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Puberty
- - Referst to the years of rapid physical growth and sexual maruration that ends childhood
- -process starts around the ages of 8 and 14
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Menarche
- girls first menstrual period
- averace for girls is around 12
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Spermarche
- First ejaculation of seminal fluid
- typical age is just under 13
- physical growth and maturatioin are usually complete 4 years after the rist signs
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GnRH
Hormone that causes the gonads to enlarge and dramatically increse thrir production of sex hormones (estrodiol in girls, testosterone in boys)
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Malnutration and Puberty
- delays puberty
- areas with low nutrition see a delay in menarche for theeir adolescents
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Secular Trend
- the long term of upward of downward direction of a certain set of statistical measurements, as opposed to a smaller, schorter cyclical variation
- ex: over the last two centuries because of imporved nutrition and medical care, children have tended to reach thrit adult height earlier
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Deficiencies in the teen diet
- deficiencies with iron, calcium, zinc, and other minerals may be even more problematic during adolescense
- minerals are needed for bone and muscle growth
- iron and calcium are lonw in adolescence
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Obesity
- adolescent obesity increases the risk of premature death
- higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and strokes
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Anorexia
- undereat and overexercise, depriving their vital organs of nourishment
- 5 and 20 pecent die usually dur to organ failure
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Bulimia
- overeat compulsively
- then purges via vomiting/laxitives
- close to normal weight
- risk health problems like damage to their gastrointestinal systems and cadiac arrest
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Origins of Disordered Eating
- diagnosable disorders are more common after age 18; genes and childhood paterns make some teenagers vulnerable
- some can be pushed from odd eating habits to a disorder when cultural ideals of body image are added to the stress, appetite and sex hormones of puberty
- in eating disorders, food consumption is not meant because of hunger; is serves some psychological or social need rather than biological necessity
- eating disorders are connectied to hormonal changes of puberty
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The transformation of puberty
- divided into 2 parts: growth and sexuality
- changes in the adolescent brain
- ex: adolescent notices hair on their legs, a girl will shave making her feel more womanly. A guy will look for more hair on his lip or chin
- physical growth becomes a sexual marker
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Growth Spurt
a sudden un-even jump in the size of almost every body part turning childern into adults
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Weight, Height muscle
- girls gain more fat than boys
- height spurt follows wight spurt
- muscle increases; its twice as strong (arms) at age 18 than age 8
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Organ Growth
- organs grow and become more efficient
- lungs triple in weight
- heart doubles in size and beats more slowly
- these changes increase physical endurance
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Neurological Develpment
parts of the brain grow at different rates
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Limbic System
fear, emotional impulses (mature before prefrontal cortex)
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Prefrontal Cortex
planning ahead, emotional regulation
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Egocentrism
youg adolescents not only think intesely about themselves but also imagine what others may think about them
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Personal Fable
one is unique, destined to have a heroic, even legendary life
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Invincibility Fable
he or she cannot be harmed by anything that might defeat a normal mortal; such as unprotected sex, drug abuse, hight speed driving
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Egocentrism Reassessed
- A more recent wave of research has found that many adolescents do not feel incincible
- adolescent's worry about an imaginary audience may not be irrational: their peers may be really judging them
- ex: small town girl moved to LA who got scrutiny for what she wore
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Does the brain regress in adolescence?
Adolescentd are quite capable of rational thinking, problem is that they dont necessarily use that bacacity before they act
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Plaget's Experiment
- formal operational adolescents imagine all possble determinants... sistematically vary the factors one by one, observe the results, keep track of the results, and draw the approapriate conclusions
- ex: heaviness of the weights
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Identity vs Role Confusion
Erickson's term for the 5th stage of development in which the person tries to figure out "who am I?" but is confused as to which possible role to adopt
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Identity Achievement
Point at which a person understands who he or she is as a unique individual. In accordance with past experiences and future plans
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Role Confusion
A situation in which an adolescent does not seem to know or care what his identity is
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