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During the early stages of adolescence, many individuals experience

body changes like growth in height and weight, the development of


sexual characteristics, skin problems and other physical changes. For
example, I started getting acne in my body, especially in my face when
I hit puberty. My body started to develop many different changes and I
faced a lot of pressured from many different people. I got pressure
from my parents, from my teachers, but mostly from my own friends
and peers. Many psychologists have called adolescence a very
vulnerable time period in everyones lives, it is why many teenagers
want to be accepted and try to fit in the most, they want to copy their
friends, be like them and try to enjoy the same activities. Doing the
same thing everyone else is doing feels safe for them. It is why
psychologists believe that everyone find their own voice, and who they
are in their adolescence years.
Chapter 12 starts by focusing on developmental psychology, which
studies the experience from the beginning to the end of our lives.
Development is one of the most challenging areas of psychology
because it is focus on how the individual changes overtime. One asks
questions about our changes from the first year of high school, or since
starting a specific sport or routine. In developmental psychology, many
conduct longitudinal studies, which helps compare and contrast a
person to him or herself at some point in time. The chapter further
explains how humans may take up to twenty years to fully develop and
leave the nest. I found very interesting how now in modern times most
men get married at an average age of twenty eight and most women
at an age of twenty six, and according to some theories it seems like
culture plays a major role in these type decision and human
development.
Prenatal development
Albert Bandura (1967), explains clearly about the human development
and learning. He talks about how observation is the individuals biggest
asset and learning tool to learn new information and behaviors. Taking
Banduras hypothesis to consideration I believe both the nature and
the nurture play a big role in the childs development, but I also believe
that what hes watching on television is what is affecting him the most
because the child is observing other peoples actions along and
learning new information through those actions and different behaviors
and beliefs. The child observe, learns and imitates what he is seeing on
screen, it is why it is important the parents are choosing carefully what
their child is seeing on television. Most cartoons today are reflecting
very bad things on different cultures and society, and violence is one of

them. Choosing the wrong cartoon can be extremely hazardous to the


childs development, and the parents most of the time dont see the
consequences until adolescence.
Cognition in Adolescence
Piaget states that there are four stages of cognitive development. The
first stage is the sensorimotor stage, which is the infancy stage from
birth until about two years old. In this stage everything is based of
behaviors and perception. The next stage is the preoperational stage;
this stage is the early childhood to early elementary years from two
years old to seven years old. In this stage things becomes more
obvious to the child but he or she does not yet reason in logical. Then,
theres the concrete- operational stage from seven years old to twelve
years old. In this stage adult logic appears but the reasoning is limited
and not well concrete. Finally, the formal operational stage from twelve
years old through adulthood, and in this stage logical reasoning and
processes are applied and the individual has a clear idea of his actions.
Some psychologist think that it takes until about eighteen to twenty
one years old to fully have a sense of consciousness about different
actions, and knowing how to determine the difference between right
and wrong.

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