Tyanna McCants Evolution & Behavior
May 25 2017 Block: 2
Why is the teen brain drawn to take risks?
How are teen brains different from adult brains? Well what I know is different is that a teens brain isn’t fully developed like an adult’s brain. We may not comprehend things as fast as adults would. There’s a surge of activity in the brain region called the ventral striatum when reality exceeds a person’s expectations. It is a proven fact that the adolescent brain is extra sensitive to reward signals when pay-off for a risk is higher than expected. Brain activity in the ventral striatum is related to the release of dopamine, a nerve-signaling molecule that helps the brain process …show more content…
Conger explained there are strong reasons to think that families, and their economic circumstances in particular, influence both parents and children’s emotions and behaviors. Crime, smoking, drug use, stealing, alcoholism , reckless driving and many other dangerous and reckless, unhealthy behaviors plan out over a lifetime often debut during adolescence. I honestly feel like changing unhealthy behaviors in adolescence would have a broad impact on society, reducing the burdens of disease, injury, human suffering, and associated economic costs. Behaviors that promote positive physical and mental health outcomes in modern society can be at odds with those selected for by evolution (e.g., early procreation).A key question is whether adolescents are developmentally competent to make decisions about risks. In principle, barring temptations with high rewards and individual differences that reduce self-control (i.e., under ideal conditions), adolescents are capable of rational decision making to achieve their goals.(Frank Farley states) Why do teens do risky things? Research shows, that teens tend to wildly overestimate certain risks of things like unprotected sex and drug use not to lowball them as one would predict. So, it may be that teens’ notorious risk-taking behavior stems not from some immunity to known risks, but rather, as a new study now suggests, from their greater tolerance to uncertainty and ambiguity — that is, unknown risks(TIME.com)
Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, And Decision
May 25 2017 Block: 2
Why is the teen brain drawn to take risks?
How are teen brains different from adult brains? Well what I know is different is that a teens brain isn’t fully developed like an adult’s brain. We may not comprehend things as fast as adults would. There’s a surge of activity in the brain region called the ventral striatum when reality exceeds a person’s expectations. It is a proven fact that the adolescent brain is extra sensitive to reward signals when pay-off for a risk is higher than expected. Brain activity in the ventral striatum is related to the release of dopamine, a nerve-signaling molecule that helps the brain process …show more content…
Conger explained there are strong reasons to think that families, and their economic circumstances in particular, influence both parents and children’s emotions and behaviors. Crime, smoking, drug use, stealing, alcoholism , reckless driving and many other dangerous and reckless, unhealthy behaviors plan out over a lifetime often debut during adolescence. I honestly feel like changing unhealthy behaviors in adolescence would have a broad impact on society, reducing the burdens of disease, injury, human suffering, and associated economic costs. Behaviors that promote positive physical and mental health outcomes in modern society can be at odds with those selected for by evolution (e.g., early procreation).A key question is whether adolescents are developmentally competent to make decisions about risks. In principle, barring temptations with high rewards and individual differences that reduce self-control (i.e., under ideal conditions), adolescents are capable of rational decision making to achieve their goals.(Frank Farley states) Why do teens do risky things? Research shows, that teens tend to wildly overestimate certain risks of things like unprotected sex and drug use not to lowball them as one would predict. So, it may be that teens’ notorious risk-taking behavior stems not from some immunity to known risks, but rather, as a new study now suggests, from their greater tolerance to uncertainty and ambiguity — that is, unknown risks(TIME.com)
Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, And Decision