

Fig. 1.3

Development Processes

Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes

Biologicalprocesses

Physical changes within an

individual’s body.

Development Processes

Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes Cognitive

processes

Changes inthinking andintelligence.

Development Processes

Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes Socioemotional

processes

Changes inrelationships, emotions,

personality, and social contexts.

Adolescence 242• Assignments:• Natural observation or flim clip (20%)• Midterm and Final examinations (35%

midterm, 40% final).: Multiple-choice, short answer, and short essay exam take will include questions about topics from the class. To do well, you will want to have studied information from class presentations and discussions, from readings, and from your observations.

• Attendance, reading, participation (5%)

Periods of Development• Childhood

– Prenatal Period– Infancy– Early Childhood– Middle and Late Childhood

Periods of Development• Adolescence

– Early Adolescence– Late Adolescence

Periods of Development• Adulthood

– Early Adulthood– Middle Adulthood– Late Adulthood

Adolescence & Early Adulthood

• Early adolescence– 11-15

• Late adolescence– 18-19

• Early adulthood– 19-30

Historical Perspective• The 20th Century

– G. Stanley Hall’s Storm-and-Stress View– Margaret Mead’s Sociocultural View

Myth of Storm and Stress• Most youth do not experience a stormy

adolescence• Those who do, often exhibit problems

throughout childhood• Adolescence is generally a time of continued

positive relations with parents, and most adopt their parents’ values

Theories of Adolescence: G Stanley Hall

• Recapitulation Theory:– life-span changes mirror evolutionary changes of

humans from ape-like to civilized.– First person to present a scientific theroy of

developoment that thought of adolescence as a distinct portion of the life span

• A period of transition from being “beastlike” to being “humanlike”

– Based on a misunderstanding of Darwinian theory

Theory

• An interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain and make predictions

Psychoanalytic theories

Superego Id Ego

• Freud

Personality Structure

PsychoanalyticFreud

– Defense Mechanisms• Unconscious methods the ego uses to distort

reality and protect itself from anxiety

• Examples: Repression and Regression

PsychoanalyticFreud

Fig. 2.1

PsychoanalyticRevisions of Freud’s Theories

– Less emphasis on sexual motivations– More emphasis on social aspirations

Psychoanalytic

(Continued…)Fig. 2.3

Psychoanalytic(Continued from previous slide)

CognitivePiaget

Fig. 2.4

CognitiveVygotsky

– Cognitive skills are mediated by words, language, and forms of discourse

– Cognitive skills have their origins in social relations

Information Processing Theory

– How information is: • Perceived• Encoded• Represented• Stored• Retrieved

Cognitive

BehavioralSkinner

– The scientific study of observable behavior responses and their environmental determinants

– Behavior is learned and often changes according to environmental experience

Social CognitiveBandura’s Social Cognitive Theory

Fig. 2.5

Ecological, ContextualBronfenbrenner

– Microsystem– Mesosystem– Exosystem– Macrosystem

Bronfenbrenner• Levels

Eclectic Theoretical Orientation

Eclectic Theoretical Orientation

– Not following any one theoretical approach, but rather selecting from each theory whatever is considered the best in it