Adolescent and Adulthood Development

Using references related to lifespan development, please answer the following questions– I am preparing a presentation of development across the lifespan.

1. What are the major milestones related to the physical development in adolescence? Briefly describe these milestones.
2. What are the major milestones related to the cognitive development in adolescence? Briefly describe these milestones. How does cognition change from late childhood to adolescence?
3. What are the major milestones related to the physical development in early, middle, and late adulthood? Briefly describe these milestones.
4. What are the major milestones related to the cognitive development in early, middle, and late adulthood? Briefly describe these milestones How does cognition change from adolescence to adulthood?
5. What are the major milestones related to the socioemotional development in adolescence? Briefly describe these milestones. How do peer relations change during adolescence? What type of strategies can be used to help adolescents with their problems?
6. What are the major milestones related to the socioemotional development in early, middle, and late adulthood? Briefly describe these milestones. What role does Erikson’s Stage of Generativity versus Stagnation play in the socioemotional development of adults?
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Interesting group of questions. One way to help you with an assignment like this one is to compile information from various sources for each question, which you can then draw on for your final copy. I also attached the main source for further consideration. This is the approach this response takes.

Let’s take a close look.

RESPONSE:

1. What are the major milestones related to the physical development in adolescence? Briefly describe these milestones.

? Whereas physical growth is slow and gradual between the ages of about six and eleven, the adolescent growth spurt begins (sometimes a bit earlier for girls).

? The rapid growth at this time, which occurs later for boys, coupled with the development of secondary sexual characteristics, marks the physical transition to adulthood.

? Girls’ first menstrual period (menarche) usually occurs about two years after the onset of secondary sexual characteristics, and both boys and girls have a period of relative infertility, lasting several years, after they have become sexually mature.

? Although the pattern of puberty described here is universal, the average age at which girls reach puberty has been decreasing over the past two centuries, primarily because of better nutrition and health.

? There is also evidence that girls from high-stress, father-absent homes reach puberty earlier than girls from low-stress, father-present homes, reflecting the role that social factors can have on physical development. (As cited in http://social.jrank.org/pages/416/Milestones-Development-Physical-Milestones.html#ixzz0FWA2oeTK&A)

1. What are the major milestones related to the cognitive development in adolescence? Briefly describe these milestones.

? With adolescence comes abstract thought, again as first described by Piaget. Children are able to think scientifically and are able to reflect upon what they already know. http://social.jrank.org/pages/417/Milestones-Development-Cognitive-Milestones.html#ixzz0FWAyqkRk&A

b. How does cognition change from late childhood to adolescence?

? In earlier stages, children have a difficult time taking the psychological perspective of others until about three and a half to four years of age.

? Until this time, they often believe that if they know something (for example, that a cookie has been moved from a box to a jar), other people should know it as well, even though others have different knowledge (not knowing the cookie was moved).

? Understanding that people’s behavior is governed by beliefs and desires, which may be different from one’s own, has been termed “theory of mind” and is the basis of all sophisticated human social interaction.

? Thinking becomes more logical during the school years, and this is perhaps best reflected by conservation tasks, developed by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget.

? Beginning around six years of age, children realize, for example, that the amount of water one has is the same regardless of whether the container that holds it is short and fat or tall and skinny. Much before this time, the appearance of “more” in the tall container determines children’s thinking in such situations.

? Abstract thinking, as mentioned above, allows the adolescent to think abstracting and hypothetical situations allow more advanced thinking patterns. (As cited in http://social.jrank.org/pages/417/Milestones-Development-Cognitive-Milestones.html#ixzz0FWBXp5W1&A)

1. What are the major milestones related to the physical development in early, middle, and late adulthood? Briefly describe these milestones.

Young Adulthood

? Early adulthood is, for most people, the time of peak physical capacity.

? The body reaches full height by the late teens, and physical strength increases into the late 20s and early 30s (Whitbourne, 2001).

? Manual agility and coordination, and sensory capacities such as vision and hearing, are also at their peak.

? But change is imminent, even in these basic capacities. Some decline in the perception of high-pitched tones is found by the late 20s (Whitbourne, 2001), and manual dexterity begins to reduce in the mid 30s.

? In general, people in early adulthood feel robust and energetic, although it is not unusual to see fluctuations around deadlines and exam periods!

? On the other hand, people in this age group are also legally able to use damaging substances, such as alcohol and tobacco, and many can obtain access to illegal stimulants or narcotics.

? Young adults also have increasing responsibility for organizing their own eating habits and exercise regimes.

? Not surprisingly, the health status and prospects of young adults are dependent more than ever before on their own behavioural choices. (As cited in http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/intropsych/pdf/chapter10.pdf)

Middle Adulthood

? During mid-life, people experience a range of external and internal physical changes. External changes include the appearance of grey hair and hair thinning, increases in facial wrinkles, and a tendency to put on weight around the waist or lower body.

? Internal changes include reductions in the efficiency of the cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems (Whitbourne, 2001).

? There are changes to the sensory capacities, too. One of the most noticeable for most middle-aged people is the onset of presbyopia – a condition of farsightedness due to progressive changes in the shape of the lens of the eye (Glasser & Campbell, 1998).

? This leads to difficulty in reading small print – you may notice people of this age holding printed matter further away than a younger reader does (figure 10.7).

? Hearing, particularly sensitivity to higher frequency sounds, is also prone to weaken during middle age (Brant & Fozard, 1990; Wiley …