| 1. Discuss the Determinants, Characteristics, and Timing of Puberty |
| | 1.1. Determinants of Puberty |
| | | 1.1.1. What is puberty? |
| | | 1.1.2. What role does heredity play in puberty? |
| | | 1.1.3. What are hormones, and what is their role in puberty? |
| | | 1.1.4. What are the two classes of sex hormones? |
| | | 1.1.5. What is testosterone, and what role does it play in male development and behavior? |
| | | 1.1.6. What is estradiol, and what is its role in female development? |
| | | 1.1.7. What is the role of the endocrine system in puberty? |
| | | 1.1.8. What are the different endocrine glands, and what are their functions? |
| | | 1.1.9. How does the endocrine system work? |
| | | 1.1.10. How does the negative feedback system work? |
| | | 1.1.11. What are the functions of luteinizing hormone (LH)? |
| | | 1.1.12. What are the functions of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)? |
| | | 1.1.13. What are the functions on gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)? |
| | | 1.1.14. What is the role of growth hormone? |
| | | 1.1.15. What are the two phases of puberty that are linked with hormonal changes? |
| | | 1.1.16. What are menarche and spermarche? |
| | | 1.1.17. How do weight and body fat affect the course of puberty? |
| | | 1.1.18. What is the role of leptin in the onset of puberty? |
| | 1.2. Growth Spurt |
| | | 1.2.1. At what age do growth spurts typically occur for girls and boys? |
| | | 1.2.2. What physical changes coincide with the growth spurt in girls and in boys? |
| | 1.3. Sexual Maturation |
| | | 1.3.1. What is the order and average timing of physical changes during sexual maturation for boys and for girls? |
| | 1.4. Secular Trends in Puberty |
| | | 1.4.1. What does the term secular trends refer to? |
| | | 1.4.2. What are likely contributors to the earlier onset of puberty today? |
| | 1.5. Psychological Dimensions |
| | | 1.5.1. What accounts for adolescent preoccupation with their bodies? |
| | | 1.5.2. What are some gender differences in adolescents' perception of their bodies? |
| | | 1.5.3. How do hormones affect behavior in adolescents? |
| | | 1.5.4. What factors interact with hormones to affect adolescents' behavior? |
| | | 1.5.5. What is the typical reaction of young girls to menarche? |
| | | 1.5.6. What effect does early or late maturation have on a developing boys and girls? |
| | | 1.5.7. Are the effects of puberty exaggerated? |
| | 1.6. Pubertal Timing and Health Care |
| | | 1.6.1. What can be done to help off-time maturers who are at risk for health problems? |
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| 2. Describe the Developmental Changes in the Brain during Adolescence |
| | 2.1. Neurons |
| | | 2.1.1. What are neurons? |
| | | 2.1.2. What are the three basic parts of neurons and their functions? |
| | | 2.1.3. How do neurons change in adolescence? |
| | | 2.1.4. What are synapses? |
| | | 2.1.5. What is meant by synaptic "blooming and pruning?" |
| | | 2.1.6. What determines the timing and course of synaptic overproduction and retraction? |
| | | 2.1.7. What are neurotransmitters, and how do they change during puberty? |
| | 2.2. Brain Structure |
| | | 2.2.1. What are the four lobes of the brain? |
| | | 2.2.2. What discoveries of anatomical changes in the adolescent brain have recent technological advances like MRIs made possible? |
| | | 2.2.3. What roles might the amygdala and prefrontal cortex play in adolescent thought processes? |
| | | 2.2.4. How do adolescents differ from adults regarding their response to emotional stimuli? |
| | | 2.2.5. How might the development of the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex influence adolescent risk-taking? |
| | 2.3. Experience and Plasticity |
| | | 2.3.1. To what extent do environmental experiences influences the brain's development? |
| | | 2.3.2. How much plasticity does the brain retain as individuals develop? |
| | | 2.3.3. What is the most accurate summary of the relationship between neuroscience and education? |
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| 3. Explain the Contributions of Evolution, Heredity, and Environment to Adolescent Development |
| | 3.1. The Evolutionary Perspective |
| | | 3.1.1. What is natural selection? |
| | | 3.1.2. What makes a behavior adaptive? |
| | | 3.1.3. What are the basic principles of evolutionary psychology? |
| | | 3.1.4. Identify the major ideas of evolutionary developmental psychology? |
| | | 3.1.5. What are some of the criticisms of evolutionary psychology raised by some psychologists? |
| | 3.2. The Genetic Process |
| | | 3.2.1. What are chromosomes? |
| | | 3.2.2. What is DNA? |
| | | 3.2.3. What are genes? |
| | | 3.2.4. What is a genome? |
| | | 3.2.5. What are the findings of the Human Genome Project? |
| | | 3.2.6. What processes affect gene action and gene expression? |
| | | 3.2.7. What is the difference between a genotype and phenotype? |
| | | 3.2.8. What are some examples of traits that are expressed in phenotypes? |
| | | 3.2.9. Would measured introversion-extroversion be predictable from knowledge of the specific genes? Why or why not? |
| | 3.3. Heredity-Environment Interaction |
| | | 3.3.1. What is behavior genetics? |
| | | 3.3.2. How is the influence of heredity on behavior studied? |
| | | 3.3.3. What is a twin study? |
| | | 3.3.4. How do twin studies examine the difference between identical twins and fraternal twins? |
| | | 3.3.5. What are some interesting results of twin studies? |
| | | 3.3.6. What is an adoption study? |
| | | 3.3.7. According to behavior geneticist Sandra Scarr, what three ways heredity and environment are correlated? |
| | | 3.3.8. What is the difference between shared environmental influences and non-shared environmental influences? |
| | | 3.3.9. To what degree do shared and non-shared environmental factors account for adolescents' personalities and interests? |
| | | 3.3.10. What is the epigenetic view of heredity-environment relationships? |
| | | 3.3.11. What are the most reasonable conclusions we can make about the interaction of heredity and environment? |
| | | 3.3.12. Why are the views of Judith Harris both intriguing and controversial? |
