Question

hello can you pls help me to solve these questions ??

1. What is meant by the idea that adolescence is a “social construction”?

2. What do Albert, Chein, and Steinberg mean by the idea that peer presence accentuates risk decision making in adolescence?

3. how would you characterize the neurological underpinnings of adolescence?

Answer 1

1)Adolescence is the perfect example of our modern societies ‘social construction’. A social construct is a sociological theory based upon categorised groups in modernised cultures, devised by social constructionists who view knowledge of reality as ‘established’. Adolescence was invented because of these social constructions in westernised cultures which depend entirely on the society.

2)It is well-established that adolescents are more likely than children or adults to take risks, as evinced by elevated rates of experimentation with alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, unprotected sexual activity, violent and nonviolent crime, and reckless driving.Early research efforts to identify the distinguishing cognitive immaturity underlying adolescents’ heightened risk-taking propensity bore little fruit. A litany of carefully controlled laboratory experiments contrasted adolescent and adult capacities to perceive and process fundamental components of risk information, but found that adolescents possess the knowledge, values, and processing efficiency to evaluate risky decisions as competently as adults do.

3)A human brain is not fully developed when a person reaches puberty, but although the brain doesn’t grow much in absolute size during adolescence, it does change rapidly. Neurons that are not being used are ‘pruned’, while others that are actively used grow a fatty sheath (are ‘myelinated’) so that they can conduct very rapidly.The limbic system and amygdala, which are situated deep inside the brain, are very important for emotions and ‘rewards’. These develop relatively early, whereas the frontal lobe of the brain, which is situated just behind the forehead, is particularly important for executive functioning, which includes planning ahead, reasoning, considered decision-making and self-discipline. It is one of the last areas to mature, and is not fully mature until at least 25 years of age. This may explain why adolescents and young people tend to take risks and are prone to ‘hot cognitions’, making decisions rooted in emotions and experiences rather than logical reasoning.