Biology of Adolescents
Growing Up Is Hard to Do
It's All About Me!
Becoming Themselves
Those Challenging Emotions
100
A biological event that normally occurs between 9 and 16 years of age.
What is puberty?
100
Oil and dead skin clog pores, producing a minor, yet unpleasant, skin infection that is the bane of many adolescents' existence.
What is acne?
100
Characteristic behavior of young adolescents, which is due to their having not developed the cognitive ability to see things from the viewpoint of others, that can seem selfish, rude, or inconsiderate to adults.
What is their self-centered nature?
100
One of the major tasks of adolescents; figuring out who they are, what they want to do with their life, and how they fit into society.
What is identity formation?
100
The tendency of adolescents to show emotional extremes over a short period of time.
What is moodiness?
200
Composed of glands such as the thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, and gonads that become fully engaged during puberty.
What is the endocrine system?
200
An elongation of the eyeball, causing nearsightedness, or difficulty seeing things at a distance, that can appear or worsen during the rapid growth of early adolescence.
What is myopia?
200
A false belief held by adolescents that nothing bad will happen to them or they won't suffer negative consequences from their actions.
What is a sense of invulnerability?
200
The way young adolescents swing back and forth between wanting to be treated like adults one moment, and being dependent on their parents and other adults the next.
What is independence versus security?
200
An emotional reaction in young adolescents that seems out of proportion to the event that triggered it.
What is a sense of crisis?
300
These glands manufacture the hormones responsible for male and female physical traits.
What are the gonads?
300
Adolescents face new challenges with this due to the increased production of sweat and its accompanying body odor.
What is hygiene?
300
The belief young adolescents tend to hold that other people are just as interested in them as they are in themselves.
What is egocentrism?
300
Erickson noticed that young adolescents, ages 10-11, begin to have their views of themselves formed more by the opinions of peers and other adults outside the family, and their sense of identity tends to revolve around a sense of competency and success (or lack thereof).
What is the crisis of industry versus inferiority?
300
What is the tendency to experiment, explore, take up new ventures, quickly lose interest, and frequently shift social affiliations?
What is fickleness?
400
These play a role in behavior and development, but sometimes produce surges of hormones for no apparent reason, giving adolescents the urge to run, jump, or shout.
What are the adrenal glands?
400
A major concern for adolescents that is evident in their preoccupation with their appearance and seeming fascination with mirrors.
What is body image?
400
The belief young adolescents hold that everyone's attention is focused on them.
What is the imaginary audience?
400
Erickson identified 12 to 15-year-olds as going through a stage of development in which they explore and experiment with different roles to try to discover who they are.
What is identity versus identity confusion?
400
A tendency among adolescents towards acting without thinking first about consequences.
What is impulsivity?
500
This produces hormones responsible for physical growth, especially of the skeletal and muscular systems.
What is the thyroid gland?
500
The fusing of the last three vertebrae during adolescence, which may cause soreness and discomfort, resulting in the need to change positions frequently when seated.
What is ossification?
500
An unrealistic sense of uniqueness often felt by young adolescents; a sense that no one has ever experienced or felt things before in the same way that they have, especially when going through difficulties.
What is the personal fable?
500
An evaluation of one's general competency and worth, versus how one feels about one's competency in specific endeavors.
What is self-esteem versus self-concept?
500
A common form of humor used by young teens involving verbal sparring that, when taken literally, can result in hurt feelings, but as long as it is not taken seriously, is not cause for concern.
What is sarcasm?
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