Precocious Puberty Case Study

1. What environmental and social factors may contribute to precocious puberty? Puberty is a time in a child’s life at the beginning of adolescence where they go through dramatic physical changes and begin to develop a more mature physical appearance that resembles that of an adult. According to the website medlineplus, “puberty is the time in life when a boy or girl becomes sexually mature. It is a process that usually happens between ages 10 and 14 for girls and ages 12 and 16 for boys.” The mayo clinic defines precocious puberty as a time “when a child 's body begins changing into that of an adult (puberty) too soon. Puberty that begins before age 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys is considered precocious puberty.” It appears that children

Why might sexuality in situations outside of reproduction have evolved? Sexuality is a necessary means of survival. In order for a population to continue the species relies on sexual reproduction to produce offspring to continue to thrive. There is a natural, internal instinct for sex just like an instinct to seek out food and shelter. They are all drives that we experience in order to keep going. “In most species, females are unwilling to engage in sex except during estrus, a period when the female is ovulating, sex hormone levels are high, and the animal is said to be in heat.” (Garrett, pg. 200) This means that most species of animals only engage in sex when the possibility of reproduction is present. People, however, are interesting because we have a more developed sexual drive. Sexuality for humans is more than just a means of reproduction and continuing our species. Sexuality has become evolved because people experience a much deeper, and social connection through sex with another person. This is not known to be true for many animal species, which is why human sexuality is such a complex

The way that our brain processes information and responds to the awareness of things is a very complex system with in the brain. One study mentioned talks about the integration of senses in the brain and how we process the information. “Another study better illustrates the integrative nature of this synchrony. Words were presented in various locations on a screen; whether the subject became aware of the word’s color or if its location-indicated by being able to recall is later-depended on whether a frontal or temporal area was activated during the presentation. But if the individual registered both the color and the location, additional activity occurred in a part of the parietal cortex (Uncapher, Otten, & Rugg, 2006).” (Garrett, pg.501) This research demonstrates how different people react differently to stimuli and different levels of their cognition and awareness. It is important for people to develop a sense of awareness in order to function fully in the world. The book argues “that one apparent advantage is that it enables consistency and a playfulness in our behavior that would not be possible otherwise. (Garrett, pg. 502) It is human nature to rely on a consistency and the ability to plan ahead which is why the function of awareness is so important to the human