Chapter 8: Adolescence

How does the body physically change beginning in puberty? What are four ways that the brain changes during adolescence?

What is the normal/average timing of pubertal events?

How does developing early or late influence emotional and social development for girls and for boys?

What are the four reasons for adolescent substance use? Name and describe each.

Describe the stage that Piaget names for adolescents. What is it that adolescents can do now that they couldn’t do before?

What are the critiques of Piaget’s theory of formal operations?

How do attention and memory change from middle childhood to adolescence? What is selective attention? What is divided attention?

What are three explanations for adolescents’ increasing ability to remember information?

What is “adolescent egocentrism”? Define the imaginary audience and the personal fable. How do they lead to problem behaviors?

Produce an example of the zone of proximal development and scaffolding involving adolescents.

What are self-concept and self-esteem? What are the eight domains of adolescent self-concept? Which are most related to self-esteem?

How does self-esteem change throughout adolescence? Why?

Explain how discrepancies between actual-self, ideal-self, and feared-self relate to mental health and behaviors.

What is gender intensification? How do the acceptance of gender stereotypes change going into adolescence?

Describe Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. What are the three stages? What is the person’s reason for a moral decision in each stage?

What does longitudinal research show, regarding Kohlberg’s theory?

How does the relationship with parents change (in the U.S.)? Why?

Describe adolescents’ relationships with friends and characterize their interactions with peers.

Identify cultural variations in adolescent love and sexuality. What are the three cultural types, in terms of approaching adolescent sexuality? How do pregnancy rates differ in these types?

What is sexual orientation? What percentage of American teens identify as gay/lesbian/bisexual?

Define resilience and name the protective factors that are related to resilience in adolescence.

Important terms to know/understand

primary sex characteristics

secondary sex characteristics

menarche

spermarche

preconventional reasoning

conventional reasoning

postconventional reasoning

coming out