A defining feature of adolescence is newfound importance of peer and romantic relationships. A shifting motivation toward social relatedness is thought to intensify the attention, salience and emotion relegated to processing information concerning social evaluations and social standing, referred to as social sensitivity.
The rise in peer interaction of adolescents is not unique to humans. The quality of peer interactions changes from friends as activity partners to peers as intimate partners on a platonic and romantic level. The socio-affective circuitry includes the amygdala, striatum and the medial prefrontal cortex. Brain areas involved in the social context are highly influenced by pubertal hormones.
Information about one’s social standing is laden with emotion. Adolescents report a greater mood change and a change in anxiety after either positive or negative social feedback. Adolescents have heightened activity in the striatum and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. Adolescents also recruit medial prefrontal cortex more strongly compared to adults. There is a greater release of cortisol (a stress hormone) when under social scrutiny in adolescents. Social evaluative situations induce self-consciousness and engage stress systems of the body in adolescents.
Adolescents have a tendency to speculate about the thoughts and feelings of peers. This ability is called mentalizing. Mentalizing abilities continue to mature through adolescence. The social brain includes the temporoparietal junction, superior temporal sulcus and the medial prefrontal cortex.
Social competence is the ability to achieve personal goals from interactions with others while maintaining a positive relationship with the other. Psychopathy is characterised by the lack of empathy and emotional depth, intelligence charm and eloquence and antisocial behaviour and boldness.
There are four networks of the social brain:
Network | Brain areas | Function |
Mirror/simulation/action-perception network | Inferior frontal gyrus, lateral parietal cortex | Recognition of other people’s actions, planning one’s own actions |
Amygdala network | Amygdala, ventral striatum, orbitofrontal cortex | Recognition and evaluation of emotional and social stimuli |
Mentalizing network | Medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate gyrus, temporal pole, superior temporal sulcus, temporal-parietal junction | Recognizing social abilities in others and imagining what the other person is thinking. |
Empathy network | Amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior insula | Empathy |
There are advantages and disadvantages to adolescence:
- Advantages
Period of increased flexibility, learning capacity and social exploration. Many mental problems disappear at the end of adolescence. - Disadvantages
Mental problems often start in adolescence. Prognosis is worse for deviant behaviour that arises during adolescence.
The brain structure also changes during adolescence. Grey matter decreases and evolutionary old areas are first and areas involved in higher cognition last. This leads to different processing speed in different brain areas. Emotion recognising areas of the brain are more active in adolescents than in other people.
Join with a free account for more service, or become a member for full access to exclusives and extra support of WorldSupporter >>
An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Summary [EXAM UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 1
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 2
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 3
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 4
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 5
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 6
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 9
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 10
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 11
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 12
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 15
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 16
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 18
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 19
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 20
- An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Chapter 21
- Kensinger (2009). Cognition in aging and age related disease. Summary
- Somerville (2013). The teenage brain. Summary
- Wiers & Stacy (2006). Implicit cognition and addiction. Summary
Contributions: posts
Spotlight: topics
An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition) - Summary [EXAM UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]
This bundle contains a summary for the course "Developmental Psychology" taught at the University of Amsterdam. This contains the book: "An Introduction to Developmental psychology by A. Slater and G. Bremner (third edition)" and several articles.
The following
...Online access to all summaries, study notes en practice exams
- Check out: Register with JoHo WorldSupporter: starting page (EN)
- Check out: Aanmelden bij JoHo WorldSupporter - startpagina (NL)
How and why use WorldSupporter.org for your summaries and study assistance?
- For free use of many of the summaries and study aids provided or collected by your fellow students.
- For free use of many of the lecture and study group notes, exam questions and practice questions.
- For use of all exclusive summaries and study assistance for those who are member with JoHo WorldSupporter with online access
- For compiling your own materials and contributions with relevant study help
- For sharing and finding relevant and interesting summaries, documents, notes, blogs, tips, videos, discussions, activities, recipes, side jobs and more.
Using and finding summaries, notes and practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter
There are several ways to navigate the large amount of summaries, study notes en practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter.
- Use the summaries home pages for your study or field of study
- Use the check and search pages for summaries and study aids by field of study, subject or faculty
- Use and follow your (study) organization
- by using your own student organization as a starting point, and continuing to follow it, easily discover which study materials are relevant to you
- this option is only available through partner organizations
- Check or follow authors or other WorldSupporters
- Use the menu above each page to go to the main theme pages for summaries
- Theme pages can be found for international studies as well as Dutch studies
Do you want to share your summaries with JoHo WorldSupporter and its visitors?
- Check out: Why and how to add a WorldSupporter contributions
- JoHo members: JoHo WorldSupporter members can share content directly and have access to all content: Join JoHo and become a JoHo member
- Non-members: When you are not a member you do not have full access, but if you want to share your own content with others you can fill out the contact form
Quicklinks to fields of study for summaries and study assistance
Main summaries home pages:
- Business organization and economics - Communication and marketing -International relations and international organizations - IT, logistics and technology - Law and administration - Leisure, sports and tourism - Medicine and healthcare - Pedagogy and educational science - Psychology and behavioral sciences - Society, culture and arts - Statistics and research
- Summaries: the best textbooks summarized per field of study
- Summaries: the best scientific articles summarized per field of study
- Summaries: the best definitions, descriptions and lists of terms per field of study
- Exams: home page for exams, exam tips and study tips
Main study fields:
Business organization and economics, Communication & Marketing, Education & Pedagogic Sciences, International Relations and Politics, IT and Technology, Law & Administration, Medicine & Health Care, Nature & Environmental Sciences, Psychology and behavioral sciences, Science and academic Research, Society & Culture, Tourisme & Sports
Main study fields NL:
- Studies: Bedrijfskunde en economie, communicatie en marketing, geneeskunde en gezondheidszorg, internationale studies en betrekkingen, IT, Logistiek en technologie, maatschappij, cultuur en sociale studies, pedagogiek en onderwijskunde, rechten en bestuurskunde, statistiek, onderzoeksmethoden en SPSS
- Studie instellingen: Maatschappij: ISW in Utrecht - Pedagogiek: Groningen, Leiden , Utrecht - Psychologie: Amsterdam, Leiden, Nijmegen, Twente, Utrecht - Recht: Arresten en jurisprudentie, Groningen, Leiden
JoHo can really use your help! Check out the various student jobs here that match your studies, improve your competencies, strengthen your CV and contribute to a more tolerant world
2490 | 1 |
Add new contribution