Chapter 12: Young Adulthood; Physical & Cognitive Development
Slide 2
ü Adulthood is not the final destination in the development journey
o You don’t stop developing when you “get there”
o We have divided the first 20 years or so into 4 distinct stages [infancy & toddlers, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence].
o Adulthood generally lasts much longer…3,4, or even 5 times longer; it only reasonable that there are distinct stages of development continues. Early adulthood [20’s & 30’s] is just another beginning; similar to toddlers and young children.
ü Developmental changes in thinking, personality & behavior during
adulthood is very different from child development
o Generally, based much less on chronological age or biological changes - More on personal, social or cultural influences
o Adult role & responsibility for decision-making and problem-solving
o Leads to greater differences among adults than children; adults have less in common with one another than children have in common with one another
Slide 3
ü Culturally defined markers or “social milestones” of development rather than physical markers like walking or pubescence
o Normative: getting your first job, moving out of parent’s home, marriage, career choice & advancement, parenting, etc.
Timing differs from individual to individual & culture to culture but generally occur at “relatively” specific times for most people in a particular group
o Idiosyncratic: unanticipated “life-changing events”; getting fired, death of a spouse, winning the lottery
Slide 4
Age Clocks & Social Norms: concepts that help study & categorize adult development; since it is mainly based on individual behavior & judgement
Slide 5
o Age clocks are a sort of “internal timing” regarding life events, in relation to one’s culture
Example: birth of first child
o Cultural changes in last couple of decades “blurring of traditional life periods” ; we are becoming an “age-irrelevant” society
Slide 6
o Contextual Paradigm: very complex idea of integrating various “contexts”.
Focus on development as a whole, as opposed to looking at one perspective at a time.
Everything influences everything else
Slide 7
Strength & Stamina
o Most young adults at peak of physical development: strength, endurance
o Generally physical functioning on the whole reaches its prime
o Gradual decline in functioning in most areas between 20 & 30 [see table page 372]
Slide 8
o Health & fitness habits important & often those developed in early adulthood often carry over through later years. FORM GOOD HABITS YOUNG!
o Historical changes based on improvements in exercise, medicine & nutrition. Example of Olympic performance [not to mention use of steroids]
Slide 9
Causes of death among young adults
o Accidents, HIV/AIDS, Cancers (among women)
Slide 10
Sex & sexuality: Attitudes & behavior
o Monogamy
o 1/3 2X week; 1/3 several X month, 1/3 none to a few X year
o Married couples have more sex & more orgasms.
o Only very minor differences in frequency across ethic groups
o Major changes in past few decades
>Duration has increased markedly
>Suggests greater relaxation, enjoyment & mutuality
>Maximize pleasure vs. get it over with
Cognitive Changes: Adult thinking referred to as “Post Formal Thought”
o Goes beyond Piaget’s Formal Operations which is simpler, logic-driven
o Uses cognitive & emotional aspects in problem-solving
o Takes into account social context
Slide 11
Goleman’s 4 areas of Emotional Intelligence
Developing emotional self-awareness
Managing emotions
Reading emotions
Handling relationships
Slide 12
Major Tasks of Early Adulthood ( Table 12-7; p. 395)
Erikson -
Gould – Overcome dependency assumptions, develop competence, acknowledge limitations, accept responsibility
Havighurst – Start a Family & establish a career
Slide 13
Schaie - using intellectual & cognitive abilities to accomplish personal & career goals
Slide 14
Levenson – develop “early life structure”, which includes establishing a career & an intimate relationship with a special partner
o Different for men & women – pages 391& 392
Monday, June 22, 2009
Lecture Notes/Chapter Outine Chapter 13 – Young Adult Personality & Sociocultural Development
Chapter 13 – Young Adult Personality & Sociocultural Development
As we enter adulthood, we become socialized into new roles
Ø Maslow’s Self-Actualization Theory
Ø Carl Rogers
Facets of Self
Family member
Worker – intrinsic; extrinsic
Youthful “ideal”
Must be integrated into self-identity
Close Relationships: Friendships & similarity to Love
Ericson: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
Components:
1. Intimacy
2. Passion
3. Decision to commit/commitment
Taxonomy:
1. liking
2. infatuated love
3. empty love
4. companionate love
5. fatuous [foolishly self-satisfied] love
6. consummate [perfect] love
Mate selection & marriage
Why & how people choose mates - various theories
Freud: acceptable focus for oedipal feelings
Instrumental theory of mate selection – based on gratification of needs,
attraction based on similar or complementary needs
Stimulus-Value- Role Theory: stimulus stage, value-comparison stage, role stage [determine if marriage/relationship roles can/will endure]
Family Systems perspective: focus on boundaries & redefining relationships with friends & family, as well as couples own relationship
Marriage vs. cohabitation
90% of men & women marry at some point in their lives
Cohabitation - overtly focus that they are not married.
1/3 of cohabitating couples eventually marry
Parenting & development
Family cycles
Transition to parenthood
1. changes in identity & inner life
2. shifting roles & relationship in the marriage
3. shifts in general roles & relationships [grandparent factor]
4. Changing roles outside of family [work, friends, etc.]
5. new parenting role & relationship – navigating new responsibilities
Parents’ developmental stages
1. Image-making stage [conception to birth, what kind of parent will I be?]
2. Nurturing stage – birth to 2 [until the kid says “NO”]
3. Authority stage – 2-5 [often question their parenting skills, know they aren’t perfect]
4. interpretive stage – middle years 6-12 [parents reexamine & test out their ideas about parenting
5. Interdependence stage – adolescence [redefine their authority relationship]
6. departure stage – letting go & accepting experiences as a parent
Single Parenthood
Tremendous change – in 70’s one in 7 kids lived in a home with no father
Single –parent families have increased 10X faster than 2-parent families since then. 1995 1/3 (33.3%)of all families headed by single mother.
why?
1. In the 70’s & early ‘80’s – divorce was at its peak. That was why then. In ‘99 it was 12% lower than in ’79. In ’95 2 out 5 [40%] of marriages expected to fail. Most divorces happen during early adulthood
2. Now: large increase in unmarried mothers [in ’98 almost 1/3 of births were to unmarried women – nearly 70% among black women]
3. increase in # of mothers separated but not divorced
Single fathers & Gay & Lesbian families
Single fathers still rare but getting more common. 10% gain custody after
divorce; 16% joint custody]
Gay & Lesbian very new phenomenon
Occupation / career cycles
Stages of vocational life:
1. id. with. a worker [5-10]
2. acquiring “habits of industry” [10-15]
3. Develop Id. as a worker [15- 25
4. becoming productive person [25 –40]
5. maintaining/contributing to productive society [40 – 70]
6. contemplation of productive & responsible life [70 - ]
Women in the workforce
Myths
As we enter adulthood, we become socialized into new roles
Ø Maslow’s Self-Actualization Theory
Ø Carl Rogers
Facets of Self
Family member
Worker – intrinsic; extrinsic
Youthful “ideal”
Must be integrated into self-identity
Close Relationships: Friendships & similarity to Love
Ericson: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
Components:
1. Intimacy
2. Passion
3. Decision to commit/commitment
Taxonomy:
1. liking
2. infatuated love
3. empty love
4. companionate love
5. fatuous [foolishly self-satisfied] love
6. consummate [perfect] love
Mate selection & marriage
Why & how people choose mates - various theories
Freud: acceptable focus for oedipal feelings
Instrumental theory of mate selection – based on gratification of needs,
attraction based on similar or complementary needs
Stimulus-Value- Role Theory: stimulus stage, value-comparison stage, role stage [determine if marriage/relationship roles can/will endure]
Family Systems perspective: focus on boundaries & redefining relationships with friends & family, as well as couples own relationship
Marriage vs. cohabitation
90% of men & women marry at some point in their lives
Cohabitation - overtly focus that they are not married.
1/3 of cohabitating couples eventually marry
Parenting & development
Family cycles
Transition to parenthood
1. changes in identity & inner life
2. shifting roles & relationship in the marriage
3. shifts in general roles & relationships [grandparent factor]
4. Changing roles outside of family [work, friends, etc.]
5. new parenting role & relationship – navigating new responsibilities
Parents’ developmental stages
1. Image-making stage [conception to birth, what kind of parent will I be?]
2. Nurturing stage – birth to 2 [until the kid says “NO”]
3. Authority stage – 2-5 [often question their parenting skills, know they aren’t perfect]
4. interpretive stage – middle years 6-12 [parents reexamine & test out their ideas about parenting
5. Interdependence stage – adolescence [redefine their authority relationship]
6. departure stage – letting go & accepting experiences as a parent
Single Parenthood
Tremendous change – in 70’s one in 7 kids lived in a home with no father
Single –parent families have increased 10X faster than 2-parent families since then. 1995 1/3 (33.3%)of all families headed by single mother.
why?
1. In the 70’s & early ‘80’s – divorce was at its peak. That was why then. In ‘99 it was 12% lower than in ’79. In ’95 2 out 5 [40%] of marriages expected to fail. Most divorces happen during early adulthood
2. Now: large increase in unmarried mothers [in ’98 almost 1/3 of births were to unmarried women – nearly 70% among black women]
3. increase in # of mothers separated but not divorced
Single fathers & Gay & Lesbian families
Single fathers still rare but getting more common. 10% gain custody after
divorce; 16% joint custody]
Gay & Lesbian very new phenomenon
Occupation / career cycles
Stages of vocational life:
1. id. with. a worker [5-10]
2. acquiring “habits of industry” [10-15]
3. Develop Id. as a worker [15- 25
4. becoming productive person [25 –40]
5. maintaining/contributing to productive society [40 – 70]
6. contemplation of productive & responsible life [70 - ]
Women in the workforce
Myths
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Chapter 11: Adolescence: Personality & Sociocultural Development
Chapter 11
Adolescence: Personality & Sociocultural Development
I. Developmental Tasks of Adolescence
A. Most theorists agree that adolescents must confront two major tasks
1. Achieving autonomy and independence from their parents
2. Forming an identity
B. Self regulation and interdependence
1. SELF REGULATION – in adolescence, making one’s own judgments and regulating one’s own behavior
2. INTERDEPENDENCE – reciprocal dependence, where both parties depend on each other
C. Forming an identity
1. IDENTITY FORMATION – gaining a sense of who you are and how you fit into society
2. SOCIAL REFERENCE GROUPS – narrow or broad groups with which people identify, and in so doing, help to define themselves
3. Erikson’s concept of identity
a. IDENTITY VERSUS IDENTITY CONFUSION – for Erikson, the critical developmental task for adolescents, which focuses on forging an answer to the question, “Who am I?”
b. The adolescent tries out various alternative identities as they attempt to sort through the options to make sense of who they are
c. If they do not decide, they withdraw and become isolated or they conform to expectations of whoever exerts the greatest power over their lives
4. Modes of identity formation
a. Erikson believed that identity formation involved an IDENTITY CRISIS – a period during which individuals grapple with the options available and ultimately make a choice and commitment as to which path their lives will take
b. Other researchers though defined identity formation into four modes or statuses
i. COMMITMENT – for Marcia, the part of identity formation that involves making a personal investment in the paths one chooses
ii. FORCLOSRE STATUS – the identity status of those who have made commitments without going through much decision making or through an identity crisis
iii. DIFFUSIO STATUS – the identity status of those who have neither gone through an identity crisis nor committed to an occupational role or moral code
iv. MORATORiIM STATUS – the identity status of those who are currently in the midst of an identity crisis or decision making period
v. IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT – the identity status of those who have gone through an identity crisis and have made commitments
c. influences on identity formation
i. Identity status influences an adolescent’s social expectations, self image, and reactions to stress
ii. The environment, age, and gender also influence identity formation
D. Identity formation, culture and context
1. Collectivist societies place much less emphasis on autonomy and more on a child becoming and remaining interdependent with others
2. Western societies stress becoming a distinct, relatively autonomous individual as opposed to becoming a contributing member of a cooperative group
II. Family Dynamics
A. Intergenerational communication
1. Research shows that there is much less conflict between adolescents and their families than often assumed
2. Conflict occurs more frequently in early adolescence than in later adolescence
B. Family alliances
1. Family alliances shape behavior before adolescence
a. A person dominated by an older sibling is likely to dominate his/her younger siblings
b. A “daddy’s girl” at age 6 will still be close to her father at age 16
2. Parenting styles and parental monitoring
a. Three primary parental styles
i. Adolescents who have experienced authoritarian parenting become dependent and anxious in the presence of authority figures or may become defiant and resentful
ii. Adolescents who have experienced permissive parenting may have difficulty setting boundaries and defining appropriate behavior
iii. Adolescents who have authoritative parents display normal and healthy behavior
b. Adolescents have fewer conflicts with their fathers, which suggests that fathers interfere less and allow greater freedom for teenagers
c. Mothers interact with their children more both in and out of the home and this can cause greater strain, but it also tends to create greater closeness
d. Parental monitoring occurs when the adolescent moves closer to adulthood since the parents cannot be with the adolescent at all times and teens do not offer full disclosure about their life
III. Peer Relationships During Adolescence
A. Social comparison
1. SOCIAL COMPARISON – evaluating yourself and your situation relative to others
2. Teens define themselves in a diverse peer arena made up of many different kinds of young people
3. Initially they focus on appearance and personality characteristics
4. Teens seek few close friendships and more loose friendships
5. As intimacy in friendship increases sharing of personal feeling and concerns occurs
B. Cliques and crowds
1. CROWD – adolescent peer group with perhaps 15 to 30 members
2. CLIQUE – adolescent peer group with as few as 3 members or as many as 9; more cohesive than crowd
3. Loners are those who do not belong to identifiable cliques or crowds. When it is voluntary it can provide creativity and relief from pressure
C. Dating
1. Adolescence is a stage of testing, imagining, and discovering what it is like to function in mixed groups and pairs
2. Young adolescents look for dates who are physically attractive, dress well, and are liked by others
3. Older adolescents are less superficial and are more concerned about personality characteristics
D. Peers and parents: a clash of cultures
1. As peers replace parents as the primary socializing force in a teenager’s life, parents become concerned about the characteristics of the peers
2. If the peers are different than the parents would prefer a clash of cultures occurs
3. This conflict is usually more serious for girls because disparities in hairstyles and dress are greater for women
IV. Risk and Resilience in Adolescence
A. Risk taking
1. Adolescents engage in sex, possibly without protection or with multiple partners, or abuse drugs
2. Adolescents’ judgment may not be fully developed and they could not understand the risks they are taking
3. When they develop self esteem, competence, and belonging they are less likely to engage in risky behavior
B. The use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs
1. Mostly prevalent in latter part of teenage years and in early adulthood
2. Tobacco
a. Smoking becomes alluring because it is a perceived symbol of maturity
b. Boys tend to smoke more and earlier
3. Alcohol
a. Alcohol is also perceived as something that lends itself to maturity and adulthood
b. Is most prevalent in teens whose friends drink
c. Binge drinking is especially problematic
4. Marijuana
a. The third most widely used drug in the US
b. Short term effects include impaired coordination, memory, attention, and perception, rise in heart rate, and rise in blood pressure
c. Long term effects are comparable to smoking cigarettes
5. Other drugs
a. Use of cocaine, heroine, LSD have been low
b. Designer drugs like ecstasy have become popular at raves
c. Methamphetamine use has increased primarily in rural areas
C. Delinquency
1. DELINQUENTS - people under age 16 or 18 who commit criminal acts
2. Association between crime and living in disadvantaged or stressful environments have been noted to contribute to delinquency
3. Other factors include the mass media and because adolescents seek to be members of delinquent peer groups
D. Sexual abuse of adolescents
1. Abuse is a problem for many adolescents, both male and female
2. Female
a. In early adolescence it is primarily between a female and an older adult male relative or family friend
b. Older adolescents are subjected to date rape
c. Sexually abused and traumatized girls often feel depressed, guilty and ashamed
d. Abuse is often long term
3. Male
a. Also most likely to be abused by a male who is not a family member
b. Feel particularly ashamed since they were forced to engage in same sex acts and they were powerless to defend themselves
V. Stress, Depression, and Coping
A. Depression
1. At any time about 8% of adolescents are suffering from moderate to severe depression
2. An interactive approach
a. Results from a combination of risk factors that interact, including biological, psychological, and social systems variables
b. Can be treated with prescription drugs
3. Adolescent suicide
a. Suicide rates have quadrupled for ages 15 & 19
b. They are not responding to one disturbing event, rather the context of long standing personal or family problems
c. copycat suicides are likely in adolescents because of the belief that the future is beyond their control
B. Risk factors for psychological problems tend to fall into four categories:
1. Teenage sexual activity
2. Abuse of alcohol
3. Antisocial and unproductive behavior
4. Poor school performance
C. Protective factors and coping responses
1. For adolescents whose lives have been easy, most risk factors are minor problems and positive adjustment is a likely outcome
2. Problematic adjustments are usually the result of experiencing several negative risk factors along with the interactions among them
3. Good intellectual functioning and appealing personalities, strong positive family support, good schools, and favorable organizations are likely to be associated with adolescents who can deal effectively with bad circumstances
Adolescence: Personality & Sociocultural Development
I. Developmental Tasks of Adolescence
A. Most theorists agree that adolescents must confront two major tasks
1. Achieving autonomy and independence from their parents
2. Forming an identity
B. Self regulation and interdependence
1. SELF REGULATION – in adolescence, making one’s own judgments and regulating one’s own behavior
2. INTERDEPENDENCE – reciprocal dependence, where both parties depend on each other
C. Forming an identity
1. IDENTITY FORMATION – gaining a sense of who you are and how you fit into society
2. SOCIAL REFERENCE GROUPS – narrow or broad groups with which people identify, and in so doing, help to define themselves
3. Erikson’s concept of identity
a. IDENTITY VERSUS IDENTITY CONFUSION – for Erikson, the critical developmental task for adolescents, which focuses on forging an answer to the question, “Who am I?”
b. The adolescent tries out various alternative identities as they attempt to sort through the options to make sense of who they are
c. If they do not decide, they withdraw and become isolated or they conform to expectations of whoever exerts the greatest power over their lives
4. Modes of identity formation
a. Erikson believed that identity formation involved an IDENTITY CRISIS – a period during which individuals grapple with the options available and ultimately make a choice and commitment as to which path their lives will take
b. Other researchers though defined identity formation into four modes or statuses
i. COMMITMENT – for Marcia, the part of identity formation that involves making a personal investment in the paths one chooses
ii. FORCLOSRE STATUS – the identity status of those who have made commitments without going through much decision making or through an identity crisis
iii. DIFFUSIO STATUS – the identity status of those who have neither gone through an identity crisis nor committed to an occupational role or moral code
iv. MORATORiIM STATUS – the identity status of those who are currently in the midst of an identity crisis or decision making period
v. IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT – the identity status of those who have gone through an identity crisis and have made commitments
c. influences on identity formation
i. Identity status influences an adolescent’s social expectations, self image, and reactions to stress
ii. The environment, age, and gender also influence identity formation
D. Identity formation, culture and context
1. Collectivist societies place much less emphasis on autonomy and more on a child becoming and remaining interdependent with others
2. Western societies stress becoming a distinct, relatively autonomous individual as opposed to becoming a contributing member of a cooperative group
II. Family Dynamics
A. Intergenerational communication
1. Research shows that there is much less conflict between adolescents and their families than often assumed
2. Conflict occurs more frequently in early adolescence than in later adolescence
B. Family alliances
1. Family alliances shape behavior before adolescence
a. A person dominated by an older sibling is likely to dominate his/her younger siblings
b. A “daddy’s girl” at age 6 will still be close to her father at age 16
2. Parenting styles and parental monitoring
a. Three primary parental styles
i. Adolescents who have experienced authoritarian parenting become dependent and anxious in the presence of authority figures or may become defiant and resentful
ii. Adolescents who have experienced permissive parenting may have difficulty setting boundaries and defining appropriate behavior
iii. Adolescents who have authoritative parents display normal and healthy behavior
b. Adolescents have fewer conflicts with their fathers, which suggests that fathers interfere less and allow greater freedom for teenagers
c. Mothers interact with their children more both in and out of the home and this can cause greater strain, but it also tends to create greater closeness
d. Parental monitoring occurs when the adolescent moves closer to adulthood since the parents cannot be with the adolescent at all times and teens do not offer full disclosure about their life
III. Peer Relationships During Adolescence
A. Social comparison
1. SOCIAL COMPARISON – evaluating yourself and your situation relative to others
2. Teens define themselves in a diverse peer arena made up of many different kinds of young people
3. Initially they focus on appearance and personality characteristics
4. Teens seek few close friendships and more loose friendships
5. As intimacy in friendship increases sharing of personal feeling and concerns occurs
B. Cliques and crowds
1. CROWD – adolescent peer group with perhaps 15 to 30 members
2. CLIQUE – adolescent peer group with as few as 3 members or as many as 9; more cohesive than crowd
3. Loners are those who do not belong to identifiable cliques or crowds. When it is voluntary it can provide creativity and relief from pressure
C. Dating
1. Adolescence is a stage of testing, imagining, and discovering what it is like to function in mixed groups and pairs
2. Young adolescents look for dates who are physically attractive, dress well, and are liked by others
3. Older adolescents are less superficial and are more concerned about personality characteristics
D. Peers and parents: a clash of cultures
1. As peers replace parents as the primary socializing force in a teenager’s life, parents become concerned about the characteristics of the peers
2. If the peers are different than the parents would prefer a clash of cultures occurs
3. This conflict is usually more serious for girls because disparities in hairstyles and dress are greater for women
IV. Risk and Resilience in Adolescence
A. Risk taking
1. Adolescents engage in sex, possibly without protection or with multiple partners, or abuse drugs
2. Adolescents’ judgment may not be fully developed and they could not understand the risks they are taking
3. When they develop self esteem, competence, and belonging they are less likely to engage in risky behavior
B. The use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs
1. Mostly prevalent in latter part of teenage years and in early adulthood
2. Tobacco
a. Smoking becomes alluring because it is a perceived symbol of maturity
b. Boys tend to smoke more and earlier
3. Alcohol
a. Alcohol is also perceived as something that lends itself to maturity and adulthood
b. Is most prevalent in teens whose friends drink
c. Binge drinking is especially problematic
4. Marijuana
a. The third most widely used drug in the US
b. Short term effects include impaired coordination, memory, attention, and perception, rise in heart rate, and rise in blood pressure
c. Long term effects are comparable to smoking cigarettes
5. Other drugs
a. Use of cocaine, heroine, LSD have been low
b. Designer drugs like ecstasy have become popular at raves
c. Methamphetamine use has increased primarily in rural areas
C. Delinquency
1. DELINQUENTS - people under age 16 or 18 who commit criminal acts
2. Association between crime and living in disadvantaged or stressful environments have been noted to contribute to delinquency
3. Other factors include the mass media and because adolescents seek to be members of delinquent peer groups
D. Sexual abuse of adolescents
1. Abuse is a problem for many adolescents, both male and female
2. Female
a. In early adolescence it is primarily between a female and an older adult male relative or family friend
b. Older adolescents are subjected to date rape
c. Sexually abused and traumatized girls often feel depressed, guilty and ashamed
d. Abuse is often long term
3. Male
a. Also most likely to be abused by a male who is not a family member
b. Feel particularly ashamed since they were forced to engage in same sex acts and they were powerless to defend themselves
V. Stress, Depression, and Coping
A. Depression
1. At any time about 8% of adolescents are suffering from moderate to severe depression
2. An interactive approach
a. Results from a combination of risk factors that interact, including biological, psychological, and social systems variables
b. Can be treated with prescription drugs
3. Adolescent suicide
a. Suicide rates have quadrupled for ages 15 & 19
b. They are not responding to one disturbing event, rather the context of long standing personal or family problems
c. copycat suicides are likely in adolescents because of the belief that the future is beyond their control
B. Risk factors for psychological problems tend to fall into four categories:
1. Teenage sexual activity
2. Abuse of alcohol
3. Antisocial and unproductive behavior
4. Poor school performance
C. Protective factors and coping responses
1. For adolescents whose lives have been easy, most risk factors are minor problems and positive adjustment is a likely outcome
2. Problematic adjustments are usually the result of experiencing several negative risk factors along with the interactions among them
3. Good intellectual functioning and appealing personalities, strong positive family support, good schools, and favorable organizations are likely to be associated with adolescents who can deal effectively with bad circumstances
Lecture Notes/Chapter Outine Chapter 10: Adolescence
Chapter 10
Adolescence: Physical & Cognitive Development
I. Adolescent Development in a Cultural and Historical Context
A. RIGHTS OF PASSAGE – symbolic events or rituals to mark life transitions, such as from childhood to adult status.
1. As social circumstances change, adolescents react and adapt to the social relationships and institutions around them.
2. The social context in which development occurs must be considered in understanding adolescence.
B. Adolescence in the United States Today
1. Adolescents are largely age segregated, that is, they interact mostly with other adolescents and much less with younger children or adults.
a. Developmental niche: the interaction of various aspects of development - such as everyday physical & social settings, parenting & family customs & overall environmental context – that determines the unique world of each individual.
b. This separates the adolescent from younger children and thus deprives them of the opportunity to guide and tutor those who are less knowledgeable.
c. This also separates them from adult culture and they lack the chance to learn jobs by working with adults
2. Adolescents are also largely economically dependent on their parents
3. Adolescents are deeply affected by, and develop strong opinions about, the events of the time in which they live.
4. Adolescents are influenced by images projected by the mass media
a. They accept tragedy, sexuality, and brutality in a matter of fact way
b. Adolescents tend to gravitate to the more grizzly, counterculture aspects of media programming.
II. Physical Development and Adaptation
A. Physical Growth and Change
1. The biological hallmarks of adolescence are a marked increase in the rate of growth, rapid development of the reproductive organs, and the appearance of secondary sex characteristics such as body hair, increased body fat and muscle, and enlargement and maturation of genitalia
2. Some changes are the same for both boys and girls – increased size, strength, and stamina
3. Most changes are sex specific
4. The physical changes are largely controlled by HORMONES, which are the bio-chemical substances that are secreted into the bloodstream in very tiny amounts by internal organs called endocrine glands; hormones exert an effect on particular target organs or tissues.
a. ANDROGENS are male sex hormones; TESTOSTERONE is the most important androgen
b. ESTROGEN and PROGESTERONE are both female sex hormones
c. The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland are the two areas of the brain that maintain the balance of hormones.
i. The hypothalamus initiates growth and eventual reproductive capability
ii. The pituitary gland produces both growth hormones and some trophic hormones
5. The increase in hormone output is followed by the ADOLESCENT GROWTH SPURT, a period of rapid growth in physical size and strength, accompanied by changes in body proportion. Especially for girls, the growth spurt is a sign of entry into puberty.
B. PUBERTY is the attainment of sexual maturity in both males and females
1. A SECULAR TREND toward earlier sexual maturation has occurred.
2. Changes in girls
a. Breast development
b. Growth of pubic hair
c. Growth of underarm hair
d. Body growth
e. MENARCHE – the time of the first menstrual period
f. Increased output of oil and sweat producing glands
3. Changes in boys
a. Growth of testes and scrotal sac
b. Growth of pubic hair
c. Growth of facial and underarm hair
d. Body growth
e. Growth of penis
f. Change in voice
g. First ejaculation of semen
h. Increased output of oil and sweat producing glands
C. Body Image and Adjustment
1. MARGINAL GROUP is a group between cultures or on the fringe of a dominant culture that typically exhibits an intensified need to conform
2. Concerns about body image
a. ANOREXIA NERVOSA – an eating disorder in which a person is obsessed by thoughts of an unattainable image of perfect thinness; can result in death
b. BULIMIA NERVOSA – an eating disorder characterized by bingeing and purging
3. Early and late maturers
a. Girls mature on average 2 years earlier than boys
b. Early maturation is rarely a benefit for girls
i. One effect is that they have fewer opportunities to discuss their physical and emotional changes with friends
ii. They are significantly more likely to experience psychological distress over their maturity (e.g. lower self esteem).
c. Late maturation is rarely a benefit for boys.
i. They miss valuable childhood psychological development
ii. May be pressured into early sexual behavior
iii. More likely to experience psychological distress
III. Gender Identity and Sexual Practices
A. Four Decades of Changes in Sexual Practices
1. In the 1950’s and 1960’s most young people felt premarital sex was immoral
2. In the late 1960’s and 1970’s sexual attitudes changed partly because of the development of birth control
3. SEXUAL DOUBLE STANDARD is the view that sexual activity is more permissible for boys than for girls; this became less endorsed in the 1970’s
4. SAME SEX ORIENTATION is the sexual attraction toward members of one’s own sex
5. A sexual revolution was in full swing during the late 1970’s
6. In the 1980’s the revolution in changing sexual norms began to decline. People began to view the sexual attitudes of the 1970’s as irresponsible.
7. The 1990’s ushered in some stability in sexual attitudes.
8. Masturbation, homosexuality, cohabitation, premarital sex, “serial monogamy”, etc.
B. Factors that Influence Early Sexual Relationships
1. The age at which a person first becomes sexually active varies by both gender and ethnicity.
2. Sexual activity is also associated with the adolescent’s family situation
a. Adolescents from two parent families have less and later sexual experience than those from single parent families
b. Overly restrictive and overly permissive parenting are associated with earlier sexual activity
c. Education is also positively correlated with the age sexual activity occurs
C. Consequences of Adolescent Sexual Behavior
1. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
a. One of the most serious problems of adolescent sexual activity
b. About 20% of sexually active teenagers have an STD
2. Why teenagers become pregnant
a. 8% of teenaged girls become pregnant
b. 75% of girls and 82% of boys do not use contraception at first intercourse
c. Adolescents feel uncomfortable making demands of their partner in times of high excitement
d. Pregnancy rates have been decreasing in the last decade
3. The Effects of Early Parenthood
a. For the mother
i. Less likely to marry the father of their first child
ii. More likely to become divorced
iii. More likely to spend twice as much time as a single parent prior to age 30
iv. More likely to drop out of school
v. Less likely to earn a high school diploma by age 30
vi. More likely to work more hours at a lower rate of pay
b. For the father
i. Less likely to earn a high school diploma
ii. More likely to work in a blue collar ocupation
iii. More likely to experience lower income levels
iv. More likely to engage in delinquent and criminal behaviors
c. For the Child
i. More likely to be born premature and of low birth weight
ii. More likely to experience serious or life threatening medical conditions at birth
iii. Less likely to receive quality medical care and nutrition
iv. Less likely to receive necessary emotional support and cognitive stimulation
v. More likely to drop out of school
vi. More likely to become involved in delinquent and criminal behaviors
vii. More likely to have children before marriage
d. For society
i. Increased financial burden to taxpayers and extended families
ii. Additional strain on the resources of governmental programs and systems
IV. Cognitive Changes in Adolescence
A. Brain Development in Adolescence
1. Brain Imaging
a. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technologies are providing researchers a clearer look at how brain cells develop
b. Children’s brains contain more nerve cells than the adult brain will retain
c. Important changes continue to occur within the brain long past childhood, adolescence and perhaps even into early adulthood
2. Changes in the Adolescent Brain
a. Gray matter levels at the age of 25
b. White matter increases until about the age of 40
c. The processes of pruning and increasing myelinization first start in the back of the brain and then occur in brain areas responsible for coordination and end in areas that control decision making and problem solving
3. The Influence of Hormones on the Brain
a. Hormones tend to target areas of the brain related to emotional regulation such as the amygdale
i. When the amygdale is triggered, emotions become volatile
ii. Stimulus seeking behavior and risk seeking tendencies also occur
b. The emotional outbursts and overly emotional responses seen in teen behavior are the result of the pace with which different regions of the brain mature
c. Changes in how adolescents experience emotion, make judgments about risky behavior and actually think are associated with changes in the brain
B. Piaget’s Period of Formal Operations
1. Formal Operational Thought
a. FORMAL OPERATIONS – the final stage of cognitive development that is characterized by the ability to reason hypothetically and think about abstract concepts
b. Adolescents also show an increasing ability to plan and to think ahead
2. Expanding Piaget’s View
a. Information processing functions also occur because they involve the development of increasingly effective strategies for thought
b. Not all individuals attain the abilities associated with formal thought
c. Moreover those who attain it do not use it consistently.
C. The Scope and Content of Adolescent Thought
1. Examining the World and the Family
a. Adolescents contrast their ideal parent with the real parent and the real parents have a difficult time meeting the adolescent’s expectations, therefore, bickering tends to escalate during early adolescence (“The Foundling Fable”)
b. Teens tend to battle for their independence through means of negotiation
c. Research indicates that those with parents who offered guidance but allowed their children to develop their own points of view, had the strongest sense of themselves as individuals
2. Adolescent Egocentrism
a. The self centered view assumes that other people are as fascinated with them as they are with themselves
b. IMAGINARY AUDIENCE – adolescents’ assumption that others are focusing a great deal of critical attention on them
c. PERSONAL FABLE – adolescents’ belief that they are so special that they should be exempt from the laws of nature, that nothing bad can happen to them, and they will live forever
3. Moral Development in Adolescence
a. Cognitive changes that occur during adolescence contribute to moral development as well
b. Some of the decisions have complex consequences, but the adolescent may not have the moral framework to deal with the pressures until well into adolescence or even early adulthood
c. Kohlberg specified that the ability to reason through moral dilemmas proceeds developmentally, from preconventional, through conventional, to postconventional thinking
d. Presenting a child with increasingly complex moral issues creates disequilibrium forcing the child to resolve contradictions
Adolescence: Physical & Cognitive Development
I. Adolescent Development in a Cultural and Historical Context
A. RIGHTS OF PASSAGE – symbolic events or rituals to mark life transitions, such as from childhood to adult status.
1. As social circumstances change, adolescents react and adapt to the social relationships and institutions around them.
2. The social context in which development occurs must be considered in understanding adolescence.
B. Adolescence in the United States Today
1. Adolescents are largely age segregated, that is, they interact mostly with other adolescents and much less with younger children or adults.
a. Developmental niche: the interaction of various aspects of development - such as everyday physical & social settings, parenting & family customs & overall environmental context – that determines the unique world of each individual.
b. This separates the adolescent from younger children and thus deprives them of the opportunity to guide and tutor those who are less knowledgeable.
c. This also separates them from adult culture and they lack the chance to learn jobs by working with adults
2. Adolescents are also largely economically dependent on their parents
3. Adolescents are deeply affected by, and develop strong opinions about, the events of the time in which they live.
4. Adolescents are influenced by images projected by the mass media
a. They accept tragedy, sexuality, and brutality in a matter of fact way
b. Adolescents tend to gravitate to the more grizzly, counterculture aspects of media programming.
II. Physical Development and Adaptation
A. Physical Growth and Change
1. The biological hallmarks of adolescence are a marked increase in the rate of growth, rapid development of the reproductive organs, and the appearance of secondary sex characteristics such as body hair, increased body fat and muscle, and enlargement and maturation of genitalia
2. Some changes are the same for both boys and girls – increased size, strength, and stamina
3. Most changes are sex specific
4. The physical changes are largely controlled by HORMONES, which are the bio-chemical substances that are secreted into the bloodstream in very tiny amounts by internal organs called endocrine glands; hormones exert an effect on particular target organs or tissues.
a. ANDROGENS are male sex hormones; TESTOSTERONE is the most important androgen
b. ESTROGEN and PROGESTERONE are both female sex hormones
c. The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland are the two areas of the brain that maintain the balance of hormones.
i. The hypothalamus initiates growth and eventual reproductive capability
ii. The pituitary gland produces both growth hormones and some trophic hormones
5. The increase in hormone output is followed by the ADOLESCENT GROWTH SPURT, a period of rapid growth in physical size and strength, accompanied by changes in body proportion. Especially for girls, the growth spurt is a sign of entry into puberty.
B. PUBERTY is the attainment of sexual maturity in both males and females
1. A SECULAR TREND toward earlier sexual maturation has occurred.
2. Changes in girls
a. Breast development
b. Growth of pubic hair
c. Growth of underarm hair
d. Body growth
e. MENARCHE – the time of the first menstrual period
f. Increased output of oil and sweat producing glands
3. Changes in boys
a. Growth of testes and scrotal sac
b. Growth of pubic hair
c. Growth of facial and underarm hair
d. Body growth
e. Growth of penis
f. Change in voice
g. First ejaculation of semen
h. Increased output of oil and sweat producing glands
C. Body Image and Adjustment
1. MARGINAL GROUP is a group between cultures or on the fringe of a dominant culture that typically exhibits an intensified need to conform
2. Concerns about body image
a. ANOREXIA NERVOSA – an eating disorder in which a person is obsessed by thoughts of an unattainable image of perfect thinness; can result in death
b. BULIMIA NERVOSA – an eating disorder characterized by bingeing and purging
3. Early and late maturers
a. Girls mature on average 2 years earlier than boys
b. Early maturation is rarely a benefit for girls
i. One effect is that they have fewer opportunities to discuss their physical and emotional changes with friends
ii. They are significantly more likely to experience psychological distress over their maturity (e.g. lower self esteem).
c. Late maturation is rarely a benefit for boys.
i. They miss valuable childhood psychological development
ii. May be pressured into early sexual behavior
iii. More likely to experience psychological distress
III. Gender Identity and Sexual Practices
A. Four Decades of Changes in Sexual Practices
1. In the 1950’s and 1960’s most young people felt premarital sex was immoral
2. In the late 1960’s and 1970’s sexual attitudes changed partly because of the development of birth control
3. SEXUAL DOUBLE STANDARD is the view that sexual activity is more permissible for boys than for girls; this became less endorsed in the 1970’s
4. SAME SEX ORIENTATION is the sexual attraction toward members of one’s own sex
5. A sexual revolution was in full swing during the late 1970’s
6. In the 1980’s the revolution in changing sexual norms began to decline. People began to view the sexual attitudes of the 1970’s as irresponsible.
7. The 1990’s ushered in some stability in sexual attitudes.
8. Masturbation, homosexuality, cohabitation, premarital sex, “serial monogamy”, etc.
B. Factors that Influence Early Sexual Relationships
1. The age at which a person first becomes sexually active varies by both gender and ethnicity.
2. Sexual activity is also associated with the adolescent’s family situation
a. Adolescents from two parent families have less and later sexual experience than those from single parent families
b. Overly restrictive and overly permissive parenting are associated with earlier sexual activity
c. Education is also positively correlated with the age sexual activity occurs
C. Consequences of Adolescent Sexual Behavior
1. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
a. One of the most serious problems of adolescent sexual activity
b. About 20% of sexually active teenagers have an STD
2. Why teenagers become pregnant
a. 8% of teenaged girls become pregnant
b. 75% of girls and 82% of boys do not use contraception at first intercourse
c. Adolescents feel uncomfortable making demands of their partner in times of high excitement
d. Pregnancy rates have been decreasing in the last decade
3. The Effects of Early Parenthood
a. For the mother
i. Less likely to marry the father of their first child
ii. More likely to become divorced
iii. More likely to spend twice as much time as a single parent prior to age 30
iv. More likely to drop out of school
v. Less likely to earn a high school diploma by age 30
vi. More likely to work more hours at a lower rate of pay
b. For the father
i. Less likely to earn a high school diploma
ii. More likely to work in a blue collar ocupation
iii. More likely to experience lower income levels
iv. More likely to engage in delinquent and criminal behaviors
c. For the Child
i. More likely to be born premature and of low birth weight
ii. More likely to experience serious or life threatening medical conditions at birth
iii. Less likely to receive quality medical care and nutrition
iv. Less likely to receive necessary emotional support and cognitive stimulation
v. More likely to drop out of school
vi. More likely to become involved in delinquent and criminal behaviors
vii. More likely to have children before marriage
d. For society
i. Increased financial burden to taxpayers and extended families
ii. Additional strain on the resources of governmental programs and systems
IV. Cognitive Changes in Adolescence
A. Brain Development in Adolescence
1. Brain Imaging
a. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technologies are providing researchers a clearer look at how brain cells develop
b. Children’s brains contain more nerve cells than the adult brain will retain
c. Important changes continue to occur within the brain long past childhood, adolescence and perhaps even into early adulthood
2. Changes in the Adolescent Brain
a. Gray matter levels at the age of 25
b. White matter increases until about the age of 40
c. The processes of pruning and increasing myelinization first start in the back of the brain and then occur in brain areas responsible for coordination and end in areas that control decision making and problem solving
3. The Influence of Hormones on the Brain
a. Hormones tend to target areas of the brain related to emotional regulation such as the amygdale
i. When the amygdale is triggered, emotions become volatile
ii. Stimulus seeking behavior and risk seeking tendencies also occur
b. The emotional outbursts and overly emotional responses seen in teen behavior are the result of the pace with which different regions of the brain mature
c. Changes in how adolescents experience emotion, make judgments about risky behavior and actually think are associated with changes in the brain
B. Piaget’s Period of Formal Operations
1. Formal Operational Thought
a. FORMAL OPERATIONS – the final stage of cognitive development that is characterized by the ability to reason hypothetically and think about abstract concepts
b. Adolescents also show an increasing ability to plan and to think ahead
2. Expanding Piaget’s View
a. Information processing functions also occur because they involve the development of increasingly effective strategies for thought
b. Not all individuals attain the abilities associated with formal thought
c. Moreover those who attain it do not use it consistently.
C. The Scope and Content of Adolescent Thought
1. Examining the World and the Family
a. Adolescents contrast their ideal parent with the real parent and the real parents have a difficult time meeting the adolescent’s expectations, therefore, bickering tends to escalate during early adolescence (“The Foundling Fable”)
b. Teens tend to battle for their independence through means of negotiation
c. Research indicates that those with parents who offered guidance but allowed their children to develop their own points of view, had the strongest sense of themselves as individuals
2. Adolescent Egocentrism
a. The self centered view assumes that other people are as fascinated with them as they are with themselves
b. IMAGINARY AUDIENCE – adolescents’ assumption that others are focusing a great deal of critical attention on them
c. PERSONAL FABLE – adolescents’ belief that they are so special that they should be exempt from the laws of nature, that nothing bad can happen to them, and they will live forever
3. Moral Development in Adolescence
a. Cognitive changes that occur during adolescence contribute to moral development as well
b. Some of the decisions have complex consequences, but the adolescent may not have the moral framework to deal with the pressures until well into adolescence or even early adulthood
c. Kohlberg specified that the ability to reason through moral dilemmas proceeds developmentally, from preconventional, through conventional, to postconventional thinking
d. Presenting a child with increasingly complex moral issues creates disequilibrium forcing the child to resolve contradictions
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Grades to date - June 16, 2009
Human Growth & Development 2960
summer 2009
class code T 1 T 2 Qz 1 Qz 2 exrcse1 exrcse2 Pres'tion Total %
P33 44 44 4 4 96 77
O41 44 50 3 7 5 109 87
T11 48 44 3 6 4 105 84
S56 46 36 5 7 4 5 103 82
U77 48 46 5 8 4 5 116 93
W80 41 48 3 6 4 5 47 154 88
Z99 49 50 5 9 4 5 122 98
N01 42 38 4 5 4 5 98 78
Y08 51 50 3 3 5 112 90
X90 45 50 1 5 4 105 84
V16 46 48 2 4 100 80
M51 50 46 4 7 4 5 47 163 93
R21 42 34 5 6 4 5 47 143 82
L88 53 34 4 8 3 5 107 86
summer 2009
class code T 1 T 2 Qz 1 Qz 2 exrcse1 exrcse2 Pres'tion Total %
P33 44 44 4 4 96 77
O41 44 50 3 7 5 109 87
T11 48 44 3 6 4 105 84
S56 46 36 5 7 4 5 103 82
U77 48 46 5 8 4 5 116 93
W80 41 48 3 6 4 5 47 154 88
Z99 49 50 5 9 4 5 122 98
N01 42 38 4 5 4 5 98 78
Y08 51 50 3 3 5 112 90
X90 45 50 1 5 4 105 84
V16 46 48 2 4 100 80
M51 50 46 4 7 4 5 47 163 93
R21 42 34 5 6 4 5 47 143 82
L88 53 34 4 8 3 5 107 86
Lecture Notes/Chapter Outine Chapter 9: Middle Childhood
Chapter 9 - Middle Childhood: Personality & Sociocultural Development
I. Personality Development in an Expanding Social World
A. Three perspectives on middle childhood
1. Social learning view
2. Psychodynamic view
3. Cognitive developmental view
B. Self concept
1. How children define who they are
2. Less realistic and accurate in younger children
3. Frequently compare themselves with their peers and draw conclusion when seeing how they relate to other people
C. INDUSTRY VERSUS INFERIORITY – In Erikson’s theory, the third stage of development in which the child attempts to establish a sense of personal competence and mastery
D. SELF ESTEEM – one’s attitude toward oneself, which can range from positive to negative
II. Social Knowledge and Reasoning
A. The development of social cognition
1. SOCIAL COGNITION – thought, knowledge, and understanding that involve the social world
2. SOCIAL INFERENCE – an individual’s guesses and assumptions about what another person is feeling, thinking, or intending
3. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – an individual’s obligations to family, friends, and to society
4. SOCIAL REGULATIONS – the customs and conventions that govern social interactions
B. The development of morality
1. MORALITY – a person’s ideas about fairness and justice and right and wrong
2. Moral realism and moral relativism
a. MORAL REALISM – Piaget’s term for the first stage of moral development; children believe in rules as real, indestructible things, not as abstract principles
b. MORAL RELATIVISM – Piaget’s term for the second stage of moral development; children realize rules are created and agreed upon cooperatively by individuals and can change if necessary
3. Kohlberg’s preconventional, conventional, and postconventional reasoning
a. Preconventional – stage 1 and 2 – obey rules in order to avoid punishment and obey rules to obtain rewards or to have favors returned
b. Conventional – stage 3 and 4 – conform to win the approval of others and conform to avoid disapproval or dislike of others
c. Postconventional – stage 5 and 6 – abide by laws of the land for the community’s welfare and abide by universal ethical principles, which may or may not conform to society’s laws or expectations
d. MORAL DILEMMAS – in Kohlberg’s research, stories in which individuals are asked to judge whether a character’s behavior was moral or immoral
4. Critiques of Kohlberg’s theory
a. Argue that his research investigates moral attitudes and not moral behavior
b. Moral development is not as predictable as his model suggests
c. MORAL ABSOLUTISM – any theory of morality that disregards cultural differences in moral beliefs
5. Gender differences in moral development
a. Kohlberg based his theory on male subjects
b. Women’s moral judgments are based on justice or caring
c. Boys are trained to strive for independence while girls are taught to nurture and care
III. Peer Relationships
A. Functions of friendship
1. Help children learn social concepts and social skills
2. Allow the child to develop self esteem
3. They can share their feelings, fears, and details of their lives
4. Allow someone to confide in
B. Developmental patterns in friendship
1. Selman’s stages of friendship development
2. Stage 1 – friendship is based on physical or geographic factors and children are self centered with no understanding of the perspectives of others
3. Stage 2 – friendship begins to be based on reciprocity and awareness of others’ feelings and friendship begins to be based on social actions and evaluation by each other
4. Stage 3 – friendship is based on genuine give and take and friends are seen as people who help each other; mutual evaluation of each other’s actions occurs and the concept of trust appears
5. Stage 4 – friendship is seen as a stable continuing relationship based on trust and children can observe the friendship relationship from the perspective of a third party
C. PEER GROUP – a group of three or more people of similar age who interact with each other and who share norms and goals
1. Developmental trends
a. Peer groups take on greater significance when children reach ages 10 to 12
b. Separation of the sexes becomes noticeable
c. Peer pressure becomes more effective & conformity to group norms becomes important
2. Peer group conformity
a. Some children become dependent on their peer group to meet their needs of belonging and social support
b. Children who conform most often are especially sensitive to social cues and tend to self monitor
c. Can influence and encourage academic motivation
d. Can also encourage antisocial acts (particularly in boys)
D. In groups, out groups, and prejudice
1. PREJUDICE – a negative attitude formed without adequate reason and usually directed toward people because of their membership in a certain group
2. DISCRIMINATION – treating others in a prejudiced manner
3. The development of ethnic identity
a. Develops during early childhood
b. Reflects the culture in which the child is raised
c. Complex concept that is only gradually acquired
d. Understanding group differences and what it means to be a member of the group requires social cognition that only comes with cognitive development
4. Popularity within the peer group
a. Popular children are likely to have good emotional control
b. They can cooperate and share
c. Academic performance and athletic ability become important in determining popularity
d. Children who are overly aggressive, timid, or different are less popular
e. Unpopular children can be encouraged to change behaviors that are objected to
IV. Family Influences in Middle Childhood
A. Parent child interactions and relationships
1. SELF REGULATED BEHAVIOR – behavior that is controlled and directed by the child rather than by parents, teachers, or other external forces
2. COREGULATION – the development or a sense of shared responsibility between parents and their children
3. Parents need to effectively monitor their children’s activities and behavior
4. Less stress economically, socially, and emotionally can make parenting easier
B. The changing nature of the family
1. Families and stress
a. When stress is chronic and extreme, children and adults may develop symptoms, such as nightmares, fearfulness, depression, anxiety, trouble with concentration, aggressive behavior, or blunted emotions
b. Stress is better dealt with when events do not pile up
c. When family and social support is available stress becomes more manageable
d. Some children are more resilient and are better able than others to deal with stress
e. RESILIENT CHIDREN – children who are able to overcome difficult environments to lead socially competent lives
2. Stress and single parenting
a. Single parents are especially vulnerable to stress because of lack of social support and economic resources
b. When stressed, they use less effective parenting techniques
c. The development of their children is more susceptible to harm
d. Social support and clear rules and expectations for children can help them deal more effectively
3. Children of divorce
a. Half of all marriages in the US end in divorce
b. Divorce is more traumatic for children when parents are hostile
c. Children are more likely to exhibit behavioral difficulties, anxiety, depression, and low self esteem when parents divorce
d. RECONSITITUTED CHILDREN – also known as stepfamily; a family where a mother or a father with children has remarried to produce a new family
I. Personality Development in an Expanding Social World
A. Three perspectives on middle childhood
1. Social learning view
2. Psychodynamic view
3. Cognitive developmental view
B. Self concept
1. How children define who they are
2. Less realistic and accurate in younger children
3. Frequently compare themselves with their peers and draw conclusion when seeing how they relate to other people
C. INDUSTRY VERSUS INFERIORITY – In Erikson’s theory, the third stage of development in which the child attempts to establish a sense of personal competence and mastery
D. SELF ESTEEM – one’s attitude toward oneself, which can range from positive to negative
II. Social Knowledge and Reasoning
A. The development of social cognition
1. SOCIAL COGNITION – thought, knowledge, and understanding that involve the social world
2. SOCIAL INFERENCE – an individual’s guesses and assumptions about what another person is feeling, thinking, or intending
3. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – an individual’s obligations to family, friends, and to society
4. SOCIAL REGULATIONS – the customs and conventions that govern social interactions
B. The development of morality
1. MORALITY – a person’s ideas about fairness and justice and right and wrong
2. Moral realism and moral relativism
a. MORAL REALISM – Piaget’s term for the first stage of moral development; children believe in rules as real, indestructible things, not as abstract principles
b. MORAL RELATIVISM – Piaget’s term for the second stage of moral development; children realize rules are created and agreed upon cooperatively by individuals and can change if necessary
3. Kohlberg’s preconventional, conventional, and postconventional reasoning
a. Preconventional – stage 1 and 2 – obey rules in order to avoid punishment and obey rules to obtain rewards or to have favors returned
b. Conventional – stage 3 and 4 – conform to win the approval of others and conform to avoid disapproval or dislike of others
c. Postconventional – stage 5 and 6 – abide by laws of the land for the community’s welfare and abide by universal ethical principles, which may or may not conform to society’s laws or expectations
d. MORAL DILEMMAS – in Kohlberg’s research, stories in which individuals are asked to judge whether a character’s behavior was moral or immoral
4. Critiques of Kohlberg’s theory
a. Argue that his research investigates moral attitudes and not moral behavior
b. Moral development is not as predictable as his model suggests
c. MORAL ABSOLUTISM – any theory of morality that disregards cultural differences in moral beliefs
5. Gender differences in moral development
a. Kohlberg based his theory on male subjects
b. Women’s moral judgments are based on justice or caring
c. Boys are trained to strive for independence while girls are taught to nurture and care
III. Peer Relationships
A. Functions of friendship
1. Help children learn social concepts and social skills
2. Allow the child to develop self esteem
3. They can share their feelings, fears, and details of their lives
4. Allow someone to confide in
B. Developmental patterns in friendship
1. Selman’s stages of friendship development
2. Stage 1 – friendship is based on physical or geographic factors and children are self centered with no understanding of the perspectives of others
3. Stage 2 – friendship begins to be based on reciprocity and awareness of others’ feelings and friendship begins to be based on social actions and evaluation by each other
4. Stage 3 – friendship is based on genuine give and take and friends are seen as people who help each other; mutual evaluation of each other’s actions occurs and the concept of trust appears
5. Stage 4 – friendship is seen as a stable continuing relationship based on trust and children can observe the friendship relationship from the perspective of a third party
C. PEER GROUP – a group of three or more people of similar age who interact with each other and who share norms and goals
1. Developmental trends
a. Peer groups take on greater significance when children reach ages 10 to 12
b. Separation of the sexes becomes noticeable
c. Peer pressure becomes more effective & conformity to group norms becomes important
2. Peer group conformity
a. Some children become dependent on their peer group to meet their needs of belonging and social support
b. Children who conform most often are especially sensitive to social cues and tend to self monitor
c. Can influence and encourage academic motivation
d. Can also encourage antisocial acts (particularly in boys)
D. In groups, out groups, and prejudice
1. PREJUDICE – a negative attitude formed without adequate reason and usually directed toward people because of their membership in a certain group
2. DISCRIMINATION – treating others in a prejudiced manner
3. The development of ethnic identity
a. Develops during early childhood
b. Reflects the culture in which the child is raised
c. Complex concept that is only gradually acquired
d. Understanding group differences and what it means to be a member of the group requires social cognition that only comes with cognitive development
4. Popularity within the peer group
a. Popular children are likely to have good emotional control
b. They can cooperate and share
c. Academic performance and athletic ability become important in determining popularity
d. Children who are overly aggressive, timid, or different are less popular
e. Unpopular children can be encouraged to change behaviors that are objected to
IV. Family Influences in Middle Childhood
A. Parent child interactions and relationships
1. SELF REGULATED BEHAVIOR – behavior that is controlled and directed by the child rather than by parents, teachers, or other external forces
2. COREGULATION – the development or a sense of shared responsibility between parents and their children
3. Parents need to effectively monitor their children’s activities and behavior
4. Less stress economically, socially, and emotionally can make parenting easier
B. The changing nature of the family
1. Families and stress
a. When stress is chronic and extreme, children and adults may develop symptoms, such as nightmares, fearfulness, depression, anxiety, trouble with concentration, aggressive behavior, or blunted emotions
b. Stress is better dealt with when events do not pile up
c. When family and social support is available stress becomes more manageable
d. Some children are more resilient and are better able than others to deal with stress
e. RESILIENT CHIDREN – children who are able to overcome difficult environments to lead socially competent lives
2. Stress and single parenting
a. Single parents are especially vulnerable to stress because of lack of social support and economic resources
b. When stressed, they use less effective parenting techniques
c. The development of their children is more susceptible to harm
d. Social support and clear rules and expectations for children can help them deal more effectively
3. Children of divorce
a. Half of all marriages in the US end in divorce
b. Divorce is more traumatic for children when parents are hostile
c. Children are more likely to exhibit behavioral difficulties, anxiety, depression, and low self esteem when parents divorce
d. RECONSITITUTED CHILDREN – also known as stepfamily; a family where a mother or a father with children has remarried to produce a new family
Lecture Notes/Chapter Outine Chapter 8: Middle Childhood
Chapter Eight
Middle Childhood: Physical and Cognitive Development
I. Physical and Motor Development
A. Physical growth and change
1. Not all children mature at the same rate
2. Girls tend to be shorter and lighter than boys until age 9
3. Boys and girls are equally strong during middle adulthood
4. There are substantial individual differences in body size and proportion
B. Internal changes
1. Brain development
a. Neural plasticity remains high
b. Surface area of frontal lobes increases slightly
c. Lateralization of the brain becomes more pronounced during school years
d. Corpus callosum become mature in both structure and function
2. Skeletal maturation
a. Periods of rapid growth may produce growing pains – episodes of stiffness and aching that are particularly common at night
b. Overly stringent physical training can cause injuries
C. Motor skills development
1. Gross motor skills
a. Locomotor skills are well in place and expanded upon
b. Children grow stronger and are more capable
c. Boys are more athletic than girls
2. Fine motor skills
a. Also develop rapidly during middle childhood
b. Complex skills like writing and hand/eye coordination improve with practice
c. Developing mastery over their bodies can help children gain feelings of competence and self worth
D. Health, fitness, accidents
1. Physical fitness
a. Defined as the optimal functioning of the heart, lungs, muscles, and blood vessels
b. Classes in school should aim to not only increase the children’s skill and overall level of physical activity, but also aim to establish healthy active patterns or behavior that will carry through into adulthood
2. Obesity
a. Obesity is associated with serious social and psychological consequences
b. Peers may reject or stereotype overweight children
c. This can result in a negative self image
3. Accidents and injuries
a. Motor vehicle accidents cause more child deaths than the six other major causes of death combined
b. Half of all childhood deaths result from injuries and accidents
c. As children grow, they engage in increasingly dangerous activities
II. Cognitive Development
A. Piaget and concrete operational thinking
1. CONCRETE OPERATIONAL PERIOD – for Piaget, the third stage of cognitive development; begins at age 5 to 7 and allows the child to perform mental operations, such as conservation, decentration, and reversibility, on objects that are concrete and that can be directly experienced
2. Comparing preoperational and concrete operational thinking
a. preoperational
i. From age 2 to 5 or 7
ii. Thinking style is rigid and static, irreversible, focused on the here and now, centered on one dimension, egocentric, and focused on perceptual evidence
b. concrete operational
i. From age 5 to 7 to age 12
ii. Thinking style is reversible, flexible, not limited to the here and now, multidimensional, less egocentric, marked by the use of logical inferences, and marked by the search for cause and effect relationships
3. Piaget and education
a. Children’s learning can be accelerated through instruction, but Piaget believed that children are better off when they learn at their own pace
b. He also thought learning is best when children are intrinsically motivated rather than explicitly rewarded for success
B. Memory and metacognition
1. CONTROL PROCESSES – strategies and techniques that enhance memory
2. METACOGNITION – the intellectual process that enables people to monitor their thinking and memory; thinking about thinking
C. Language and literacy development
1. Language
a. Language learning is not complete
b. School assists and structures some of the child’s language development
c. Language used at schools more formal
d. Children’s habits of thinking and speaking are applied more generally to other areas of their daily life
2. Literacy
a. Skills in reading and writing
b. Natural outgrowths of the child’s growing language skills
c. The skills associated with oral and written language develop in infancy and improve over the years
D. Individual differences in intelligence
1. Measuring intelligence
a. STANFORD BINET INTELLIGENCE SCALE – the revised version of Binet’s original intelligence test that is widely used in the United States today
b. INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT – an individual’s mental age divided by chronological age, which is multiplied by 100 to eliminate the decimal point
c. DEVIATION IQ – the approach used today that assigns an IQ score by comparing an individual’s test score with the scores of the other people in the same age range
2. The nature of intelligence
a. Gardner’s eight types of intelligence
i. Linguistic – sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meaning of words and the function of language
ii. Logical mathematical – facility for logical and numerical operations and complex reasoning
iii. Spatial – ability to perceive the visual spatial world accurately and to manipulate those perceptions
iv. Bodily kinesthetic – ability to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully
v. Musical – ability to produce and appreciate the characteristics of music, such as rhythm, pitch and timbre
vi. Interpersonal – ability to correctly interpret and appropriately respond to the moods, temperament, and motivations of the other people
vii. Intrapersonal – ability to correctly understand one’s own feelings and moods and to appreciate one’s own strengths, weaknesses, desires, and intelligence
viii. Naturalist – ability to classify plants, animals, and features of the natural environment and to make appropriate responses to each
b. Elements of Sternberg’s successful intelligence
i. Definition as the ability to achieve success in life according to one’s personal standards within one’s sociocultural context
ii. Types of processing skills contributing to successful intelligence
· Analytical
· Creative
· Practical
iii. Uses of processing skills for successful intelligence
· Adaptation to environments
· Shaping of environments
· Selection of environments
iv. Mechanisms for utilization of processing skills in successful intelligence
· Capitalization on strengths
· Correction of weaknesses
· Compensation for weaknesses
3. Cultural issues in intelligence testing
a. Minority groups tend to score lower on traditional intelligence tests
b. When children move to environments with more opportunity and when families emphasize school success, children’s academic performance generally improves
III. Learning and Thinking in School
A. New demands and expectations
1. The greater the gap between what is expected at home and what is expected in the classroom, the more difficult the child’s adjustment will be
2. Success depends on their family background, the school environment, and their own individuality
3. Children are expected to learn the complex social rules that govern the social life of the classroom
4. Teachers spend time on the following activities
a. Teaching facts or concepts
b. Giving direction for a particular lesson
c. Stating general rules of behavior
d. Correcting, disciplining, and praising children
e. Miscellaneous activities
B. Developing competent learners and critical thinkers
1. Greater emphasis on teaching learning and thinking skills
2. Remembering – recalling a fact, idea, or concept
3. Repeating – following a model or procedure
4. Reasoning – applying a specific instance to a general principle or concept
5. Reorganizing – extending knowledge to new contexts and devising original solutions to problems
6. Relating – connecting newly acquired knowledge with past or personal experience
7. Reflecting – exploring the though itself and how it occurred
C. Success in school
1. ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION – an internalized need to persist toward success and excellence
2. Gender differences and school success
a. Girls tend to outperform boys in verbal skills and boys do better in quantitative and spatial tasks
b. Could be due to brain development
c. Social expectations influence their behavior
d. Mathematics and science have been traditionally viewed as male subjects while literature and language as female subjects
3. Parental influences on school success
a. Parents who provide support and guidance while emphasizing their expectations produce academically successful children
b. Children raised in overcrowded or unstable, conflict laden homes are at special risk for school failure
IV. Developmental disorders
A. MENTAL RETARDATION – disorder that is characterized by significantly subaverage intellectual functioning and self help skills, with onset prior to age 18
B. LEARNING DISORDERS – disorders that are associated with difficulty in acquiring some specific academic skills but not others despite normal intelligence and the absence of sensory or motor disabilities, may occur in areas such as reading, writing, or math
1. A reading disorder: dyslexia
a. Involves incorrectly perceiving letters and words
b. Children with dyslexia remain stuck in the early stages of reading
2. Helping children with learning disorders
a. More effective if it begins early in life
b. Includes carefully sequenced tutorial instruction
c. Improvement of the child’s confidence is necessary
C. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
1. ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER – disorder that involves the inability to keep focused on something long enough to learn it, which often is accompanied by poor impulse control
2. Treating children with ADHD
a. Respond to stimulant drugs
b. Also respond to modification of the environment to make it less confusing
c. Programs applied consistently by loving, concerned, responsible caregivers generally produce better outcomes
Middle Childhood: Physical and Cognitive Development
I. Physical and Motor Development
A. Physical growth and change
1. Not all children mature at the same rate
2. Girls tend to be shorter and lighter than boys until age 9
3. Boys and girls are equally strong during middle adulthood
4. There are substantial individual differences in body size and proportion
B. Internal changes
1. Brain development
a. Neural plasticity remains high
b. Surface area of frontal lobes increases slightly
c. Lateralization of the brain becomes more pronounced during school years
d. Corpus callosum become mature in both structure and function
2. Skeletal maturation
a. Periods of rapid growth may produce growing pains – episodes of stiffness and aching that are particularly common at night
b. Overly stringent physical training can cause injuries
C. Motor skills development
1. Gross motor skills
a. Locomotor skills are well in place and expanded upon
b. Children grow stronger and are more capable
c. Boys are more athletic than girls
2. Fine motor skills
a. Also develop rapidly during middle childhood
b. Complex skills like writing and hand/eye coordination improve with practice
c. Developing mastery over their bodies can help children gain feelings of competence and self worth
D. Health, fitness, accidents
1. Physical fitness
a. Defined as the optimal functioning of the heart, lungs, muscles, and blood vessels
b. Classes in school should aim to not only increase the children’s skill and overall level of physical activity, but also aim to establish healthy active patterns or behavior that will carry through into adulthood
2. Obesity
a. Obesity is associated with serious social and psychological consequences
b. Peers may reject or stereotype overweight children
c. This can result in a negative self image
3. Accidents and injuries
a. Motor vehicle accidents cause more child deaths than the six other major causes of death combined
b. Half of all childhood deaths result from injuries and accidents
c. As children grow, they engage in increasingly dangerous activities
II. Cognitive Development
A. Piaget and concrete operational thinking
1. CONCRETE OPERATIONAL PERIOD – for Piaget, the third stage of cognitive development; begins at age 5 to 7 and allows the child to perform mental operations, such as conservation, decentration, and reversibility, on objects that are concrete and that can be directly experienced
2. Comparing preoperational and concrete operational thinking
a. preoperational
i. From age 2 to 5 or 7
ii. Thinking style is rigid and static, irreversible, focused on the here and now, centered on one dimension, egocentric, and focused on perceptual evidence
b. concrete operational
i. From age 5 to 7 to age 12
ii. Thinking style is reversible, flexible, not limited to the here and now, multidimensional, less egocentric, marked by the use of logical inferences, and marked by the search for cause and effect relationships
3. Piaget and education
a. Children’s learning can be accelerated through instruction, but Piaget believed that children are better off when they learn at their own pace
b. He also thought learning is best when children are intrinsically motivated rather than explicitly rewarded for success
B. Memory and metacognition
1. CONTROL PROCESSES – strategies and techniques that enhance memory
2. METACOGNITION – the intellectual process that enables people to monitor their thinking and memory; thinking about thinking
C. Language and literacy development
1. Language
a. Language learning is not complete
b. School assists and structures some of the child’s language development
c. Language used at schools more formal
d. Children’s habits of thinking and speaking are applied more generally to other areas of their daily life
2. Literacy
a. Skills in reading and writing
b. Natural outgrowths of the child’s growing language skills
c. The skills associated with oral and written language develop in infancy and improve over the years
D. Individual differences in intelligence
1. Measuring intelligence
a. STANFORD BINET INTELLIGENCE SCALE – the revised version of Binet’s original intelligence test that is widely used in the United States today
b. INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT – an individual’s mental age divided by chronological age, which is multiplied by 100 to eliminate the decimal point
c. DEVIATION IQ – the approach used today that assigns an IQ score by comparing an individual’s test score with the scores of the other people in the same age range
2. The nature of intelligence
a. Gardner’s eight types of intelligence
i. Linguistic – sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms, and meaning of words and the function of language
ii. Logical mathematical – facility for logical and numerical operations and complex reasoning
iii. Spatial – ability to perceive the visual spatial world accurately and to manipulate those perceptions
iv. Bodily kinesthetic – ability to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully
v. Musical – ability to produce and appreciate the characteristics of music, such as rhythm, pitch and timbre
vi. Interpersonal – ability to correctly interpret and appropriately respond to the moods, temperament, and motivations of the other people
vii. Intrapersonal – ability to correctly understand one’s own feelings and moods and to appreciate one’s own strengths, weaknesses, desires, and intelligence
viii. Naturalist – ability to classify plants, animals, and features of the natural environment and to make appropriate responses to each
b. Elements of Sternberg’s successful intelligence
i. Definition as the ability to achieve success in life according to one’s personal standards within one’s sociocultural context
ii. Types of processing skills contributing to successful intelligence
· Analytical
· Creative
· Practical
iii. Uses of processing skills for successful intelligence
· Adaptation to environments
· Shaping of environments
· Selection of environments
iv. Mechanisms for utilization of processing skills in successful intelligence
· Capitalization on strengths
· Correction of weaknesses
· Compensation for weaknesses
3. Cultural issues in intelligence testing
a. Minority groups tend to score lower on traditional intelligence tests
b. When children move to environments with more opportunity and when families emphasize school success, children’s academic performance generally improves
III. Learning and Thinking in School
A. New demands and expectations
1. The greater the gap between what is expected at home and what is expected in the classroom, the more difficult the child’s adjustment will be
2. Success depends on their family background, the school environment, and their own individuality
3. Children are expected to learn the complex social rules that govern the social life of the classroom
4. Teachers spend time on the following activities
a. Teaching facts or concepts
b. Giving direction for a particular lesson
c. Stating general rules of behavior
d. Correcting, disciplining, and praising children
e. Miscellaneous activities
B. Developing competent learners and critical thinkers
1. Greater emphasis on teaching learning and thinking skills
2. Remembering – recalling a fact, idea, or concept
3. Repeating – following a model or procedure
4. Reasoning – applying a specific instance to a general principle or concept
5. Reorganizing – extending knowledge to new contexts and devising original solutions to problems
6. Relating – connecting newly acquired knowledge with past or personal experience
7. Reflecting – exploring the though itself and how it occurred
C. Success in school
1. ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION – an internalized need to persist toward success and excellence
2. Gender differences and school success
a. Girls tend to outperform boys in verbal skills and boys do better in quantitative and spatial tasks
b. Could be due to brain development
c. Social expectations influence their behavior
d. Mathematics and science have been traditionally viewed as male subjects while literature and language as female subjects
3. Parental influences on school success
a. Parents who provide support and guidance while emphasizing their expectations produce academically successful children
b. Children raised in overcrowded or unstable, conflict laden homes are at special risk for school failure
IV. Developmental disorders
A. MENTAL RETARDATION – disorder that is characterized by significantly subaverage intellectual functioning and self help skills, with onset prior to age 18
B. LEARNING DISORDERS – disorders that are associated with difficulty in acquiring some specific academic skills but not others despite normal intelligence and the absence of sensory or motor disabilities, may occur in areas such as reading, writing, or math
1. A reading disorder: dyslexia
a. Involves incorrectly perceiving letters and words
b. Children with dyslexia remain stuck in the early stages of reading
2. Helping children with learning disorders
a. More effective if it begins early in life
b. Includes carefully sequenced tutorial instruction
c. Improvement of the child’s confidence is necessary
C. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
1. ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER – disorder that involves the inability to keep focused on something long enough to learn it, which often is accompanied by poor impulse control
2. Treating children with ADHD
a. Respond to stimulant drugs
b. Also respond to modification of the environment to make it less confusing
c. Programs applied consistently by loving, concerned, responsible caregivers generally produce better outcomes
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