Developmental Psychology Essay

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Adolescence (13-18 Years)



Different age groups/development stages have distinct social, cognitive, physical and emotional features. Particularly, the adolescents have a lot of distinct changes and this paper gives an in-depth detail on adolescence. The paper also discusses theories that explain the development features of adolescents, with a preference to Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory.



Physical Features



A number of puberty-related physical changes are apparent in adolescents by the time they reach fifteen years of age. Girls normally go through growth spurts immediately prior to their puberty, which explains why they are often temporarily taller than boys of their own age. Although a majority of girls stop growing in height after fifteen years, boys' weight as well as height increases all through adolescence. Further, the menstrual period of a majority of girls commences at this age, in addition to breast development and pubic hair growth. Boys grow both facial and pubic hair in their puberty phase. These bodily changes are accompanied by considerable emotional upheaval, both anxiety and excitement, among members of both genders (Teenager, 2016).



Emotional Features



Teens exhibit profound emotions and feelings on occasion. They appear unpredictable and moody, and their emotional rollercoaster may increase conflicts, in part, due to the fact that children's brains are yet to fully learn emotional control and expression in a mature way. Youngsters improve at understanding and handling others' emotions with age. Hence, children may show greater sensitivity to the emotions exhibited by fellow human beings.
However, in the course of developing such abilities, teens may misinterpret body language or facial expressions. They will also probably exhibit increased self-consciousness, particularly with regard to their bodily transformations and look. Actual or perceived appearance generally impacts teenagers' self-image (Teens development: overview, 2011).



Social Features



Teens are still in the process of figuring out their identity and place in the world. They typically seek a greater amount of independence, which has potential impacts on their decision-making processes and their interactions and bonds with kith and kin. Children at this age may wish for more academic and domestic responsibility as well. Their intellectual development phase suggests they will likely look to experience novel things and participate in riskier actions and conduct. Concurrently, they still work to control impulsivity. On the positive side, teens will start giving more thought to the ''wrongness' and 'rightness' of things. They experience considerable peer influence, particularly with regard to behavior, self-image, and sense of self (Teens development: overview, 2011).



Cognitive Features



Later adolescents' cognitive progress and intellectual and advanced reasoning/thinking abilities get reinforced. Adolescents start taking short- as well as long-term interests into consideration, and improve their capacity of judging alternatives, resolving issues, and establishing and attaining personal objectives. Consequently, they focus more on honing personal work habits.….....

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References


King, R. (2004). ADOLESCENCE: Overview, Historical Background and Theoretical Perspectives. Retrieved November 9, 2016, from http://www.psyking.net/id183.htm

Teens development: overview. (2011). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/early_teens_development_nutshell.html

Termini, A. (2014). Adolescent development (13-18 years of age). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from http://cooperativeparentingblog.com/adolescent-development/

Teenager (13-18 years). (2016). Retrieved November 9, 2016, from http://www.northshore.org/pediatrics/ages-and-milestones/teenager-13-18-years/
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