module 9 preview
Adolescence typically begins at puberty with the onset of rapid growth and sexual maturity. Jean Piaget theorized that adolescents develop the capacity to reason abstractly. Following Piaget’s lead, Lawrence Kohlberg contended that moral thinking likewise proceeds through stages, from a morality of self-interest to a morality of universal ethical principles. Erik Erikson theorized that a chief task of adolescence is to form one’s identity. This struggle may continue into the adult years as new relationships emerge and new roles are assumed.
general instructional objectives
1. To describe the major events of physical development during adolescence.
2. To discuss the course of cognitive, and social development in adolescence.
module guide
Physical Development
1. Define adolescence, and describe the physical events of that period.
Adolescence, the transition period from childhood to adulthood, typically begins at puberty with the onset of rapid growth and developing sexual maturity. A surge of hormones triggers a 2-year period of growth that begins in girls at about age 11 and in boys at about age 13. During the growth spurt, the reproductive organs, or primary sex characteristics, develop dramatically. So do the secondary sex characteristics, such as the breast and hips in girls, facial hair and a deepened voice in boys, pubic and underarm hair in both sexes. The landmarks of puberty are the first ejaculation in boys, which usually occurs by about age 14, and the first menstrual period (menarche) in girls, by about age 13.
Projects: Interviewing Adolescents; Writing About Puberty
Videos: Child Development—A Time to Grow series; Adolescent Physical, Mental, Personality Development; What Makes Teens Tick?
Transparencies: 48 Adolescence Is Being Stretched from Both Ends; 49 Body Changes at Puberty
Cognitive Development
2. Describe the adolescent’s growing reasoning power.
During the early teen years, reasoning is often self-focused. Adolescents may think their private experiences are unique. Gradually, adolescents develop the capacity for what Piaget called formal operations, the capacity to reason abstractly. This includes the ability to test hypotheses and deduce conclusions. The new reasoning power is evident in adolescents’ pondering and debating such abstract topics as human nature, good and evil, truth and justice.
Exercise: Formal Operational Thought
3. Describe Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, noting the relationship between thoughts and actions.
Lawrence Kohlberg contended that moral thinking likewise proceeds through a series of stages, from a preconventional morality of self-interest, to a conventional morality concerned with gaining others’ approval or doing one’s duty, to (in some people) a postconventional morality of agreed-upon rights or universal ethical principles. Kohlberg’s critics argue that the postconventional level represents morality from the perspective of individualistic males. Morality also lies in actions, which are influenced by the social situation and inner attitudes, as well as moral reasoning. Since actions feed attitudes, moral ideas grow strong when acted on.
Exercise: Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Transparency: 50 Kohlberg’s Moral Ladder
Social Development
4. Discuss the adolescent’s search for identity..
Erik Erikson theorized that a chief task of adolescence is to solidify one’s sense of self—one’s identity. Adolescents usually try out different “selves” in different situations. Often, this role confusion gets resolved by the gradual reshaping of a self-definition that unifies the various selves into a consistent and comfortable sense of who one is. Once this occurs, one is ready for close relationships, or the intimacy of young adulthood. Research indicates a gender difference in connectedness surfaces early and continues into adulthood. Females tend to be more interdependent and more open and responsive to feedback than are males. As friends, women are more intimate than men; they talk more often and more openly.
Exercises: Objective Measures of Ego Identity Status; Who Am I?; The Life Cycle; Gender Differences in Smiling
Lectures: Adolescents’ Friendships; A Generation Gap?
Film/Video: Everybody Rides the Carousel; Erik H. Erikson: A Life’s Work
Transparency: 51 Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
5. Describe the development of intimate social relationships during the adolescent years
As adolescents seek to form their own identities, they begin to separate themselves from their parents. What their friends are—what “everybody’s doing”—they often become. Researchers have found that most teenagers relate to their parents reasonably well and generally affirm their parents’ beliefs and attitudes. Teens who feel close to their parents tend to be healthy and happy and to do well in school.