Adolescent Development and Teaching

Lecture 1 Exam Notes:

Age range for Adolescence

- Generally between 12-18 years old

- Co-occurs with puberty
- “Emerging adulthood” – 19 – 30 years old
- Opinion based to range between  6 years (cellular puberty begins) – 30
years

Age range of adolescence (1890 – 1920) Social and Academic changes:

- Term adolescence began between 1890 and 1920

- Child Labour laws – stopped the hiring of preteen children to work and
limited the hours which teenagers can work
- Universal secondary education  made attendance compulsory in
secondary school (Factory model of schooling)

Platio:

- Believes people should not be given maths equations until mid teens

Aristotle:

- Believes people should not be given maths equations until mid 20’s

G. Stanley Hall (Figure in child study movement)

- “Adolescence is a period of storm an stress”. This quote is believed to

be “exaggerated” by other academics. Others say it is a time of “Turbulent
and stressful”
- G. Standley Hall lived at a time of poverty and stress  he saw a lot of
teenage rebellions and gangs
- G. Standley Hall observed that mood swings occur during teenage years
- G. Standley Hall  teenage years = peak in criminal activity
- Contemporary psychological research suggests that  some of Stanley
halls claims are exaggerated, and some are correct

Robert Epstein:

- “Adolescence is an artificial extension of childhood”

- “Adolescence is a cultural product of industrial societies”
- Critical of G. Stanley Hall
- Critical of factory model of schooling (Universal secondary education law)
- Teenagers subject to twice as many restrictions than convicted criminals
- Restrictions have the effect of infantilising and isolating teenagers
- Infantilising  is a factor in the trends that we see in adolescence
- Examples; peak for criminal offending, psychological conditions begin and
peak in adolescents, mortality from suicide and conflict with parents
 - There is a correlation between infantilising teenagers and psychological
dysfunctions
- Adolescents are highly competent  memory and perceptual ability peaks,
intelligence peaks and ability to acquire new skills peaks.
- Robert believes adolescents shouldn’t be a “transition” period and a
child should immediately become an adult after a certain age
- Robert believes that an adolescent should be given the same rights as
an adult (Eg. Marry, contracts, own property, start own business) IF
he/she have the ability to pass a “Competency test”

Correlations vs. Causation

- Correlation  Statistical association between 2 or more variables

- Positive correlation: One variable goes up and so does another.
- Example; Drug use goes up and so does the dysfunction of the family due
to the drug use
- Negative correlation: One variable goes up and another goes down
- Example; Drug use goes up and academic performance goes down
- Correlation relationships are not causal  Eg. Smoking is correlated with
alcoholism, but smoking does not cause alcoholism
- Causal  Cause and effect. One event is the result of the cause of another
event
- Example; Smoking causes an increase in the risk of lung cancer
- Correlation between infantilising teenagers and psychological should not
be taken to imply that infantilising teenagers causes psychological
dysfunction

Jay Giedd

- Says that adolescents have a really healthy body but they do things to
themselves that also lead to mortality
- Positive peaks  Immune system, resistance to disease, can handle
fluctuations in temperature, memory
- Negative peaks  Crime, accidents, drugs and alcohol and suicide
- Differences in the maturation rates of the socio-emotional network and
the cognitive control network
- Socio-emotional  Emotion, motivation, memory and learning
- Cognitive control system  Regulation of emotion, planning, impulse
control and decision making (develops until mid 20’s)
- Socio-emotional network develops quickly compared to cognitive control
network

Laurence Steinberg

- Under certain conditions the socio-emotional centre hijacks the decision

making process
- Cold cognition  Low arousal contexts (Eg. Participating in a problem
solving test as part of chemistry)
- Hot cognition  High arousal contexts (Eg. Drag racing in front of peers)
- Risk taking occurs in front of friends most of the time
- Key point: Behaviour of teenagers depend on their context
BJ Casey

- Adolescence represents a highly adaptive period in our development

- Believes it is an evolutionary explanation from parents genes and this
plays a role in adolescence
- Believes that adolescence represents a highly adaptive period because
adolescents take risks, focus on peers and seek independence.

Key Messages

1. Adolescence can change depending on culture

2. Adolescence represents a paradoxical time in our life trajectory
3. Is Epstein’s assertions about teenagers having adult rights a good idea?
4. Adolescent behaviours need to be understood in context
- Adolescents are capable of rational decisions in cold cognition contexts
- Adolescent behaviours and decision making process change in hot
cognition context when around peers
5. Adolescent behaviours can be viewed from an adaptive perspective
- Risk taking sensation seeking, and peer group focus have positive
outcomes (Eg. Social competence – BJ Casey)
Lecture 2 Exam Notes  Biological Foundations

Adolescence and Puberty

- Puberty refers to processes related to physical and reproductive

maturation
- Puberty is not a single event
- Puberty begins before adolescence and ends before adolescence ends
- Some believe adolescence goes into mid 20’s

Endocrine system

- Hypothalamus  Function of hormones which plays a big role in puberty

- GMRH increase occurs 2 years before physical puberty changes  study
shows that this occurs once a threshold of body fat is reached
- Fat cells produce leptin that provides the signal to the hypothalamus
- When we reach a % of body fat, it signals a release of our GMRH
- Leptin is the signals produced by fat cells and signals hypothalamus

1st stage of puberty:

- Adrenarche
- Occurs at 6-9 years for girls and 7-10 years for boys
- Dhea hormone is released during this stage

2nd stage of puberty:

- Gonadarche
- Maturation of primary and secondary sex characteristics
- Occurs approximately 2 years after adrenarche
- Breast, hair, period etc.

Puberty Process:

1. Adrencarche (Begins 6-9 for girls or 7-10 for boys)

2. Gonadarche (Begins2 years later)
3. Activation of Hyperthermatic paturity Global (HPG) axis

Asynchronicity: in growth explains gangly looks in early adolescence because

different parts of your body grow at different rates

Females:

- Women born with 400,000 immature eggs in each ovary  this drops to
80,000 by puberty
- Once a girl reaches her first menstrual period (menarche), one egg
develops into a mature egg (ovum) every 28 days
- Females release 400 eggs over their reproductive lives

Males:
 - Males do not have sperm in their testes until they reach puberty
- Sperm production (spermarche) begins on average at 12 years old
- Males produce millions of sperm everyday

Sex Characteristics

Primary Secondary
Boys - Production of sperm - Hair growth
- Development of sex - Skin becomes rougher
organs - Sweat glands produce more
Girls - Production of eggs - Hair growth
- Development of sex - Skin becomes rougher
organs - Sweat glands produce more
- Breast buds

Early Maturation – Girls

- Early maturation effects = negative for girls

- Early maturation in girls results in;
- Depressed mood
- Negative body image
- Eating disorders
- Substance use
- Delinquency
- School problems
- Conflicts with parents
- Physical appearance  tend to be shorter, bigger weight
- Girls that get their period at 12 years or before have a 50% higher chance
of getting ovarian cancer

Late maturation – Girls:

- Can suffer from teasing and negative body image

- However, by their late teens they tend to have a more favourable body
image
- They are more likely to end up with a lean body build  attractive in
western society

Early maturation – Boys:

- Early maturation effects on boys = positive for boys

- Early maturation boys results in;
- A more favourable body image
- Higher popularity
- Picked for leadership
- Better in sport
- More sexual activity
- However they also have negative effects;
- Substance use
- Delinquency (Criminal behaviour)
 - Sex

Late Maturation – Boys

- Show evidence of problems

- They have higher rates of;
- Alcohol/ substance use in late teens and earl 20’s
- Delinquency
- Lower grades
- Deviant behaviour

Adolescent Brain:

- Puberty affects our brain structures

1. Synaptogensis: Proliferation of synapses – connection between brain cells
(great potential for learning)
- Great potential for learning

2. Myelination: insulation around synapses (consolidation of what has been

learnt – increase in efficiency)  occurred early to mid teens
- Speeds up Neuro connection in between brain = more effective curbs
connection in brain plasticity

3. Synaptic pruning: frequently used connections are strengthened and

infrequently used connections are lost
- Everyday activities = better
- Infrequent activity = goes away

Nature vs. Nurture

- Biology (nature) vs. environment (nurture)

- Theory of genotype-environment effects  Both genotype and
environment make essential contributions to human development
- Some are 100% nature and some are 100% nurture
- Environment influences include;
- Parents, upbringing, Judith Harris found that the peer group is the
influence/ key in your values displayed not your parents
- Environment will shape behaviour and which genes are expressed
- Delayed gratification  long term benefit as they wait to get good things

Genotype-Environment interactions

- Genotype-Environment interactions take 3 forms (Passive, evocative and

active)

1. Passive
 - Parents provide genes and environment

2. Evocative
- Persons inherited characteristics evoke response from others in their
environment  fighting

3. Active
- People seek environments that correspond to their genotype
characteristics  Eg. Library

Cultural responses to puberty:

- 68% of cultures have cultural rituals for boys

- 79% for girls

Obesity and Australian Adolescents

- Excess energy intake compared with energy expenditure – eat more,

exercise less
- Social, economic and health impact in excess fast food consumed
- One quarter of adolescents in Australia are overweight
- Obesity in childhood has a connection to obesity in adulthood
- Endocrine disruptors  Stuff up hormones in people that leads to
overproduction of insulin

Key Messages:

1. Adolescence (Cultural construct). Puberty (biological processes)

2. Level body fat is critical in the timing of puberty – Leptin
3. Puberty includes Adrenarche (Initial and invisible) and Gonadarche
(Primary and secondary sex characteristics)
4. Primary sex characteristics are directly related to reproduction;
secondary sex characteristics are not
5. The timing of puberty matters
6. Adolescent brain  proliferation of brain cells to synaptic pruning and
myelination
7. Popular view  genes and the environment work together
8. Obesity is a key issue for educators and schools
Lecture 3 Notes  Cognitive Foundations

Cognition = to think, learn, judge, problem solve

Cognitive psychology = Focuses on internal mental states involved in how

poeple think, perceive, remember and learn

The Brain

- Most complex living organise

- Most protected organ in human body
- fMRI’S (Magnetic imaging technology)  detects the changes in blood
oxygenation and flow in response to neural activity

Development milestones (Maximum brain size)

- Girls 11-12 years

- Boys 14 – 15 years
- Boys generally have larger brains
- BEFORE adolesence  huge over production of brain cells
- AFTER adolescence  pruning of connection sbetween brain cells. It
begins to specalise
- Use it or lose it principle
- Myelination = formation of a fatty sheath around connections between
neurons
- Speeds up processing speed/curbs neural plasticity

The senses

- Touch  important between parents and a child

- Smell  Oldest source of memory – hard wired into social and emotional
senses
- Taste  ¾ of what we taste = from smell detectors
- Visual  Evolved to process visual information better than other
creatures (Occurs in ½ a second)
- Aural  Selective hearing (occurs in 3 seconds)

Short term/ working memory

- Seat of consciousness
- Limited to holding 5-9 elements of information
- Limited to processing 2-4 elements of novel information
- Information is processed using controlled processing
 Effortful
 Slow
 Mistakes
- Limits to how much short term memory can process
- Working memory = information processing centre in the middle of the
brain
- 2 key processes  controlled
Long-term memory

- Unconsciousness
- Unlimited in capacity
- Represents our knowledge base
- Information is processed using automatic processing
 Minimal cognitive burden
 Fast, error free
 Takes time for schemas to become automated
- Long term memory = unlimited
- Knowledge acquired over a life time
- Automated knowledge occurs after good practice
- Cant demonstrate something unless practiced

Schemas

- Schemas = Mental representations of what we have learnt

- Declarative schemas = Factual knowledge
- Procedural schemas = Applying knowledge to perform tasks (Wood work
 takes time to acquire)
- Conditional schemas = Knowing when to apply declarative and procedual
knowledge (Eg. Writing notes in class)
- Cultural schemas = Knowledge shaped by cultural practices (Shaped by
environment grown up in)

Attention

- Our conscious attention is very limited

- Lots for information is registered unconsciously by the brain but is then
discarded quickly
- Selective attention facilitates learning
- Hard to keep students attention
- Cognitive tunnel vision  when everyone focuses on one problem rather
than everyone looking at own issues
Cognitive Load – Any time you need to learn something it imposes cognitive
load on the brain

1. Intrinsic Load = Element 2. Extraneous Load = Wasteful Load

Interactivity
Element = Any piece of information
that needs to be learnt
Low element interactivity =
information can be learnt one element
at a time (Eg. Learning bones in human
body or periodic table)
High element interactivity = Multiple
elements that interact and need to be
learnt simultaneously (Eg. Grammar
from foreign language)
 Caused by poor instruction
Split attention = Leaner needs to
mentally integrate information that is
physically or temporally separate (Eg.
In maths giving a diagram and text 
Split attention = cognitive overload
Redundancy = Two sources of
information conveying the same
information (Eg. Reading word for
word from a PPT)
Advanced Learner Situation =
Providing students with extra
guidance when they already have the
knowledge of solving the problems

Jean Piaget’s Theory

- Genetic epistemology approach

- Observed the behaviour of children
- “We are born into this world with pre-existing schemas”
- Cognitive development occurs in distinct changes
- Each persons cognitive abilities are organised into one coherent mental
structure (schemas)
- The drinking forces behind development from one stage to the next is
maturation
Piagetian Schemes

- Schemes leads to  Assimilation = Occurs when new information is

altered to fit an existing scheme
- Schemes also leads to  Accommodation = Entails changing the scheme
to adapt to the new information (Eg. Breast feeding to bottle feeding = a
challenge to learn for the baby
Piagetian Stages

Stages Age Description

Sensorimotor 0-2 Cognitive development involves learning how
to coordinate activities of the senses with
motor activities
Preoperational 2-7 Capable of representing the world
symbolically (Eg. Language)
Concrete 7 -11 Become more adapt at using mental
operations operations which leads to a more advanced
understanding of the world
Formal 11-15 to 20 - Allows adolescents to reason about
operations more complex tasks and problems
involving multiple variables
- This stage is pivotal in cognitive
development in adolescene
- Involves the ability to think
scientifically and apply those concepts
- Hypothetical deductive reasoning is the
ability to arrive and defend an answer
- Abstract thinking, idealistic thinking
- Eg. Scientists predicting what new
plants look like despite not seeing them

Limitations of Piaget’s Theory

- The “formal operations” stage has been really critiqued

- Big focus on scientific and mathematic reasoning
- Piaget “misjudged” the ages in which people show evidence of
understanding particular concepts
- Knowledge is domain specific
- A lot of Piagets theories and ideas have significant limitations

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

- Theory: Cognitive development is inherently both a social and

cultural process
- Social because  children learn through interactions and require
assistance from others while learning
- Cultural because  what people need to know is determined by the
culture they live in
- Zone of proximal development (Social process of learning)  is the gap
between what adolescents can accomplish alone and what they can
accomplish with a guide beside them (adult, teacher, peer etc)
- Zone of proximal development  Idea we can reach a certain amount of
knowledge on our own and their teacher we can accelerate into the zone
of proximal development
 - Scaffolding (Social process of learning)  The amount of assistance
provided to the adolescent in the zone of proximal development.
Scaffolding should gradually decrease as children become more
competent at a task

Key Ideas:

1. Use empirical evidence to assess educational ideas and be mindful of fads

2. Use it or lose it principle – expose students entering adolescents to as
many learning experiences as possible
3. Be aware of the limitations in sensory and short term/working memory
for dealing with novel information
4. Provide students with time and opportunities to automate their schemas
(spend more time allowing students to develop procedural and
conditional knowledge)
5. There is a distinction between learning (acquiring a schema) and
demonstrating what you have learnt in an effortless manner (automation)
6. Minimise extraneous load (wasteful load) when teaching complex
material (high intrinsic load material)
7. Remove redundant and split attention material
8. Abstract and idealistic thinking are characteristics of adolescent thought
9. Vygotsky guided instruction
10. Peer work can provide a context for peer tutoring in the zone of proximal
development
Lecture 4 Notes  Adolescents at Risk

- Low element task  Only need to process 1 or 2 elements

- High element task  Need to process many more elements. Eg. Learning
another language

Adolescence at risk

- Risk taking increases during puberty

- Peaks in mid adolescence
- Decreases in adulthood – due to jobs and families
- Risk = chance of loss
- Risk taking = chance of loss, but also potential gains
- Eg. Gambling = Risk raking
- In adolescents = highest deaths = motor vehicle accidents and suicide
- Suicide in aboriginal females = 5.9 times higher than non-indigenous
females
- Suicide in aboriginal males = 4.4 times higher

Biological factors

- Risk taking seems to cluster within families (genetics) Eg. Alcohol,

smoking
- Testosterone levels are also associated with risk taking (Hormones)
- Pubertal timing  early maturation associated with risk taking
- Brain development  active reward centres in social emotional system
vs. immature cognitive control system. Affective overdrive  mismatch in
social emotional system
- Brain structure
 Ventral Striratum: Highly salient and associated with rewards
 Orbitofrontal Cortex: Highly salient and associated with rewards
 Oxytocin: Wanting to get peer approval

Psychological factors

- Psychological trait = Consistent pattern of behaviour across various

situations
- Psychological state = Temporary state of mind and temporary behaviour
based on contextual and situational factors
- Sensation seeking = disposition toward novelty and new experiences.
Willing to take risks to obtain those experiences
- External locus of control  Where you can control it
- Internal locus of control  Where you believe what happens due to your
own actions
- Personality trait linked to adolescent risk taking  tend to be positive,
extrovert and happy  this is usually related to testosterone
Social factors (Peers)

- Adolescent risk taking is usually group based

- Driving accidents among adolescents – generally with peers in the car
- Adolescent crime – generally group based vs. adult crime – generally
committed alone
- Peer influence can be through active and passive pathways
- Peers have the strongest impact on peer influence
- Passive pathways are more common than active in looking at when
adolescents take risks
- Cliques = Closley knit peer groups (usually females)
- Networks = Loosely affiliated peer groups (usually males)
- Isolates = friendless
- Females tend to gather in cliques, males in networks
- High quality and negative friendships
- High quality = help adjust to school, enjoy school, keep you in school
- Negative friendships = aggressive, dominative
- Peer groups are bi-selectional

Social Factors (Family)

- Parental warmth, sensitivity, trust, support can act as protective factors

against risk taking
- Parental hostility, aggression and neglect can result in child risk taking
and a range of negative psychological outcomes
- Family also plays a powerful role in social factors (3 types
1. Authoritative and responsive  Better types of parents
2. Authoritative and not responsive  High risk children
3. Neglectful parents  Risk taking children

Social Factors (Community)

- Ecological assets
- Human resources  Youth advocates, principals, sporting stars
- Physical and institutional resources  PCYC, youth clubs, libraries
- Collective resources  Clubs run activities for youth to join in. Eg.
Recreational clubs
- Keep youth from being bored and keep them off the street and out of
trouble

Linking all 3 factors  BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL - Developmental cascades

- Intersection of biological, psychological and social factors overtime

- Dropping out of school can continue to gangs, drug trafficking, crimes,
prison, death etc,.
- Can also be positive factors in linking all 3 factors
- It is very important to foster a sense of belonging in schools as a teacher
- Try your best to keep them IN SCHOOL
GRIP Method (How should I respond to a troubled student?)

1. G  Gather information, look for signs & risk factors, decide if more
support is needed
2. R  Respond: Talk and listen to young person, show empathy, but avoid
taking on counsellor role. Link them to a more professional person
3. I  Involve others, refer to a counsellor, stay in touch, review progress
4. P  Promote positive school environment, tolerance, positive feedback,
teaching style

Stress and coping:

- Street is the BIOPHSYCOSOCIAL response of individuals to perceived

stressors.
- Stressors = circumstances and events that are perceived as threatening
and overwhelming in relation to coping recourses
- Coping = the mobilisation recourses (internal and external) in an effortful
manner to address life’s problems and reduce stress

Females coping to stress

- Talk
- Fatalistic
- Work hard
- Cry
- Worry
- Set out to solve issue
- Blame themselves
- Seek spiritual support
- Seek other’s approval
- Engage in wishful thinking

Males coping to stress:

- Use of humour
- Physical reaction – through sport
- Deny the situation
- Aggressive
- Ignore the problem
- Manage by themselves
- Act out
- Abuse substances

Promoting resilience

- Interest
- Positive and caring communication
- Celebrate achievements
- School providing welfare and counselling services
- Belief in young people
- Involve students in decision making
- Promote participation
 - Help positive thinking and attitudes
- Skills and beliefs related to resourcefulness and adaptively
- Social skills
- Self-esteem  Personal competence and self knowledge

Resilience websites

- Beyond blue
- Butterfly foundation
- Response ability
- Mind matters
- Reach out
- Head space

Key Points

1. Risk taking involves potential positive and negative consequences

2. 4 key biological factors related to adolescent risk taking
a. Genetic factors
b. Hormones
c. Pubertal timing
d. Brain development
3. Sensation seeking is a psychological trait closely associated with risk
taking
4. Social forces associated with risk taking including peer influence, family
influence and societal influence
5. Some researches adopt biopsychosocial approaches  to examine how
biological, psychological and social forces interact overtime
6. The GRIP method is an approach to deal with troubled students
7. Interplay between adversity and protective factors can promote
resilience
Potential Questions:

1. How does an understanding of human memory and cognitive load

affect how you as a high school teacher would construct lessons for a
brand new unit of work? In your answer define key terms, cite
research evidence, and provide detailed examples to illustrate your
arguments

Development milestones (Maximum brain size)

- Girls 11-12 years VS. Boys 14 – 15 years

- BEFORE adolescence  huge over production of brain cells
- AFTER adolescence  pruning of connections between brain cells. It
begins to specialise
- “Use it or lose it principle”
- Myelination = formation of a fatty sheath around connections between
neurons

Short term/ working memory

- Limited to holding 5-9 elements of information

- Limited to processing 2-4 elements of novel information
- Information is processed using controlled processing
 Effortful
 Slow
 Mistakes
- Limits to how much short term memory can process
- Working memory = information processing centre in the middle of the
brain

Long-term memory

- Unconsciousness
- Unlimited in capacity
- Information is processed using automatic processing
 Minimal cognitive burden
 Fast, error free
 Takes time for schemas to become automated
- Automated knowledge occurs after good practice  Cant demonstrate
something unless practiced

Schemas

- Schemas = Mental representations of what we have learnt

- Declarative schemas = Factual knowledge
- Procedural schemas = Applying knowledge to perform tasks (Wood
work  takes time to acquire)
 - Conditional schemas = Knowing when to apply declarative and
procedural knowledge (Eg. Writing notes in class)
- Cultural schemas = Knowledge shaped by cultural practices (Shaped by
environment grown up in)

Attention

- Our conscious attention is very limited

- Lots for information is registered unconsciously by the brain but is then
discarded quickly
- Selective attention facilitates learning
- Hard to keep students attention

Cognitive Load – Any time you need to learn something it imposes cognitive
load on the brain

1. Intrinsic Load = Element 2. Extraneous Load = Wasteful Load

Interactivity
Element = Any piece of information
that needs to be learnt
Low element interactivity =
information can be learnt one element
at a time (Eg. Learning bones in human
body or periodic table)
High element interactivity = Multiple
elements that interact and need to be
learnt simultaneously (Eg. Grammar
from foreign language)
 Caused by poor instruction
Split attention = Leaner needs to
mentally integrate information that is
physically or temporally separate (Eg.
In maths giving a diagram and text 
Split attention = cognitive overload
Redundancy = Two sources of
information conveying the same
information (Eg. Reading word for
word from a PPT)
Advanced Learner Situation =
Providing students with extra
guidance when they already have the
knowledge of solving the problems
 2. Adolescent behaviour and decision-making can vary depending
upon the context. Laurence Steinberg has posited that there is a
difference between ‘Hot Cognitions’ and ‘Cold Cognitions’. Define
each of these concepts; include their possible biological origin and
implications for teaching and teacher relationships with their
students

Laurence Steinberg

- Under certain conditions the socio-emotional centre hijacks the decision

making process
- Risk taking occurs in front of friends most of the time
- Key point: Behaviour of teenagers depend on their context

Cold cognition  Low arousal contexts (Eg. Participating in a problem solving

test as part of chemistry)

Hot cognition  High arousal contexts (Eg. Drag racing in front of peers)

- Adolescent behaviours need to be understood in context

 Adolescents are capable of rational decisions in cold cognition contexts
 Adolescent behaviours and decision-making process change in hot
cognition context when around peers
 3. Adolescence can be a significant period of risk taking. A) Discuss and
provide examples of biological, psychological and social factors that
may influence adolescent risk taking. B) Based on your response to
part (a), provide examples of strategies that may be used to manage
and reduce adolescent risk taking

Adolescence at risk

- Risk taking increases during puberty

- Peaks in mid adolescence
- Decreases in adulthood – due to jobs and families
- Risk = chance of loss
- Risk taking = chance of loss, but also potential gains
- Eg. Gambling = Risk raking
- In adolescents = highest deaths = motor vehicle accidents and suicide
- Suicide in aboriginal females = 5.9 times higher than non-indigenous
females
- Suicide in aboriginal males = 4.4 times higher

Biological factors

- Risk taking seems to cluster within families (genetics) Eg. Alcohol,

smoking
- Testosterone levels are also associated with risk taking (Hormones)
- Pubertal timing  early maturation associated with risk taking
- Brain development  active reward centres in social emotional system
vs. immature cognitive control system. Affective overdrive  mismatch in
social emotional system
- Brain structure
 Ventral Striratum: Highly salient and associated with rewards
 Orbitofrontal Cortex: Highly salient and associated with rewards
 Oxytocin: Wanting to get peer approval

Psychological factors

- Psychological trait = Consistent pattern of behaviour across various

situations
- Psychological state = Temporary state of mind and temporary behaviour
based on contextual and situational factors
- Sensation seeking = disposition toward novelty and new experiences.
Willing to take risks to obtain those experiences
- External locus of control  Where you can control it
- Internal locus of control  Where you believe what happens due to your
own actions
- Personality trait linked to adolescent risk taking  tend to be positive,
extrovert and happy  this is usually related to testosterone

Social factors (Peers)

 - Adolescent risk taking is usually group based
- Driving accidents among adolescents – generally with peers in the car
- Adolescent crime – generally group based vs. adult crime – generally
committed alone
- Peer influence can be through active and passive pathways
- Peers have the strongest impact on peer influence
- Passive pathways are more common than active in looking at when
adolescents take risks
- Cliques = Closley knit peer groups (usually females)
- Networks = Loosely affiliated peer groups (usually males)
- Isolates = friendless
- Females tend to gather in cliques, males in networks
- High quality and negative friendships
- High quality = help adjust to school, enjoy school, keep you in school
- Negative friendships = aggressive, dominative
- Peer groups are bi-selectional

Social Factors (Family)

- Parental warmth, sensitivity, trust, support can act as protective factors

against risk taking
- Parental hostility, aggression and neglect can result in child risk taking
and a range of negative psychological outcomes
- Family also plays a powerful role in social factors (3 types
4. Authoritative and responsive  Better types of parents
5. Authoritative and not responsive  High risk children
6. Neglectful parents  Risk taking children

Social Factors (Community)

- Ecological assets
- Human resources  Youth advocates, principals, sporting stars
- Physical and institutional resources  PCYC, youth clubs, libraries
- Collective resources  Clubs run activities for youth to join in. Eg.
Recreational clubs
- Keep youth from being bored and keep them off the street and out of
trouble

Linking all 3 factors  BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL - Developmental cascades

- Intersection of biological, psychological and social factors overtime

- Dropping out of school can continue to gangs, drug trafficking, crimes,
prison, death etc,.
- Can also be positive factors in linking all 3 factors
- It is very important to foster a sense of belonging in schools as a teacher

GRIP Method (How should I respond to a troubled student?)

5. G  Gather information, look for signs & risk factors, decide if more
support is needed
 6. R  Respond: Talk and listen to young person, show empathy, but avoid
taking on counsellor role. Link them to a more professional person
7. I  Involve others, refer to a counsellor, stay in touch, review progress
8. P  Promote positive school environment, tolerance, positive feedback,
teaching style

Stress and coping:

- Street is the BIOPHSYCOSOCIAL response of individuals to perceived

stressors.
- Stressors = circumstances and events that are perceived as threatening
and overwhelming in relation to coping recourses
- Coping = the mobilisation recourses (internal and external) in an effortful
manner to address life’s problems and reduce stress

Key Points

1. Risk taking involves potential positive and negative consequences

2. 4 key biological factors related to adolescent risk taking
e. Genetic factors
f. Hormones
g. Pubertal timing
h. Brain development
3. Sensation seeking is a psychological trait closely associated with risk
taking
4. Social forces associated with risk taking including peer influence, family
influence and societal influence
5. Some researches adopt biopsychosocial approaches  to examine how
biological, psychological and social forces interact overtime
6. The GRIP method is an approach to deal with troubled students
7. Interplay between adversity and protective factors can promote
resilience
 4. If we adopt Robert Epstein’s view of adolescents, what would be the
implications for adolescents in today’s society? Discuss positive and
negative aspects of Epstien’s ideas and whether you agree or
disagree with his position. Provide evidence and detailed examples
to support your answer.

Robert Epstein:

General Positive Negative

- “Adolescence is - Adolescents are - Teenagers subject
an artificial highly competent to twice as many
extension of  memory and restrictions than
childhood” perceptual ability convicted
- Critical of peaks, intelligence criminals
G.Stanley Hall peaks and ability to - Restrictions have
- Critical of factory acquire new skills the effect of
model of peaks. infantilising and
schooling isolating
(Universal POSITIVE OR teenagers
secondary NEGATIVE? - Infantilising  is
education law) - Robert believes a factor in the
- “Adolescence is that an adolescent trends that we
a cultural should be given the see in
product of same rights as an adolescence
industrial adult (Eg. Marry, - Examples; peak
societies” contracts, own for criminal
property, start own offending,
business) IF psychological
he/she have the conditions begin
ability to pass a and peak in
“Competency test” adolescents,
- Robert believes mortality from
adolescents suicide and
shouldn’t be a conflict with
“transition” period parents
and a child should - There is a
immediately correlation
become an adult between
after a certain age infantilising
teenagers and
psychological
dysfunctions