Psychology Answer the following in 80 to 100 words each with the help of the following points.

James Marcia’s approach to identity development during adolescence is as follows:

• Identity foreclosure: Here, adolescents just accept others’ decisions about what is best for them. e.g. a doctor’s son becomes a doctor. These adolescents are happy and self-satisfied. They tend to be authoritarian and have a need for self-approval.
• Identity diffusion: Here, adolescents neither explore nor commit to the alternatives. They are socially withdrawn. These adolescents appear carefree but their lack of commitment impairs their ability to form close relationships.
• Moratorium: Here, adolescents explore some alternatives but make no commitments. They experience high anxiety and psychological conflict. They are lively and appealing and seek intimacy with others
• Identity achievement: Here, adolescents explore and search about ‘who they are and ‘what they do’. Teens who have reached this stage tend to be psychologically healthier, higher in achievement, motivation, and moral reasoning.
  Some adolescents shift among all the above-mentioned categories but for most of them identity gels in late teens and early twenties.

A period between conception till birth is called a prenatal period. During this period, major developmental changes take place in a very rapid manner. This development goes through three stages as follows:
1. Germinal stage: It ranges from conception to two weeks. Within few hours after conception, the zygote starts a journey down the fallopian tube to the uterus; where it begins the process of cell duplication.
In this process, the zygote divides itself into two cells and then goes on duplicating itself. By the end of this period, the zygote gets attached to the wall of the uterus.
2. Embryonic stage: It starts from the third week after conception and continues till the ninth week. It is a time when the mass of cells (embryo) becomes distinct from a human. This stage plays a crucial role in the development of the brain. Almost all internal and external organs develop by the end of this period.
3. Fetal stage: It begins during the ninth week and lasts until birth. This period is marked by more important changes in the brain. The body parts and structures established in the embryonic stage continue to develop during this stage.

The age between late childhood and youth is called adolescence. This age ranges between 12-13 years to 19-20 years. The characteristics of adolescence are as follows:

• Adolescence is an important period that has an immediate effect on the attitude and behavior of an adolescent.
• Adolescence is a transitional period, i.e. it is a bridge between childhood and adulthood.
• Adolescence is a period of physical changes.
• Adolescence is an age of challenges. During childhood, the majority of problems are solved by parents and teachers but an adolescent wants to be independent.
• Adolescence is a time for searching for one’s own identity.
• Adolescence is a time of unrealistic ideas. They have a tendency to look at life through rose-tinted glasses and engage in daydreaming. As a result, they face problems like lack of concentration.
• Adolescence is a threshold of adulthood.