1. Developing Through the Life Span
PowerPoint®
Presentation
by Jim Foley
Developing Through the Life Span
© 2013 Worth Publishers

2. Module 11: Adolescence Teenage Topics
Physical Development: Puberty and more
Cognitive Development in Adolescence
Reasoning Power
Moral Intuition, Reasoning, and Action
Social Development in Adolescence
Forming an Identity
Parent and Peer Relationships
Emerging Adulthood
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3. The next phase of development
Developmental psychologists used to focus attention only on childhood.
Lifespan perspective refers to the idea that development is a lifelong process.
The next phase of that process is adolescence.
the transition period from childhood to adulthood
the period of development ranging from puberty to independence
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Longer narrative accompanying this slide:
“Developmental psychologists used to focus on childhood, believing that is the period when maturation and experience formed our traits for life. But now we have the lifespan perspective, acknowledging that “development is a lifelong process.” And thus we move on to adolescence.
In some cultures or periods in history, this transition period, especially by the second definition, would be short or non-existent. In the 21st-century, puberty is coming earlier and independence seems to be coming much later, so that we’ll be hearing of one more transitional phase, “emergent adulthood.”
Are these kids adolescents yet?

4. Adolescent Physical Development
Puberty is the time of sexual maturation (becoming physically able to reproduce).
During puberty, increased sex hormones lead to:
primary and secondary sex characteristics.
some changes in mood and behavior.
As with other maturation, the sequence is more predictable than the timing.
Effects of Early Physical Maturation:
Boys who become strong/athletic early
become more popular and confident
Are at greater risk of substance abuse, delinquency, premature sexual activity.
Girls whose bodies mature early may associate with older teens or be teased or taunted.
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5. Adolescent Brain Development
During puberty, the brain stops automatically adding new connections, and starts pruning away the neurons and synapses that aren’t being used (Use them or lose them!)
The frontal lobes are still forming during this time, still becoming more efficient at conducting signals.
The adolescent brain is at its peak of learning ability but not fully able to inhibit impulses (good accelerator, bad brakes).
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Note: I have altered the caption of this cartoon from the text.
“Young man, go to your room and stay until your frontal lobes finish forming.”

6. Adolescent Cognitive Development
According to Jean Piaget, adolescents are in the formal operational stage. They use this reasoning to:
think about how reality compares to ideals.
think hypothetically about different choices and their consequences.
critique the reasoning of others.
debate matters of justice, meaning of life, and human nature.
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Although adolescents are cognitively able to consider consequences, they may seem like they’re ignoring consequences because they tend to weigh potential benefits much more heavily than potential risks.
Although adolescents are able to make plans to meet goals, they may still tend to make choices based on shorter-term, immediate benefits rather than long-term goals.
Adolescents can picture the minds of others, but they retain some childhood egocentrism; they mainly wonder what others think about them, and assume no one else can understand their experience.

7. Building Toward Moral Reasoning
Adolescents see justice and fairness in terms of merit and equity instead of in terms of everyone getting equal treatment.
Moral Intuition: Our reasoning may be directed by emotions, such as
disgust about evil acts, and
elevated feelings about generosity and courage.
Lawrence Kohlberg’s
Levels of Moral Reasoning
Preconventional morality (up to age 9): “Follow the rules because if you don’t, you’ll get in trouble; if you do, you might get a treat.”
Conventional morality (early adolescence): “Follow the rules because we get along better if everyone does the right thing.”
This is an optional slide that combines the next three slides.
Click to reveal bullets and Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning.
Instructor: You can add that Lawrence Kohlberg ( ) established these categories after studying the way kids of different ages created solutions to moral dilemmas. If you’re going to use the next slide, you can preview here, or wait until that slide has been discussed, to note that we might not agree that these levels of moral reasoning are really a function of age and development. Kohlberg’s levels have also been criticized as culturally determined.
Postconventional morality (later adolescence and adulthood): “Sometimes rules need to be set aside to pursue higher principles.”

8. Building Toward Moral Reasoning
Adolescents see justice and fairness in terms of merit and equity instead of in terms of everyone getting equal treatment.
Adolescents may strive to advocate for ideals and political causes.
Adolescents think about god, meaning, and purpose in deeper terms than in childhood.
Lawrence Kohlberg’s
Levels of Moral Reasoning
Preconventional morality (up to age 9): “Follow the rules because if you don’t, you’ll get in trouble; if you do, you might get a treat.”
Conventional morality (early adolescence): “Follow the rules because we get along better if everyone does the right thing.”
Click to reveal bullets and Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning.
Instructor: You can add that Lawrence Kohlberg ( ) established these categories after studying the way kids of different ages created solutions to moral dilemmas. If you’re going to use the next slide, you can preview here, or wait until that slide has been discussed, to note that we might not agree that these levels of moral reasoning are really a function of age and development. Kohlberg’s levels have also been criticized as culturally determined.
Postconventional morality (later adolescence and adulthood): “Sometimes rules need to be set aside to pursue higher principles.”

9. Example: looting after a natural disaster
Which level of moral reasoning is involved?
Looting is a problem; if everyone did it, there would be escalating chaos and greater damage to the economy.
Looting is generally wrong, yet morally right when your family’s survival seems to depend on it.
Looting is wrong because you might get punished, but if no one is punished, that’s a sign that it’s okay.
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The goal here is not to have students answer the questions but to have students note that the questions use a variety of levels of moral reasoning. See if they can explain which level of moral reasoning is involved. This may bring out the critique of Lawrence Kohlberg for seeing these levels as stages based on age/development; after all, adults can be found thinking in any of these three ways.
Answers:
conventional morality--this is an example of thinking about rules based on the benefits they bring to society.
postconventional morality--here we put aside rules that benefit society when we decide to invoke a higher moral principle, although it could be argued here that the “higher principle” here is actually selfish. An imperfect example can sometimes generate discussion.
preconventional morality--using punishments and rewards as a cue for deciding what is right and wrong.

10. Moral Intuition
Jonathan Haidt believed moral decisions are often driven by moral intuition, that is, quick, gut-feeling decisions.
This intuition is not just based in moral reasoning but also in emotions such as:
disgust. We may turn away from choosing an action because it feels awful.
elevated feelings. We may get a rewarding delight from some moral behavior such as donating to charity.
An Example of Moral Intuition:
Given a hypothetical choice to save five people from an oncoming trolley by killing one person, many people’s choice is determined not just by reasoning, but by disgust.
Many people would flip a switch to make this choice, but not as many would push a person on the tracks to save five others.
Click to reveal bullets and example.
The emotional areas of the brain, quiet when considering flipping a track switch to have a trolley kill one person instead of five, actually light up when considering pushing someone in the path of a trolley. This supports the idea that emotion is making the difference in the choice.

11. Moral Action: Doing the Right Thing
Character education:
what helps people choose principled actions over selfishness or social pressure?
Empathy for the feelings of others
Self-discipline, or the ability to resist impulses
Delaying gratification to plan for larger goals
Experience serving others/the greater good
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12. Psychosocial Development: Erikson’s Stages
Each age involves an “issue,” a psychological challenge in managing our interaction with the social world.
The “vs.” part: there is tension between two opposing tendencies.
Successfully resolving this tension gives us strengths that help us move to the next stage.
Not resolving this tension can lead to lifelong emotional and social difficulties.
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13. Social Development: Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson’s model of lifelong psychosocial developmentsees adolescence as a struggle to form an identity, a sense of self.
Adolescents may in different roles with peers, with parents, and with teachers, try out different “selves.”
For Erikson, the challenge in adolescence is to test and integrate the roles/selves in order to prevent role confusion (which of those selves, or what combination, is really me?).
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14. Erik Erikson: Stages of Psychosocial Development
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15. Other Eriksonian stages on the minds of adolescents
While currently in the identity vs. role confusion stage,
adolescents have ideally just finished working through the tension of competence vs. inferiority.
They are ready after adolescence to take on the challenge of intimacy vs. isolation.
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This is an optional slide, spotlighting material from the two previous slides, and putting the current stage in context of the course of psychosocial development.

16. Peer Influence
The degree of peer influence is hard to trace. Apparent conformity (the whole group smokes) could be a selection effect (they get together because they want to be with others who like to smoke).
Interaction with peers can teach new social skills.
Parents may try to have indirect influence by selecting a child’s peers, such as by selecting a school or neighborhood. However, ultimately, most children self-select their peers.
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17. Influences on Identity: Parent and Peer Relationships
During adolescence, peer relationships take center stage.
Conflicts arise in this stage, especially with first born children.
The challenge: finding how adolescent relationships with peers and with parents can coexist well, rather than being in conflict.
Click to reveal bullets and example.

18. Parents vs. Peers Battling over non-genetic influence
Parents have more influence on:
Peers have more influence on:
Education and career path Cooperation Self-discipline Responsibility Charitableness Religion Style of interaction with authority figures
Learning cooperation skills Learning the path to popularity Choice of music and other recreation Choice of clothing and other cultural choices Good and bad habits
Have students guess at these before clicking to reveal each list.

19. Adolescence, the sequel… Emerging Adulthood
In some countries, added years of education and later marriage has delayed full adult independence beyond traditional adolescence. This seems to have created a new phase which can be called emerging adulthood, ages
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The chart at the left shows how the time between the onset of puberty and fully moving on from one’s family of origin has grown to the point that it is not really one single “adolescent” phase anymore. It is now broken into parts, with the departure for college, around age 18, making a natural breaking point.