Decision-Making Research Papers

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INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
Robert Frost, a well-known poet, once wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by…”. When walking alone through the woods, it may be easy to decide about which path to travel. However, when one is traversing with others, it becomes difficult to stray from the pack. Peer pressure is very similar for teenagers: it often causes an emotional response as teens try to fit in with those around them, moreover, in these situations decision-making can become more challenging. This is especially true for today’s teens who communicate with their peers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to this constant communication and peer pressure, researchers have discovered that teenagers make decisions so much more poorly than adults. A perfect example of poor decision-making would be how in Romeo and Juliet, a well-known play by William Shakespeare, Juliet, a 13- year-old who had never been in love before, fell for and married
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This slow-growing part of the brain is called the prefrontal cortex. …… Since this part of the brain is still maturing, teen brains’ are wired to rely more another area of the brain to make decisions. It’s called the limbic system.” The limbic system is the center of the brain that responds to rewards, and is extremely sensitive to, and easily manipulated by social situations. The prefrontal cortex is fully matured around the mid-twenties for a majority of people. The part of the cortex, which hasn’t fully matured is the layer of myelin. Myelin is a layer of fat that insulates the nerves in the brain, this fatty insulation allows electrical impulses to have a faster reaction time, which in turn speeds up

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