lecture 23 from a college level introduction to psychology course taught Fall 2011 by Brian J. Piper, Ph.D. (psy391@gmail.com) at Willamette University, includes cognitive development, moral development

1. Adolescence
Brian J. Piper, Ph.D.

2. Adolescence
 Physical Development
 Cognitive Development
 Social Development
 Emerging Adulthood

3. Adolescence
Many psychologists once
believed that our traits
were set during
childhood. Today
psychologists believe
that development is a
lifelong process.
Adolescence is defined
AP Photo/ Jeff Chiu
as a life between
childhood and
adulthood.

4. Physical Development
Adolescence begins with
puberty (sexual maturation).
Puberty occurs earlier in
females (11 years) than males
(13 years).
Predictors of Early Puberty
Onset:
1) High BMI
2) African-American Ethnicity

5. Head Size
• Near-adult levels are reached by age 5.

6. Brain Development: Volume 1
• Brain Volume is at
least 95% of adult
volume by age 6.
• Male > Female (9%)
• Male brains reach
adult size by ages
14.5.
Lenroot & Giedd (2006). Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 30, 718-729.

7. Volume 2: Lateral Ventricle
Lenroot & Giedd (2006). Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 30, 718-729.

8. Volume 3: Gray and White
Matter
______ Males
------- Females
Lenroot & Giedd (2006). Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 30, 718-729.

9. Specific CNS Differences
• Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus of the
Preoptic Area of the Hypothalamus
– Doubled size in males

10. Primary Sexual Characteristics
During puberty primary sexual characteristics —
the reproductive organs and external genitalia —
develop rapidly.

11. Secondary Sexual Characteristics
Secondary sexual characteristics—the additional
traits such as breasts and hips in girls and facial
hair and deepening of voice in boys develop. Pubic
hair and armpit hair grow in both sexes.

12. Developing Reasoning
Power
According to Piaget, adolescents can handle abstract
problems, i.e., they can perform formal operations.
Adolescents can judge good from evil, truth and
justice, and think about God in deeper terms.

13. Sex Differences in Spatial
Function
Piper et al. (2011) Physiology & Behavior, 103, 513-522.

14. Developing Morality
Lawrence Kohlberg (1981, 1984) sought to
describe the development of moral reasoning by
posing moral dilemmas to children and
adolescents, such as “Should a person steal food
if they are starving?” He found stages of moral
development.
“Eminence” = 30th
1927-1987

15. 3 Basic Levels of Moral
Thinking
1. Preconventional Morality:
Before age 9, children show
morality to avoid punishment
or gain reward.
2. Conventional Morality: By
early adolescence, social rules
and laws are upheld for their
own sake.
3. Postconventional Morality:
Affirms people’s agreed-upon
rights or follows personally
perceived ethical principles.

16. The Dilemma of Heinz
A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium
that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. the drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the
drug cost him to make. He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went
to everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost.
He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the
drug and I'm going to make money from if." So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the man's
store to steal the drug for his wife.
1. Should Heinz steal the drug?
1a. Why or why not?
2. Is it actually right or wrong for him to steal the drug?
2a. Why is it right or wrong?
3. Does Heinz have a duty or obligation to steal the drug?
3a. Why or why not?
5. Suppose the person dying is not his wife but a stranger (or a pet). Should Heinz steal the drug for the stranger/pet?
5a. Why or why not?
• Answer #1a 3 times:
– Preconventional
– Conventional
– Postconventional

17. Social Development
As our thinking matures, so does our behavior in
that we become less selfish and more caring.
People who engage in doing the right thing
develop empathy for others and the self-
discipline to resist their own impulses.
Eminence = 12th

18. 5 min song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i9ckfFRcd4

19. Forming an Identity
In Western cultures, many adolescents try out
different selves before settling into a consistent
and comfortable identity. Having such an identity
leads to forming close relationships.

20. Conformity
• Asch Study:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRh5qy0
9nNw
• 12 trials: 75% conformed at least once!
1907-1996

21. Parent and Peer Influence
Although teens become independent of their
parents as they grow older, they nevertheless
relate to their parents on a number of
things, including religiosity and career choices.
Peer approval and relationships are also very
important.

22. Alternative View: Do parents
matter?
• Judith Harris: The Nurture Assumption
• Accent example
• Peers
22
1938-

23. Emerging Adulthood
Emerging adulthood spans ages 18-25. During this
time, young adults may live with their parents
and attend college or work. On average, emerging
adults marry in their mid-twenties.
Ariel Skelley/ Corbis

24. Summary
• Neurobiological Changes
• Psychological Changes
– Moral Development
– Social Development