| 1. Describe the Historical Perspective of Adolescence |
| | 1.1. Early History |
| | | 1.1.1. Compare and contrast Plato's and Aristotle's respective views of adolescence. |
| | | 1.1.2. In which ways are the views regarding adolescence expressed by Plato and Jean-Jacques Rousseau similar? |
| | 1.2. The Twentieth Century |
| | | 1.2.1. What was the driving force behind the changing views of adolescence that emerged between 1890 and 1920? |
| | | 1.2.2. What factors led historians to label G. Stanley Hall the "father of the scientific study of adolescence"? |
| | | 1.2.3. What was Hall's storm-and-stress view concept of adolescence? |
| | | 1.2.4. In what ways were Hall's views similar to those of Charles Darwin? |
| | | 1.2.5. Why was Margaret Mead's sociocultural view of adolescence considered path breaking in the early 1900s? |
| | | 1.2.6. What factors have led to a debate over the accuracy of Mead's findings? |
| | | 1.2.7. What is the inventionist view of adolescence? |
| | | 1.2.8. How are schools, work, and economics important dimensions of the inventionist view? |
| | | 1.2.9. Why do historians call the period of 1890 to 1920 the "age of adolescence?" |
| | | 1.2.10. Why do some historians suggest that changing laws, in effect, created adolescence? |
| | | 1.2.11. What factors combined in the 1960s and 1970s to challenge the position of prominence achieved by adolescents in the 1950s? |
| | | 1.2.12. Is life different for an adolescent in 1920 as opposed to 1970? |
| | | 1.2.13. What females and individuals from ethnic minorities have contributed to the study of adolescents? |
| | 1.3. Stereotyping of Adolescents |
| | | 1.3.1. What is a stereotype, and what are the contemporary stereotypes of adolescence? |
| | | 1.3.2. What is the purpose served by a stereotype? |
| | | 1.3.3. What did Joseph Adelson mean by the adolescent generalization gap? |
| | 1.4. A Positive View of Adolescence |
| | | 1.4.1. In what way did research by Daniel Offer and his colleagues challenge existing stereotypes of adolescence? |
| | | 1.4.2. Do adolescents deserve the negative portrayal they get in the media today? Support your answer with information from the book and your own experience. |
| | | 1.4.3. How has the study of human experience changed its focus and emphasis in the 21st century? |
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| 2. Discuss Today's U. S. Adolescents and Social Policy Issues Involving Adolescents |
| | 2.1. Current Status of U. S. Adolescents |
| | | 2.1.1. Why is today both the best of times and the worst of times for U.S. adolescents? |
| | | 2.1.2. How would you compare the current status of U.S. adolescents and public attitudes toward them with that of adolescents of several decades ago? |
| | | 2.1.3. What differences in development among U.S. adolescents render them a heterogeneous group? |
| | 2.2. Social Contexts |
| | | 2.2.1. How do contexts of development influence adolescent development? |
| | | 2.2.2. What are the sociocultural contexts of development? |
| | | 2.2.3. How is the social context changing for U.S. adolescents? |
| | 2.3. Social Policy and Adolescent Development |
| | | 2.3.1. What is a social policy, and why do we need one that is concerned with adolescent development? |
| | | 2.3.2. According to Marian Wright Edelman how are today's politicians falling short in practicing what they preach, i.e., "family values?" |
| | | 2.3.3. What is Peter Benson's concern about social policies in America and why? |
| | | 2.3.4. What is generational inequity and how does it relate to social policy issues? |
| | | 2.3.5. In what ways are future generations more likely to be challenged by generational inequality? |
| | | 2.3.6. Why should the well being of adolescents be one of America's foremost concerns? |
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| 3. Characterize the Current Global Perspective on Adolescence |
| | | 3.1.1. Identify the causes and describe the characteristics of the global youth culture. |
| | | 3.1.2. How do adolescents around the world differ from U.S. adolescents? |
| | | 3.1.3. Characterize worldwide changes in adolescent health and well-being. |
| | | 3.1.4. How are experiences of adolescent males and adolescent females different around the world? |
| | | 3.1.5. Describe different family and kinship networks around the world, and discuss how these are changing. |
| | | 3.1.6. Characterize school experiences of adolescents in different part of the world. |
| | | 3.1.7. Describe how roles of peers vary in different cultures. |
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| 4. Summarize the Developmental Processes, Periods, Transitions, and Issues Related to Adolescence |
| | 4.1. Processes and Periods |
| | | 4.1.1. What do we mean when we speak of an individual's development? |
| | | 4.1.2. What are the three major processes that shape adolescent development? |
| | | 4.1.3. Differentiate between biological processes, cognitive processes, and socioemotional processes and their roles in adolescent development? |
| | | 4.1.4. What are the three major developmental periods and their subperiods from conception to death? |
| | | 4.1.5. What are the four (4) periods of childhood development? |
| | | 4.1.6. Why would it be inappropriate to suggest that a child enters adolescence as a blank slate? |
| | | 4.1.7. What is adolescence and what are its two periods? |
| | | 4.1.8. Why do developmentalists no longer believe that change ends with adolescence? |
| | | 4.1.9. How do cultural and gender differences impact when children enter adolescence? |
| | | 4.1.10. What are the three (3) periods of adult development? |
| | 4.2. Developmental Transitions |
| | | 4.2.1. What is meant by the saying, "Adolescence begins in biology and ends in culture?" |
| | | 4.2.2. What are some biological changes associated with adolescence? |
| | | 4.2.3. What transitional period was Kenniston referring to when he proposed the term youth? |
| | | 4.2.4. Contrast youth and emerging adulthood. |
| | | 4.2.5. Discuss what makes a person an adult and when does it happen? |
| | | 4.2.6. How does context influence the transition from adolescence to adulthood? |
| | 4.3. Developmental Issues |
| | | 4.3.1. What are the three major issues of adolescent development? |
| | | 4.3.2. What is the nature-nurture issue, and how is it relevant to the concept of maturation and experience? |
| | | 4.3.3. Contrast the views of nature proponents with those of nurture proponents? |
| | | 4.3.4. Differentiate between continuity of development and discontinuity of development? |
| | | 4.3.5. What are the main issues in early-later experience debate? |
| | | 4.3.6. Contrast early-experience doctrine with later-experience doctrine. |
| | | 4.3.7. What recent changes in the choices being made by young women are reflective of the role nurture plays? |
| | | 4.3.8. Why do developmentalists usually refrain from taking extreme positions on developmental issues? |
