adolescent development

adolescent development









Adolescent Behavior
Ramona Bailey
Troy University
PSY-6668-PTA2
Dr. Crawford
November 18, 2015








If you tune in to any news station or follow any social media outlets, there is a trending topic of concern regarding the behavior of this adolescent generation. Arguments claim the new era of technology is to blame for their defiant nature. Other opinions suggest the loss art of parenting is now overshadowed with being your child’s “BFF”. Statistically the number of student suspensions, fights and delinquency has tripled over the past decade. There is definitely a cause for alarm. However, in order to implement change one must understand how the adolescent mind develops.
Piaget’s describes this stage of cognitive development as the formal operations and it occurs in adolescence ages. In fact, this occurs in teenage years and continues toward adulthood. At this stage they are getting more cognitive maturity. They tend to think abstractly, meaning thinking with subjective ideas or concepts that are apart from one’s objective analysis of the tangible environment. They get more problem-solving strategies such as deductive or hypothetico-deductive reasoning andinductive reasoning. During formal operations, the egocentrism is based on what people are thinking about them. That creates self-consciousness and leads to either inflation or deflation of their esteem and self-confidence.
According to The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, adolescents differ from adults in the way they behave, solve problems, and make decisions. There is a biological explanation for this difference. Studies have shown that brains continue to mature and develop throughout childhood and adolescence and well into early adulthood. Scientists have identified a specific region of the brain called the amygdala which is responsible for instinctual reactions including fear and aggressive behavior. This region develops early. However, the...

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