Developmental Psychology

Adolescence (13-18 Years) Different age groups/development stages have distinct social, cognitive, physical and emotional features. Particularly, the adolescents have a lot of distinct changes and this paper gives an in-depth detail on adolescence. The paper also discusses theories that explain the development features of adolescents, with a preference to Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory. Physical Features A number of puberty-related physical changes are apparent in adolescents by the time they reach fifteen years of age.

Girls normally go through growth spurts immediately prior to their puberty, which explains why they are often temporarily taller than boys of their own age. Although a majority of girls stop growing in height after fifteen years, boys' weight as well as height increases all through adolescence. Further, the menstrual period of a majority of girls commences at this age, in addition to breast development and pubic hair growth. Boys grow both facial and pubic hair in their puberty phase.

These bodily changes are accompanied by considerable emotional upheaval, both anxiety and excitement, among members of both genders (Teenager, 2016). Emotional Features Teens exhibit profound emotions and feelings on occasion. They appear unpredictable and moody, and their emotional rollercoaster may increase conflicts, in part, due to the fact that children's brains are yet to fully learn emotional control and expression in a mature way. Youngsters improve at understanding and handling others' emotions with age. Hence, children may show greater sensitivity to the emotions exhibited by fellow human beings.

However, in the course of developing such abilities, teens may misinterpret body language or facial expressions. They will also probably exhibit increased self-consciousness, particularly with regard to their bodily transformations and look. Actual or perceived appearance generally impacts teenagers' self-image (Teens development: overview, 2011). Social Features Teens are still in the process of figuring out their identity and place in the world. They typically seek a greater amount of independence, which has potential impacts on their decision-making processes and their interactions and bonds with kith and kin.

Children at this age may wish for more academic and domestic responsibility as well. Their intellectual development phase suggests they will likely look to experience novel things and participate in riskier actions and conduct. Concurrently, they still work to control impulsivity. On the positive side, teens will start giving more thought to the ''wrongness' and 'rightness' of things. They experience considerable peer influence, particularly with regard to behavior, self-image, and sense of self (Teens development: overview, 2011).

Cognitive Features Later adolescents' cognitive progress and intellectual and advanced reasoning/thinking abilities get reinforced. Adolescents start taking short- as well as long-term interests into consideration, and improve their capacity of judging alternatives, resolving issues, and establishing and attaining personal objectives. Consequently, they focus more on honing personal work habits. Adolescents' capacity of taking into account what the future holds, deciding, and scheduling personal tasks, responsibilities and social activities gets enhanced. Late teenagers' morals and values are reinforced and they begin respecting others' values and morals as well.

Individual dignity and moral analysis assume significance, and the self-confidence of teens grows (Termini, 2014). Developmental Theorists G. Stanley Hall's Biogenetic Psychology of Adolescence According to G. Stanley Hall, teenage is a tempestuous and stressful phase. It represents a point of time wherein people undergo turbulent transition. The theorist perceives teenage emotional life as a vacillation between conflicting propensities. Self-importance, pride, and selfishness are equally typical of the adolescent phase as rejection, embarrassment, and shyness.

The theorist held that teenage attributes comprised of the vestiges of unrestrained childhood self-centeredness and a budding idealistic selflessness. He claims late adolescents re-echo the stage of contemporary human society's foundation. This phase signifies maturity, which marks the culmination of human physical, emotional, mental and social development. This genetic psychology model doesn't view humanity as the ultimate end product of development; rather, it believes there is room for unlimited development in future (King, 2004).

Piaget's Cognitive Theory Jean Piaget delineated cognitive developmental stages of humanity, addressing the egocentrism phenomenon in human development. He maintains that egocentrism's initial and most marked manifestation is seen at the sensorimotor developmental step's ending. A second egocentrism eruption is witnessed at the preoperational developmental step's conclusion, manifested as the lack of distinction between the alter-ego's and ego's perspectives as well as between objective and subjective components.

Piaget claims the egocentrism emerges in its last form during the tangible-formal shift, owing to enlarged formal operational framework. Teens attempt to adapt their egos to their social setting as well as, equally ardently, attempt to adapt their setting to their egos (King, 2004). Erik Erikson's Theory of Identity Development Erikson's identity development theory chiefly addresses ego-identity attainment, and holds that teenagers' identity crisis constitutes the salient feature of this developmental phase.

Teenage, according to Erikson, represents the phase wherein children have to acquire individual identity, in addition to evading the perils linked to identity mix-ups and role diffusion. Teens have to individually and independently seek answers to questions pertaining to their identity, origins, and future. The theorist asserts that identity research has gained more significance as.