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(E4) Chapter 14: Adolescent Development (

Terms in this set (39)

Emerging adulthood
Occurring from approximately 18 to 25 years of age, this transitional period between adolescence and adulthood is characterized by experimentation and exploration.
5 key features of emerging adulthood
1. Identity exploration
2. Instability
3. Self-focused
4. Feeling - in - between
5. Age of possibilities
Puberty
A brain-neuroendocrine process occurring primarily in early adolescence that provides stimulation for the rapid physical changes that accompany this period of development.
Menarche
A girl's first menstruation
Hormones
Powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the body by the bloodstream.
Hypothalamus
A structure in the brain that monitors eating and sex.
Pituitary gland
An important endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates other glands.
Gonads
The sex glands—the testes in males, the ovaries in females.
Gonadotropins
Hormones that stimulate the testes or ovaries.
Testosterone
A hormone associated in boys with the development of the genitals, an increase in height, and a change in voice.
Estradiol
A hormone associated in girls with breast, uterine, and skeletal development.
Psychological dimensions of puberty
Body Image, Early & Late Maturation
Corpus callous
The location where fibers connect the brain's left and right hemispheres.
Limbic system
A lower, subcortical system in the brain that is the seat of emotions and experience of rewards.
Amygdala
A part of the brain that is the seat of emotions.
Prefrontal cortex
The highest level of the frontal lobes involved in reasoning, decision making, and self-control
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning
Piaget's formal operational concept that adolescents have the cognitive ability to develop hypotheses, or best guesses, about ways to solve problems.
Adolescent egocentrism
The heightened selfconsciousness of adolescents that is reflected in their belief that others are as interested in them as they are in themselves, and in their sense of personal uniqueness and invincibility.
Imaginary audience
Refers to adolescents' belief that others are as interested in them as they themselves are, as well as their attention-getting behavior motivated by a desire to be noticed, visible, and "on stage."
Personal fable
The part of adolescent egocentrism that involves an adolescent's sense of uniqueness and invincibility.
Danger invulnerability
Involves adolescents' sense of indestructibility and tendency to take on physical risks (driving recklessly at high speeds, for example)
Psychological invulnerability
Captures an adolescent's felt invulnerability related to personal or psychological distress (getting one's feelings hurt, for example)
Executive function
An umbrella-like concept that consists of a number of higher-level cognitive processes linked to the development of the prefrontal cortex.

Involves managing one's thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and to exercise self-control.
Working memory
A kind of "mental workbench" where people manipulate and assemble information to help them make decisions, solve problems, and comprehend written and spoken language
Cognitive control
Involves effective control and flexible thinking in a number of areas, including controlling attention, reducing interfering thoughts, and being cognitively flexible.
Cognitive control examples
1. Making a real effort to stick with a task, avoiding interfering thoughts or environmental events, and instead doing what is most effective;


2. Stopping and thinking before acting to avoid blurting out something they might wish they hadn't said; and


3. Continuing to work on something that is important but boring when there is something a lot more fun to do.
Cognitive flexibility
Involves being aware that options and alternatives are available and adapting to the situation.
Dual-process model
States that decision making is influenced by two systems—one analytical and one experiential—that compete with each other; in this model, it is the experiential system— monitoring and managing actual experiences— that benefits adolescent decision making.
Critical thinking
Thinking reflectively and productively and evaluating evidence.
Metacognition
Involves cognition about cognition, or "knowing about knowing."
Improvement in critical thinking during adolescence
Increased speed, automaticity, and capacity of information processing, which free cognitive resources for other purposes

Greater breadth of content knowledge in a variety of domains

Increased ability to construct new combinations of knowledge

A greater range and more spontaneous use of strategies and procedures for obtaining and applying knowledge, such as planning, considering the alternatives, and cognitive monitoring
Values
Beliefs and attitudes about the way things should be.
Inhibitory control or effortful control
Cognitive control also has been referred to as____
Service learning
A form of education that promotes social responsibility and service to the community.
Forgiveness
An aspect of prosocial behavior that occurs when an injured person releases the injurer from possible behavioral retaliation.
Gratitude
A feeling of thankfulness and appreciation, especially in response to someone doing something kind or helpful.
Hidden curriculum
Dewey's concept that every school has a pervasive moral atmosphere, even if it doesn't have an official program of moral education.
Character education
A direct education approach that involves teaching students a basic moral literacy to prevent them from engaging in immoral behavior and doing harm to themselves and others.
3 views on moral education
(1) the hidden curriculum,

(2) character education, and

(3) cognitive moral education.
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