Exam 1 study guide Puberty 02 05 2015 A period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that take place primarily in early adolescence Individual becomes capable of sexual reproduction Begins between 10 13 years old Determinants of puberty Heredity Hormones o Androgens testosterone o Estrogens Interaction of the hypothalamus pituitary gland gonads HPG axis Nutritional status Other More we weigh for girls can lead us to starting puberty earlier Stress can influence puberty Girls exposed to high amounts of stress begin puberty earlier Hormonal changes activational vs organizational Hormones organize the way the brain is shaped as it is growing hormones activate turn on changes in behavior at different times during one s life Steroid use among adolescents Anabolic steroids synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone that promote the growth of skeletal muscle and increases in strength and lean body mass Use is increasing and males are more likely to use than females Cross sectional vs longitudinal study Cross Sectional studying participants at one point in time Longitudinal studying the same individuals over a period of time Data collection techniques Observations o Naturalistic field studies Observe adolescence in settings which they would normally participate o Structured list of questions o Unstructured can ask for clarifications o Laboratory Interviews Questionnaires bias o Issues with self report over or under report Social desirability Standardized Tests Experience Sampling Method ESM who are they around and what is their emotion at that time Physiological Recordings hormone levels changes in brain activity Case Studies gather extensive amounts of info about one person Ethnography a method in which the researcher seeks to understand the unique values traditions and social processes of a culture or subculture by living with its members and making extensive observations and taking detailed notes goal is to detect and describe the strength of the relationship between two events or characteristics Experimental goal is to determine cause and effect o Participants randomly assigned to either experimental or control group o Independent variable condition that is varied in order to see its impact on another variable o Dependent variable variable thought to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable Correlational vs experimental Accomplishments in Information Processing Attention concentration and focusing of mental effort o Selective good at paying attention to certain things and ignoring others o Shiftable fairly automatically o Divided parent is talking to you while youre texting Memory retention of information over time Processes that account for accomplishments in Information Processing Encoding how info gets into memory They decide what to take in o Short term o Working memory o Long term and what to just ignore Automaticity automatization Strategy construction Generalizing Adolescent risk taking behavior decision theory emotional and contextual influences how to reduce risk taking Behavioral decision theory An approach to understanding adolescent risk taking in which behaviors are seen as the outcome of systematic decision making process Adolescent obesity Contributors o Genetics tendency to gain weight o Disturbed patterns of eating o Sedentary lifestyle o Insufficient sleep o Families o Peers o Schools o Communities Psychological issues o Appears to be more problematic for girls o Social Rejection o Poor academic performance o Lowered self esteem o Depression o Disrupted romantic relationships Secular trends in puberty Secular trend patterns seen over time especially across generations Tendency of succeeding generations to achieve physical maturation at an earlier age and to be heavier and taller than their parents Adolescent growth spurt and associated events Occurs 2 years earlier for girls than boys o Girls 3 5 inches year Boys 4 inches year Significant weight gains also occur Girls increase in hip width and body fat Boys increase in shoulder width and muscle growth Respiratory and Circulatory systems change Primary sexual characteristics Characteristics that are directly related to reproductive capability Girls maturation of follicles growth of external genitalia size increase of uterus and ovaries menarche Boys growth of penis and testes production of sperm and ejaculation of semen spermarche Secondary sexual characteristics Bodily changes as the result of hormonal changes of puberty not including the ones related directly to reproduction Both pubic and axillary hair sweat glands increase production Boys facial hair voice deepening Girls breast development Adolescent egocentrism one s own perspective State of increased self absorption where the world is seen only from o Imaginary audience hyper concern about themselves which leads them to conclude that others are equally obsessed with their appearance and behavior o Personal fable belief in the uniqueness of their own experiences Can lead to optimistic bias belief in their immortality and invulnerability to harm Factors that influence IQ test performance Exposure to risk factors Socioeconomic status Ethnicity Anxiety Motivation Cultural bias in testing Changes in sleep patterns delayed phase preference effects of insufficient sleep A delayed phase preference seems to exist influenced by the biological changes of puberty Teens tend to stay up later and wake up later Most scientists believe that most teens are not getting enough sleep which is related to poorer mental health and lowered school achievement Vygotsky and associated concepts Knowledge is best advanced through interactions with others collaboration Zone of proximal development ZPD range of tasks that are too difficult for an adolescent to master alone but that can be mastered with the guidance and assistance of adults or more skilled peers Scaffolding knowing at the beginning the person will provide me a lot of info but as they acquire the skill you back off so that they can independently master the skill Cognitive apprenticeship relationship between expert and novice Cooperative learning working in small groups to help each other learn Reciprocal teaching students take turns leading group discussions Endocrine feedback loop The hypothalamus pituitary gland and the gonads ovaries testicles operate in a feedback loop producing and maintaining the levels of sex hormones androgens and estrogens that are mainly