Adolescent Development

    Adolescence is an essential period of time where an adolescent is going through the process of developing their mindset. This period of time can be similar to when a baby is first developing; learning to walk, learning to talk, and the generally the five senses: feeling, hearing, tasting, smelling, and seeing. Everyone must go through this process to develop into a successful, independent, mature adult. First of the three processes is Individuation, which is the struggle for one's identity. After, is the second, Separation, which is where teenagers have to gain independence from their family in order to become their own person. And last but not least, Autonomy, which is where the teen wants to decide what is right and wrong for themselves.
    As a teen around the ages of 13-15 year-old goes through puberty, they begin to have stress due to learning of sex, comparing themselves to others, hormones, zits, drama, being uncomfortable around others, being scared, and confusion about life. This is called Psychosocial stress. Also in this time the Cognitive Development stage happens. This is where the teen learns concrete vs. abstract thinking. Until the early adolescence stage (13-15 year-old), teens could only think in concrete terms. For them to know the information, it has to be tangible, for example anything that can demonstrated with touch like pictures and blocks. To learn this new skill for abstract thinking can be hard for them to grasp them because it is a new skill.
    An adolescent in the later age of their teen years (16-19 year-old) goes through Psychosocial Development. It is a time of Psychosocial Adjustment or where by now they are comfortable with their bodies even though they might not think they are good enough. About now they might even be exploring sexual opportunities, and they would be having less drama, and less self-consciousness. Because they are more comfortable in their own skin they keep maturing into Cognitive Development. They develop a 'formal operational thinking' system that help them see cause and effect and consequences. Jean Piaget believed that they develop a way to comprehend complex ideas, concepts, high level math, and other challenging informational learning. Now that they were capable of planning the future, they could judge time. Time Measurement changes from the ages 13-15 and 16-19 years of age. They fully understand time and they grasp concepts of past, present, and future as a 16-19 year-old, a younger teen telling time is more difficult because it is an abstract skill. They can now guess how much time has elapsed without looking at a watch, clock, or some kind of time measuring thing.
    Throught the painful process of adolescence, adolescents are able to be normal, because it is a necessary process that everyone goes through in order to become a successful adult. Physchosocial Development, Cognitive Development, and Time Measurement are learned, and they are used to help create a "perfect" life for them, and make life easier. Through adolescence and it's many stages, we mature and become an adult.