Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

During this stage, adolescence experiences a wealth of changes to their body. The beginning of this stage is marked by puberty; this is when biological events begin to lead teenagers into an adult-size body and sexual maturity. There are many factors that can affect teenagers during puberty such as; nutrition, sexual activity, and substance abuse. Adolescence brings with it momentous cognitive advances. During this stage teenagers begin to experience changes that can be hard to grasp. This stage can be a trying time in the life of a teen, including an emotional roller coaster.

Ask adults what teenagers are like and they will tell you that they are rebellious and reckless or full of rage. These views have been expressed since the beginning of time. Puberty triggers an emotional uproar in teens that may cause conflict and defiance of adults by teens. The complex hormonal changes that underline puberty are in full effect by the adolescence stages, and play a major role in a teenagers' physical and cognitive development. Puberty is actually the time of the greatest sexual differentiation since prenatal life. Another sign of puberty is the rapid gain in height and weight known as the "growth spurt".

There have been several theories associated with this stage. The formal operational stage is one of Piaget's theories which state that young people start to develop capacity for abstract, systematic, scientific thinking around this stage. The cognitive development of adolescent is just as rapid as the physical, but maybe a little more complex. Cognitive physical developments are iatrical times during the adolescence stage.