1

ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY FINAL EXAM

Moises Alejandro Martinez

Faculty of Education & Arts, University of Belize

Mr. Gilroy Middleton- Sr.

November 26, 2022

 2

SECTION A:

1. Define the terms Adolescence and Adolescent.

Adolescence is the period in a child’s life when their body begins to mature and change

to transition them into adulthood. An adolescent is a person whose age ranges from 10- 19 years

old depending on the age they enter puberty. During adolescence, a person develops physical,

mental and hormonal changes especially in their reproductive organs.

2. Describe any TWO issues or challenges examined in this course which adolescents

experience and explain how as a teacher you would address those issues/challenges.

Adolescents experience many challenges in their lives. Their entire lives are changed due

to mental, physical and hormonal changes that lead them into their adult lives. Teachers,

especially high school teachers, are tasked with the challenge of actually getting these teenagers

to be obedient and learn and behave while they are only focused on bodily desires and impulses.

Teachers also have to be okay with only seeing these kids undergo difficult trials and

tribulations; seeing their lives fall apart. However, teachers also have the power to help these

adolescents deal with their issues and traumas. Issues such as relationship dramas are common

but more dangerously, issues like gang involvement as a result of economic hardships and peer

pressure, and teenage romance are even more worrying.

First of all, as teenagers grow up, they are faced with more hardships at school or at

home; sometimes in both places. Economic hardships are a main contributing factor to teenagers
 3

falling into depression, and even dropping out of school (Britt et al., 2017). Because of this,

students may see that the only option is to get a job. Having a job and continuing their education

which also needs great amounts of money is not a viable option. Further down the line, these

teenagers are susceptible to peer- pressure from friends offering lucrative ventures. In need of

money, teenagers are more willing to do little side jobs that will get them easy money. Slowly,

these students may be enveloped into gang activity for even more money. It sounds like a stretch,

but this is what ends up happening many times. As evidenced by Cooper (2009) “Gangs provide

affiliation with others who have certain characteristics in common to one another but who may

be considered as outsiders in the larger society, often providing income to those with few

prospects of finding a job or making a living (p.5).” I am fortunate enough to work in a Catholic

high school where there is little to no trouble involving gangs. This is unacceptable in my high

school. However, I do think that if I ever came across any gang related issues I would first

approach the student and talk to him/her personally. The first thing that needs to be done is find

out the reasons as to why the student fell into the trap of a gang. The most obvious reason would

be economic hardships but it might also be due to the teenager’s desire to belong and his gang

gave him that. I would also talk to the parents of the child as well and determine if there were

any household issues that led the student astray. Finally, I would ask the student if he is in the

gang by choice or if he has the choice to leave the gang. Many times, adolescents are killed if

they decide to leave. I hope I never have to encounter a situation like this one.

Secondly, when referring to teenage romance, this is not talking about the relationship

drama of the teenagers, but the real sexual encounters and errors teenagers make when

succumbing to their desires. One of the main consequences adolescents face during this period is

teenage pregnancies. This might sound like it only concerns female students, but in reality, this is
 4

also a major challenge for males. Although they are not the ones giving birth to a child, they are

the ones who must respond for their newborn baby (Agba et al., 2022). As a teacher, I have not

come across a student getting pregnant but as a student I had many classmates dropping out of

school because of this. I currently teach 3 students who had dropped out of school previously and

are now continuing their education after having a kid. Not many students decide to return to

school after dropping out. If I encountered a situation like this, I would talk to the student and

counsel them. In a Catholic school, such as mine, we teach the students the dangers of premarital

sex and the values of abstinence and chastity which, for the most part, dissuades students from

engaging in sexual intercourse before graduating. Even if they do, the chances of a student

becoming a parent are slim. I would also refer the student to counseling. Students might feel that

teachers will judge them when in reality all we want to do is help.

To conclude, both gang activity and teenage pregnancies are issues that are plaguing the

lives of adolescents. Teachers need to be on the lookout for these issues. Maybe there is little that

they can do to remedy these problems, but they do have the power to be a voice of reason to

these students who might be straying away from the right path. Teachers around the world need

to be compassionate and understanding for they too were once adolescents who also made

mistakes. All we can do is advice these teenagers in hopes that they make the right decisions.
 5

SECTION B:

1. Explain elements of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in adolescents.

(Accommodation, Assimilation, Schema/schemata; Formal operational stage;

Metacognition.)

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who is famous for developing the theory of

cognitive development. In this theory, Piaget explains that our brains are able to process, analyze

and store information in different ways and in 4 main stages. Before even beginning to analyze

Piaget’s work, it is important to understand some of the terms he used to describe the different

phases of cognitive development. Terms such as schema/schemata, accommodation,

assimilation, metacognition or the formal operational stage of development are all important to

understand Piaget’s work.

First of all, we must understand what a schema is. To put it simply, a schema is the way

in which individuals represent concepts in their memories. It is like a filing cabinet or a mind

palace if you will, where you store information. For all intents and purposes, this discussion will

be using the example of an elephant to explain all the phases accepting information (Ryan, Urdan

& Anderman, 2017). The schema is the visual representation of what an elephant looks like in

your memory. The schemata is just the plural form of this word which is basically, more filing

cabinets of information in your mind. New information that enters the mind of these

teenagers/students will be properly stored in their schema if it corresponds to their current way of

thinking. If a teenager is told that the mammoths were a furry kind of tusked elephant, he will

accept this information as legitimate. This is called assimilation which is when an individual

processes new information that corresponds to their beliefs. What happens then when new
 6

information enters the brain of an individual that does not match his current way of thinking?

The individual needs to take part in the process of assimilation, which is whereby the individual

changes the current way of thinking in response to new information. Exposure to information

that a lion is an elephant because they both live in the Savannah will demand the individual to

think about this new information closely. The individual will soon rationalize and decide that the

logic of the argument is wrong and that lions are a different species of animal despite having the

same habitat. This process of accepting new information and changing the current ways of

thinking in response to this is called accommodation. Information is accommodated for future

use.

These processes of accepting and processing information are fulfilled in the formal

operational stage of cognitive development. It is during this stage that adolescents get their

reasoning skills and analyze harder and more complex information (Rowland, 2012). This stage

in cognitive development allows for adolescents to increase their memory skills and more fully

develops their schemata (Ryan, Urdan & Anderman, 2017). This final stage of cognitive

development normally ranging from years 12 onward, allows for the comprehension of abstract

views and for the higher order thinking skills to analyze the best possible side to things.

When working with teenagers, teachers are exposed to the ongoing cognitive

development of the students. Now that these students are able to store information, engage in

rejecting or adopting new ideas and further analyzing these arguments and appropriately be able

to choose a side and discuss abstract ideas, students must now evaluate their own learning. This

process of thinking about your learning is called metacognition. Metacognition is properly

evaluating the ways in which our learning has and hasn’t worked, ways it is going well and ways

it can improve. I do want to express my thoughts on activities that might move students to this
 7

level of learning inside and outside of the traditional Belizean classroom. As mentioned prior, I

try to get my students to plan, execute and reflect in our English class. Whether it is with a

Know, Want to Know, Learn (KWL) chart or a predictions worksheet, students are allowed to

think ahead before doing any task. They then do the task and then they reflect. A KWL chart

allows students to think ahead and gather their previous knowledge in preparation for a new task,

concept or topic. It then prepares them to attempt their tasks to finally assess their own learning

at the end of the activity. Another activity that might promote students to perform at a

metacognitive level is a simple reflection essay or journal. These tasks might seem meaningless,

but allowing a student to get in touch with their thoughts and emotions, helps them realize the

greatness of their approach or the error of their ways. After group work or major projects, a

simple essay or journal question can help students think about what materials, previous

knowledge and approach they took to completing the assignment; how did they perform while

doing the assignment and lastly, what did they learn and what they could do better next time. As

a last activity, I would like to borrow one from Chick (2013), which is an activity called the

‘Modeling Process’. I like to refer to these activities as ‘Think Alouds’ for the simple reason that

as the instructor, I model the behavior I expect the students to perform for them. For example, in

our poetry classes, I read poems aloud and attempt to analyze them in front of the class; just like

I would if I was alone planning my lesson. Students pick up on this and they soon start

replicating it. I read the poem once and once I do that, I start picking it apart and thinking out

loud, what I am getting right and what I am still not understanding. In the end, I report what I

have understood and assess what I still do not understand for further research or consultation

with a colleague or friend. Modeling the behavior you wish to get out of your students can help

them truly understand what it means to be a metacognitive reader. As long as students model
 8

planning ahead and thinking how to face a problem in the class and then attempting the task or

problem or assignment, to then reflect on their performance, students will grow more confident

and autonomous to the point where the teacher will cease to be an instructor and transform to be

a guide and a mentor for their beautiful minds.

 9

References

AGBA, M., AGBA, A. M., & NDUBISI, B. (2022). Psychosocial Determinant of

Teenage Pregnancy among Selected Secondary School Students in Akamkpa Local

Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria. Global Journal of Pure & Applied

Sciences, 28(1), 51–62. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjpas.v28i1.7

Britt, S. L., Ammerman, D. A., Barrett, S. F., & Jones, S. (2017). Student Loans,

Financial Stress, and College Student Retention. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 47(1).

P.26

Chick, N. (2013). Metacognition. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [August

26, 2022] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/

Cooper, J. G. (2009). Youth Gangs : Causes, Violence and Interventions.Nova Science

Publishers, Inc. p. 5

Rowland, T. L. (2012). Everything You Need to Know About Jean Piaget’s Theory of

Cognitive Development. BrainMass Inc.

Ryan, A., Urdan, T., Anderman, E. (2017). Adolescent Development for Educators.

Pearson Education.
10