Adolescent Psychology
Chapter 2 – Adolescents in a Theoretical Context
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Biologists & psychologists believe adolescents are the way they are d/t genes, hormones,
& evolutionary history
Sociologists & anthropologists believe adolescents are a product of their environmental
impacts – personal experiences and culture
Biological Views of Adolescents
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Biological defn. – period of physical and sexual maturation, also believe that behavioural
changes of due to changes in internal biochemistry
G. Stanley Hall – father of adolescent psych
o His basic was based on Darwin’s work and he believed that an individuals growth
& development mirrored the evolutionary history of it’s species (ontogeny
recapitulates phylogeny)
o He believed individual move through stages in their development – animal
(infant), hunter (childhood), savagery (pre-adolescent), “sturm und drang” aka
storm & stress (adolescent)
o Sturm und drang was a period of emotional instability lasting untils the early 20’s,
and he believed they were genetically determined
o His works are no longer held true
Arnold Gesell – Spiral growth pattern
o Developed summaries of the norms of behaviour in a chronological sequence
o Genetic determine behavioural and physical traits
o believed that skills were innate outside influences had little impact on them
o believed that time were eventually correct any aberrant behavioural patterns and
advised adults not to intervene
o he did concede that environment may play a small role
o he believed development to have a spiral pattern where behaviours may be
common to more than one group/segment
o flaws in his work – study group from high socioeconomic status, large variations
in timing of maturation process that it is difficult to establish norms
Psychoanalytical & Psychosocial views of Adolescents
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Sigmund Freud – individuation
o “biology is destiny”, believed that due to diff in reproductive anatomy, male &
females would have different experiences and turn out differently
o Described adolescents as time of sexual excitement, anxiety & personality
disturbance
o 5 stages of psychosexual development – oral (sexual pleasure from outside objects
e.g. mother’s breast), anal (2-3, pleasure derived from elimination), phallic (4-5,
interest in own body), latency (6-puberty, cultivation of friendships especially
same sex), genital (puberty, drawn to opposite sex as can help alleviate sexual
tension)
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o Oedipal complex – during phallic stage boys jealous of mother’s affection toward
father, feel father’s must feel same jealousy, fear harm from fathers, so identify
with fathers to reduce fear
o Identification process – absorb father’s beliefs  imitation is flattering therefore
reduces likelihood of being harmed, teaches boy how to behave like a man to find
wife of own
o Girls go through electra complex – attracted to father b/c strong & powerful,
envious of boys as see penis as superior to vulva, hostility towards mother – blame
for inferior genitals, and b/c attention mother gets from father
o Eventually child identifies with same sex parent and form a dependency
o Individuation involves adolescent forming own identity
o Not well accepted today – study used mental patients, had negative connotations,
underestimated/valued women
Anna Freud – defense mechanism
o Characterized adolescence as period of internal conflict, erratic behaviour, psychic
disequilibrium
o Full of dichotomies
o Explanation – psychic disequilibrium and internal conflict that accompanies
sexual maturation
o Characteristics – aggression, impulsive, hunger, potential criminal activity,
modesty and sympathy replaced by exhibitionism and brutality
o Id – drive to satisfy one’s desires
o Ego – mental processes use to safeguard the individual
o Superego – conscience that result from identification with same sex parent
o Id and superego in conflict with each other, ego try to maintain the balance
o Ego sides with id – rebellious character, ego sides with superego – toe the line
type character but requires psychic energy and defense mechanisms
o Defense mechanisms – repression, denial creating anxiety and obsessional
behaviours
Eric Erikson – ego identity
o Maintained parts of Freud’s theory but believed the ego to be the driving force
behind behaviour
o 8 stages of development in which individual is confronted with a task, if task is
mastered has a positive effect on ego, if not has negative effect
o Infant (trust vs. mistrust),toddlers (autonomy vs. shame & doubt), preschoolers
(initiative vs. guilt), grade-schoolers (industry vs. inferiority), adolescents (identity
vs. diffusion), young adults (intimacy vs. isolation), middle-aged adults
(generativity vs. stagnation), elderly adults (ego integrity vs. despair)
o Each stage is dependent on the previous stage, if the previous stage had favourable
o Identity formation is a continuous process from birth to death
o Interaction with other individuals shape identity
o Believed during identity search requires effort and evaluation of personal assets
and liability and using these to develop clear concept of self
o Adolescents are likely to find self doubt, confusion, impulsivity, conflict with
parents during this search
o Psychosocial moratorium – societally sanctioned period where adolescent is free
to experiment with many different roles to find place in society
o If fails to find an identity may lead to self destructive activities, withdrawal, drug
use, not caring what others think in attempt to alleviate anxiety
Cognitive Views of Adolescents
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Cognition – act of knowing
Jean Piaget – Adaptation & Equilibrium
o Organismic psychologist – believed both brain maturation and personal
experience drive cognition and development
o Cognitive development is and individual achievement brought about by the child’s
exploration of his environment
o Cognitive development starts at birth and never ends
o 5 concepts in dynamics of development – schema (mental process for dealing with
environment), adaptation (adjusting to new information to understand
surroundings), assimilation (acquiring new information by integrating it into
existing processes) , accommodation (adjusting to new information by creating
new schema), equilibrium (balance between assimilation & equilibrium)
o 4 stages of cognitive development – sensorimotor stage (up to age 2), coordinated
physical actions with sensory experiences, preoperational stage (2-7) language and
symbol use but no logical thought ability, concrete operational stage (7-11) some
logical thought ability but must relate to their experiences, formal operational
stage (11 and up) logical and abstract thought
 Robert Selman – Social Cognition
o Social cognition – ability to understand relationships
o Basically involves understanding what others think and feel
o There is overlap b/w methods for gaining social and physical knowledge –
observation, trial & error, firsthand experiences, etc.
o Social knowledge is not factual though but rather situational and arbitrary making
it less predictable and more complicated to understand
o There is no direct correlation b/w intellectual problem solving ability and social
problem solving ability
o Social Role Taking theory - understanding of the behaviours in interaction with
other from the points of view of both self and others
o 5 stages of this theory:
 stage 0 – egocentric undifferentiated stage (3-6) can’t distinguish b/w their
view point and that of others, and don’t realize their view point may be wrong
 stage 1 – differential or subjective perspective-taking stage (aka social
informational stage) (6-8) realize that others may have different view point but
don’t understand why if they are using the same information, use physical
observation to help determine people’s thoughts/feeling but don’t realize
people may hide true feelings
 stage 2 – self –reflective thinking or reciprocal perspective taking (8-10)
ability to appreciate other individual’s perspectives of their actions
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stage 3 – third person or mutual perspective taking stage (10-12) ability to see
3rd person perspectives, relationships take form as series of interactions over
long time periods, conflicts d/t different personality characteristics
 Stage 4 – in depth and societal perspective taking stage (adolescent –
adulthood) realize thoughts/feeling are shaped by psychological factors, realize
personality is collection of traits, beliefs & attitudes, understand social system
 Lev Vygotsky – Social Influences on Cognition
o Cognitive skill developed through social interaction
o Children learn best when paired w more skilled partner – learning is best when
task is beyond current level but not so far as to be overwhelming
o This concept is known as “zone of proximal development”
o Scaffolding – more advanced partner provides assistance and then slowly
withdraws it as new learner becomes more proficient
o Practical application – group activities with varied levels of participants
Social-Cognitive Learning View of Adolescence
 Social learning theory – how other individuals shape our ability to perform various
behaviours
 Albert Bandura – Social Learning Theory
o Proposed that children learn through the observation of others and modeling
observed patterns
o Parent are most likely to be modeled, as are siblings
 Skinner – Operant conditioning Theory
o Reinforcement (positive or negative) influences behaviours
 Bandura expanded the concept to vicarious and self reinforcement – vicarious being
reinforcement that comes from observation of others, self being positive self talk
 Social learning theorists state what adults do and what the role is of greater significance,
in determining adolescent behaviours, than what they say
 Social Cognitive Theory – Bandura expanded social learning theory to include cognition
and stated that individuals determine their own destiny – choice of environments and
goals
 Interpretations of their environment determines actions
 This means that people have control in events impacting them
Impact of Culture on Adolescents
 Adolescent development influenced by culture and society (i.e. impact of societal norms
& values)
 Robert Havighurst – Developmental Tasks
o Developmental tasks – comprised of what individuals need in light of societal
demands
o Tasks are cumulative in that earlier tasks help with the achievement of later ones
o Adolescent task involves maturation, if unsuccessful results in anxiety, social
disapproval,
o He proposes that there is a “teachable moment” for every task – a correct time
o Havighurst’s * major task for US adolescents:
 Accepting one’s physique and using the body effectively
 Achieving new and more mature relationships with age-mates of both
sexes
 Achieving a masculine or feminine social sex role
 Achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults
 Preparing for an economic career
 Preparing for marriage and family life
 Desiring and achieving socially responsible behaviour
 Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a guide to behaviour
 Kurt Lewin – Field Theory
o Attempts to explain why adolescents move back and forth b/w mature and
immature behaviour
o Concept – the behaviour is a function of the person and his environment
o The personality and the environment are interdependent factors
o Sum of all possible behaviours is the life space
o As child matures and becomes more capable and therefore they have greater
accessibility, problem is which regions they should enter
o Sometime adolescents are treated like kids and sometimes like adults
o Lack of consistent social rules helps explain uncertainty in adolescent behaviour
o This theory allows for consideration of both personality and cultural differences
 Urie Bronfenbrenner – An Ecological Model
o Adolescents develop in multiple context – family, school, community, etc.
o Influenced by outside aspects e.g. peers, group associations, media, etc.
o Developed social influence model where adolescents are at the centre surrounded
by 4 rings
o 1st ring – microsystem: represents most immediate influences e.g. family, friends,
school
o Microsystem apt to chnge significantly as adolescent changes activities, teams,
etc.
o Peer microsystem has very powerful influences – both positive and negative
o 2nd ring – mesosystem: reciprocal relationships b/w microsystem components e.g.
what happens at school influences what happens at home
o Need to evaluate these influences when trying to understand social development
o 3rd ring – exosystem: settings that are indirectly related to the adolescent but have
an impact on them e.g. parent’s work, school boards
o 4th ring - macrosystem: ideologies, attitudes and laws of a culture that influence
individuals – establishes cultural norms and rules
o Need to consider the context in which the adolescent is growing up in to
understand social development
 Margaret Mead & Ruth Benedict
o Part of a group known as cultural determinism & cultural relativism that stree
significance of social environment
o Feelings of adolescent satisfaction based in part on having some control over their
lives
o Challenged concepts of stage development theories – used Samoan culture to
illustrate that their development was not marked by specific abrupt changes
o Came up with principle of continuity of cultural conditioning
o 3 examples of this principle:
 Responsible vs. non-responsible roles: non-technological societies have roles
for their children that mimic roles of adults, technological societies don’t
 Submissive vs. dominant roles: non-technological societies don’t expect
children to be submissive rather they dominate those that are younger and are
dominated by those that are older this avoids submission/dominance issues
commonly associated with adults in technological societies
 Similar vs. dissimilar sex roles:no sexual repression associated with nontechnological societies, therefore no attitudes that must be unlearned in
adulthood