Psychology 250 Exam 3 Vocab

Front 1

Puberty

Back 1

The hormonal and physical changes by which children become sexually mature human beings

Front 2

Puberty rite

Back 2

A "coming of age" ritual, usually beginning at some event such as first menstruation, held in traditional cultures to celebrate children's transition to adulthood

Front 3

Secular trend in puberty

Back 3

A century-long decline in the average age at which children reach puberty in the developed world

Front 4

Menarche

Back 4

A girl's first menstruation

Front 5

Spermarche

Back 5

A boy's first ejaculation of live sperm

Front 6

Adrenal androgens

Back 6

Hormones produced by the adrenal glands that program various aspects of puberty, such as growth of body hair, skin changes, and sexual desire

Front 7

HPG axis

Back 7

The main hormonal system programming puberty; it involves a triggering hypothalamic hormone that causes the pituitary to secret its hormones, which in turn cause the ovaries and testes to develop and secrete the hormones that produce the major body changes

Front 8

Gonads

Back 8

The sex organs - the ovaries in girls and the testes in boys

Front 9

Testosterone

Back 9

The hormone responsible for the maturation of the organs of reproduction and other signs of puberty in men, and for hair and skin changes during puberty and for sexual desire in both sexes

Front 10

Primary sexual characteristics

Back 10

Physical changes of puberty that directly involve the organs of reproduction, such as the growth of the penis and the onset of menstruation

Front 11

Secondary sexual characteristics

Back 11

Physical changes of puberty that are not directly involved in reproduction

Front 12

Growth spurt

Back 12

A dramatic increase in height and weight that occurs during puberty

Front 13

Bulimia nervosa

Back 13

An eating disorder characterized by cycles of bingeing and purging (by inducing vomiting or taking laxatives) in an obsessive attempt to lose weight

Front 14

Eating disorder

Back 14

A pathological obsession with getting and staying thin. The two best-known eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

Front 15

Anorexia nervosa

Back 15

A potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by pathological dieting (resulting in sever weight loss and extreme thinness) and by a distorted body image

Front 16

Sexual double standard

Back 16

A cultural code that gives men greater sexual freedom than women. Specifically, society expects males to want to have intercourse and expects females to remain virgins until they marry and to be more interested in relationships than in having sex

Front 17

"Storm and Stress"

Back 17

G. Stanley Hall's phrase for the intense moodiness, emotional sensitivity, and risk-taking tendencies that characterize the life stage he labeled adolescence

Front 18

Formal operational stage

Back 18

Jean Piaget's fourth and final stage of cognitive development, reached at around age 12 and characterized by teenagers' ability to reason at an abstract, scientific level

Front 19

Preconventional level of morality

Back 19

In Lawrence Kohlberg's theory, the lowest level of moral reasoning, in which people approach ethical issues by considering the personal punishments or rewards of taking a particular action

Front 20

Conventional level of morality

Back 20

In Lawrence Kohlberg's theory, the intermediate level of moral reasoning, in which people respond to ethical issues by considering the need to uphold social norms

Front 21

Postconventional level of morality

Back 21

In Lawrence Kohlberg's theory, the highest level of moral reasoning, in which people respond to ethical issues by applying their own moral guidelines apart from society's rules

Front 22

Adolescent egocentrism

Back 22

David Elkind's term for the tendency of young teenagers to feel that their actions are at the center of everyone else's consciousness

Front 23

Imaginary audience

Back 23

David Elkind's term for the tendency of young teenagers to feel that everyone is watching their every action; a component of adolescent egocentrism

Front 24

Personal fable

Back 24

David Elkind's term for the tendency of young teenagers to believe that their lives are special and heroic; a component of adolescent egocentrism

Front 25

Experience-sampling technique

Back 25

A research procedure designed to capture moment-to-moment experiences by having a people carry pagers and take notes describing their activities and emotions whenever the signal sounds

Front 26

Nonsuicidal self-injury

Back 26

Cutting, burning, or purposely injuring one's body to cope with stress

Front 27

Adolescence-limited turnoff

Back 27

Antisocial behavior that, for most teens, is specific to adolescence and does not persist into adult life.

Front 28

Life-course difficulties

Back 28

Antisocial behavior that, for a fraction of adolescents, persists into adult life.

Front 29

Youth development program

Back 29

Any after-school program, or structured activity outside of the school day, that is devoted to promoting flourishing in teenagers

Front 30

Clique

Back 30

A small peer group composed of roughly six teenagers who have similar attitudes and who share activities

Front 31

Crowd

Back 31

A relatively large teenage peer group

Front 32

Deviancy training

Back 32

Socialization of a young teenager into delinquency through conversations centered on performing antisocial acts

Front 33

Gang

Back 33

A close-knit, delinquent peer group. Gangs form mainly under conditions of economic deprivation; they offer their members protection from harm and engage in a variety of criminal activities

Front 34

Emerging adulthood

Back 34

The phase of life that begins after high school, tapers off toward the late twenties, and is devoted to constructing an adult life

Front 35

Role

Back 35

The characteristic behavior that is expected of a person in a particular social position, such as student, parent, married person, worker, or retiree

Front 36

Cohabitation

Back 36

Sharing a household in an unmarried romantic relationship

Front 37

Nest-leaving

Back 37

Moving out of a childhood home and living independently