When transitioning from an adolescent to an adult, one will undergo drastic changes that allow room for the challenges and responsibilities ahead. For example, one of the largest cognitive changes that takes place in this period is the enlarging of the prefrontal cortex. This brain structure functions in decision-making, which is an essential criterion of entering adulthood. Another cognitive difference seen between adolescents and young adults is the brain's activation of the limbic system, an area that functions more towards the emotional and social sides of cognition. The overuse of this brain area during adolescence is linked with insecurities and often socioemotional distress; however, as one matures into adulthood they tend to outgrow these thought processes and develop a better sense of higher-ordered thinking.
Margaret Mead (1891-1978): in her Cultural Anthropology and Adolescence gave much insight into perspectives on adolescent development in a cultural context. Colemen (1978). Adolescents seem to represent a series of smoothly evolving changes in development. View of author clarifies that the stresses in adolescence do not occur at same time. Rather they deal with one or two stressful events.
Knowing how the different areas of development are dependent on each other helps us to better understand the holistic development of the child. Some of the ways which social and emotional development affect other areas of development are: Having strong gross motor and fine motor skills can help a child to interact and build relationships. Children build relationships and start friendships through play. Some of the skills that can help a child in these situations are running and jumping. Children also need certain skills to adapt to their social environment.
According to the dictionary; Random house, Inc. (2014), adolescence is defined as “the process or state of growing to maturity.” This is a phase where a child is changing into an adult. This particular transition is very stressful as it is filled with a large amount of changes in puberty, sexuality development, cognitive transition (where they learn to think in an advanced way), emotional feelings, as well as, social transition; which is the kind of relationships they will have with those around them. This phase of developing from a child to an adult varies through the ages of 12-24 years old. During this period, the youth’s need for being independent, as well as, trying to discover their self-identity will increase which will make it harder for the parents to cope. Some adolescents will be trying out drugs, alcohol as well as sexuality that may be from peer-pressure, as during this time, their appearance will be taken special notice of.
In studying adolescent development, adolescence can be defined biologically, as the physical transition marked by the onset of puberty and the termination of physical growth; cognitively, as changes in the ability to think abstractly and multi-dimensionally; or socially, as a period of preparation for adult roles. Cognitive advances encompass both increases in knowledge and in the ability to think abstractly and to reason more effectively. Developmental psychologists might focus on changes in relations with parents and peers as a function of school structure and pubertal status.Therefore, as adolescents grow in maturity they also learn how to regulate their emotions which has positive and negative effects on relationship with family and friends. (a textbook of child psychology virender kumar 2012). As adolescents acquire greater conceptual complexity and participated in more varied social relationship, they begin to be able to assume an adult perspective in problem solving and decision making.
The brain undergoes quite substantial developments in early adolescence, which affect emotional skills as well as physical and mental abilities. It is the period when gender norms are either solidified, rejected or transformed. As adolescent girls and boys grow, they take on additional responsibilities, experiment with new ways of doing things and push for independence. It is times in which values and skills are developed that have great impact on well-being. Key developmental experiences The process of adolescence is a period of preparation for adulthood during which time several
Larson & Richards (1994) stated that adolescence has more to do with cognitive and environment factors and less to do with puberty. When it comes to cognitive development, it is different in the age group of 12 – 18 (period that falls under the larger period of adolescence) and different in the age group of 6 – 12. The former age group is more likely to make complex decisions and is faced with more choices – half of which he may not have permission to make or knowledge to carry out. This is one of the many reasons this age group suffers from ‘storm and stress’. But the same factors that cause some children distress is also what develops their
The attainment of old age is final stage of normal life span. Acceptance of old age within the family is questionable in developing country like India owing to urbanization, industrialization and globalization in the fast world. Breakage in the family system is often seen. As per the 1991 census, the population of the elderly in India was 57 million as compared with 20 million in 1951. There has been a sharp increase in the number of elderly persons between 1991 and 2001 and it has been projected that by the year 2050, the number of elderly people would rise to about 324 million.
Adolescence or teenage can be defined as a period of transition from childhood to adulthood. It is a phase of challenging social and biological development. Adolescence is a stage of complete transition where teenagers develop advanced reasoning skills, abstract thinking skills, establish an identity, become comfortable with one’s sexuality and establish intimacy. Out of all the stages of human development, adolescence has a special role in shaping a person’s personality and how they turn out to be as adults. Teenagers have a different concept of self in this phase of development.
Introduction India is the second majority populous nation in the world with total population of over 1.221 billion according to 2011 census. Adolescents form a large section of population, about more than 243 million. Adolescent has been defined by World Health Organization as the period of life spanning between 10-19 years. Adolescence are no longer children, but not yet adults. They have got disadvantages.