Physical Maturation B : Cognitive Development And Schooling

The female, sex organs include the vagina, fallopian tubes, ovaries uterus and so forth. The male sex organs consist of the penis, testes, seminal vesicles, prostate gland, and scrotum. During puberty, both female and male organs enlarge and mature (Papalia, 2015, pp. 326-327). The biological view suggests the foundation for pubertal timing and tempo in “secondary sexual characteristics are (breast, genitals, pubic hair), reproductive capability, height, weight, and accompanying psychological and behavioral changes” (Marceau et al., 2014). Primary and secondary sexual characteristics and vast changes accompany rapid body growth for both genders in puberty (Berk, 2015, p. 397). However, in view, it is essential that adults become aware of potential warning signs of physical maturing adolescents both early and late. For instance, are late developing boys and early maturing girls as they appear to be at an increased risk for many problems, including depression (Graber, Lewinsohn, Seeley, & Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Perry, 2000 in American Psychological Association,

It is not clear why adolescence starts at a specific time. What is clear is that natural and social elements assume a part. This trend towards early maturation is believed to be a result of improved nutritional intake and a reduced amount of illness over the past century (Feldman, 2014). Additional factors that can influence early maturation in girls, according to Feldman (2014), would be the percentage of fat to muscle, moreover the

| |Secondary sex characteristics develop – body shape, |Dual-process model – Advanced logical thought |Adolescents become independent and clash with the parents’ |

The purpose of study one is to demonstrate if there was an association between the times the young girls get their period and if they develop an eating disorder, body dimorphism or other psychological variables. The participant’s average age was 20 years old; they also took their height which averaged out to 5 '5 and their BMI which averaged out to 22.12. They also took into consideration their relationship status, their religion and their race. The second study demonstrated if there was an association of young girl’s perception of their bodies before they started puberty and developing eating disorders, body dimorphic or other psychological variables. Each participant was a volunteer and to keep it as unbiased as possible they were

They are going through transitions in intellectual development and the process and transition of primary to secondary education.’ There are various intellectual skills that an adolescent will learn within this life stage. When in the adolescent life stage, the emotional development norms for an individual is to learn their personal identity and they must leant about who they are about how to control their emotions within the change of puberty. Low self-esteem and confidence issue is often something most teenagers struggle with. With adolescence secondary learning occurs, a person’s self-worth can change within this life-stage due to the social situations that an individual had to be within, also their use of clothing, language and religion etc. The introduction of hormones can often change how teenagers see themselves. Adolescent’s independence that they go through can affect their social and emotional development.

Puberty plays a huge role in the physical development of teenagers. Puberty looks different for males and females due to different hormones and how they vary between sexes. Physically, boys will tend to grow taller, experience enlargement of testicles, scrotum and the penis, they will have pubic hair growth and voice changes and deepening. Girls will experience physical changes such as breast development, menstruation, growth spurt and pubic hair growth. Cognitively, at this age many males and females are overly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings. They usually feel as if nobody has ever felt the way they have and never will because their feelings are unique. James Marcia helps to explain socioemotional development by identifing four identity statues, which are, identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, and identity achievement. These statues help identity where an adolescent stands in their life choices, and future. At this age, you also see many adolescences fighting with their parents or forming new relationships. Adolescence development contributes immensely to way people view themselves and those around them, causing them to continue to develop into the person, they want to

Phillips, R. (2010). How Firm is Our Foundation? Current Play Therapy research. International Journal of PLay Therapy, 19(1), 13-25.

Puberty and nutrition, variability in the timing of menarche and social implications. Puberty refers to the set of physical changes that signal the onset of reproductive maturation. According to the book, the onset of puberty is complex, involving several factors, such as individuals and family genetics and family dynamic. Before the 1900’s, the average age of menarche for girls in the United States was over 14. In today's society 80% of all American girls reach menarche between the ages 11 and 13.75, with a mean of 12.5 years. The comparison age of menarche worldwide is 13.5 years, ranging from 12.5 to 14.5 years, with even later menarche found among malnourished girls in undeveloped countries.

Physical development of children correlates to other areas of development, for example, fine and gross motor and results in healthy development of the brain. A teacher should observe and assess the development of the learners’ fine-motor coordination and gross-motor developmental milestones during outdoor play. However, children grow at different rates, which is an indication that a child may regress in a skill or reach a milestone earlier than another.

In the field of Psychology there are many different topics that come about when learning about the essentials of life span development. Life span development consists of numerous things that people encounter from birth, childhood, adolescents, and adulthood. Today let's analyze the gender differences between the timing of an adolescent's first sexual behavior. The reason for these differences between the gender can be made up of multiple things. Some researchers may say that sexual orientation, race, culture or other demographic characteristics play a role. When looking at this particular topic, for boys participating in sexual behaviors is consider normally. Where as for a girl it is looked downed on because of the risk of pregnancy at a young age. The timing for boys and girls first sexual behavior mainly depends on the maturity and physical level of the adolescents. Most can confirm that it is likely for girls to mature faster than boys because of the physical changes and thought process that happens so fast within the female adolescent's body.

Adolescence is such a delicate, unpredictable, and paramount developmental stage that shapes the human person into adulthood, during this period the human experience the physical and emotional changes and instability, all while dealing with social and cultural environment. Just as it is mentioned in the textbook " Developmental occurs within various domains, including the intellectual, emotional, psychosocial, moral, and even spiritual spheres." (Martin, 2014, p. 123). There are wide variety of studies dedicate to indentify, prevent and, treat the many different issues that can arise during this transitional time where the person is going from childhood into adulthood.

In this paper I plan to discuss the developmental stages of adolescence. Adolescents are also referred to as "teenagers" or "young adults." Adolescence begins after the childhood stage and ends right before adulthood. The years of adolescence range from 12 years old to 21 years old. The years of adolescence can be quite a roller coaster ride. Young people in this stage encounter a great deal of changes in their life as they prepare for adulthood. I will discuss emotional, intellectual, physiological, and social domains of development and how it relates to adolescents. I will also discuss some helpful tips for teachers to aide in communicating effectively to adolescents and understanding their

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

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.

Usually, the first theme that arises with the thought of adolescence is puberty, which can be a tumulus time. Puberty is a time of rapid physical maturation including hormonal and bodily changes. These changes include menarche, weight gains, height gains, and hormonal changes (McGraw Hill Education, 2015). Personally, puberty was a time of rapid growth; I went from kids sizes to adult sizes in the matter of a few months. As an early-maturing girl, I was confused and surprised when I started to notice the changes occurring to my body; I started to form breasts and my figure began to change drastically. I no longer had the body types of my friends who were boys. Nevertheless, these changes began to occur and I wasn’t prepared for one of the markers of “womanhood”; my first menstruation. I went through lectures with my mother and she gave me “talks”, but when it came to reality, I wasn’t prepared. However, with a little patience I have survived the most difficult parts of puberty but this isn’t the only thing adolescences have to deal with.