Chapter 3

Biological Foundations, Puberty, and Health

  1. Heredity influences
  1. How is heredity vs. environment investigated? Twin studies (compare twins with same and different genetic make-up)
  2. hereditability
  3. current view is that environment can restrict or enhance the genetic potential (reaction range) or that people have a genetic propensity to develop in a certain way that is ultimately shaped by the environment
  1. Environmental influences—even the same adolescents in a family do not necessarily share the same "environments"
  1. shared environmental influences (e.g., neighborhood, social class)
  2. nonshared environments (e.g., peer group, unique experiences)
  1. Do adults matter?
  1. Harris (1998) argument in "The Nature Assumption" regarding parents
  2. Coleman’s statements regarding teachers and schooling

 

 

  1. Temperament—behavioral style and characteristic way of responding to environmental stimuli
  1. Chess and Thomas proposed three basic types:

    2. Easy child: positive mood, adapts easily, easily establishes routines

    Difficult child: negative mood, does not adapt easily to new experiences, routines are irregular

    Slow-to-warm-up child: mildly negative, low activity and adaptability, low mood intensity

  2. Children appear to adapt best when there is a match between their temperament and the demands/expectations of the environment (goodness-of-fit-model)

 

  1. Physical growth and puberty

1. what is "puberty"? period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes occurring primarily during the earlier period of adolescence

  1. more apparent for girls (menstruation) than boys
  2. decline is average age of menstruation
  3. great individual variations in puberty (around 5-7 years)

 

2. types of changes

  1. height and weight (skeletal)
  2. sexual maturation and reproductive functions
  3. secondary sex characteristics via hormonal changes
  4. influence of growth on menstruation: nutrition, body mass, and overall health influence time of first and subsequent menstruation
  1. psychological aspects
  1. body image: more negative for females than males throughout puberty
  2. perceptions of menstruation: mostly positive, a few negative aspects
  3. early and late maturation (California and Milwaukee studies)
  1. early maturing girls at risk for a number of problems
  2. more complex for boys: early maturing boys appear to have more positive self-image and other characteristics during the adolescent period but this does not necessarily carry over to the adult years