Q&A Hero

Q: Explore the link between hormones and behavior in adolescence. The influx of hormones that causes physiological changes in adolescence may also contribute to psychological development. In one study of boys and girls ranging in age from 9 to 14, a higher concentration of testosterone was present in boys who rated themselves as more socially competent. However, hormonal effects by themselves do not account for adolescent development. For example, in one study, social factors were much better predictors of young adolescent girls' depression and anger than hormonal factors. Behavior and moods also can affect hormones. Stress, eating patterns, exercise, sexual activity, tension, and depression can activate or suppress various aspects of the hormonal system. In sum, the hormone-behavior link is complex.

Q: Discuss how early or late maturation affects boys and girls.

Q: Why is bulimia often more difficult to detect than anorexia?

Q: What are the characteristics of the formal operational stage? During the formal operational stage, Piaget's fourth stage of cognitive development, thought is more abstract, idealistic, and logical than during the concrete operational stage. An indication of the abstract quality of adolescents' thought is their increased tendency to think about thought itself. Formal operational thought is also full of idealism and possibilities, especially during the beginning of the formal operational stage, when assimilation dominates. Logical thought also increases as is reflected in adolescents' ability to engage in hypothetical-deductive reasoning, which involves creating a hypothesis and deducing its implications, steps that provide ways to test the hypothesis.

Q: Discuss two key components of adolescent egocentrism according to David Elkind. David Elkind points out that adolescent egocentrism has two key componentsthe imaginary audience and personal fable. The imaginary audience is adolescents' belief that others are as interested in them as they themselves are, as well as attention-getting behaviorattempts to be noticed, visible, and "on stage". The personal fable is the part of adolescent egocentrism that involves a sense of uniqueness and invincibility or invulnerability that the adolescent feels, often leading them to engage in risky behavior.

Q: Identify the theorist who suggested that, in the later years of childhood and continuing in adolescence, individuals approach cognitive levels that may or may not be achieved, in contrast to the largely universal cognitive levels that young children attain.

Q: What is the term used to refer to a period of rapid physical maturation, occurring primarily during adolescence, involving hormonal and bodily changes?

Q: What is the term for a girl's first menstruation?

Q: What is the term for an eating disorder that involves the relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation? Anorexia nervosa

Q: What is the term for the belief, reflecting adolescents' egocentrism, that others are as interested in them as they themselves are, as well as attention-getting behaviorattempts to be noticed, visible, and "on stage"?

Q: What is the term for a form of education that promotes social responsibility and service to the community?

Q: Service learning is often more effective when two conditions are met: (1) giving students some degree of choice in the service activities in which they participate, and (2) _____. A. fixing certain minimum levels of compliance B. guiding students in their tasks C. providing students opportunities to reflect about their participation D.

Q: Which famous theorist proposed that adolescence was a turbulent time of "storm-and-stress" in 1904?

Q: Which researcher, in 2003, suggested adolescents have difficulty controlling their emotions because their prefrontal cortex has not yet fully developed. Charles Nelson

Q: Identify the theorist who along with her colleagues conducted extensive research into adolescent sleep patterns, and found that when given the opportunity, adolescents will sleep an average of 9 hours and 25 minutes a night.

Q: Identify the theorist who suggested that adolescent egocentrism is characterized by "the imaginary audience" and the "personal fable."

Q: The lowest school dropout rate in the United States occurred for: A. Latinos. B. Native Americans. C. African Americans. D.

Q: In a study, almost 50 percent of high school dropouts cited _____ reasons for leaving school. A. economic B. peer-related C. school-related D.

Q: Identify a strategy that can help prevent students from dropping out of school. A. Enrolling the students only in a community-based education and reducing parental monitoring. B. Provide early intervention for reading problems C. Facilitating and emphasizing peer learning D.

Q: A dropout prevention program functions by "adopting" entire grades from public elementary schools, or corresponding age cohorts from public housing developments. These children are then provided with a program of academic, social, cultural, and recreational activities throughout their elementary, middle school, and high school years. Identify this program. A. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation program B. The Growing Together program C. "I Have a Dream" (IHAD) program D.

Q: _____ learning is a form of education that promotes social responsibility and service to the community. A. Service B. Social C. Collaborative D.

Q: If _____ are not developed during childhood, critical thinking skills are unlikely to mature in adolescence. A. moral values B. hypothetical-deductive reasoning skills C. formal operations D.

Q: When students make the transition to middle or junior high school, they experience the _____ phenomenon, moving from being the oldest, biggest, and most powerful students in the elementary school to being the youngest, smallest, and least powerful students in the middle or junior high school. A. big-brother B. top-dog C. domino effect D.

Q: The Carnegie Corporation evaluated U.S. middle schools and recommended that: A. smaller "communities" or "houses" should be developed to lessen the impersonal nature of large middle schools. B. schools improve their use of technology, computers, and skills that will be needed in the 21st century. C. schools add more grade levels to encompass a wider age range to reflect differences in adolescent development. D.

Q: Which of the following is a concern related to U.S. high school education? A. High expectations for success B. High standards for learning C. Fostering of passivity in students D.

Q: In the last half of the twentieth century and the first several years of the twenty-first century, U.S. high school dropout rates: A. increased. B. declined. C. remained unchanged. D.

Q: Fifteen-year-old Juanita wants to skip school today because she is having a bad hair day and is convinced that everybody will notice and think badly of her. Which aspect of adolescent egocentrism is Juanita experiencing? A. Personal fable B. Imaginary audience C. Fight-or-flight response D.

Q: Leila, a 14-year-old girl, feels that nobody understands her, especially her parents and teachers. Leila's feelings reflect the _____ aspect of an adolescent's egocentrism. A. personal fable B. imaginary audience C. self-fulfilling prophecy D.

Q: "I know I can handle the car at high speeds much better than others can", says 18-year-old Jake. This reflects the tendency of adolescents to engage in: A. personal fable. B. collective myths. C. imaginary audience. D.

Q: _____ involves being aware that options and alternatives are available and adapting to the situation. A. Transitivity B. Cognitive dissonance C. Cognitive flexibility D.

Q: An aspect of _____ that involves having the confidence in one's ability to adapt one's thinking to a particular situation is important in being cognitively flexible. A. self-esteem B. self-efficacy C. self-concept D.

Q: George wants to ensure that his sons become competent decision makers. Which of the following is a strategy you would suggest for improving their decision making? A. Provide more opportunities for them to engage in role playing and peer group problem solving. B. Encourage the presence of peers in risk-taking situations. C. Supply contexts where substances and other temptations are readily available, testing their willingness to make risky decisions. D.

Q: Who is the founder of the present field of cognitive development? A. Jean Piaget B. Lawrence Kohlberg C. Albert Bandura D.

Q: Adolescent _____ is the heightened self-consciousness of adolescents. A. mirror complex B. ethnocentrism C. solipsism D.

Q: According to David Elkind, personal fable and imaginary audience are parts of adolescent: A. co-rumination. B. expression. C. egocentrism. D.

Q: The _____ is adolescents' belief that others are as interested in them as they themselves are, as well as attention-getting behaviorattempts to be noticed, visible, and "on stage." A. personal fable B. stage fear C. imaginary audience D.

Q: The _____ is the part of adolescent egocentrism involving a sense of uniqueness and invincibility. A. personal fable B. self-fulfilling prophecy C. imaginary audience D.

Q: According to Jean Piaget, around age 11, the fourth stage of cognitive development, the _____ stage, begins. A. concrete operational B. formal operational C. postoperational D.

Q: Which of the following is the final stage of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development? A. Concrete operational stage B. Passive operational stage C. Preconventional reasoning stage D.

Q: The abstract quality of thinking during the _____ stage is evident in the adolescent's verbal problem-solving ability. A. passive operational B. concrete operational C. formal operational D.

Q: During the beginning of the _____ stage, when assimilation dominates, an adolescent's thoughts are full of idealism and possibilities. A. formal operational B. preconventional reasoning C. concrete operational D.

Q: In the formal operational stage, adolescents begin to think more as a scientist thinks, devising plans to solve problems and systematically testing solutions. This type of problem solving requires _____. A. trial-and-error reasoning B. hypothetical-deductive reasoning C. concrete operational reasoning D.

Q: In contrast to Piaget's views, the development of formal operational thinking: A. does not occur during adolescence. B. is promoted by education in the logic of science and mathematics. C. is unaffected by the influence of culture and education. D.

Q: Jordan is very afraid of gaining weight but she cannot control her eating habits. She has been making up for her eating binges by vomiting immediately after a meal or by purging with laxatives. This pattern of behavior has been occurring thrice a week for the past four months. Jordan is most likely suffering from: A. anorexia nervosa. B. bulimia nervosa. C. sickle-cell anemia. D.

Q: Penny has been diagnosed as suffering from bulimia nervosa. It is most likely that she: A. has a positive body image. B. also suffers from anorexia. C. is severely underweight. D.

Q: Approximately _____ percent of U.S. women are estimated to develop bulimia nervosa. A. 1 to 2 B. 5 to 6 C. 10 to 12 D.

Q: Bulimia nervosa typically begins in: A. late adulthood. B. childhood. C. late adolescence or early adulthood. D.

Q: About _____ percent of individuals with bulimia nervosa eventually recover from their disorders. A. 25 B. 40 C. 90 D.

Q: Amanda's mother suffers from anorexia nervosa. Which of the following statements about Amanda is TRUE? A. Amanda is highly likely to have a more positive body-image. B. Amanda is at risk of becoming anorexic herself. C. Amanda is more likely to have healthy eating habits. D.

Q: Anorexic people and bulimic people differ in the: A. severity of their disorders. B. degree of restrictions they place on food intake. C. psychological factors underlying their disorders. D.

Q: Dalia tends to go on eating binges and then purges by self-inducing vomiting or using a laxative. Which of the following conditions does Dalia suffer from? A. Hypochondria B. Anemia C. Anorexia D.

Q: Which of the following is a similarity between anorexics and bulimics? A. They are highly perfectionistic. B. They are severely underweight. C. They have a positive body image. D.

Q: Identify the similarity between anorexics and bulimics. A. They are unconcerned about their weight. B. They are severely underweight. C. They have a distorted body image. D.

Q: The Family Matters program was designed to help families of adolescents to reduce the amount of: A. domestic violence. B. cigarette and alcohol use. C. adolescent pregnancies. D.

Q: Adolescents in the Family Matters program reported: A. no change in alcohol and cigarette use at three months, but a marked decline at one year. B. lower alcohol and cigarette use at three months, but the positive effect seemed to wear off about one year after the program had been completed. C. no change in alcohol use, but a marked decrease in cigarette smoking. D.

Q: Most anorexics are young adult females from: A. middle- and upper-income families. B. poor and working-class families. C. Asian American and African American families. D.

Q: Anorexic people use food as a means of: A. control. B. reward. C. punishment. D.

Q: Jackie, a 15-year-old girl, has been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. It is most likely that Jackie: A. sets very low standards for herself. B. is not very concerned about how others perceive her. C. is competitive and high-achieving. D.

Q: Which of the following is one of the main characteristics that applies to people suffering from anorexia nervosa? A. Precocious puberty in girls B. Amenorrhea in girls who have reached puberty C. Body weight that falls in the 98th percentile of the BMI scale D.

Q: Which of the following characterizes a person suffering from anorexia nervosa? A. A relentless pursuit of weight gain through binge eating B. A positive image of the body shape C. An intense fear of gaining weight that does not decrease with weight loss D.

Q: Based on age of onset, when is anorexia nervosa most likely to begin? A. Childhood B. Late adulthood C. Emerging adulthood D.

Q: Anorexia nervosa is about _____ likely to occur in females than males. A. twice more B. 10 times more C. half as D.

Q: Katie weighs less than 85 percent of what is considered normal for her age and height. Yet, she sees herself as too fat and starves to become thinner. Katie most likely suffers from: A. anorexia nervosa. B. bulimia nervosa. C. sickle-cell anemia. D.

Q: Anorexia and bulimia nervosa affect: A. men and women equally. B. men more than women. C. women more than men. D.

Q: Slightly less than _____ percent of American girls develop anorexia nervosa. A. 1 B. 10 C. 5 D.

Q: Anorexia nervosa is a(n): A. eating disorder that involves a binge-and-purge sequence on a regular basis. B. anxiety disorder whose chief symptom is unrealistic fear of food. C. drug-induced reaction that produces tremors and vomiting. D.

Q: A person suffering from anorexia nervosa would have a weight less than _____ percent of what is considered normal for their age and height. A. 25 B. 60 C. 85 D.

Q: _____ refers to a lack of menstruation in girls who have reached puberty. A. Amenorrhea B. Anemia C. Menarche D.

Q: Which of the following is one of the main characteristics of people suffering from anorexia nervosa? A. Higher than average body weight B. Higher than average height C. A distorted image of the body shape D.

Q: Which of the following qualifies as binge drinking as defined in the University of Michigan surveys? A. Having less than five drinks in the last two weeks. B. Having seven or more drinks in a row in the last two weeks. C. Having less than four drinks in the last week. D.

Q: In the University of Michigan Monitoring the Future Study, _____ percent of high school seniors said they had been in a vehicle with a drugged or drinking driver in the past two weeks. A. 30 B. 70 C. 20 D.

Q: Cigarette smoking among U.S. adolescents: A. peaked in 2005 and has gradually declined since then. B. has been increasing every year. C. peaked in 1996 and has gradually declined since then. D.

Q: Bill wants to know how he can prevent drug abuse by his adolescent son. You would suggest that Bill: A. have family dinners most nights of the week. B. discourage his son from making more friends at school. C. engage in lesser parental monitoring and control. D.

Q: Recent research revealed that _____ parenting was linked to lower adolescent alcohol consumption. A. authoritarian B. authoritative C. neglectful D.

Q: According to a recent large-scale study of eighth- and tenth-graders, amongst the various risk factors, which of the following is the strongest predictor of substance abuse? A. Monitoring in schools B. Genetic predisposition C. Ethnicity D.

Q: In which of the following groups is death through homicide especially common in adolescence? A. African American males B. Latino males C. Non-Latino White American males D.

Q: According to the study by Lloyd Johnston and his colleagues at the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan monitoring the drug use of America's high school seniors in a wide range of public and private high schools, the percentage of illicit drug use: A. declined in the late 1990s. B. was highest during the early 1990s. C. has been at the same level since 1990. D.

Q: _____ is the illicit drug most widely used in the United States, and its use by adolescents increased from 2008 to 2013. A. Heroin B. Cocaine C. Marijuana D.

Q: Adolescent use of alcohol has recently shown a(n) _____. A. insignificant change B. sizeable decline C. mild increase D.

Q: Which of the following has been found to be TRUE about binge drinking? A. Binge drinking has declined among high school seniors since 1980. B. Binge drinking has increased for students in the eighth grade in recent years. C. Binge drinking has increased for students in the tenth grade in recent years. D.