Cognitive Psychology in Development of Adolescence and Early Adulthood Stages - Case Study Example

Cognitive psychology in development of adolescence and early adulthood stages. Name: Affiliate Institution: Abstract Stages in life, psychology and brain development all play a vital role in human beings. All aspects of life and behavior change are in one way or another controlled by the brain. The communication between this components is inter-related and they function hand in hand. At the adolescence stage, children undergo a transition period which in turn lead them to want decide their own things which in most cases their decisions mess up with them. This work focuses in a girl named Sarah aged 15 and her mother Abigail who both have different stands in their perspective of dating. All this are as a result of psychological and brain development between the two as they grow day by day. Cognitive psychology in development of adolescence and early adulthood stages Introduction Cognitive psychology is the study of how people view and analyze an information through their critical thinking from the unconscious mind to conscious mind (Santrock, 2012). Adolescence refers to stage in life between the age brackets of 13-20 years. It is characterized by various hormonal and physical changes as discussed later in this text. Early adulthood is the stage right after the adolescence stage and last up to 40 year-old men and women. A stage where the individuals mostly think of how to start up their families (Peterson, 2013). During adolescence stage of life, youths tends to prioritize their needs for self-actualization and need for self-fulfillment which in most cases are opposed by their parents who are more concerned about their safety and security needs. Most parents do not bother much about their children sexual feelings and their need to achieve what they opt to. (Self-actualization) (Berk, 2007). Due to the above instance, most adolescence teens tend to feel disrespected and underrated. This leads to most of them landing into their ideas by force and in most cases without parent’s knowledge. The parents may also hid some bit of their information for instance, their inherited characteristics. In our case we are going to focus in a girl Sarah and her mother where the relationship between the two is no longer stable due to their difference in mindset and stages in life development (Berk, 2001). Sarah has declared that she is in love and wants by all means to get into what she wants. That is to engage into a relationship with his twenty-year-old man. The mother is against this idea. Furthermore she suffers from OCD condition which according to research can be inherited (Simpkins, 2013). With this she wants in to be within herself and not disclosed to the daughter. The adolescence girl cares much about fulfilling her needs and wants since she wants to live in present as her fellow teens. Contrary, her mother is too much concerned about the security and safety of her daughter and believes that if she becomes stricter for her expectation is Sarah to be a responsible girl. Furthermore, she believes Sarah is in the most dangerous stage of life and that is why she assumes her daughter's emotion and feelings (Berk, 2007). Contrast the characteristics between an adolescent and adult thought, with reference to brain development A theory Expectancy value by Victor H, Vroom (1964) pictures out the mindset of Sarah who is more into achieving her desired goals (Thies and Travers, 2008). This leads to her sudden change in behavior where we see her learning a new approach of meeting with her man. This is by sneaking out and assuming the perception her mother has towards this. Sarah is a self-actualized individual, according to Carl Rogers, who is a strong believer of herself and works hard to ensure whatever motivates her, is achieved. By declaring that she is in love, this characteristic is described vividly as the relationship between her and the mother has become more and more strained. She as well develops a character trait of being rebellious (Karpov, 2003). All this is in the struggle of her reaching and attaining what she sees right on her side because she sees herself mature but the mother who at her age is categorized into the young adulthood group has an opposite view of the same. According to Carl Rogers, the characteristic of fulfilled life does explain why Sarah may desire to be a happy and fully contented in life. This will always trigger her to venture to new challenges and approaches which may help her to attain her thoughts. This will openly apply in adolescence youths (Santrock, 2012). On the other hand, Abigail, as a parent who is in a state where the major and important brain development has taken place. She is now capable of applying and wisely uses her knowledge and critically advised her daughter Sarah with basis of valid analysis. As a result, she is able to employ and synthesize any disturbing situations and arguments. To wrap up this, we see Sarah's thoughts are right dictated by her ego while the mother bases her thoughts critically on the situation at hand (Thies and Travers, 2008). The difference in thinking explains why Sarah and Abigail have diverse point of view when it comes to Sarah’s pursuit to fulfill her sexual desires. Changes in cognitive abilities throughout adulthood The study of how people view and analyze an information in other terms cognitive psychology helps us to understand why Sarah has set her mind to believe that her mother is up to “it is all downhill mentally.” As an adult, Abigail, Sarah's mother, had underwent through various developmental changes, like the development in the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex of the brain (Berk, 2001). This are the crucial areas where localization for several decision making processes like Judging, planning and speaking about her daughter's future life. The growth of the Brain in the area described above finalizes as an individual reaches the age brackets of early 20's (Simpkins, 2013). In addition to that, there is a significant difference when it comes to how an adolescence girl perceives a scenario as compared to an adult. An adult is more flexible in thinking sequence and understanding more complicated opinions on issues at hand. To add on this, she totally has a difference approach when it comes to tackle a problem in subject. This argument relates closely to a psychological study done by Jean Piaget in the years (1896-1980). Abigail is able to employ and synthesize multiple contradicting cases and arguments. Therefore, she tries to shape her family, her daughter in this case, to become a well-functioning individual. Sarah on her side focuses on what is possible at the moment only to achieve her independence and self-comfort. She forgoes the idea of finding the absolute truth in regards to the matter at hand. It due to this reason that she refers to her mother as “downhill mentally”. The hormonal changes taking place as Sarah moves through adolescence (Newman, 2014). Puberty refers to the sequence of events resulting to occurrence in physical body changes. This marks the welcoming of the adult physical characteristics and ability to reproduce. These changes are initiated by imbalance of homeostatic hormonal levels in the body. The hypothalamus gland starts to release frequently large amount of steroids, also known as sex hormone, which include progesterone and oestrogen. The gonadotrophin hormone triggers the pituitary gland to releases luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) (Boyd et al., 2016). Luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormones brings about physical changes in an adolescent teen (Heckhausen et al., 2010). As Sarah continues to grow, there is increased production of sex hormones which leads to maturation of her reproductive organs like the breasts, ovaries, uterus, and vagina. This triggers her mind to be more into the relationship affair with her man. The changes modifies her behaviors which brings about a major challenge of “the ego identity and self-actualization” According to Erick Erickson (Payne and Isaacs, 2016). As a result of this challenge, Sarah will tend to follow what she thinks is right. To take care of this, she tries to sneak and maintaining her goal dating with his man since she feels she can do her own judgment and when stopped, she tries to rebel against her mother by sneaking to go and see her man. Failure to achieve the above challenge, Sarah may suffer from “role diffusion” where she will keep moving from one role to another so as to make her feel accepted by the environment (Haywood and Getchell, 2009). The reason why Abigail does not want Sarah to take a genetic test for the mutation in the SLC1A1 OCD is a medical condition that affects one from childhood throughout her life span. The genetic study shows the evidence of how mutation in genes is related to its etiology. Any variation in either the internal or the external environmental factors greatly contributes to the mutation in genes as a person grows. The role of heredity when it comes to the development of OCD influences a person’s behavior (Rogers, 1856). Characteristics that a child inherits genetically from parents refer to nature, while the external behaviors acquired refer to nurture. The nature and environmental factors do take part in growth. For a normal growth of the child, the above factors have to be in their optimal state (Karpov, 2003). Emotional bond between Abigail and Sarah does bothers the latter so much that she does not want Sarah to take the test. From the time of birth, the various emotional environment Sarah has experience and observations have shaped her thought and the personality she has. Keeping in mind her age and the stage that she is, Sarah has already learned how to interact with those who are close to her. Yes, she has an idea of the genetic mutation in the SLC1A1 gene and OCD but she is not sure if her daughter Sarah suffers from the same condition, she wants to keep that confidential to herself. Conclusion With the inheritance capability, the mother tries to prevent her from knowing her status as it may interfere with her personality and decision making. Researchers have emphasized on the development of life in all stages compared to a plastic. As a matter of fact, he may use it as an advantage on her side not to side with her mother in most discussions they may have. This will bring conflict and serious collision between them. References Berk, L. (2001). Development through the lifespan. Pearson Education India. Karpov, Y. V. (2003). Development through the lifespan: A neo-Vygotskian approach. Simpkins, C. A., & Simpkins, A. M. (2013). Brain development through the life span. In Neuroscience for Clinicians (pp. 151-164). Springer New York. Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2014). Development through life: A psychosocial approach. Cengage Learning. Santrock, J. (2012). Lifespan Developmental Psychology. Psychology. Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C., & Schulz, R. (2010). A motivational theory of life-span development. Psychological review, 117(1), 32. Peterson, C. C. (2013). Looking forward through the lifespan: developmental psychology. Pearson Higher Education AU. Boyd, D. R., Bee, H. L., & Johnson, P. A. (2006). Lifespan development. Pearson/A and B. Thies, K. M., & Travers, J. F. (2008). Quick look nursing: growth and development through the lifespan. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Berk, L. E. (2007). Development through the lifespan, 4/E. Pearson, Boston, MA, ISBN: 0-205-49125-1, 24, 25. Payne, V. G., & Isaacs, L. D. (2016). Human motor development: A lifespan approach. Routledge. Haywood, K., & Getchell, N. (2009). Life span motor development. Human Kinetics. Rogers, C. R. (1956). Client centered theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 3(2), 115. Read More