Developmental Psychology

•parts of the body directly involved in reproduction –reproductive organs, including vagina, penis, uterus, ovaries, etc

•body characteristics not directly involved in reproduction but that indicate sexual maturity –Pubic hair, Women’s breasts, Men’s beards
•The process takes about 4 years and begins about 2 years earlier for girls than for boys

9 or 10 years of age
achieve sexual maturation at 13 or 14

12
sexual maturity - 14

A lowering of the age when puberty begins and young people reach adult height and sexual maturity

•A secular trend is a trend that only can be seen by observing several generations •This secular trend began about 100 years ago and has occurred in the U.S., western Europe, and Japan •Most obvious explanation for the secular trend is a higher standard of living

•Early maturing boys have been found to be more poised, relaxed, good-natured, popular with peers, and likely to be leaders –some studies have found them to be more worried about being liked, more cautious, and more bound by rules

•Late maturing boys have been found to feel more inadequate, rejected, and dominated; to be more dependent, more aggressive, and insecure •Boys tend to prefer to mature early rather than late

•Girls tend not to like maturing early •Early maturing girls tend to be less sociable, expressive, and poised, more introverted and shy, and more negative about menarche, more apt to have poor body image and lower self-esteem

Age 12: girls higher
age 14: girls twice as high as boys

•Defined medically as a loss of at least 15% to 20% of ideal body weight –not due to any detectable illness •The American Psychiatric Association includes as criteria –intense fear of gaining weight –disturbance in body image –significant weight loss

žInvolves: — recurrent episodes of binge eating —feeling of lack of control over eating behavior —regular episodes of self-induced vomiting

•Dehydration •constipation •abnormal heartbeat, atrial flutter, fibrilation •increases susceptibility to cold •menstrual irregularities •abdominal distention •excessive weight fluctuations

–the majority of older people who, regardless of their chronological age, are vital, vigorous, and active

–is the frail, infirm minority of older adults

Age 85

• –the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population
• Because of men’s lower life expectancy, there are only 38.6 men for every 100 women aged 85 and older in the U.S. today
• Older women are three times more likely than men to be poor