Physical and Cognitive Development

Research: Adolescent Health Concerns

Due Date: _________________________

Name: __________________________________________ ID# _______________________

Course: __________________________________ Course/Section # __________________

Your instructor will assign one of the following adolescent health concerns for you to research:

Gathering Data:

Use a wide range of sources to help you understand the health concern and its affects. Medical resources written for lay readers will be helpful along with articles in magazines and items on the internet. There are organizations that specialize in helping adolescents and their families cope with these problems and they often have brochures and videotapes that would provide useful information for this assignment. There may be a local chapter of a key organization in your area -- check the phone book and/or the internet for addresses and phone numbers.

What do I turn in?

You will turn in a 5-7 page paper which gives the frequency of the concern, warning signs and symptoms, explains any known causes of the problem, how the problem is treated, how this concern may affect an adolescent'

s school environment, and what parents can do to help. The names, addresses, and phone numbers of organizations in your area that provide assistance to adolescents facing this problem should also be listed.

Specifics of the paper:

• A paper 5-7 pages long

• Should be typed, double spaced, 1 inch margins

• Cover sheet should include your name, the title of your paper, your ID#, course name and section number, and the date

• Reference all your sources using APA format

Project: Moral Development in Prime Time

Due Date: _________________________

Name: __________________________________________ ID# _______________________

Course: __________________________________ Course/Section # __________________

Review:

Before beginning this project you should review Kohlberg's stages of moral development. The stages focus on the reasoning and judgment aspects of moral development.

Gather Data:

Watch a television program that involves characters and a plot. It can be a comedy or a more serious program. If at all possible, video-tape the program so you can watch it several times while focusing on different characters.

Write up Your Observations:

Summarize the plot of the television program. Emphasize any moral decisions made by any of the characters (i.e., lying, cheating, stealing, breaking a contract, breaking the law/rules, breaking a promise). When faced with a dilemma how did the characters involved respond? What stage of moral development is each character operating at? Give evidence to support your answer.

Specifics of the paper:

• A paper 5-7 pages long

• Should be typed, double spaced, 1 inch margins

• Cover sheet should include your name, the title of your paper, your ID#, course name and section number, and the date

• Reference all your sources using APA format

Survey: Improving The High School Experience

Due Date: _________________________

Name: __________________________________________ ID# _______________________

Course: __________________________________ Course/Section # __________________

Gather Data:

Survey 8 college students (4 male and 4 female) to find out what they think about the current high school experience by asking the following questions. These questions represent a minimum amount of information. Feel free to add questions as long as you ask all students the same questions.

1. Would you describe your high school as:
   • Large, medium, or small in terms of size
   • Located ural, suburban, or urban location
   • Public, parochial, alternative, or home school
   • Racially and ethnically diverse or not diverse

2. Do you think your high school prepared you well for the next phase of life? Please explain your answer.

3. What could be done to improve the high school experience for students at your high school and for high schools in general?

1. How did your participants describe their high schools? For example, how many reported their high school as large?

2. Were most of your participants satisfied with their high school experience? Why or why not?

3. What ideas were presented as ways to help improve the high school experience?

4. Did you notice any differences in the answers given by males and females? Did you notice any other differences, such as answers given by those from rural versus urban schools or public versus non-public schools?

1. Introduction: Introduce the topic of friendship in middle childhood.

2. Participants: Give the age and sex of the eight children.

3. Methodology: Explain how you surveyed the children

4. Results: Give answers to the questions listed under the heading Analyze Your Data.

5. Conclusions: What did you learn about friendship in middle childhood through this investigation?

• A paper 7 - 9 pages long

• Should be typed, double spaced, 1 inch margins

• Cover sheet should include your name, the title of your paper, your ID#, course name and section number, and the date

• Reference all your sources using APA format

Psychosocial Development

Project: Identity Crisis in Popular Media

Due Date: _________________________

Name: __________________________________________ ID# _______________________

Course: __________________________________ Course/Section # __________________

Gather Data:

Choose a piece of music or literature that expresses as least one of the common themes in adolescent identity crisis. Some examples would be finding an occupation, deciding on personal values, religious identity, or sexual identity.

Analyze the Data:

What audience is targeted by the piece?

What is the main point(s) or the main plot of the piece?

How does the piece capture the essence of Erikson's stage of Identity versus Role Confusion?

Write up Your Report:

1. Introduce the topic of adolescent identity crisis.

2. Summarize the main points or the plot of the piece.

3. Compare the main points or plot to Erikson's stage of Identity versus Role Confusion.

4. Conclude with a consideration of how such music or literature helps adolescents understand and/or work out their identity crisis.

• A paper 4 - 6 pages long

• Should be typed, double spaced, 1 inch margins

• Cover sheet should include your name, the title of your paper, your ID#, course name and section number, and the date

• Reference all your sources using APA format

Survey: Role Models

Due Date: _________________________

Name: __________________________________________ ID# _______________________

Course: __________________________________ Course/Section # __________________

Preparation:

Type up the questions listed below on 1 page and make 9 copies of it. Ask the participant to indicate their age and sex on the questionnaire (do not ask for a name).

1. Name the person who has served as a role model for you. (It is acceptable to mention more than one person.)

2. How did you get to know that person?

3. How has that person helped you? Why is that person special to you?

4. In general, name people who you think probably serve as role models for adolescents and college students in the United States.

5. Why do you think people look up to the individuals mentioned in question 4 as role models?

Give your questionnaire to individuals in the following categories: 4 females between the ages of 14 - 18 years old; 4 females between the ages of 18 - 22 years old; 4 males between the ages of 14 - 18 years old; and 4 males between the ages of 18 - 22 years old.

Analyze the Data:

1. Who did your participants pick as role models?

2. What characteristics are valued in a role model?

3. How did the personal choices for a role model compare with role models in general for the youth of the United States?

4. Did you notice any age differences in the responses?

5. Did you notice any gender differences in the responses?

1. Introduction: Introduce the topic of role models.

2. Participants: Give the age and sex of the eight participants.

3. Methodology: Explain the survey and how you administered it.

4. Results: Give answers to the questions listed under Analyze Your Data.

5. Conclusions: What did you learn about role models in this investigation? Include any other observations you made while conducting this research and/or analyzing the data.

• A paper 7 - 9 pages long

• Should be typed, double spaced, 1 inch margins

• Cover sheet should include your name, the title of your paper, your ID#, course name and section number, and the date

• Reference all your sources using APA format

• Turn in a clean copy of the questionnaire and the questionnaires filled out by the 8 participants

Survey: Typical Teen Magazine

Due Date: _________________________

Name: __________________________________________ ID# _______________________

Course: __________________________________ Course/Section # __________________

Buy a magazine targeted for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. The goal of this project is to use the magazine as an indicator of what is important in the life of an average teenager.

Survey the Magazine:

Keep a tally of articles and advertisements as you look at each page of the magazine. How many articles and how many advertisements focus on the following:

Write up Your Observations:

1. Introduce your survey and give the purpose of the paper.

2. What topics were most popular among the articles?

3. What topics were most popular among the advertisements?

4. Was the magazine specifically targeted at boys or girls?

5. Was the magazine specifically targeted to an ethnic group?

6. Conclude with an summary of your observations about how the magazine you surveyed reflects the world of the adolescent in the United States.

• A paper 4 - 6 pages long

• Should be typed, double spaced, 1 inch margins

• Cover sheet should include your name, the title of your paper, your ID#, course name and section number, and the date

• Reference all your sources using APA format

Article Review: Parent-Adolescent Relationships

Due Date: _________________________

Name: __________________________________________ ID# _______________________

Course: __________________________________ Course/Section # __________________

Psychological research reports, commonly referred to as journal articles, are written in a very specific way. The goal of this assignment is to give you exposure to technical writing and to acquaint you with an interesting area of research.

Find Three Articles:

You can use your text book to find articles (in the reference section) or you can search for one using an index like Psychological Abstracts or the computerized version PsychLit. Search for an article that investigates the nature of parent-adolescent relationships.

Writing your report:

Carefully read the three articles and then summarize your findings and observations in a paper. The paper should have the following headings:

1. Introduction: Introduce the topic and give interesting items you found in the introductions of the three articles.

2. Participants: Describe the participants in the three studies. Be careful to list the number of participants, their ages, and the number of males and females in each study. Also tell whether the study included participants in step-families.

3. Methodology: Tell how each investigation measured or observed the parent-adolescent relationships.

4. Results and Discussion: What did the three articles report about parent-adolescent relationships? Summarize the main points given in the discussions.

• Should be 7 - 9 pages long

• Should be typed, double spaced, 1 inch margins

• Cover sheet should include your name, the title of your paper, your ID#, course name and section number, and the date

• Reference all your sources using APA format