Download 07 Physical and Cognitive Development at Adolescence and

Physical and Cognitive
Development at Adolescence and
Adulthood.
Psychosocial development

Theories of psychosocial development
are represented by the work of Bowlby,
(1973) in his theory of attachment, and
the work of Erikson, (1976) in his
theory of psychosocial development.
Stage (5): IDENTITY versus CONFUSION:
Adolescence


This conflict occurs during adolescence.
Constructing personal identity is the major
task of adolescence. Adolescent tries on
different roles and develops a stable
self-definition and commitment to adult
goals.
Children start to develop a sense of their own
individuality. Inability to resolve these
questions may lead to identity crisis and role
confusion. Adolescent does not
experiment (through apathy or
demands from others) becomes
confused about self and future roles.
Stage (6): INTIMACY versus ISOLATION:
Young Adulthood

This is the conflict of EARLY ADULTHOOD.
The major task facing young adults is the
development of intimacy. Lasting and
meaningful relationships promote
connectedness and intimacy.

It is the ability to commit oneself to a close
relationship that demand sacrifices. The
negative impact of this conflict is isolation.
Fear of rejection or narcissism inhibits
intimate relationships leading to
isolation.


Stage (7): GENERATIVITY versus SELFABSORPTION: Middle Adulthood
This occurs at middle adulthood. Generativity
refers to the concerns over future
generations, which may results in feelings of
satisfaction. Unselfish concern for the
next generation is manifested in work,
community activities and child-rearing.
Self-absorption or stagnation is the lack of
concerns over future generation, which may’
results in self-dissatisfaction and emptiness.
Self-indulgence and self-absorption
promote boredom, stagnation and
failure.
Stage (8): EGO-INTEGRITY versus
DESPAIR: Late Adulthood


This is the conflict of late adulthood Ego
integrity refers to the sense of wholeness and
meaningfulness of one’s life. Those who
resolve this conflict will accept themselves as
they are and believe in their dignity. Older
adult looks back on a meaningful and
satisfying life.
Those who don’t resolve this conflict will fall
into despair fear of death and wish to live
their life again. Older adult looks back
with disappointment, dissatisfaction
and regret.
The development of moral
reasoning


Based on the stage theory of cognitive
development, Lawrence Kohlberg has
developed a stage theory of moral
development and moral reasoning.
This theory describes three progressive
levels of moral development, each level
includes two stages.
Post-conventional level


Stage (V): This stage is defined by social
contract. Generally, actions are guided by
principles commonly agreed on as important to
the public good and welfare. Respect of the self
comes from respects of others.
Stage (VI): This stage is oriented to ethical
principles and is based on abstract thinking.
Actions guided by self-chosen ethical principles,
which usually stress justice, dignity, and
equality.
Cognitive development


The study of cognitive development is
concerned with how the quality of thought
process improves with experience and
maturity. The central theorist on this is
Jean Piaget.
In his theory, cognition develops as the
child applies assimilation and
accommodation to existing schemes,
and the do so by passing through the
same sequence of developmental stages.
Formal operational thinking


At approximately eleven or twelve, the
Formal operational stage starts, where
abstract thinking is possible. Children can
now consider hypothetical possibilities and
became capable of scientific thinking.
However, cognitive development affects the
child’s understanding of the physical
environment and social world as well. One
aspect of the social world is moral reasoning
and judgement. Piaget has also proposed a
theory on moral development, but this has
been further elaborated and expanded
by L. Kohlberg.
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning
Level One:
Pre-conventional
Morality
Level Two:
Conventional
Morality
Level Three:
Post-Conventional
Morality
Stage 1: PunishmentObedience Orientation
Stage 2: Instrumental
Relativist Orientation
Stage 3: Good Boy-Nice Girl
Orientation
Stage 4: Law and Order
Orientation
Stage 5: Social Contract
Orientation
Stage 6: Universal Ethical
Principle Orientation
Parenting Styles


Baumrind has described three basic parenting
styles: authoritarian, authoritative and
permissive.
Other psychologists have differentiated between
two permissive styles (indulgent and
ignoring). These four diverge along two
dimensions:
 Control of their children’s behavior
 Responsiveness to their children’s
feelings and needs
Authoritarian parents


Authoritarian parents set strict rules that
are to be obeyed without question. The child
is not consulted or considered in setting or
implementing the rules
Children raised with this style are likely to be
fearful, irritable, moody, unhappy,
unspontaneous and socially withdrawn.
Permissive-Indulgent parents



Permissive-Indulgent parents do not set or
enforce clear and consistent rules.
Children are more cheerful but also
aggressive, immature, and impulsive
It is interesting that both INDULGENCE AND
AUTHORITARIAN PARENTS have children who
tend to display little self-reliance and may
have problems with aggression.
Authoritative parents


Authoritative parents set and enforce clear
and consistent rules, but do so in
consideration of the child's needs. The rules
are based on reasons that are discussed with
the child. Exceptions might be made, again
with good reason. They are also warm and
supportive.
Children are cheerful, energetic, friendly, and
socially competent. They also get the best
grades of any of the three groups.
Permissive-Neglecting parents

Permissive-Neglecting parents: are
more concerned with their own activities
and are uninvolved in their children. Their
children tend to be: Impulsive;
uninterested in school, and lack longterms goals. Extremely Neglecting
parents have children who show clear
disturbances in their a attachment
relationships and psychological
functioning.
PARENTING
STYLES
LOW
CONTROL
LOW
RESPONSIVE
NESS
Permissiveindifferent
(Neglecting)
HIGH
RESPONSIVE
NESS
Permissiveindulgent
HIGH
CONTRL
Authoritarian
Authoritative
Genital Stage (puberty on)


The final stage of psychosexual
development begins at the start of
puberty when sexual urges are once again
awakened.
Through the lessons learned during the
previous stages, adolescents direct their
sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with
the primary focus of pleasure is the
genitals.
Freud's Structural and Topographical
Models of Personality
Differences in the treatment of
males and females


Gender bias, and its corollary, gender equity,
describe the comparison of opportunities and
treatment available to males with those available
to females.
Today, gender bias is observed and discussed in
societies and cultures worldwide. Parents and
teachers of young people are especially
concerned with unequal treatment of boys and
girls, particularly the effect these differences
have on child development.


Up until about grade
six, girls’ performance
in science and math
are on par with that of
boys, but during
adolescence girls’ test
scores and level of
expressed interest
declines.
The tendency is to
abandon competition
with boys in favor of
placing more emphasis
on relationships and on
physical appearance.
Boys’ and girls’
performance in science
A functioonal MRI scan of males and
females brain while they were judging
whether pairs of written words
rhymed
Boys’ and girls’ performance in science


Girls have lower expectations for their success in math
and science; are more likely to attribute academic
success to luck rather than to ability, and are more
likely to equate academic failure to lack of ability (boys
are more likely to attribute failure to lack of effort).
Generally, girls earn higher grades than boys, but boys
outperform girls on standardized tests.
Boys are more likely that girls to challenge the teacher
when they do not agree with an answer. Boys with
higher SAT scores are more likely than girls with equal or
better grades to be awarded academic scholarships.
Gender stereotypes


Researchers have shown that in most cultures the lack
of decision-making power among females regarding
sexual and economic matters contributes to population
growth and confines women to subservient roles to
men—usually their fathers, and later, their husbands.
Although women make up 45 percent of the workforce
in the United States, 60 percent of professional women
are in traditionally female occupations such as nursing
and teaching.
Gender stereotypes defining appropriate activities and
behavior for men and women are prevalent in every
culture, even though they may differ slightly from
culture to culture. Awareness of the existence of these
biases will help to overcome their negative effects.
As children are socialized, they learn which behaviors
are acceptable and which are unacceptable.
Boys are often encouraged
to imitate their fathers’ activities, as this boy is doing
A little girl practices a typically feminine sex role,
caring for an infant
Gender identity



The sense of identification with either the male
or female sex, as manifested in appearance,
behavior, and other aspects of a person’s life.
Influenced by a combination of biological and
sociological factors, gender identity emerges by
the age of two or three and is reinforced at
puberty. Once established, it is generally fixed
for life.
Aside from sex differences, other biological
contrasts between males and females are
already evident in childhood.
Gender identity disorder



While most people follow a predictable pattern in the
acquisition of gender identity, some develop a gender
identity inconsistent with their biological sex, a condition
variously known as gender confusion, gender identity
disorder, or transgender, which affects about 1 in
20,000 males and 1 in 50,000 females.
Researchers have found that both early socialization
and hormonal factors may play a role in the
development of gender identity disorder.
People with gender identity disorder usually feel from
their earliest years that they are trapped in the wrong
body and begin to show signs of gender confusion
between the ages of two and four. They prefer
playmates of the opposite sex at an age when most
children prefer to spend time in the company of samesex peers.
Gender identity disorder




A condition, sometimes called transsexualism, in which an
individual develops a gender identity inconsistent with their
anatomical and genetic sex.
The major symptom of gender identity disorder in adults is
the desire to live as a member of the opposite sex by
adopting its social role, behavior, and physical appearance.
Some transsexuals become obsessed with activities that
reduce gender-related stress, including cross-dressing
(dressing as a member of the opposite sex), which may be
practiced either privately or in public.
Transvestism is a condition in which individuals cross-dress
primarily for sexual arousal. Both male and female
transsexuals may elect to alter their primary and secondary
sexual characteristics by undergoing surgery to make their
genitals as much like those of the opposite sex as possible.
Heterosexuality


Sexual attraction to members of the opposite sex. The
sex drive, or sexual desire, is an unlearned, powerful
drive that humans share with other animal species.
Heterosexuals experience sexual desire in relation to
members of the opposite sex.
As children grow, they learn about sex roles and sex
differences by observing their parents and other
adults, including teachers, child care providers, and from
play experiences and the attitudes and behavior of
peers. Gender identity becomes firmly established,
that is, the young boy understands that he is a boy, and
thinks of himself as a boy.
Sex researcher Alfred Kinsey


Sex researcher Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956),
who founded the Institute for Sex Research at
Indiana University in 1942, believed that sexual
orientation in humans is complex, ranging from
exclusively homosexual to exclusively
heterosexual, with most people’s sexual desires
falling somewhere between the two.
The “Kinsey Report,” was published in 1948
under the title Sexual Behavior in the Human
Male.

In fact, until the late 1960s, any sexual behavior
outside of exclusively heterosexual was
considered either a mental illness or
Biological and genetic determinants



Although homosexuality continues to be prohibited by
law in many locales, it is no longer listed as a mental
disorder by the American Psychiatric Association.
Although much research into underlying causes of sexual
orientation has been done, little conclusion evidence has
emerged about why one individual is heterosexual and
another homosexual.
Researchers have studied biological and genetic
determinants, hormone levels, and environmental
factors. It seems from evidence available in the mid1990s that environmental and biological factors combine
in the complex process of human development to
establish sexual orientation.
Bisexuality


Sexual orientation defined as sexual involvement
with members of both sexes concurrently (within
the period of one year) or any sexual attraction
to or involvement with members of both sexes
at any time in one’s life.
There is no single accepted definition of
bisexuality. Some define it narrowly as sexual
involvement with members of both sexes
concurrently (within a twelve-month period or
less).
Sex differences



Physical and mental differences between men
and women.
The most basic question of sex differences is
whether the differences between the sexes are a
result of our sex chromosomes, and genetic in
nature, or did humans learn them from our
social and cultural environments?
This argument, usually referred to as the
naturenurture controversy, is one that is
common in psychological work. Most
psychologists attribute our differences to a
combination of nature and nurture factors.
Sex roles



Sets of attributes, including attitudes,
personality traits, abilities, interests, and
behaviors that are defined as appropriate for
each sex.
Men and women are different not only in
anatomy, but also in terms of how they behave
and in the interests they express. Certain
behavioral differences are believed to be
biologically determined.
Roles are sets of norms that define how people
in a given social position ought to behave.
Sex-role stereotypes


In western society, for example, women have
traditionally been regarded as more delicate and
compassionate than men. Stereotypes for
femininity include expectations to be domestic,
warm, pretty, emotional, dependent, physically
weak, and passive.
By contrast, men are thought of as being more
competitive and less emotional than women.
Masculinity stereotypes can be described by
words such as unemotional, physically strong,
independent, active, and aggressive.