• Chapter 11

Adolescence:
Physical and
Cognitive
Development

Copyright © 2018 by Nelson Education Ltd.

Puberty: The Biological Eruption

• Puberty
• — Stage of development characterized by
reaching sexual maturity and the ability
to reproduce; onset of adolescence
coincides with advent of puberty

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Puberty: The Biological Eruption

• Feedback loop — Hypothalamus signals

the pituitary gland, which in turn releases
hormones that control physical growth
and the gonads; gonads respond to
pituitary hormones by increasing
production of sex hormones; sex
hormones further stimulate the
hypothalamus, perpetrating the feedback
loop

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Puberty: The Biological Eruption

• Primary sex characteristics — In girls,

ovaries, vagina, uterus, and fallopian
tubes; in boys, penis, testes, prostate
gland, and seminal vesicles
• Secondary sex characteristics — Breast
development, deepening of the male
voice, and the appearance of facial,
pubic, and underarm hair; not involved in
reproduction

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 The Adolescent Growth Spurt

• Girls’ growth spurt at age 10; boys at

age 12; peak reached 2 years later and
then declines
• Grow 5–20 centimetres (2 to 8 inches) in
1 year, puberty takes time
• Adolescents begin spurt in weight about
half a year after they begin spurt in
height; peak occurs 1.5 years after spurt
and continues for 2 years

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 The Adolescent Growth Spurt

• Adolescents eat large amounts of food to

fuel growth spurt (3,000–4,000 calories
a day)
• Girls’ hips get wider due to having twice
as much body fat as boys; girls’ body
shape more rounded; boys gain twice as
much muscle tissue

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 Asynchronous Growth

• Asynchronous growth — Different parts of

the body grow at different rates; hands
and feet mature before the arms and legs
do; legs reach peak before shoulders and
chest; boys stop growing out of pants
about a year before they stop growing
out of their jackets

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 The Secular Trend

• During the 20th century, children in the

Western world grew more rapidly and
wound up taller than children from earlier
times; accompanied by an earlier onset of
puberty; known as a secular trend; could
be due to improved healthcare and
nutrition

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 The Secular Trend

• Occurrence of a secular trend in height

and weight has been documented in
nearly all European countries and North
America; Europeans are much taller than
people in the United States, and people
in the United States are taller than those
in Canada

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Table 11.1 Average Male and Female
Heights in Selected Countries

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 Changes in Boys

• Pituitary gland stimulates the testes to

increase output of testosterone; leads to
further development of male genitals
• First sign of puberty is accelerated
growth of the testes, which begins at
about 11.5 years old (+/- 2 years)

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 Changes in Boys

• Testicular growth accelerates

testosterone production and other
pubertal changes
• Penis begins a spurt of accelerated
growth about a year later; still later,
pubic hair spurts
• Underarm and facial hair appears about
age 15; only half of Canadian boys shave
by age 17

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 Changes in Boys

• Voice deepens at age 14 or 15 because

of the growth of the “voice box” or
larynx, and the lengthening of the vocal
cords; process is gradual
• Testosterone triggers development of
acne; boys more prone to acne in 75–
90% of adolescents; more common in
boys and could be all over body

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 Changes in Boys

• Males have erections from infancy but

not frequent until age 13 or 14,
resulting in nocturnal emissions (wet
dreams)

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 Changes in Boys

• Mature sperm found in ejaculatory

emissions by age 15; ability to ejaculate
precedes presence of mature sperm
• Half of all boys experience gynecomastia
(enlargement of the breasts), which
declines in a year or two; due to small
amount of estrogen (female hormone)
secreted by testes

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 Changes in Boys

• At 20 to 21, men stop growing taller

because testosterone causes epiphyseal
closure, which prevents the long bones
from making further gains in length

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 Changes in Girls

• The pituitary gland signals the ovaries

to vastly increase estrogen production
at puberty
• Estrogen may stimulate growth of breast
tissue beginning at age 8–9 (breast
buds); enlarge at 10
• Fatty tissue develops when ducts elevate
areas of the breasts surrounding nipples
that protrude

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 Changes in Girls

• Breasts reach full size in about 4 years;

however, mammary glands are not fully
mature until a woman has a baby
• Estrogen also helps widening of pelvis
and rounding of hips and buttocks

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 Changes in Girls

• At about age 11, development of

underarm and pubic hair
• Estrogen causes the labia, vagina, and
uterus to develop during puberty;
androgens cause the clitoris to develop

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 Changes in Girls

• Estrogen brakes the female growth spurt

before the ending of the male growth
spurt

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 Changes in Girls

Menarche
• First menstruation; occurs between ages

11 and 14; average is 11.5; some get it

early: body fat triggers the changes
because fat cells secrete a protein that
signals the brain to secrete hormones
that raise estrogen levels

Copyright © 2018 by Nelson Education Ltd.

 Changes in Girls

Menarche (continued)
• Some get it later because those girls
have a lower percentage of body fat
(e.g., athletes and girls with eating
disorders)
• Average body weight for triggering
menarche depends on a girl’s height;
today, girls are heavier due to better
nutrition and healthcare; menarche
occurs earlier in girls today
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 Early versus Late Maturers
• Early maturing boys are more popular,
more likely to be leaders in school, are
more poised, more relaxed, and good-
natured; their edge in sports and
admiration of their peers increase their
self-worth; negative side, it can increase
aggression and delinquency, abuse of
alcohol and/or drugs, more pressures
with performing better in sports, fighting
others’ battles, and sexual opportunities

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 Early versus Late Maturers

• Late maturers are not rushed into

maturity but feel dominated by early
maturers; late maturers are also more
dependent and more insecure, and
influenced by peer pressure

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 Early versus Late Maturers

• Boys who mature early have higher self-

esteem
• Early maturing girls feel awkward because
they are among the first of their peers to
see pubertal changes (e.g., physical); at
greater risk for psychological problems and
substance abuse; obtain lower grades in
school, and involvement in sexual activity

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 Early versus Late Maturers

• Parents of early maturing girls increase

their vigilance and restrictiveness, which
leads to new child–parent conflicts

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 Body Image

• Dangerous and unrealistic cultural ideals

of slimness (especially in females) and
muscularity (partially in males) in
Canada
• Dissatisfaction with body weight and size
• Early adolescents concerned with
physical appearance when puberty is
occurring

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 Body Image

• By age 18, girls and boys are more

satisfied with bodies
• Adolescent females are more
preoccupied with body weight and
slimness than adolescent males
• Adolescent males want to gain weight to
build muscle mass

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 Cognitive Development:
Piaget’s Stage of Formal Operations

• Adolescents have reached cognitive

maturity in the formal operations stage
• Formal operations stage includes the
ability to reason abstractly, classify
objects and ideas, engage in logical
thought, and hypothesize

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 Cognitive Development:
Piaget’s Stage of Formal Operations

• Adolescents can follow and formulate

arguments from their premises to their
conclusions and back once more, even if
they do not believe in them

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 Hypothetical Thinking

• Adolescents develop concept of “what

might be”
• Adolescents project themselves into
situations that transcend their immediate
experience and become wrapped up in
fantasies

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 Hypothetical Thinking

• Adolescents can think ahead,

systematically trying out various
possibilities in their minds
• Career decisions cause anxiety, as best
fit may also feel like a sense of loss

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 Sophisticated Use of Symbols

• Solving mental activities with x as a

factor is a part of formal operations
stage; can work with points that have no
dimensions or not-so-perfect objects
• Ability to manipulate symbols is a part of
formal operations stage, which enables
them to work in theoretical physics or
math, or obtain jobs in engineering and
architecture

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 Adolescent Egocentrism

The Imaginary Audience

• Adolescents placed at centrestage of
fantasies; want to be rock stars or movie
stars; assume others are concerned with
their appearance and behaviour because
at a stage in development

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 Adolescent Egocentrism

The Imaginary Audience (continued)

• Bell and Bromnick (2003) said no
imaginary audience; there are real
personal and social consequences for
adolescents’ actions; therefore, based in
social reality and not imaginary
• As a result, intense desire for privacy
and preoccupation with their appearance

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 Adolescent Egocentrism

The Personal Fable

• Belief that one’s thoughts and emotions
are unique and special (e.g., adolescents
become action heroes in their minds);
also refers to common adolescent belief
that one is invulnerable and invincible

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 Moral Development

Kohlberg: The Postconventional Level

(continued)
• Stage 6 — Based on universal ethical
principles of human life, individual
dignity, and reciprocity (behaviour that
is consistent with these principles is
considered right); 5% of adolescents

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 Moral Behaviour and Moral
Reasoning
• Positive relationship between a person’s
level of moral development and his or
her behaviour
• Group discussion of moral dilemmas
elevates delinquents’ level of moral
reasoning

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Evaluation of Kohlberg’s Theory

• Evidence supports view that moral

judgment develops in children in upward
sequence
• Postconventional thought first found in
adolescents; formal-operational thinking
is a prerequisite

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Table 11.2 Kohlberg’s Postconventional
Level of Moral Development

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