General Psychology An Introduction Chapter 11 Human Development

Chapter 11 Human Development 17 Attachment Through the Life Course Chris The purpose of this module is to provide a brief review of attachment theory designed to explain the significance ofthe close , emotional bonds that children develop with their caregivers and the implications of those bonds for understanding personality development . The module discusses the origins of the theory , research on individual differences in attachment security in infancy and childhood , and the role of attachment in adult relationships . Learning Objectives Explain the way the attachment system works and its evolutionary significance . Identify three commonly studied attachment patterns and what is known about the development of those patterns . Describe what is known about the consequences of secure versus insecure attachment in adult relationships . Introduction Some of the most rewarding experiences in people lives involve the development and maintenance of close relationships . For example , some ofthe greatest sources ofjoy involve falling in love , family , being reunited with distant loved ones , and sharing experiences with close others . And , not surprisingly , some ofthe most painful experiences in people lives involve the disruption of important social bonds , such as separation from a spouse , losing a

Attachment Through the Life Course 300 parent , or being abandoned by a loved one . Why do close relationships play such a profound role in human experience ?

Attachment theory is one approach to understanding the nature of close relationships . In this module , we review the origins of the theory , the core theoretical principles , and some ways in which attachment influences human behavior , thoughts , and feelings across the life course . Attachment Theory A Brief History and Core Concepts Attachment theory was originally developed in the by John , a British Relationships are the fabric of society , and are integral to the psychoanalyst who was attempting maintenance of our Percy Sledge understand the intense distress experienced by infants who had been separated from their parents . 1976797 ) observed that infants would go to extraordinary lengths to prevent separation from their parents or to reestablish proximity to a missing parent . For example , he noted that children who had been separated from their parents would often cry , call for their parents , refuse to eat or play , and stand at the door in desperate anticipation of their parents return . At the time of initial writings , psychoanalytic writers held that these expressions were manifestations defense mechanisms that were operating to repress emotional pain . However , observed that such expressions are common to a wide variety of mammalian species and speculated that these responses to separation may serve an evolutionary function ( see Box ) Drawing on evolutionary theory , argued that these behaviors are adaptive responses to separation from a primary attachment caregiver who provides support , protection , and care . Because human infants , like other mammalian infants , can not feed or protect themselves , they are dependent upon the care and protection of older and wiser adults for survival . argued that , over the course of evolutionary history , infants who were able to maintain proximity to an attachment figure would be more likely to survive to a reproductive age .

Attachment Through the Life Course 301 Box . Harlow Research on Contact Comfort When , there were why infants were emotionally attached ( most often , their biological mothers ) and other theorists , for example , believed that there was something important about the responsiveness and contact provided by mothers . Other theorists , in contrast , argued that young infants feel emotionally connected to their mothers because mothers satisfy more basic needs , such as the need for is , the child comes to feel emotionally connected to the mother because she is associated with the reduction of primary drives , such as hunger , rather than the reduction of drives that might be relational in nature . In a classic set of studies , psychologist Harry Harlow placed young monkeys in cages that contained two , surrogate mothers ( Harlow , 1958 ) One of those surrogates was a simple wire contraption the other was a wire contraption covered in cloth . Both of the surrogate mothers were equipped with hadthe option to surrogate to deliver or not deliver milk . Harlow found that the young macaques spent a disproportionate amount of time with the cloth surrogate as opposed to the wire surrogate . Moreover , this was true even when the infants were fed by the wire surrogate rather than the cloth surrogate , This suggests that the strong emotional bond that infants form with their primary caregivers is rooted in something more than whether the caregiver provides food per se . Harlow research is now regarded as one of the experimental demonstrations of the importance of contact comfort in the establishment of bonds . According to , a motivational system , what he called the attachment behavioral system , was designed by natural selection to regulate proximity to an attachment figure . The attachment system functions much like a thermostat that continuously monitors the ambient temperature ofa room , comparing that temperature against a desired state and adjusting behavior ( activating the furnace ) accordingly . In the case of the attachment system , argued that the system continuously monitors the accessibility ofthe primary attachment figure . If the child perceives the attachment figure to be nearby , accessible , and attentive , then the child feels loved , secure , and confident and , is likely to explore his or her environment , play with others , and be sociable . If , however , the child perceives the attachment figure to be inaccessible , the child experiences anxiety and , is likely to exhibit attachment behaviors ranging from simple visual searching on the low extreme to active searching , following , and vocal signaling on the other . These attachment behaviors

Attachment Through the Life Course 302 continue either child is able to reestablish a desirable level of physical or psychological proximity to the attachment figure or until the child exhausts himself or herself or gives up , as may happen in the context ofa prolonged separation or loss . Individual Differences in Infant Attachment Think of your earliest , does it you , or does it include your loved ones , your family and caretakers ?

Although believed that these basic dynamics captured the way the attachment system works in most children , he recognized that there are individual differences in the way children appraise the accessibility of the attachment figure and how they regulate their attachment behavior in response to threats . However , it was not until his colleague , began to systematically study separations that a formal understanding of these individual differences emerged . and her students developed a technique called the strange a laboratory task for studying attachment ( Waters , Wall , laboratory and , overa period 20 minutes , are systematically separated from and reunited with one another . In the strange situation , most children ( about 60 ) behave in the way implied by normative theory . Specifically , they become upset when the parent leaves the room , but , when he or she returns , they actively seek the parent and are easily comforted by him or her . Children who exhibit this pattern of behavior are often called secure . Other children ( about 20 ) are ill at ease initially and , upon separation , become extremely distressed . when reunited with their parents , these children have a difficult time being soothed and often exhibit conflicting behaviors that suggest they want to be comforted , but that they also want to punish the parent for leaving . These children are often called . The third pattern of attachment that and her colleagues documented is often labeled . children ( about 20 ) do not consistently behave as if they are stressed by the separation but , upon reunion , actively avoid seeking contact with their parent , sometimes turning their attention to play objects on the laboratory floor . work was important for at least three reasons . First , she provided one of the first empirical demonstrations of how attachment behavior is organized in unfamiliar .

Attachment Through the Life Course 303 Second , she provided the first empirical taxonomy of individual differences in infant attachment patterns . According to her research , at least three types of children exist those who are secure in their relationship with their parents , those who are , and those who are . Finally , she demonstrated that these individual differences were correlated with interactions in the home during the first year of life . Children who appear secure in the strange situation , for example , tend to have parents who are responsive to their needs . Children who appear insecure in the strange situation ( or ) often have parents who are insensitive to their needs , or inconsistent or rejecting in the care they provide . Antecedents of Attachment Patterns In the years that have followed search , researchers have investigated a variety that may help determine whether children develop secure or insecure relationships with their primary attachment figures . As mentioned above , one of the key of attachment patterns is the history of sensitive and responsive interactions between the caregiver and the In Short When the Is attachment style ?

How does one person childhood child is uncertain or stressed , the attachment style translate to the way they interact with their own children ?

ability ofthe caregiver to provide support to the child is critical for his or her psychological development . It is assumed that such supportive interactions help the child learn to regulate his or her emotions , give the child the confidence to explore the environment , and provide the child with a safe haven during stressful circumstances . Evidence for the role of sensitive in shaping attachment patterns comes from longitudinal and experimental studies . For example , Spangler , and ( studied interactions in the homes of 54 families , up to three times during the first year of the child life . At 12 months of age , infants and their mothers participated in the strange situation . and her colleagues found that children who were classified as secure in the strange situation at 12 months of age were more

Attachment Through the Life Course 304 likely than children classified as insecure to have mothers who provided responsive care to their children in the home environment . Van den Boom ( developed an intervention that was designed to enhance maternal sensitive responsiveness . When the infants were months of age , the mothers in the intervention group were rated as more responsive and attentive in their interaction with their infants compared to mothers in the control group . In addition , their infants were rated as more sociable , and more likely to explore the environment . At 12 months of age , children in the intervention group were more be classified as secure than insecure in the strange situation . Attachment Patterns and Child Outcomes Attachment researchers have studied the association between children attachment patterns and their adaptation overtime . Researchers have learned , for example , that children who are classified as secure in the strange situation are more likely to have high functioning relationships with peers , to be evaluated favorably by teachers , and to persist with more diligence in challenging tasks . In contrast , children are more likely to be construed as bullies or to have a difficult time building and maintaining friendships ( 2008 ) Attachment in Adulthood Although was primarily focused on understanding the nature ofthe relationship , he believed that attachment characterized human experience across the life course . It was not until the , however , that researchers began to take seriously the possibility that attachment processes may be relevant to adulthood . and Shaver ( were two of the first researchers to explore ideas in the context of romantic relationships . According to and Shaver , the emotional bond that develops between adult romantic partners is partly a function ofthe same motivational attachment behavioral gives rise to the emotional bond between infants and their caregivers . and Shaver noted that in both kinds of relationship , people ( a ) safe and secure when the other person is present ( turn to the other person during times of sickness , distress , or fear ( use the other person as a secure base from which to explore the world and ( speak to one another in a unique language , often called or baby ( See Box ) On the basis of these parallels , and Shaver ( 1987 ) argued that adult romantic

Attachment Through the Life Course 305 Box . Attachment and Social Media Social media websites and mobile communication services are coming to play an increasing role in people lives . Many people use Facebook , for example , to keep in touch with family and friends , to update their loved ones regarding things going on in their lives , and to meet people who share similar interests . Moreover , modern cellular technology allows people to get in touch with their loved ones much easier than was possible a mere 20 years ago . From an attachment perspective , these innovations in communications technology are important because they allow people to stay connected virtually to their attachment of the physical distance that might exist between them . Recent research has begun to examine how attachment processes play out in the use of social media . Quinn , and ( 2013 ) for example , studied a diverse sample of individuals and assessed their attachment security and their use of Facebook . and colleagues found that the use of Facebook may serve attachment functions . For example , people were more likely to report using Facebook to connect with they were experiencing . people who were more anxious in their attachment orientation were more likely to use Facebook frequently , but people who were more used Facebook less and were less open on the site . relationships , such as relationships , are attachments . According to and Shaver , individuals parents to peers as they develop . Thus , although young children tend to use their parents as their primary attachment figures , as they reach adolescence and young adulthood , they come to rely more upon close friends romantic partners for basic functions . Thus , although a young child may turn to his or her mother for comfort , support , and guidance when distressed , scared , or ill , young adults may be more likely to turn to their romantic partners for these purposes under similar situations . and Shaver ( asked a diverse sample to read the three paragraphs below and indicate which paragraph best characterized the way they think , feel , and behave in close relationships . I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others I find it difficult to trust them completely , difficult to allow myself to depend on them . I am nervous when anyone gets too close , and often , others want me to be more intimate than I feel comfortable being .

Attachment Through the Life Course 306 . I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am comfortable depending on them and having them depend on me . I do worry about being abandoned or about someone getting too close to me . I find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would like . I often worry that my partner does really love me or wo want to stay with me . I want to get very close to my partner , and this sometimes scares people away . Conceptually , these descriptions were designed to represent what and Shaver considered to be adult of the kinds of attachment patterns described in the strange situation ( secure , and anxious , respectively ) and Shaver ( found that the distribution of the three patterns was similar to that observed in infancy . In other words , about 60 of adults classified themselves as secure ( paragraph ) about 20 described themselves as ( paragraph A ) and about 20 described themselves as ( paragraph ) Moreover , they found that people who described themselves as secure , for example , were more likely to report having had warm and trusting relationships with their parents when they were growing up . In addition , they were more likely to have positive views of romantic relationships . Based on these findings , and Shaver ( concluded that the same kinds of individual differences that exist in infant attachment also exist in adulthood . Research on Attachment in Adulthood Attachment theory has inspired a large amount of literature in social , personality , and clinical psychology . In the sections below , I provide a brief overview of some of the major research questions and what researchers have learned about attachment in adulthood . Who Ends Up with Whom ?

When people are asked what kinds of psychological or behavioral qualities they are seeking in a romantic partner , a large majority of people indicate that they are seeking someone who is kind , caring , trustworthy , and kinds of attributes that characterize a secure caregiver ( But we know that people do not always end up with others who secure people more likely to end up with secure partners , vice versa , are insecure people more likely to end up with insecure partners ?

The majority of the research that has been conducted to date suggests that the answer is , Fischer , Wright , and DeBord ( I 996 ) for example , studied the attachment patterns of more than 83 heterosexual couples and found that , if the man was relatively

Attachment Through the Life Course 307 secure , the woman was also likely to be secure . One important question is whether these findings exist because ( a ) secure people are more likely to be attracted to other secure people , secure people create partners over time , or ( some combination of these possibilities . Existing empirical research strongly supports the first alternative . For example , when people have the opportunity to interact with individuals who vary in security in a context , they express a greater interest in those who are higher in security than those who are ( McClure , people attachment styles mutually shape one another in close relationships . For example , in a longitudinal study , Hudson , and People who had relatively secure attachments as ( 2012 ) found that , if one person in a have We Secure relationship experienced a change in security , his or her likely to experience a change in the same direction . attachments . Nicolas Fuentes Relationship Functioning Research has consistently demonstrated that individuals who are relatively secure are more likely than insecure individuals to have high functioning that are more satisfying , more enduring , and less characterized by conflict . For example , and ( found that insecure individuals were more likely than secure individuals to experience a breakup of their relationship . In addition , secure individuals are more likely to report satisfying relationships ( Collins Read , 1990 ) and are more likely to provide Do Early Experiences Shape Adult Attachment ?

The majority of research on this issue is is , it relies on adults reports of what they recall about their childhood experiences . This kind of work suggests that secure Attachment Through the Life Course 308 . adults are more likely to ya describe their early childhood experiences with their I parents as being supportive , loving , and kind ( I studies are , emerging that demonstrate prospective associations between early attachment experiences and adult attachment styles Sharing food , celebrations and traditions are some of the ways we establish secure functioning attachments with our loved ones from an early age . in adulthood . For example , Owen , and Holland ( found in a sample of more than 700 individuals studied from infancy to adulthood that maternal sensitivity across development prospectively predicted security at age . Simpson , Collins , Tran , and ( found that attachment security , assessed in infancy in the strange situation , predicted peer competence in grades to , which , in turn , predicted the quality relationships at age 16 , which , in turn , predicted the expression of positive and negative emotions in their adult romantic relationships at ages 20 to 23 . Itis come awayfrom such the mistaken assumption determine later outcomes . To be clear Attachment theorists assume that the relationship between early experiences and subsequent outcomes is probabilistic , not deterministic . Having supportive and responsive experiences with caregivers early in life is assumed to set the stage for positive social development . But that does not mean that attachment patterns are set in stone . In short , even if an individual has far from optimal experiences in early life , attachment theory suggests that it is possible for that individual to develop adult relationships through a number of corrective relationships with siblings , other family members , teachers , and close friends . Security is best viewed as a culmination of a person attachment history rather than a reflection of his or her early experiences alone . Those early experiences are considered important not because they determine a person fate , but because they provide the foundation for subsequent experiences .

Attachment Through the Life Course 309 Outside Resources , Shaver , 1987 ) Romantic love as an attachment process . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 52 , Retrieved from , A . 2006 ) Psychobiological roots of early attachment . Current Directions in Psychological Science , 15 , Strange Situation Video ?

Survey Learn more about your attachment patterns via this online survey Video on Harry Research with Rhesus Monkeys ?

Discussion Questions . What kind of relationship did you have with your parents or primary caregivers when you were young ?

Do you think that had any bearing on the way you related to others ( friends , relationship partners ) as you grew older ?

There is variation across cultures in the extent to which people value independence . Do you think this might have implications for the development of attachment patterns ?

As parents age , it is not uncommon for them to have to depend on their adult children . Do you think that people history of experiences in their relationships with their parents might shape people willingness to provide care for their aging parents ?

In other words , are secure adults more likely to provide responsive care to their aging parents ?

Some people , despite reporting insecure relationships with their parents , report secure , relationships with their spouses . What kinds of experiences do you think might enable someone to develop a secure relationship with their partners despite having an insecure relationship with other central figures in their lives ?

Most attachment research on adults focuses on attachment to peers ( romantic Attachment Through the Life Course 310 partners ) What other kinds of things may serve as attachment figures ?

Do you think siblings , pets , or gods can serve as attachment figures ?

Attachment Through the Life Course 31 I a ry Attachment behavioral system A motivational system selected over the course of evolution to maintain proximity between a young child and his or her primary attachment figure . Attachment behaviors Behaviors and signals that attract the attention of a primary attachment figure and function to prevent separation from that individual or to reestablish proximity to that individual ( crying , clinging ) Attachment figure Someone who functions as the primary safe haven and secure base for an individual . In childhood , an attachment figure is often a parent . In adulthood , an attachment figure is often a romantic partner . Attachment patterns ( also called attachment styles or attachment ) Individual differences in how securely ( insecurely ) people think , feel , and behave in attachment relationships . Strange situation A laboratory task that involves briefly separating and reuniting infants and their primary caregivers as a way of studying individual differences in attachment behavior .

Attachment Through the Life Course 312 References , Waters , Wall , 978 ) Patterns . 1969 ) Attachment and loss Vol . Attachment . New York , NY Basic Books , Davis , 1998 ) Attachment , partner choice , and perception of romantic partners An experimental test of the hypothesis . Personal Relationships , Collins , Read , 1990 ) Adult attachment , working models and relationship quality in dating cou . journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 58 , 992 ) Attachment style and romantic love Relationship dissolution . Australian journal of Psychology , 44 , Owen , A . 201 ) Interpersonal and genetic origins of adult attachment styles A longitudinal study from infancy to early of Personality and Social Psychology , 104 , A , Fischer , Wright , DeBord , A . 1996 ) Adult attachment style and partner choice Correlational and experimental findings . Personal Relationships , Spangler , 1985 ) Maternal sensitivity and newborns orientation responses as related to quality of attachment in northern Germany . of the Society for Research in Child Development , 50 ( Shaver , 1987 ) Romantic love as an attachment process . journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 52 , 51 . Hudson , 2012 ) Attachment A longitudinal investigation of the coordination in romantic partners attachment styles . Manuscript under review . McClure , Baldwin , 2010 ) A signal detection analysis of the anxiously attached at Being unpopular is only the first part of the problem . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 36 , 036 . Simpson , Collins , Tran , 2007 ) Attachment and the experience and expression in adult romantic relationships A developmental perspective . journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 92 , Simpson , 1992 ) Support seeking and support giving within

Attachment Through the Life Course 313 couples in an of Personality and Social Psychology , 62 , A . 2008 ) Individual differences in caregiver attachment Conceptual and empirical aspects of security . In Cassidy Shaver ( Handbook of attachment Theory , research , and clinical applications ( New York , NY Press . van den Boom , 994 ) The influence and mothering on attachment and exploration An experimental manipulation of sensitive responsiveness among mothers with irritable infants . Child Development , 65 ,

18 Cognitive Development in Childhood Robert This module examines what cognitive development is , major theories about how it occurs , the roles of nature and nurture , whether it is continuous or discontinuous , and how research in the area is being used to improve education . Learning Objectives Be able to identify and describe the main areas of cognitive development . Be able to describe major theories of cognitive development and what distinguishes them . Understand how nature and nurture work together to produce cognitive development . Understand why cognitive development is sometimes viewed as discontinuous and sometimes as continuous . Know some ways in which research on cognitive development is being used to improve education . Introduction By the time you reach adulthood you have learned a few things about how the world works . You know , for instance , that you ca walk through walls or leap into the tops of trees . You knowyou that although you can not see your car keys they got to be around here someplace . What more , you know that ifyou want to communicate complex ideas like ordering a shot soy vanilla latte with chocolate sprinkles it better to use words with meanings attached to them rather than simply gesturing and grunting . People accumulate all this useful

Cognitive Development in Childhood 315 knowledge through the process of cognitive development , which involves a multitude of factors , both inherent and learned . Cognitive development refers to the development of thinking across the lifespan . Defining thinking can be problematic , because no clear boundaries separate thinking from other mental activities . Thinking obviously involves the higher mental processes problem solving , reasoning , creating , categorizing , remembering , planning , and so on . However , thinking also involves other mental processes that seem more basic and at which even toddlers are as perceiving objects and events in the environment , acting skillfully on objects to obtain goals , and understanding and producing language . Yet other areas ofhuman involve thinking are not usually associated with cognitive development , because thinking is a prominent feature of as personality and temperament Cognitive development in childhood is about change . From birth to adolescence a young person mind changes dramatically in many important ways . As the name suggests , cognitive development IS about change . Children thinking changes in dramatic and surprising ways . Consider DeVries ( study of whether young children understand the difference between appearance and reality . To find out , she brought an unusually cat named Maynard to a psychology laboratory and allowed the to participants in the study to pet and play with him . Devries then put a mask ofa fierce dog on Maynard head , and asked the children what Maynard was . Despite all of the children having identified Maynard previously as a cat , now most said that he was a dog and claimed that he had a dog bones and a dog stomach . In contrast , the they had no doubt that Maynard remained a cat . Understanding how thinking changes so dramatically in just a few years is one of the fascinating challenges in studying cognitive development . There are several main types of child development . Stage theories , such as stage theory , focus on whether children progress through qualitatively different stages of development . Sociocultural theories , such as that of Lev , emphasize how other people and the attitudes , values , and beliefs of the surrounding culture , influence children

Cognitive Development in Childhood 316 development . Information processing theories , such as that of David , examine the mental processes that produce thinking at any one time and the transition processes that lead to growth in that thinking . At the heart ofall ofthese theories , and indeed ofall research on cognitive development , are two main questions ( How do nature and nurture interact to produce cognitive development ?

Does cognitive development progress through qualitatively distinct stages ?

In the remainder ofthis module , we examine the answers that are emerging regarding these questions , as well as ways in which cognitive developmental research is being used to improve education . Nature and Nurture The most basic question about child development is how nature and nurture together shape development . Nature refers to our biological endowment , the genes we receive from our parents . Nurture refers to the environments , social as well as physical , that influence our development , everything from the womb in which we develop before birth to the homes in which we grow up , the schools we attend , and the many people with whom we interact . The issue is often presented as an question Is our intelligence ( for example ) due to our genes or to the environments in which we live ?

In fact , however , every aspect is produced by the interaction and environment . At the most basic level , without genes , there would be no child , and without an environment to provide nurture , there also would be no child . The way in which nature and nurture work together can be seen in findings on visual development . Many people view vision as something that people either are born with or that is purely a matter of biological maturation , but it also depends on the right kind at the right time . For example , development of depth perception , the ability to actively , light and having normal brain activity in response to the patterned light , in infancy ( Held , blindness that is not surgically corrected until later in development , depth perception remains abnormal even after the surgery . Adding to the complexity of the interaction , children genes lead to their eliciting different treatment from other people , which influences their cognitive development . For example , infants physical attractiveness and temperament are influenced considerably

Cognitive Development in Childhood 317 by their genetic inheritance , but it is also the case that parents provide more sensitive and affectionate care to easygoing and attractive infants than to difficult and less attractive ones , which can contribute to the infants later cognitive development ( Also Contributing to the Complex interplay that is perceived to be attractive and calm may receive Of nature and nurture the role Of children a and attention from asa result in shaping their OWl ' cognitive development . developmental advantage . From , children actively choose to attend more to some things and less to others . For example , even olds choose to look at their mother face more than at the faces of other women ofthe same age and general level of attractiveness ( Morton , de , 2001 ) whether theywill attend daycare , the children with whom theywill have play dates , the books to which they have access , and so on . In contrast , older children and adolescents choose their environments to a larger degree . Their parents preferences largely determine how olds spend time , but own preferences largely determine when , if ever , they set foot in a library . Children choices often have large consequences . To cite one example , the more that children choose to read , the more that their reading improves in future years ( Baker , of nature or nurture rather , the issue is how nature and nurture work together to produce cognitive development . Does Cognitive Development Progress Through Distinct Stages ?

Some aspects of the development of living organisms , such as the growth of the width of a pine tree , involve quantitative changes , with the tree getting a little wider each year . Other changes , such as the life cycle of a ladybug , involve qualitative changes , with the creature transition than before ( Figure ) The existence of both gradual , quantitative changes and relatively sudden , qualitative changes in the world has led researchers who study cognitive development to ask whether changes in thinking are gradual and continuous or sudden and discontinuous .

Cognitive Development in Childhood 318 Figure Continuous and discontinuous development . Some researchers see development as a continuous gradual process , much like a maple tree growing steadily in height and cross area . Other researchers see development as a progression of discontinuous stages , involving rapid discontinuous changes , such as those in the life cycle of a ladybug , separated by longer periods of slow , gradual change . The great Swiss proposed that children thinking progresses through a series discrete stages . By ' he meant periods during which children reasoned similarly about many superficially different problems , with the stages occurring in a fixed order and the thinking within different stages differing in fundamental ways . The four stages that hypothesized were the sensorimotor stage ( birth to years ) the reasoning stage ( to or years ) the concrete operational reasoning stage ( or to 11 or 12 years ) and the formal operational reasoning stage ( 11 or 12 years and throughout the rest of life ) During the sensorimotor stage , children thinking is largely realized through their perceptions of the world and their physical interactions with it . Their mental representations are very limited . Consider object permanence task , which is one ofhis most famous problems . infant younger than months of age is playing with a favorite toy , and another person removes the toy from view , for example by putting it under an opaque cover and not letting the infant immediately reach for it , the infant is very likely to make no effort to retrieve it and to show no emotional distress ( This is not due to their being uninterested in the toy or unable to reach for it if the same toy is put under a clear cover , infants below months rem it ( lY ' claimed that infants less than months do not understand that objects continue to exist even when out of sight . During the stage , according to , children can solve not only this simple

Cognitive Development in Childhood 319 problem ( which they actually can solve after months ) but show a wide variety of other capabilities , such as those involved in drawing and using language . However , such to tend to focus on a single dimension , even when solving problems would require them to consider multiple dimensions . This is evident in ( conservation problems . For example , ifa glass ofwater is poured into a taller , thinner glass , children below age generally say that there now is more water than before . Similarly , if a clay ball is reshaped into a long , thin sausage , they claim that there is now more clay , and if a row of coins is spread out , they claim that there are now more coins . In all cases , the children are focusing on one dimension , while ignoring the changes in other dimensions ( for example , the greater width of the glass and the clay ball ) Reasoning Sensorimotor Intelligence in action child Thinking dominated by perception , interacts with environment but child becomes more capable by manipulating objects of symbolic functioning object permanence conservation problem language development occurs Sensorimotor and Reasoning stages Children overcome this tendency to focus on a single dimension during the concrete operations stage , and think logically in most situations . However , according to , they still can not think in systematic scientific ways , even when such be useful . Thus , if asked to find out which variables influence the period that a pendulum takes to complete its arc , and given weights that they can attach to strings in order to do experiments with the pendulum to find out , most children younger than age 12 , perform biased experiments from which no conclusion can be drawn , and then conclude that whatever they originally believed

Cognitive Development in Childhood 320 is correct . For example , if a boy believed that weight was the only variable that mattered , he might put the heaviest weight on the shortest string and push it the hardest , and then conclude thatjust as he thought , weight is the only variable that matters ( Finally , in the formal operations period , children attain the reasoning power adults , which allows them to solve the pendulum problem and a wide range of other problems . However , this formal operations stage tends not to occur without exposure to formal education in scientific reasoning , and appears to be largely or completely absent from some societies that do not provide this type of education . Although theory has been very influential , it has not gone unchallenged . Many more recent researchers have obtained findings indicating that cognitive development is considerably more continuous than claimed . For example , Diamond ( found that on the object permanence task described above , infants show earlier knowledge ifthe waiting period is shorter . At age months , they retrieve the hidden object ifthe wait is no longer than seconds at months , they retrieve it ifthe wait is no longerthan seconds and so on . Even earlier , at or months , infants show surprise in the form of longer looking times if objects suddenly appear to vanish with no obvious cause ( Similarly , specific experiences can greatly influence when developmental changes occur . Children of pottery makers in Mexican villages , for example , know that reshaping clay does not change Formal Operational Concrete Operational Years to Lifetime Years to Years Logical reasoning only Individual can think logically applied to objects that are about potential events or abstract real or can be seen ideas advanced reasoning Concrete and Formal Operations stages

Cognitive Development in Childhood 321 the amount at much younger ages than children who do not have similar experiences ( i , i ?

95195 ?

So , is cognitive development fundamentally continuous or fundamentally discontinuous ?

A reasonable answer seems to be , It depends on how you look at it and how often you look . For example , under relatively facilitative circumstances , infants show early forms of object permanence by or months , and they gradually extend the range of times for which they can remember hidden objects as they grow older . However , on original object permanence task , infants do quite quickly change toward the end of their first year from not reaching for hidden toys to reaching for them , even after they experienced a substantial delay before being allowed to reach . Thus , the debate between those who emphasize discontinuous , cognitive emphasize gradual continuous changes remains a lively one . Applications to Education Understanding how children think and learn has proven useful for improving education . One example comes from the area of reading . Cognitive developmental research has shown that phonemic is , awareness of the component sounds within a crucial skill in learning to read . To measure awareness ofthe component sounds within words , researchers ask children to decide whether two words rhyme , to decide whether the words start with the same sound , to identify the component sounds within words , and to indicate what would be left ifa given sound were removed from a word . Kindergartners ' performance on these tasks is the strongest predictor of reading achievement in third and fourth grade , even stronger than IQ or social class background ( Moreover , teaching these skills to randomly chosen and results in their being better readers years later ( National Reading Panel , Another educational application of cognitive developmental research Activities like playing games that involve working with numbers and spatial relationships can give young children a developmental advantage over involves the area Of mathematics . concepts . Photo Ben Even before they enter kindergarten ,

Cognitive Development in Childhood 322 the mathematical knowledge of children from backgrounds lags far behind that of children from more affluent backgrounds . and ( hypothesized that this difference is due to the children in and families engaging more frequently in numerical activities , for example playing numerical board games such as Chutes and Ladders . Chutes and Ladders is a game with a number in each square children start at the number one and spin a spinner or throw a dice to determine how far to move their token . game seemed teach children about numbers , because in it , larger numbers are associated with greater values on a variety of dimensions . In particular , the higher the number that a child token reaches , the greater the distance the token will have traveled from the starting point , the greater the number of physical movements the child will have made in moving the token from one square to another , the greater the number of number words the child will have said and heard , and the more time will have passed since the beginning ofthe game . These spatial , kinesthetic , verbal , and cues provide a , foundation for knowledge of numerical ( the sizes of numbers ) a type of knowledge that is closely related to mathematics achievement test scores ( Playing this numerical board game for roughly hour , distributed over a period , improved children knowledge of numerical , ability to read printed numbers , and skill at learning novel arithmetic problems . The gains lasted for months after the ee ( Ram , a , A of this type of educational intervention is that it has minimal if any parent could just draw a game on a piece of paper . Understanding of cognitive development is advancing on many different fronts . One exciting area is linking changes in brain activity to changes in children thinking ( Although many people believe that brain maturation is something that occurs before birth , the brain actually continues to change in large ways for many years thereafter . For example , a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex , which is located at the front of the brain and is particularly involved with planning and flexible problem solving , continues to develop throughout adolescence ( 995 ) Such new research domains , as well as enduring issues such as nature and nurture , continuity and discontinuity , and how to apply cognitive development research to education , insure that cognitive development will continue to be an exciting area in the coming years . Conclusion Research into cognitive development has shown us that minds form according to a

Cognitive Development in Childhood 323 uniform blueprint or innate intellect , but through a combination of influencing factors . For instance , if we want our kids to have a strong grasp of language we could concentrate on phonemic awareness early on . If we want them to be good at math and science we could engage them in numerical games and activities early on . Perhaps most importantly , we no longer think as empty vessels waiting to be filled up with knowledge but as adaptable organs that develop all the way through early adulthood .

Cognitive Development in Childhood 324 Outside Resources Book , Carver , Jordan , 2013 ) Teaching math to young children A practice guide . Washington , National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance ( Institute of Education Sciences , Department of Education . Book , 2010 ) The Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development . New York John Wiley and Sons . Book , Vol . 2006 ) Volume Cognition , perception , and language . In Damon ( Series . Handbook of child psychology ( Wiley . Book Miller , 201 ) Theories of developmental psychology ( New York Worth . Book , 2004 ) Children thinking ( Upper Saddle River , Discussion Questions . Why are there different theories of cognitive development ?

Why do researchers agree on which theory is the right one ?

Do children natures differ , or do differences among children only reflect differences in their experiences ?

Do you see development as more continuous or more discontinuous ?

Can you think of ways other than those described in the module in which research on cognitive development could be used to improve education ?

Cognitive Development in Childhood 325 Vocabulary Chutes and Ladders A numerical board game that seems to be useful for building numerical knowledge . Concrete operations stage stage between ages and 12 when children can think logically about concrete situations but not engage in systematic scientific reasoning . Conservation problems Problems pioneered by in which physical transformation of an object or set of objects changes a perceptually salient dimension but not the quantity that is being asked about . Continuous development Ways in which development occurs in a gradual incremental manner , rather than through sudden jumps . Depth perception The ability to actively perceive the distance from oneself of objects in the environment . Discontinuous development Discontinuous development Formal operations stage stage starting at age 12 years and continuing for the rest of life , in which adolescents may gain the reasoning powers of educated adults . Information processing theories Theories that focus on describing the cognitive processes that underlie thinking at any one age and cognitive growth over time . Nature The genes that children bring with them to life and that influence all aspects of their development . Numerical The sizes of numbers .

Cognitive Development in Childhood 326 Nurture The environments , starting with the womb , that influence all aspects of development . Object permanence task The task in which infants below about months of age fail to search for an object that is removed from their sight and , if not allowed to search immediately for the object , act as if they do not know that it continues to exist . Phonemic awareness Awareness of the component sounds within words . theory Theory that development occurs through a sequence of discontinuous stages the sensorimotor , concrete operational , and formal operational stages . reasoning stage Period within theory from age to years , in which children can represent objects through drawing and language but can not solve logical reasoning problems , such as the conservation problems . Qualitative changes Large , fundamental change , as when a caterpillar changes into a butterfly stage theories such as posit that each stage reflects qualitative change relative to previous stages . Quantitative changes Gradual , incremental change , as in the growth of a pine tree girth . Sensorimotor stage Period within theory from birth to age years , during which children come to represent the enduring reality of objects . Sociocultural theories Theory founded in large part by Lev that emphasizes how other people and the attitudes , values , and beliefs of the surrounding culture influence children development .

Cognitive Development in Childhood 327 References , 987 ) Object permanence in and infants . Developmental Psychology , 23 , Baker , Guthrie , 2000 ) Engaging young readers Promoting achievement and motivation . New York . Morton , De , 2001 ) Responses to mother face in to month old infants . Psychology , 19 , 2006 ) Development of the adolescent brain Implications for executive function and social of Child Psychiatry and Psychology , 47 , Booth , 2006 ) Developmental and individual differences in pure numerical estimation . Developmental Psychology , 41 , Devries , 1969 ) Constancy of genetic identity in the years three to six . ofthe Society for Research in Child Development , 34 , 127 . Diamond , A . 1985 ) Development of the ability to use recall to guide action , as indicated by infants performance on AB . Child Development , 56 , Held , 1993 ) What can rates tell us about underlying mechanisms ?

In ( Ed . and cognition in infancy ( 1958 ) The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence . New York Basic Books . Ritter , Casey , 1995 ) Infant attractiveness predicts maternal behaviors and attitudes . Developmental Psychology , 31 , Johnson , 1997 ) Rethinking infant knowledge Toward an adaptive process account of successes and failures in object permanence tasks . Psychological Review , 104 , 686 713 . 2008 ) Learning to read words . The of Experimental Psychology , Reading Panel ( 2000 ) Teaching children to read An assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications instruction . Washington , National Institute of Child Health and Human Development . Thomas , de , 2006 ) Neural bases of cognitive development . In Damon ( Series . Vol . Handbook of child psychology Volume Cognition , perception , and language (

Cognitive Development in Childhood 328 Wiley . 1954 ) The construction the child . New York . 1952 ) The child concept . New York Norton . Gordon , Ramirez , 1969 ) Skill and conservation A study of pottery making children . Developmental Psychology , 769 . 2008 ) Promoting broad and stable improvements in child ren numerical knowledge through playing number board games . Child Development , 79 , 1983 ) How people make their own environments A theory of effects . Child Development , 54 , 2009 ) Playing linear number board not circular preschoolers numerical Psychology , 101 , van den Boom , 994 ) The effect of infant irritability on interaction A growth curve analysis . Developmental Psychology , 30 , 581 .

19 Adolescent Development Jennifer La Adolescence is a period that begins with puberty and ends with the transition to adulthood ( approximately ages ) Physical changes associated with puberty are triggered by hormones . Cognitive changes include improvements in complex and abstract thought , as well as development that happens at different rates in distinct parts of the brain and increases adolescents propensity for risky behavior because increases in and reward motivation precede increases in cognitive control . Adolescents relationships with parents go through a period of redefinition in which adolescents become more autonomous , and aspects of parenting , such as distal monitoring and psychological control , become more salient . Peer relationships are important sources of support and companionship during adolescence yet can also promote problem behaviors . peer groups evolve into peer groups , and adolescents romantic relationships tend to emerge from these groups . Identity formation occurs as adolescents explore and commit to different roles and ideological positions . Nationality , gender , ethnicity , socioeconomic status , religious background , sexual orientation , and genetic factors shape how adolescents behave and how others respond to them , and are sources of diversity in adolescence . Learning Objectives Describe , cognitive , and social development during adolescence . Understand why adolescence is a period of heightened risk taking . Be able to explain sources of diversity in adolescent development . Adolescence Defined

Adolescent Development 330 Adolescence is a developmental stage that has been defined as starting with puberty and ending with the transition to adulthood ( approximately ages ) Adolescence has evolved historically , with evidence indicating that this stage is lengthening as individuals start puberty earlier and transition to adulthood later than in the past . Puberty today begins , on average , at age years for girls and years for boys . This average age has decreased gradually over time since the century by months per decade , which has been attributed to a range of factors including better nutrition , obesity , increased father absence , and other environmental factors ( Completion education , financial independence from parents , marriage , and parenthood have all been markers of the end of adolescence and beginning of adulthood , and all of these transitions happen , on average , later now than in the past . In fact , the prolonging of adolescence has prompted the introduction of a new developmental period called emerging adulthood that captures these and into adulthood , approximately This module will outline changes that occur during adolescence in three domains physical , cognitive , and social . Within the social domain , changes in relationships with parents , peers , and romantic partners will be considered . Next , the module turns to adolescents psychological and behavioral , including identity formation , aggression and antisocial behavior , Adolescence is often characterized asa period , primarily , anxiety and depression , and , cognitive , academic achievement . Finally , the module summarizes sources of diversity in adolescents experiences and development . Physical Changes Physical changes of puberty mark the onset of adolescence ( For both boys and girls , these changes include a growth spurt in height , growth of pubic and underarm hair , and skin changes ( pimples ) Boys also experience growth in facial hair and a deepening . Girls experience breast development and begin menstruating . These pubertal changes are driven by hormones , particularly an increase in testosterone for

Adolescent Development 331 boys and estrogen for girls . Major changes in the structure and functioning of the brain occur during adolescence and result in cognitive and behavioral developments ( during adolescence include a shift from concrete to Although these boys are all ofa similar age , you can see how the physical changes ( more abstract and , height , facial structure ) happen differently for . photos thinking . Such changes are fostered by improvements during early adolescence in attention , memory , processing speed , and ( ability to think about thinking and therefore make better use of strategies like mnemonic devices that can improve thinking ) Early in adolescence , changes in the system contribute to increases in adolescents and reward motivation . Later in adolescence , the brain cognitive control centers in the prefrontal cortex develop , increasing adolescents and future orientation . The difference in timing of the development of these different regions of the brain contributes to more risk taking during middle adolescence because adolescents are motivated to seek thrills that sometimes risky behavior , such as reckless driving , smoking , or drinking , and have not yet developed the cognitive control to resist impulses or focus equally on the potential risks ( One of the world leading experts on adolescent development , Laurence , likens this to engaging a powerful engine before the braking system is in place . The result is that adolescents are more prone to risky behaviors than are children or adults . Parents Although peers take on greater importance during adolescence , family relationships remain important too . One ofthe key changes during adolescence involves a renegotiation of child relationships . As adolescents strive for more independence and autonomy during this

Adolescent Development 332 time , different aspects of parenting become more salient . For example , parents distal supervision and monitoring become more important as adolescents spend more time away from parents and in the presence of peers . Parental monitoring passes a wide range of Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that produces feelings of pleasure . behaviors Such as parents During adolescence , people tend to do whatever activities produce the most attempts to set rules and dopamine , without fully considering the consequences of such actions . know their friends Sebastian activities , and whereabouts , in addition to adolescents willingness to disclose information to their parents ( Psychological control , which involves manipulation and intrusion into adolescents emotional and cognitive world through invalidating adolescents feelings and pressuring them to think in particular ways ( Barber , 1996 ) is another aspect of parenting that becomes more salient during adolescence and is related to more problematic adolescent adjustment . Peers As children become adolescents , they usually begin spending more time with their peers and less time with their families , and these peer interactions are increasingly unsupervised by adults . Children notions often focus on shared activities , whereas adolescents notions of friendship increasingly focus on intimate exchanges of thoughts and feelings . During adolescence , peer groups evolve from primarily to . Adolescents within a peer group tend to be similar to one another in behavior and attitudes , which has been explained as being a function ( adolescents who are similar to one another choose to spend time together in a birds of a feather flock together way ) and influence ( adolescents who spend time together shape each other behavior and attitudes ) One ofthe most widely studied aspects peer influence is known as deviant peer contagion ( which is the process by which peers reinforce problem behavior by laughing or showing other signs of approval that then increase the likelihood of future problem behavior . Peers can serve both positive and negative functions during adolescence . Negative peer

Adolescent Development 333 pressure can lead adolescents to make riskier decisions or engage in more problematic behavior than they would alone or in the presence of their family . For example , adolescents are much more likely to drink alcohol , use drugs , and commit crimes when they are with their friends than when they are alone or with their family . However , peers also serve as an important source of social support and companionship during adolescence , and adolescents with positive peer relationships are happier and better adjusted than those who are socially isolated or have peer relationships . of peer relationships in adolescence . In contrast to friendships ( which are reciprocal dyadic relationships ) and cliques ( which of individuals who interact frequently ) crowds are more by shared reputations or images than actual interactions ( Brown Crowds refer to different collections of people , like the theater kids or the Larson ) These Crowds . In a way , they are kind of like clothing brands that label the reflect different prototypic people associated with that crowd . Knight identities ( such as jocks or brains ) and are often linked with adolescents social status and peers perceptions of their values or behaviors . Romantic relationships Adolescence is the developmental period during which romantic relationships typically first emerge . Initially , peer groups that were common during childhood expand into peer groups that are more characteristic of adolescence . Romantic relationships often form in the context of these peer groups ( Connolly , committed partnerships , their importance should not be minimized . Adolescents spend a great deal oftime focused on romantic relationships , and their positive and negative emotions are more tied to romantic relationships ( or lack thereof ) than to friendships , family relationships , or school ( Romantic relationships contribute to adolescents identity formation , changes in family and peer relationships , and adolescents emotional and behavioral adjustment .

Adolescent Development 334 Furthermore , romantic relationships are centrally connected to adolescents emerging sexuality . Parents , and researchers have devoted a great deal of attention to adolescents sexuality , in large part because of concerns related to sexual intercourse , contraception , and preventing teen pregnancies . However , sexuality involves more than this narrow focus . For example , adolescence is often when individuals who are lesbian , gay , bisexual , or transgender come to perceive themselves as such ( Thus , romantic relationships are a domain in which adolescents experiment with new behaviors and identities . Behavioral and Psychological Adjustment Identity formation Theories development often focus on identity formation as a central issue . For example , in ( classic theory of developmental stages , identity formation was highlighted as the primary indicator of successful development during adolescence ( in contrast to role confusion , which would be an indicator of not successfully meeting the task of adolescence ) Marcia ( described identify formation during adolescence as involving both decision points and commitments with respect to ideologies ( religion , politics ) and occupations . He described four identity statuses foreclosure , identity diffusion , moratorium , and identity achievement . Foreclosure occurs when an individual commits to an identity without exploring options . Identity diffusion occurs when adolescents neither explore nor commit to any identities . Moratorium is a state in which adolescents are actively exploring options but have not yet made commitments . Identity achievement occurs when individuals have explored different options and then made identity commitments . Building on this work , other researchers have investigated more specific aspects of identity . For example , 1989 ) proposed a model of ethnic identity development that included stages of unexplored ethnic identity , ethnic identity search , and achieved ethnic identity . Aggression and antisocial behavior Several major theories of the development of antisocial behavior treat adolescence as an important period . Patterson ( early versus late starter model of the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior distinguishes youths whose antisocial behavior begins during childhood ( early starters ) versus adolescence ( late starters ) According to the theory , early starters are at greater risk for antisocial behavior that extends into adulthood than are late starters . Late starters who become antisocial during adolescence are theorized

Adolescent Development 335 to experience poor parental monitoring and supervision , aspects of parenting that become more salient during adolescence . Poor monitoring and lack of supervision contribute to increasing involvement with deviant peers , which in turn promotes adolescents own antisocial behavior . Late starters desist from antisocial behavior when changes in the environment make other options more appealing . Similarly , persistent versus model distinguishes between antisocial behavior that begins in childhood versus adolescence . Early , antisocial behavior leads to befriending others who also engage regards in antisocial behavior , which only perpetuates the downward cycle of antisocial behavior as resulting from a maturity gap between adolescents dependence on and control by adults and their desire to demonstrate their freedom from adult constraint . However , as they continue to develop , and legitimate adult roles and privileges become available to them , there are fewer incentives to engage in antisocial behavior , leading to desistance in these antisocial behaviors . aggression and wrongful acts . Philippe Put Anxiety and depression Developmental models of anxiety and depression also treat adolescence as an important period , especially in terms of the emergence of gender differences in prevalence rates that persist through adulthood ( Starting in early adolescence , compared with males , females have rates of anxiety that are about twice as high and rates of depression that are to times as high ( Although the rates vary across specific anxiety and depression diagnoses , rates for some disorders are markedly higher in adolescence than in childhood or adulthood . For example , prevalence rates for specific phobias are about in children and in adults but in adolescents . Anxiety and depression are particularly concerning because suicide is one of the leading causes of death during adolescence . Developmental models focus on interpersonal in both childhood and adolescence that foster depression and anxiety ( Rudolph , 2009 ) Family adversity , such as abuse and parental psychopathology , during childhood sets the stage for

Adolescent Development 336 such stress in their relationships ( by resolving conflict poorly and excessively seeking reassurance ) and select into more social ( misery loves company scenarios in which depressed youths select other depressed youths as friends and then frequently as they discuss their problems , exacerbating negative affect and stress ) These processes are intensified for girls compared with boys because girls have more goals related to intimacy and social approval , leaving them more vulnerable to disruption in these relationships . Anxiety and depression then exacerbate problems in social relationships , which in turn contribute to the stability of anxiety and depression over time . Academic achievement Adolescents spend more waking time in school than in any other context ( Eccles , is predicted by interpersonal ( parental engagement in adolescents education ) intrinsic motivation ) and institutional ( school quality ) factors . Academic achievement is important in its own right as a marker of positive adjustment during adolescence but also because academic achievement sets the stage for future educational and occupational opportunities . The most serious consequence of school failure , particularly dropping out of school , is the high risk of unemployment or underemployment in adulthood that follows . High achievement can set the stage for college vocational training and opportunities . Diversity Adolescent development does not necessarily follow the same pathway for all individuals . Certain features of adolescence , particularly Although similar biological changes occur for all adolescents as they enter puberty , these changes can respect to ' Changes , ethnic , and with puberty and cognitive changes associated societal factors . With brain development , are relatively

Adolescent Development 337 universal . But other features of adolescence depend largely on circumstances that are more environmentally variable . For example , adolescents growing up in one country might have different opportunities for risk taking than adolescents in a different country , and supports and sanctions for different behaviors in adolescence depend on laws and values that might be specific to where adolescents live . Likewise , different cultural norms regarding family and peer relationships shape adolescents experiences in these domains . For example , in some countries , adolescents parents are expected to retain control over major decisions , whereas in other countries , adolescents are expected to begin sharing in or taking control of decision making . Even within the same country , adolescents gender , ethnicity , immigrant status , religion , sexual orientation , socioeconomic status , and personality can shape both how adolescents behave and how others respond to them , creating diverse developmental for different adolescents . For example , early puberty ( that occurs before most other peers have experienced puberty ) appears to be associated with worse outcomes for girls than boys , likely in part because girls who enter puberty early tend to associate with older boys , which in turn is associated with early sexual behavior and substance use . For adolescents who are ethnic or sexual minorities , discrimination sometimes presents a set that do not face . Finally , genetic variations contribute an additional source in adolescence . Current approaches emphasize gene environment interactions , which often follow a differential susceptibility model ( That is , particular genetic variations are considered riskier than others , but genetic variations also can make adolescents more or less susceptible to environmental factors . For example , the association between the and adolescent externalizing behavior ( aggression and delinquency ) has been found in adolescents whose parents are low in monitoring behaviors ( Thus , it is important to bear in mind that individual differences play an important role in adolescent development . Conclusions Adolescent development is characterized by biological , cognitive , and social changes . Social changes are particularly notable as adolescents become more autonomous from their parents , spend more time with peers , and begin exploring romantic relationships and sexuality . Adjustment during adolescence is reflected in identity formation , which often involves a period particular is characterized by risky behavior , which is made more likely by changes in the brain in which

Adolescent Development 338 centers develop more rapidly than cognitive control systems , making adolescents more sensitive to rewards than to possible negative consequences . Despite these generalizations , factors such as country of residence , gender , ethnicity , and sexual orientation shape development in ways that lead to diversity of experiences across adolescence .

Adolescent Development 339 Outside Resources Podcasts Society for Research on Adolescence website with links to podcasts on a variety of topics related to adolescent development Study Add Health website on one ofthe biggest longitudinal studies to date Video A selection of TED talks on adolescent brain development Web website on adolescents around the world Discussion Questions . What can parents do to promote their adolescents positive adjustment ?

In what ways do changes in brain cognition make adolescents particularly susceptible to peer influence ?

How could interventions designed to prevent or reduce adolescents problem behavior be developed to take advantage of what we know about adolescent development ?

Reflecting on your own adolescence , provide examples of times when you think your those ofyour ofsomething unique about you . In what ways was your experience of adolescence different from your parents experience of adolescence ?

How do you think adolescence may be different 20 years from now ?

Adolescent Development 340 I a ry Crowds Adolescent peer groups characterized by shared reputations or images . Deviant peer contagion The spread of problem behaviors within groups of adolescents . Differential susceptibility Genetic factors that make individuals more or less responsive to environmental experiences . Foreclosure Individuals commit to an identity without exploration of options . Adolescents tend to associate with peers who are similar to themselves . Identity achievement Individuals have explored different options and then made commitments . Identity diffusion Adolescents neither explore nor commit to any roles or ideologies . Moratorium State in which adolescents are actively exploring options but have not yet made identity commitments . Psychological control Parents manipulation of and intrusion into adolescents emotional and cognitive world through invalidating adolescents feelings and pressuring them to think in particular ways .

Adolescent Development 341 References American Psychiatric Association . 2013 ) Diagnostic and statistical manual disorders ( Arlington , VA American Psychiatric Publishing . 2000 ) Emerging adulthood A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties . American Psychologist , 55 , Barber , 1996 ) Parental psychological control Revisiting a neglected construct . Child Development , 67 , 2009 ) Beyond Differential susceptibility to environmental influences . Psychological Bulletin , 135 , Brown , Larson , 2009 ) Peer relationships in adolescence . In ( Handbook of adolescent psychology ( New York , NY Wiley . Connolly , 2000 ) The role of peers in the emergence of heterosexual romantic relationships in adolescence . Child Development , 71 , Dick , Meyers , 2011 ) parental monitoring , and adolescent externalizing behavior Evidence for interaction . Psychological Science , 22 , 201 ) in child and adolescent social and emotional development . Annual Review , 62 , Eccles , 2011 ) Schools as developmental during adolescence . journal of Research on Adolescence , 21 , 1968 ) Identity , youth , and crisis . New York , NY Norton . 2003 ) The role of romantic relationships in adolescent development . In ( Ed . Adolescent romantic relations and sexual behavior Theory , research , and practical implications ( 2009 ) Handbook . New York , NY Wiley . Marcia , 1966 ) Development and validation of ego identity of Personality and Social Psychology , 1993 ) and life course persistent antisocial behavior Developmental taxonomy . Psychological Review , 100 , Patterson , 1982 ) process . Eugene , OR Press . 1989 ) Stages of ethnic identity in minority group of Early

Adolescent Development 342 Adolescence , Rudolph , 2009 ) The interpersonal context of adolescent depression . In Hilt ( Handbook of depression in adolescents ( New York , NY Taylor and Francis . Russell , Clarke , Clary , 2009 ) Are teens ?

Contemporary adolescents sexual identity of Youth and Adolescence , 38 , Kerr , 2000 ) Parental monitoring A reinterpretation . Child Development , 71 , 2013 ) Adolescence ( New York , NY . 2008 ) A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent . Developmental Review , 28 ,