The growth of the brain and body has been an important topic for psychologists for hundreds of years. Though ideas and discoveries have been made, there will always be certain mysteries when it comes to the human mind. However, many scientists have been able to detect several ways people grow throughout the lifespan. One of the most important stages of the human lifespan is the adolescence age range from twelve to twenty years old. During these years, teenagers begin to develop into who they are personally and discover the way their body works. Through the adolescent stage, humans go through several changes, thus causing them to develop physically, cognitively, socially, and personality wise.
Physical Development As a boy/girl leaves the middle childhood stage and begins their growth from a child to a young adult, their body will start to go through several changes. One of the first types of changes of the body will include the growth of height and weight. During the adolescence stage, teenagers go through a strong period of rapid growth. The average boy grows 4.1 inches a year and usually begins their spurt around age twelve. While the average girl grows 3.5 inches in a year and normally begins growing around age ten. However, both have a possibility of growing as much as five inches in a single year (American Psychological Association). Teenagers will also have changes in their body weight. They will go through a period where they are more susceptible to weight gain and
Boys normally begin adolescence at around 14 years of age which is sometimes later than most girls. When they have reached the end of this growth period however they are usually bigger than girls. Their body shape will change as their muscles grow and they will develop body hair. Their strength and co-ordination will increase greatly and their voice will change to become deeper. In the early stages of puberty testicles and scrotum will begin to grow and penis growth will start later but will continue for longer.
On this article talks about how a study found the massive lack of tissues that occurs as we grow up. Thompson explains the develop of the brain and how it damages the teenager, which at some points it can affect the decision and growth of the youth. The reason why I will use this article is because it explains how psychology and mentally the teenager does things without them knowing why.
From twelve a child begins to move into the sensative physical develpment faze of puberty, this is a time when a childs body will physically begin to change into an adult. This adolescent stage normally begins earlier in girls as they begin to grow breasts and their bodies become curvier, they will also start their periods at at an average age of thirteen but this varies greatly. Boys tend to developement later than girls but they continue to grow. Whilst grils tend to stop growing around fifteen, boys may continue to grow into their late teens. They can also expect their voices to drop and facial hair begin to show.
Sarah Spinks, in her article “Adolescent Brains are Works in Progress” explains about the critical changes in teenage brain and its effects on them. It reports the studies by various scientist regarding the development of prefrontal cortex, corpus callosum, and cerebellum of the brain along with the phenomenon of pruning.
A teen brain is undergoing vital and significant developments. Different components of the brain are becoming more interconnected which allows for more communication between neurons and parts of the brain which each carry out specialized functions. The strengthening of the connections is responsible for learning and cognition. The two parts of the brain that grow most during adolescence and early adulthood are the limbic system and the pre frontal cortex. The limbic system is responsible for the drive of emotions and the pre frontal cortex is
“The development of children ages 12 through 18 years old should include expected physical and mental milestones. During adolescence, children develop the ability to: Understand abstract ideas. These include grasping higher math concepts, and developing moral philosophies, including rights and privileges; and Move toward a more mature sense of themselves and their
A human’s development is a lifelong process beginning before birth and extending until the moment of death. In every moment of life, every human being is constantly evolving in their own person way. Some evolve mostly with physical changes while other evolve based more solely on mental evolution. However, as humans grow their cognitive abilities advance and decline in response to the brain’s growth from childhood and reduced function in their old age. Psychosocial development is also significantly influenced by physical growth, as our changing body and brain, together with our environment, shape our identity and our relationships with other people.
This paper is will focus on the influences of physical and cognitive development in adolescence from 12 to 18 years of age. This part of the developmental stage has many factors that affect the physical development as well as the cognitive development in adolescence. In addition to influences of physical and cognitive development this paper will also focus on the hereditary and environmental influences that make up this stage in life.
Emotional development is effected by neglect, separation, lack of love (family) and self harm. Social development is effected by lack of self esteem and secondary socialisation.
Adolescence is the period of development beginning at puberty and ends in adulthood, conatinig many new physical changes. Puberty involves physiological changes in height, weight, body composition, sex characteristics, and circulatory and respiratory systems, which are influenced by hormonal activity. In the 2007, Psychology eight edition book, Myers states:
There are five characteristics that all adolescents have. These characteristics are biological growth and development, an undefined status, increased decision-making, increased pressures, and the search for self. The brain and the endocrine system control biological growth and development. During the early stages of adolescence, individuals experience growth in height and weight, changes in the body, the development of sexual characteristics, and skin problems. For example, I started getting curves in my body when I hit puberty. My body started to develop changes. Our society’s expectations for children and adults are clear, but for the adolescent, expectations are inexplicit. Some adolescents are treated like children, but some are treated like adults. There is an undefined status. For example, my parents pay for my lunch, but I have to have a job so I can support myself.
development, not just one side14. The adolescents are bound to get changes in both psychological and physical aspects. To be more specific, they begin to
Nowadays, more and more children have obesity compare to the children in thirty years ago. The research showed that children who have obesity in their early age may cause either short-term or long-term consequence. The short-term consequence for the obesity children include low self-esteem and the long-term consequence includes asthma and heart disease. (CDC) The best way to prevent these is to encourage children do at least one hour physical exercise a day within the trained instructor guided. ( Epstein 2014) My paper is mainly focused on how my curriculum promote physical development in a child care center.
Adolescence is the distinct transitional stage between childhood and adulthood in human development, extending primarily over the teenage years and terminating legally when the age of majority is reached (Rathus, 2014). However in some instances, this biological, cognitive, social and emotional maturity may not be reached until a later stage and may be dictated by gender. Adolescence is characterised by rapidly changing and unpredictable behaviour (Freud, as cited in Rathus 2014), heightened and unstable emotions (Hall, as cited in Rathus 2014), disturbances in identity, the gradual development of one’s moral reasoning (Kohlberg, as cited in Rathus, 2014) and the gradual establishment of one’s independence. Several of these changes may occur at differing phases in adolescent growth. This development is categorized into three separate stages; early adolescence, middle adolescence, and late adolescence. Early Adolescence, commencing from the ages of eleven or twelve until the age of fourteen, comprises of several features such as rapid biological development and maturity, heightened stress levels and limited coping capabilities. On the other hand, middle adolescence, from the approximate age of fourteen to sixteen, involves the gradual cease of biological change, an increase in coping strategies and declined stress levels. Furthermore, late adolescence, commencing from the age of sixteen until the age of eighteen or nineteen, encompasses physical maturity, whereby the
In terms of physical characteristics, the average height and weight for a two year old is thirty-four inches tall and twenty –eight pounds. Over time, their head growth will slow, from 3⁄4 inch (2 cm) in their second year alone to 3⁄4 to 1 1⁄4 inches (2–3 cm) over the next ten years. The child’s posture will change as well during the toddler years. These physical changes are due to improved muscle tone, which is cause for a more erect posture, thus giving the child a taller, and more lean appearance (“Physical Appearance,” 2013).