Adolescent Development 2 Flashcards
outline experimental evidence for the ‘self consciousness’ aspect of adolescent development
(Somerville et al., 2013)
- Wanted to see whether teenagers are more self conscious compared to children and adults
- Used fMRI machine
- Ppts entered scanner that would record brain activity
- Ppts told camera was embedded in scanner observing them throughout the time spent
- Ppts told they were doing this experiment to check whether camera is working
- camera would cycle through 3 settings
- off, warming up, on
- off = resting state
- warming up = anticipation condition
- on = evaluation condition
- when camera was on, ppt told peer of same age and sex was observing camera feed
(Somerville et al., 2013) what were the three camera settings?
- camera would cycle through 3 settings
- off, warming up, on
- off = resting state
- warming up = anticipation condition
- on = evaluation condition
(Somerville et al., 2013) what were the three ways of measuring self-consciousness?
- brain activity data
- self-report questionnaire data
asked ppts how self-conscious they felt in scanner - physiological responses
measuring how much ppts sweated in scanner
(Somerville et al., 2013) what were the findings of this study
self-report
- 13-21 reported higher level of self-consciousness/embarrassment compared to adults and children
physiological
- teenagers had heightened levels of physiological response
brain activity
- greater brain activity in areas related to social cognition and emotions
adolescence were more self-conscious compared to other age groups
self-consciousness may be related to age-dependent sensitivity of brain systems
outline experimental evidence for ‘focus on mental life becomes excessive’ aspect of adolescent development
(metacognitive abilities)
(Weil et al., 2013)
- study looks at how metacognitive abilities develop
- sample = children, adolescents, adults (11-41)
- asked to perform perceptual task
- after each trial they were asked to rate how confident they were that they chose right answer in task
- the test of metacognitive ability comes from how accurate ppts were at judging their own performance
FINDINGS:
- ability to identify how accurate ppt was at perception task increases with age
- meaning metacognitive ability increases with age
How does Weil et al. (2013) findings also suggest that adolescents are more self-conscious?
adolescents could be more self-conscious as they have an emergence of these metacognitive abilities and a developing of self-awareness
outline experimental evidence for ‘personal fable’ aspect of adolescent development
(Alberts et al., 2007)
- 119 students (mean age of 13)
- investigated personal fable and risk-taking
- believed that there were two dimensions to personal fable
- invulnerability: able to get away with things others can’t
- specialty: feeling of being special, not like anyone else
FINDINGS:
- personal fable scores increased with age
- the younger adolescence had lower scores compared to older teenagers
- significant positive correlation between personal fable and risk-taking
- suggesting that as they get older, the more they develop this personal fable
- the more one person thought they were indestructible, the more willing to take risks
- consistent with Elkind’s adolescent egocentrism
What does the ‘new look’ model suggest about imaginary audience and personal fable?
believes that imaginary audience = adaptive coping mechanisms for teenagers to deal with big changes going on in their lives
big changed can include developmental and social changes
What does the imaginary audience theory not account for?
- does not account for sex differences
- females during adolescence more likely to have stronger social pressures, concerns, extreme focus on appearance
what 2 factors explain why adolescents engage in more risk-taking behaviour than children and adults?
- social influence
- brain development
How does social influence explain why adolescents engage in more risk-taking behaviour than children and adults?
(Knoll et al., 2015)
- 563 ppts (3 groups children, adolescents, adults) were presented with risky scenarios
- Asked to rate how risky these scenarios were
- Ppts then shown rating of other people for same scenario
- Ppts then asked to re-rate the risk scenarios
FINDINGS:
- Initial rating showed children rated scenarios as more risky compared other age groups
- Adolescents and adults did not differ in risk ratings
- After being shown what other peers rated risky scenarios, asked to re-evaluate their rating (these other peer ratings were faked)
- Found that all age groups were influenced by others’ ratings
- Children and adults influences more by adult ratings
- Adolescents were more strongly influenced by other adolescent ratings
- adolescence understand risk but are willing to change this based on what peers think
How does social influence explain why adolescents engage in more risk-taking behaviour than children and adults?
(Steinberg, 2005)
- Three group (Adolescents, youths and adults)
- Task involved participating in a driving simulation game
- Ppts completed this either alone or with presence of peer
FINDINGS:
- Alone = all age groups took similar risks
- Peer was present = adolescents and young people took MORE risks compared to alone
- Adults performance was the same
this is consistent with idea that peer acceptance and fitting in can play crucial role in risk-taking behaviour
How does brain development explain why adolescents engage in more risk-taking behaviour than children and adults?
Limbic System
- adolescence show higher risk behaviour than children and adults
- adolescence also showed higher sensitivity to reward
- this may be related to limbic system
- limbic system hyperactive in adolescence (more than adults)
- hyperactive limbic system –> high sensitivity to reward
- high sensitivity to reward may cause adolescent to overlook the risk that comes with engaging in risky behaviour
e.g.: the pleasure that comes with smoking a cigarette may overshadow the risk involved in this behaviour
What is the limbic system?
structure in the brain related to emotion, memory, feelings or pleasure, reward
How does brain development explain why adolescents engage in more risk-taking behaviour than children and adults?
Dual System Model
- dual system model hypothesis suggests prefrontal regions of brain are still developing during adolescence
- the limbic system = hyperactive
- imbalance between logical reasoning and reward system leads to risk-taking behaviours
