EDF 122: ADOLESCENT
PSYCHOLOGY
TOPIC 2
Introduction to Adolescent
Development
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
•Frameworks for Studying Adolescent
Psychology
•The Needs of Adolescent Students
Frameworks for Studying
Adolescent Psychology
• These are theories that are used by scientists to explain
how adolescents develop.
• The theories are different from each other as they use
different approaches to determine the development of
adolescents. The theories are:
a) biological perspective
b) psychoanalytical perspective
c) social cognitive perspective
d) cultural perspective.
Frameworks for Studying Adolescent
Psychology
The Biological Perspective
• The theory was pioneered by G. Stanley Hall
• G. Stanley Hall believed that adolescence begins with
biological changes accompanying puberty.
• Biological changes at this stage include menarche,
menstruation and growth of breasts in girls. For boys,
the changes include growth of testes, growth of
scrotum, growth of penis and ejaculation of semen.
• Other biological changes include growth of the pubic
hair, growth of underarm hair and enlargement of
sweat glands.
Frameworks for Studying Adolescent
Psychology
The Biological Perspective
• The period of adolescence is sometimes called a period of
storm and stress (Gross, 2001). Why?
• At this stage, adolescents experience rapid sexual
maturation and powerful sexual drives and this comes
into conflict with culture, traditions and their free
expression.
• The stage is also marked by an increase in crimes and
delinquency.
• Anna Freud also believes that adolescence is a special
period of turbulence because of the sexual conflict
brought in by puberty.
Frameworks for Studying Adolescent
Psychology
The Psychoanalytical Perspective
• It is believed that the changing aspects of human
personality in the adolescents largely depend on
how the sexual instinct and the ego and
superego were shaped during the formative years
of childhood.
• It is assumed that the personality of a human is
structurally made of three parts.
• These parts are Id, Ego and Superego.
The Psychoanalytical Perspective
The id
• This is the me part we see in an individual
• The id is the part of the self with which we are born
• It contains hidden memory, sexual and aggressive
drives. It is the part of us that wants immediate
gratification.
• Later in life, it comes to house our deepest, often
unacceptable desires, such as sex and aggression.
• It operates under the principle of pleasure, e.i. it sets
the criteria for determining whether something is
good or bad, or whether it feels good or bad.
The Psychoanalytical Perspective
The ego
• The ego is the part of the self that develops as we learn
that there are limits on what is acceptable to do and that
often we must wait to have our needs satisfied. It knows
how to make compromises.
• It represents any behavoiur we see in an individual
• It operates under the reality principle or the recognition
that sometimes need for gratification must be postponed for
practical reasons.
• If the ego is strong, the individual is realistic and accepting
of reality and remains more logical, objective, and
reasonable.
The Psychoanalytical Perspective
The superego
• It is the moral part of an individual
• The superego is the part of the self that develops as we learn
the rules, standards, and values of society.
• This part of the self takes into account the moral guidelines
that are a part of our culture. In practice, this is the moral
part of the mind.
• It is a part which tells us about what is right or wrong and it
gives a go ahead/approves or not in whatever we do.
• The superego is a rule-governed part of the self that operates
under a sense of guilt. For example, if a person with a strong
superego violates the superego, he or she feels guilty. Such a
person may experience high levels of stress and inhibition
that keeps him from living well.
The Psychoanalytical Perspective
• Central to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is that
human beings have motivations and desires that
must be satisfied, yet society dictates that many
of these motivations and desires are undesirable
and must be retained or controlled.
• Freud also believed that most of our mental
processes, motivations and desires are outside of
our awareness. For instance, he believed that
people are unaware that the biological instincts
are the driving force behind their behaviours.
The Social–Cognitive Perspective
The Social Perspective
• Theorists in this perspective hold the view that
biological drives are shaped by psychological and
social influences. Notably, Bandura observed that
much of adolescents’ behaviour comes from
observational learning in which adolescents observe
and imitate the behaviour of their parents, other
adults and peers.
The Social–Cognitive Perspective
The Social–Cognitive Perspective
• For example, when an adolescent observes an
individual performing a behavior and the
consequences of that behavior, they remember the
sequence of events and use that information to
guide subsequent behaviors.
The Social–Cognitive Perspective
The Cognitive Perspective
• Cognitive development is the progression of thinking
from the way a child thinks to the way adults do. There
are three main areas of cognitive development during
adolescence and these are:
Adolescents develop more advanced reasoning skills.
These include ability to identify key issues in a
situation, ability to think hypothetically (contrary-fact
situations), and the ability to think logically
The Social–Cognitive Perspective
The Cognitive Perspective
Adolescents develop the ability to think
abstractly. Examples include imaginations to be
in love with somebody and imaginations about
life after death.
• Development of formal operational thinking. This
includes development of the capacity to think of
how others think or perceive about them
The Social–Cognitive Perspective
Adolescence and Piaget's cognitive development
theory
• Jean Piaget holds the view that adolescence is a stage of
transition from the use of concrete operation to the
application of formal operation in reasoning.
• This definition clearly distinguishes it from puberty
which is the period in adolescence and characterized by
physiological changes that end childhood and bring the
young person to adult size shape and sex potential
The Cultural Perspective
• The experiences and behaviour of adolescence largely
reflects the society in which one grows up and thus
varies from one culture to another.
• However, a cross-cultural survey of adolescence in ten
countries shows that today's adolescents are growing up
more similar to one another than expected.
• This aspect is now called the universality of
adolescence.
• It is attributed to the impact of social and technological
change especially in communication
The Needs of Adolescent Students
• It is argued that convergence of the individual's needs and
societal expectations and roles gives rise to the
developmental tasks of adolescence.
• These are the appropriate attitudes, understandings and
skills the adolescents need to acquire at certain times in
their lives through maturation, social demands and
personal growth
Needs of adolescents include:
Accepting One's Body and Using It Effectively:
• Because of the rapid changes in their bodies, and the
accompanying self-consciousness, adolescents need to
accept their body, care for it and use it effectively in work,
sports, play and everyday tasks.
The Needs of Adolescent Students
Achieving a Masculine or Feminine Sexual Role:
• Sexual motivation along with changing sex role in
society challenge youth to explore and affirm their adult
sexual identity.
Achieving New and More Mature Relations With Peers
of Both Sexes:
• With increasing emotional and personal maturity
adolescents become more capable of forming intimate
and stable relationships with peers of both sexes in
friendship and love.
The Needs of Adolescent Students
Attaining Emotional Independents of Parents and Other
Adults:
• Youths need to learn how to affirm themselves as
autonomous individuals in relation to their parents, other
adults and peers. This means being able to tolerate
disappointment, criticism and rejection in relation to
others.
Preparing for an Economic Career:
• Adolescents need to discover their special interests and
abilities and then choose a career goal, prepare for it
educationally and get started in it.
The Needs of Adolescent Students
Preparing for Marriage and Family Life:
• Young people need to acquire the personal maturity and
social skills necessary for achieving satisfying relationships
with others in close living arrangements like marriage and
family.
Desiring and Achieving Socially Responsible Behaviour:
• Adolescents need to achieve meaningful participation in
community and national affairs as well as dealing with the
social and ethical issues of their day.
SUMMARY OF PRESENTATION
•Frameworks for Studying Adolescent
Psychology
•The Needs of Adolescent Students
END OF PRESENTATION
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