47.260 Human Development I
Less time to review, but don’t know the material any less well!
Notes
added in italics below 12.02.04
1. When and how
does adolescence begin and end? When
does puberty happen on average for boys and girls? How does timing of puberty influence height? What are the risks of the 12-18 month period
of anovulatory cycles that follow menarche for girls? Explain the links between early or late maturation and adjustment
for girls and for boys?
2. What are the primary characteristics of
formal operational thought according to Piaget? Be sure you can give examples of how this kind of thinking
pervades the adolescent’s life, linking clearly to formal operations. Remember the examples we gave in class about how
formal operations plays a role in social relations (e.g., arguing with parents)
and psychosocial risk (e.g., suicidal ideation). Distinguish between formal operations (end
state of cognitive development according to Piaget) and accumulation of
knowledge (ongoing). Remember that Piaget
wasn't talking about knowing, but about thinking. Adolescents who attain
formal operations have attained the most sophisticated level of thinking, but
don't know everything yet. The accumulation of knowledge is ongoing.
3. How do
authoritative, permissive, authoritarian, and neglectful parenting match the
developmental challenges of adolescence from a “goodness of fit”
perspective? What is constructive autonomy?
4. What are the primary psychosocial tasks of
development in adolescence according to Erikson & Marcia? Be able to distinguish between
identity diffusion and identity achievement, confusion, foreclosure and moratorium. Why is adolescence a particularly turbulent time
for children who are in adoptive families? Wednesday class discussion:
Drive toward identity achievement involves examining all sources of identity
information to get clues about the type of adult, the type of person, the
teenager is becoming. Too often, children who have been adopted do not
have access to information about the traits and characteristics of their
biological parents, hence are missing info about their biological heritage and
its potential contribution to identity.
5. Distinguish
Kohlberg’s third level (stages 5 & 6, principles) of moral development from
the previous two and relate to Piaget’s view of formal operations? [What are gender and cultural differences in
moral reasoning by Kohlberg’s assessments and how should we interpret them?
Oops, this is a holdover from the middle childhood unit. Omit.]
6. What is the
role of the peer group in adolescence?
How do peers and parents differ in their spheres of influence? What are
the stages of group development in adolescence. See pp. 396-97. In what ways might teen gang affiliations be related to parenting
style and recreating “family?”
7. What are the relations between (a) mood and
hormonal shifts, (b) suicide and formal operational thought, (c)
anorexia/bulimia for girls and imaginary audience, and (d) risk taking for boys
and personal fable (i.e., think about the role of the myth of
invulnerability). Note that these
conditions, unique to adolescence, converge with the physical changes of
adolescence (increased testosterone for boys, increased adipose for girls, and
limbic brain activity for both) to enhance risk in certain areas for boys and
girls. How does personal
fable thinking contribute to teen-parent conflict?
8. What factors are associated with onset of sexual activity? What influence does sex education have on sexual activity and teen pregnancy; use cross cultural data to answer. How is the developmental path of mature heterosexual relations different for boys and girls. What is the evidence that sexual orientation is influenced by biology?
9. How does HS and the HS diploma serve as a gateway for later development? Economic and social costs of dropping out mean that the HS diploma serves to enhance certain economic and social conditions. Cumulative continuity means that good things pile up--higher paying job will give more resources to obtain good health care, for example.
10. What differences in cognitive abilities characterize male and female adolescents? Do not forget about the commonalities. Remember the role of reorganization of the frontal cortex and adolescent use of the limbic structures in responding to the world around them. If you missed the class in which we discussed these changes, please see the links under resources to Frontline info on the neurological changes in adolescent brains in addition to pp. 356 & 414-415.
11/18/04