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Chapter 2 Your Growth and Development
Chapter Summary
The growth of the human body follows certain
patterns. Each person develops at his or her own
rate. Rapid physical growth and development of
primary and secondary sex characteristics mark the
teen years. Taking care of your health can help you
reach physical maturity.
A teen’s intellectual growth is related to brain
development and greater use of abstract ideas
and logical reasoning. These formal thinking skills
enable you to make more accurate judgments and
predict the future consequences of a decision. Try
to learn something new every day to help yourself
reach your intellectual potential.
Emotional development in the teen years is
characterized by an increased ability to identify
feelings and control the responses that go with
them. Emotional maturity will help you establish
close, long-lasting relationships.
Social development is seen as teens learn
give-and-take in relationships and develop close
friendships with their peers. They also learn to fulfill
the expectations that go with various roles in the
society.
As teens grow in all these areas, they develop
unique personalities. Your personality is strongly
influenced by your view of yourself and your
temperament. How you respond to meeting human
needs also affects personality. As you learn and
grow from your experiences, you may realize a
need to change poor behaviors. Feeling good about
yourself and continually trying to improve are signs
of a healthy personality.
Assess…
Your Knowledge
1. What major physical growth changes take place
during the teen years?
2. What is the difference between a person
who is emotionally immature and one who is
emotionally mature?
3. What can a teen do to help his or her brain
reach its full intellectual potential?
4. What three factors affect a person’s self-concept?
5. What is temperament? How does temperament
affect a person’s basic behavior?
Your Understanding
6. How is the development of character stimulated?
7. How does the maturing brain help the
development of emotional maturity?
8. How does the development of character traits
contribute to long-term relationships?
9. How does a society promote ethical behavior?
10. How does a person’s self-concept affect his or
her personality?
Your Skills
11. Analyze how a marriage relationship would
be affected if both partners were intellectually
immature.
12. Evaluate how emotional immaturity could affect
a friendship.
13. Describe a socially immature person and
analyze how those characteristics could impact
the person’s performance on a job.
14. Analyze your own personal response patterns in
the four areas—physical, intellectual, emotional,
and social. Explain how your temperament
influences your personality.
Think Critically
15. Bring a variety of shoes to school. Include a
tennis shoe, work boot, dress shoe, sandal,
loafer, or any other type of shoe. Identify all
the different characteristics of each shoe. Vote
for your favorite shoe. Decide which shoe has
characteristics that match your personality
(practical, hard worker, carefree, etc.) Make
a list of these qualities. Write a paragraph
explaining how the shoe you chose matches
your personality. Choice: Prepare a musical,
spatial, or kinesthetic presentation that
describes your personality.
16. Choose an area of character development
that you would like to improve. Develop a plan
of action that you think would strengthen this
area. Identify a person who could check your
progress.
17. Writing. Write a paper analyzing your
personal response patterns in the four areas
of development. Include how active you
are physically, how you express yourself